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White Top Folk Festival

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Virginia, Grayson County, near Whitetop
The White Top Folk Festival was held annually from 1931 to 1939, (except 1937) on Whitetop Mountain—the second highest peak in Virginia. Annabel Morris Buchanan, John Powell, and John A. Blakemore organized the event that featured banjo players, fiddlers, string bands, and ballad singers, as well as storytelling, clog dancing, morris and sword dancing, and theatrical presentations. Thousands of people attended the festival each year, including nationally known academic folklorists, art critics, composers, and in 1933 First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The festival was cancelled in 1940 because of heavy rains and floods and never resumed.

(Arts, Letters, Music) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

“I can see them yet . . . ”

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Pennsylvania, Adams County, Gettysburg

This building was the home of the James Pierce family during the Battle of Gettysburg. Tillie Pierce, a 15 year old school girl at the time, provided a vivid account of events from those days.

The alarm that “The Rebels Are Coming!” caused a mass exodus from Gettysburg by free, African-American citizens (8% of the population) who feared capture and enforced slavery. Tillie described their passing by her house: “I can see them yet; men and women with bundles . . . children also . . . . The greatest consternation was depicted on all their countenances as they hurried along; . . . towards the woods on Culp’s Hill.”

On the morning of July 2nd Confederate sharpshooters established their headquarters along the Breckenridge St. side of the Pierce house. For two days Confederates sheltered themselves outside the building while inside the Pierce’s successfully hid and sustained five wounded soldiers.

Following the battle the Pierce family took in and nursed the severely wounded Col. William Colvill, 1st Minnesota Infantry, to a successful recovery

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Annoying “ . . . the enemy very seriously ”

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Pennsylvania, Adams County, Gettysburg

Confederate sharpshooters in this area built a barricade across Baltimore Street at the intersection with Breckenridge Street to gain an open field of fire towards the Federal troops on Cemetery Hill. From behind this barricade and from windows of houses along these streets, Confederate marksmen traded shots with their enemy.

Maj. Eugene Blackford, commanding the 5th Alabama sharpshooters, reported: “our fire must have annoyed the enemy very seriously, . . . picking off their officers, their gunners (on Cemetery Hill) unable to stand to their guns.”

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

“ . . . in less than half an hour . . . ”

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Pennsylvania, Adams County, Gettysburg

The original German Reformed Church located here in 1814, served as a “Union brick church” with the town’s Lutheran congregation until 1848. The core of the present building, erected in 1851, was newly refurbished at the time of the battle.

On July 1st, following the Confederate occupation of Gettysburg, Dr. Abraham Stout, Surgeon 153rd PA., opened the church for a hospital at the urging of one of his captors. It was a welcome action. Dr. Stout recalled, “In less than a half hour it was filled with wounded, mostly Union men.”

For several days surgeons worked at operating tables in the “lecture room.” Citizen volunteer nurses recalled newly painted walls “splattered” and pews “soaked” with blood, “and they had to bore holes in the floor to let the blood run away . . . ” Eventually, many wounded were transferred to the public school next door.

Following the battle, the church served a more traditional role. Jenny Wade, the only civilian killed in the battle, was buried in the adjoining church graveyard. She was reinterred in Evergreen Cemetery in November 1865.

( Sidebar : )
Trinity United Church of Christ ca. 1863. During the battle a red banner hung from the cupola signifying a hospital to the Union gunners on Cemetery Hill. The public school, directly to the west of this building, also served as a hospital, as did many other public and private buildings following the battle.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

“bullets . . . rattling against our hospital . . . ”

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Pennsylvania, Adams County, Gettysburg

The High Street or “Common” School was Gettysburg’s first consolidated public school building. Prior to its erection in 1857 classes were held in individual buildings, often the home of the teacher.

Like the rest of the town’s public facilities the school became a hospital on July 1, 1863, when Union wounded began arriving from the battlefield. By evening it housed Union and Confederate casualties, separated by floors.

The school building was well suited for the task but the location was exposed to the constant fighting between skirmish lines in front of Cemetery Hill. The result was unnerving, but not life threatening. Pvt. Justus Sillman of the 17th Connecticut Infantry recalled, “bullets . . . rattling against our hospital, making a great racket.”

At the battle’s end a Union soldier, hiding in the school’s bell cupola since being cut off during the retreat on July 1st, emerged to enjoy his first meal in three days.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Route of Croxton's Brig.

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Georgia, Catoosa County, near Fort Oglethorpe
Route of Croxton's Brig.
To opening of Battle
Sept. 19, 1863.


(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

A Gun for All Reasons

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Arkansas, Lonoke County, Lonoke

The 3-inch Ordnance Rifle was also known as the ordnance rifle, the ordnance gun, the Griffen gun, and was sometimes erroneously referred to as the Rodman rifle.

The gun was invented by John Griffen, superintendent of the Safe Harbor Iron Works in Pennsylvania. His initial design was built by the Phoenix Iron Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, which manufactured most of the 3-inch Rifles used in the Union Armies. Griffen developed a process whereby strips of wrought iron 3/4 inches thick and 4 1/2 inches wide were wrapped around an iron core by a lathe. The tube was then heated and rolled to a length of seven feet before trunnions were welded on. Finally, a bore was reamed out. This process made the 3-inch Ordnance Rifle the lightest gun in field artillery service during the Civil War.

Despite its light weight, the process of wrapping the wrought iron bands around the core made it the strongest, most durable gun in the field. The gun was deployed in support of infantry to repulse enemy assaults, often positioned behind the lines and fired over the heads of friendly troops. Range made the piece excellent for long-range shelling. Though its use was limited in wooded areas, it was accurate and lethal in open spaces.

The rifle that stands before you was brought to the Lonoke County Courthouse before 1911 through the efforts of John Hallum, a soldier in the Civil War and a one time lawyer in Lonoke.

Inset table of information
U.S. M-1861 3-inch Ordnance Rifle
Bore diameter 3 inches
Tube composition Wrought Iron
Length 73 inches
Length of tube 69 inches
Weight of tube 816 pounds


Local stories about the rifle are that it was uned in the Brooks/Baxter War of 1874 and that it was taken from Federal forces and hidden in a bayou and nicknamed the Lady Furlow. It was restored in the 1920s in a blacksmith shop across from the courthouse.

Little documented history of Rifle No. 705 can be found. However, guns of this type were in the area from September, 1863 to 1865, being deployed by such units as the Battery K, Second Missouri Light Artillery (US) and The Twenty-fifth Ohio Battery (US) in the Little Rock Campaign, including Browsville and Reed's Bridge.

Inset table of information
The Hotchkiss Shell (image actual size)
Weight 9.5 pounds
Powder charge 1 pound
Range @ 5° elev. 1,830 yards
Muzzle velocity 1,215 ft./sec.


This projectile was invented by Andrew Hotchkiss of Sharon, Connecticut, and patented October 16, 1855. This particular example is without its sabot or concussion fuze or percussion fuze (two different fuzes.) The technology of rifled artillery also produced a new kind of projectile that could travel greater distances with a higher degree of accuracy.

In addition to the Hotchkiss Steel Shell, a 3 Inch Shenkle round was used under certain circumstances.

This wayside exhibit was made possible by a generous gift from Arkansas Senator Bobby Glover (D)

(Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Lonoke County Confederate Monument

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Arkansas, Lonoke County, Lonoke

West Side
Below an image of two crossed flags and the dates 1861-1865
In memory of our Confederate Soldiers

North Side
Erected by the T.C. Hindman Chapter U.D.C. Lonoke, Ark.

East Side
Lonoke County commends the faithfulness of her sons to future generations.

South Side
Love maketh memory eternal.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

A.A.F Seawell

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North Carolina, Lee County, Sanford
Justice of State Supreme Court, 1938-1950; state legislator and attorney general. Home is here.

(Politics) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.

Saving the Circle

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Florida, Miami-Dade County, Miami
The Miami Circle site would not exist today if it were not for the support of the community.

Public outcry over the impending destruction of the Miami Circle led to additional archaeological research and preservation of the 2.2 acre parcel of land. The joint efforts of the public and private partners, led by Miami-Dade County, resulted in a successful campaign to preserve the precious site. South Floridians and others from around the world rose to the occasion by protesting and campaigning to "Save the Circle."

Finding Balance
It would be hard to underestimate the emotions aroused by the discovery of the Circle and its possible demise. Students visited the site and organized letter writing campaigns to local, state and federal governments. Native Americans and other supporters held candlelight vigils to protect the site. Mass media coverage brought focus and a sense of closeness and ownership to the people of Miami.

El yacimiento del Círculo de Miami no existiría hoy en día si no fuera por el apoyo de la comunidad.

La protesta pública ante la inminente destrucción del Círculo de Miami dio lugar a investigaciones arqueológicas adicionales y la conservación de la parcela de 9,000m². El esfuerzo conjunto entre el sector público y privado, encabezado por el condado Miami-Dade, resultó en una exitosa campaña para la conservación del importante yacimiento. Los residented del Sur de la Florida y otras regiones del mundo estuvieron a la altura de las circunstancias, protestando y luchando para "Conservar el Círculo."

Buscando el Equilibrio
Sería difícil subestimar las emociones que provocaron el descubrimiento del Círculo y su posible destrucción. Estudiantes locales visitaron el yacimiento y montaron campañas de cartas al gobierno local, estatal, y federal. Los grupos de indios norteamericanos y otros simpatizantes organizaron vigilias a la luz de las velas para proteger el yacimiento. La cobertura mediática enfocó la atención y produjo un sentido de fraternidad y pertenencia en los residentes de Miami.

(photograph)
Carib Indian Catherine Hummingbird Ramirez, shown here with Bobby Billie, has held a candlelight vigil every Tuesday night since the discovery of the Miami Circle in 1999. Photograph by Carl Juste, Miami Herald Collection, HistoryMiami.

Catherine Hummingbird Ramirez, fotografiada aquí con Bobby Billie, ha realizado una vigilia a luz de las velas cada martes desde que se descubrió el Círculo de Miami en 1999. Fotografía por Carl Juste, Colección del Miami Herald, HistoryMiami.

(photograph)
Demonstrators protest the planned destruction of the Miami Circle. Photograph by C.W. Griffin, Miami Herald Collection, HistoryMiami.

Los manifestantes protestan contra los planes para destruir el Círculo de Miami. Fotografía de C.W. Griffin, Colección del Miami Herald, HistoryMiami.

(photograph)
Carved bone artifact with concentric circles recovered from Miami Circle excavations, 1998-1999.

Hueso tallado con círculos concéntricos hallado durante las excavaciones del Círculo de Miami, 1998-1999.


The Meaning of Circle
The circle has long been an ancient an universal symbol of unity, wholeness, and infinity. The circle is also an object of nature, an idealization of pure mathematics, and a symbol or framework we use to understand and describe our world.

El Significado del Círculo
Desde la antigüedad, el círculo es el símbolo universal de la unidad, completitud, e infinidad. El círculo también es un objeto de la naturaleza, una idealización de las matemáticas puras y un símbolo o marco de referencia que utilizamos para comprender y describir nuestro mundo.

National Historic Landmark
The Miami Circle at Brickell Point Site
Designated January 6, 2009

(images: three newspaper clippings)
· "The Readers' Forum: Preserve Miami Circle by building around it", letter by Alex Penelas, Mayor, Miami-Dade County
· "Circle Cash Linked to Park Sale" by Herald staff, with photo by Tim Chapman
· "Will history stop the bulldozers again?" by Howard Kleinberg


Miami Circle is a registered trademark of HistoryMiami.

(Anthropology • Charity & Public Work • Communications • Government • Native Americans) Includes location, directions, 9 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Adams County Prison

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Pennsylvania, Adams County, Gettysburg

As part of a deal to establish Gettysburg as county seat in 1800, James Gettys donated this lot for a county prison. This two story “bastille-like” building with its 16’ foot stone wall enclosing the prison yard was erected in 1851 to replace the first prison facility.

On July 2nd Confederate General Robert E. Lee held a council of war in the building, perhaps to plan the attack later that evening on Cemetery Hill.

Following the Battle, the jail was utilized by the Union Army provost marshal to retain soldiers and civilians charged with violating martial law.

In late 1889 the County enlarged the front of the building to three stories and continued its use until 1948. The Adams County Public Library followed as tenants for the next 40 years. In 1991 the Borough of Gettysburg acquired the property and rehabilitated the structure for its new municipal building.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

“ . . . I Am Going To Die”

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Pennsylvania, Adams County, Gettysburg

Erected in 1853, this church served as a field hospital during and after the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. While the church was substantially altered in 1925, much of the original Civl War era structure remains intact. Within its walls some 200 wounded Union and Confederate soldiers were treated by army surgeons and other volunteer personnel including nuns from the Sisters of Charity of nearby Emmitsburg.

Gettysburg resident Salome “Sallie” Myers, who resided a few doors west of here, recalled seeing the suffering in the building. “I went into the Roman Catholic Church. The men were scattered all over it, some lying on the pews and some on the bare floor. The suffering and the groans of the wounded and dying were terrible to see and hear. I knelt by the first one inside the door and said ‘What can I do for you.’ He looked up at me with mournful eyes and said ‘Nothing. I am going to die.’ He was Sergeant Alexander Stewart of the One Hundred and Forty Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers.” Stewart soon died of his wounds.

(Churches, Etc. • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Patrick County Virginia / North Carolina

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Virginia, Patrick County, Claudville
Patrick County, Virginia. Area 485 Square Miles. Formed in 1790 from Henry, and named for Patrick Henry, who thus had two counted named for him. General J.E.B. Stuart was born in this county.

North Carolina. North Carolina was one of the original thirteen states. The first settlement was made on Roanoke Island, 1585, but was not permanent. Settles from Virginia occupied the Albemarle Region before 1663, in which year the colony of North Carolina was founded.

(Political Subdivisions) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

John L. Burns

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Pennsylvania, Adams County, Gettysburg
Citizen Hero
Patriot
was in the Battle
of Gettysburg
July 1st 1863
He joined this church
Jan. 28th 1866

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Dobbin House

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Pennsylvania, Adams County, Gettysburg

      The Dobbin House is the oldest building in Gettysburg. It was built by Reverand Alexander Dobbin in 1776. The structure originally served as a home for Mr. Dobbin, his wife, and 19 children, as well as the Reverand’s Classical School, the first of it’s kind in America, west of the Susquehanna River.

      The Dobbin House is believed to have been the first station of the Underground Railroad north of the Mason-Dixon Line. The Slaves Hideaway is still intact and available for public view.

      During the Battle of Gettysburg, the Dobbin House served as a field hospital for both Union & Confederate casualties, even though it was within the range of the guns of armies and was frequently struck by shellfire.

      The Dobbin House is now operated by a local family as an authentic Colonial Restaurant & Tavern. Recently the structure has been completely and authentically restored and preserved in the hope that the Dobbin House may survive to participate in yet another two hundred years of American History.

(Abolition & Underground RR • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

St. Peter Boat Landing

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Minnesota, Nicollet County, St. Peter
About 150 feet North of this Park was the old boat landing.

Boat transportation from the earliest years of this area until the 1870's was the main source of commercial transportation.

The first steamboat to come up the Minnesota River was the "Anthony Wayne", July, 1850 and traveled as far as Mankato and returned.

One year over 400 boats made trips up the Minnesota River and returned.

53,600 bu. of small grain was shipped by steamboat from St. Peter in 1861.

In 1897, the "Henrietta" was the last steamboat to come up the river and return.

Nicollet County Bicentennial Commission

(Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Windsor Hotel

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Kansas, Finney County, Garden City


This historic
Windsor Hotel
was built in 1886
by
John A. Stevens
who also
gave to posterity
our beautiful
Stevens Park

(Entertainment • Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Stevens Park

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Kansas, Finney County, Garden City


In 1885 John A. and Ciddie Stevens gave a block of land on Main Street to be used for a courthouse. It was not used for that purpose and in 1895 was sold for $100 to the county. Some trees and grass were planted and it became Stevens Park. John Stevens died in 1902, leaving along with his other contributions to Garden City, a park, which would figure as a hub for many town activities. By 1903 it has a band shell and a couple of years later $250 was spent on landscaping.

An article in the April 22, 1931 Garden City Daily News notes: “Plans for a modern shell for Stevens Park have been presented to the city commissioners, who may vote their approval for the new improvement at the their [sic] regular weekly meeting…The style of architecture is an attractive one, and the new shell would have much more room than the present one. The cost of the new band stand is estimated at $3,900.” The first concert in the new concrete band shell in Stevens Park was presented July 1, 1931.

Stevens Park still flourishes today and continues to be the sight of many community activities including band concerts and art events.

(Charity & Public Work • Entertainment • Man-Made Features • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Fairy Stone State Park

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Virginia, Patrick County, near Dodson
Roanoke newspaper publisher Junius B. Fishburn donated the land to create Fairy Stone State Park. It is named for the cross-shaped crystals found in the region, which according to legend were formed from the tears of fairies. The National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps, in conjunction with the Virginia Conservation Comission, developed the park. Construction began in 1933 and the park was opened on 15 June 1936. It was one of the first six state parks opened in Virginia, covering close to 5,000 acres, and is one of the largest.

(Environment) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Garden City History

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Kansas, Finney County, Garden City


Would the founding fathers of Garden City recognize their town? Brothers James and William Fulton, who came hunting wild horses, filed homesteads in 1878 along the Arkansas River, laying plans for a town in unsettled region. The third town founder, John A. Stevens, was a young member of Fulton’s outfit. A year later, C. J. Jones, a well-known promoter, joined the trio using his talents to persuade the Santa Fe Railroad to place a depot at the tiny settlement. The inspiration for the name of the town came from a garden planted by William Fulton’s wife, Luticia in the summer of 1878. This photograph taken in 1918, a mere forty years after the town’s founding, shows that Garden City had come a long way. What was once a small settlement with two buildings had blossomed into a thriving center of commerce for the surrounding southwest Kansas area.

The streets of Garden City were unpaved for many years, but in the spring of 1886 the streets were graded for the first time. The city also began operating street sprinklers (horse-drawn waterwagons) to keep the dust down. In 1912, the city fathers decided to oil Main Street. The September 20, 1912 edition of the Garden City Telegram reported, “Main Street is being oiled at last.. The start was made on South Main Street below the tracks where the loose soft dirt has on every windy day poured up Main Street in chocking blasts. Oiling will continue up Main Street as far as the oil lasts.”

It was soon after the end of World War I that Garden City decided it had been fogging up dust in downtown long enough. By August of 1919 plans were in place to pave Main Street with brick. Work started at Maple Street, two blocks south of the Santa Fe Railroad crossing, and extended all the way north to Kansas Avenue, a distance of about one mile. Other streets then were bricked – Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Grant, Laurel, Chestnut, Pine, Garden City Avenue and all other short streets between 7th and 9th.

In 1964 Main Street underwent a major improvement project. It was then that Main Street was resurfaced with asphalt from the railroad tracks to Kansas Avenue.

(Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
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