Quantcast
Channel: The Historical Marker Database - New Entries
Viewing all 103096 articles
Browse latest View live

Hoover Historical Center

0
0
Ohio, Stark County, North Canton
This house, built in 1853, was the boyhood of vacuum cleaner entrepreneur William Henry “Boss” Hoover (1849-1932), whose grandparents came to Stark County from Pennsylvania in 1827 and established a leather tanning business. “Boss” Hoover began manufacturing a patented electric suction sweeper in 1908 in a corner of his leather good factory in New Berlin (now North Canton), thus introducing to American households one of the most essential domestic appliances and Hoover a universally known name. In 1978, The Hoover Company dedicated the Hoover Historical Center to showcase the industry created here.

(Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Mabel Hartzell

0
0
Ohio, Stark County, Alliance
Born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1875, Mabel Hartzell moved to Alliance in 1883. She was adopted by Matthew and Mary Edwards Earley and then lived in this house until her death in 1954. A lifetime educator, she taught in the Alliance schools and served on the Board of Education. She also helped found the Alliance Historical Society, the Woman’s Club, Alliance Chapter of the American Red Cross, and the Alliance Area Retired Teachers Association. A dedicated public servant, she bestowed this house to the Alliance Historical Society.

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

West End of Hastings Cutoff

0
0
Nevada, Elko County, near Elko

     Across the Humboldt Valley southward from this point a deeply incised canyon is seen opening into the valley. Through that canyon along the South Fork of the Humboldt ran the disaster-laden route called the Hastings Cutoff. It joined the regular Fort Hall route running on both sides of the Humboldt here.
     The canyon was first traversed in 1841 by the Bartleson-Bidwell party, the earliest organized California emigrant group. In 1846 Lansford Hastings guided a party through this defile of the South fork and out along the Humboldt. The ill-fated Reed-Donner party followed later the same year.
     By 1850 the dangers of the cutoff route were recognized and it was abandoned.

(Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Hoppe-Lienhard Wagon Group

0
0
Nevada, Elko County, near Elko
This site is approximately 2½ miles from the Humboldt wagon trail. Hoppe-Lienhard traveled west with the Harlan-Young wagon train in 1847 to Fort Sutter. History reveals this party was part of the group which was responsible for the California Gold Rush.

(Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Atwater Coal Company Mine Disaster

0
0
Ohio, Portage County, Atwater
On July 3, 1872, 16 men and a 9-year old boy descended the 170 foot shaft in the Atwater Coal Company Mine located in Atwater Township south of Route 224 and East of Route 225. The mine was situated on the property known as the S.G. Shaffer Farm. By mid-day, 7 miners survived the brutal fire in the mine. Richard Roberts, Robert Roberts, William Roberts, Thomas Maines, Joseph Otey, John Williams, John Howells, John Jones and a 9-year old George Hufford gave their lives to the first Mining Disaster in Ohio and the 19th mining disaster in the United States since 1839 with more than 5 fatalities. In 1873, Ohio was second State to pass a law for the safety of Miners.

(Disasters) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Magasin à Poudre

0
0
New York, Niagara County, Youngstown
Built By
Capitaine
François Pouchot

1757

Rehabilitated Through The
Generosity of
Wallace I. Keep
1932

Dedicated as
L' Institut d' Honneur
(Institute of Honor)

(Forts, Castles • War, French and Indian) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Naming of Frostburg

0
0
Maryland, Allegany County, Frostburg
Contrary to popular belief that it was named for its frigid winter weather, Frostburg can trace its history back to 1800 when the community was known as Mt. Pleasant. By the time the National Road (authorized by Congress in 1806) opened through in 1812, Josiah Frost, Meshach's father, had already bought a tract of land and laid off a series of "town lots" along the road's route. It was Meshach who built a home upon lot 1 and it was here he brought Catherine after their marriage in June 1812. With stage coach service to Frostburg in 1818, the house became an inn along the National Road and became known as Highland Hall (site now occupied by St. Michael's recotry which was built in 1871). As the town grew it became known as "Frost Town:. After the first post office was established by 1820, with Meshach as first postmaster, the present name of Frostburg came into being. The Frosts later resided in the Frost Mansion (Frost Avenue), a home constructed in 1846 and both remained there until their deaths. They had nine children including Nathan, Frostburg's first mayor.

Drawing
Founders of Frostburg
Catherine Frost Born 1792 Died 1876
Meshach Frost Born 1887 Died 1863

(Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Main Street, 200 Block South

0
0
Kansas, Franklin County, Ottawa


The panoramic photo reproduced here was taken by J.C. Bandholtz in 1909. Panoramas were the rage at that time. The view takes in the 100 block south on the left and the 200 block south on the right.

The east side of the 200 block was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 due to its unique concentration of 19th century commercial structures. Since that time, the block has suffered the loss of several major buildings. These include the Zellner Building at the northeast corner, the Rohrbaugh building in the center of the block, and the North American Hotel coffee shop towards the south end.

The first building on the northwest corner of 2nd and Main belonged to town founder Isaac Kalloch. Its second floor housed the town's first newspaper, the Western Home Journal. The site was then used for the First National Bank until the 1960s, and was later called the Lawyers Bldg.

Like many Midwestern downtowns, Ottawa buildings developed with mercantile use on the ground floor and offices upstairs. The lithograph above shows the corner in the late 1860s. The photo to the right shows the same building now dwarfed by the Zellner Building to the north.

Besides clothing stores, the Zellner building also held a number of photographer's shops over the years. A structural failure in the 1980s caused its destruction; the site was replaced with Haley Park.

This small portable shop can be found in several different locations in old photos of Ottawa. Here it is seen on the southwest corner of 2nd and Main, and is called "Bloodgood's Popcorn." It also sold candy.

In Hometown U.S.A., an American Heritage book published in 1975, the authors refer to the Ottawa pictured in this panoramic portrait as "a not inconsiderable town in 1909. A county seat, a producer of soap, flour, furniture and carriages, served by two railroads, it was home to 7,600 people. Planted firmly on the corner of Main and Second was the Peoples National Bank, with the Dickey and Porter land office upstairs; the elk's head [which marked the local meeting rooms of the Elks Lodge]...had its antlers tipped with light bulbs and must have been a 24-hour attraction. Among the bank's near neighbors were a barbershop, a music store, and a millinery. By all appearances, Ottawa was a town entirely typical of its time and place; buildings more sturdy than architecturally distinguished, the horse comfortably co-existing with the few motorcars in town, and no one outside without a hat."

"Plaza-style" Christmas lighting that outlines the Victorian silhouettes of the downtown buildings was introduced in the late 1970s. The prototype was Kansas City's Country Club Plaza.

Visit the Old Depot Museum
135 W. Tecumseh
Tuesday-Saturday 10-4
Sunday 1-4
785.242.1250
www.olddepotmuseum.org

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

Cumberland Terminus: Yesterday and Today

0
0
Maryland, Allegany County, Cumberland
Independence Day, July 4th, 1828, would be an important day for Cumberland, Maryland. On that day, far to the east, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad both broke ground. The finish line of these companies' race was the Ohio River. The prizes were markets for coal, lumber, and farm goods.

The canal followed the Potomac River for 184.5 miles, gaining 605 feet in elevation from Georgetown to Cumberland, as it headed for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In 1850 the canal finally reached Cumberland; the railroad had already arrived eight years earlier. Beaten by the railroad and financially exhausted by floods, the canal closed in 1924. Although it never linked with the Ohio River, for 74 years the canal provided an outlet for local products and labor, and helped build Cumberland into Maryland's second-largest city, rivaled only by Baltimore. Evidence of the canal's contributions surround you.

Left Diagram
The Canal's Cumberland terminus in 1896.

Middle Photo
Coal from the surrounding mountains rode the rails to meet canal boats at Cumberland. From here boatmen towed it downstream to Georgetown, about a week's journey.

Right Photo
Many Cumberland residents made a living from the canal, finding work building and repairing boats. Residents also were employed at the Footer's Dye Works, towering in the distance.

Bottom Diagram
Map of the area.

(Railroads & Streetcars • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Life on the Canal

0
0
Maryland, Allegany County, Cumberland
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal ran from Georgetown in Washington, D.C. (Mile 0) to Cumberland, MD (Mile 184.5), paralleling the Potomac River. Most of the heavy shipping originated from the western terminus at Cumberland. Boatmen carrying coal, lumber, grain and cement passed through Hancock, Williamsport, Sharpsburg, the Harpers Ferry area and Brunswick on their way to Washington. D.C. where their cargoes were unloaded. A one-way trip usually took 5 to 7 days.

The lifeblood of the canal was its people--the canal builders, boatmen, locktenders, mule drivers and families who lived and worked on the canal. Days were long and life was hard for the many people who made the canal run.

Mules powered the heavy cargo boats by walking along the towpath to "tow" the boats to and from Washington. "Packet" or passenger boats operated as well and were often pulled by horses. The canal had a series of structures for boats to pass through or over--including lift locks, a tunnel, aqueduct bridges and culverts. In addition to strong competition from the railroads, nature often threatened the canal with recurring floods of the Potomac River. A flood in the Spring of 1924 closed the canal permanently for commercial shipping.

Center Painting
"Two Sisters" by John Louis Wellington (1878-1965) Courtsey of the Maryland Historical Society.
Cumberland artist John Louis Wellington (1878-1965) traveled the canal aboard "The Cumberland," an excursion packet, spent time near the boatyards, photographed, sketched and painted numerous watercolors of the C&O Canal in its later years. Wellington captured the busy yet tranquil essence of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal--the boats, the people, the beauty.

Bottom Left Photo
Mule team and driver

Center Photo
Boat emerging from the Paw Paw Tunnel

Left Photo
Travelers aboard an excursion packet ca. 1910

(Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Ottawa Carnegie Library

0
0
Kansas, Franklin County, Ottawa


This two story Neo-Classical building was built with Andrew Carnegie's grant of $15,000 and was matched by the City with a site and a commitment to devote 10% of the amount of the gift annually for maintenance. The colossal order Ionic columns, limestone watertable base, a terne metal roof with decorative ridge crest & hip covers, and a rotunda or hemicycle on the East gave distinction to this design by George P. Washburn & Son, Architects.

A contributing building to the Historic Ottawa Central Business District placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007

(Education • Man-Made Features) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Wade Hampton

0
0
South Carolina, Richland County, Columbia
B. ca. 1751 – D. 1835
Planter, Congressman,
Soldier, served as:
Col. Light Dragoons
in Revolution
Member S. C. General
Assembly, 1779-84
Member Congress,
1795-97, 1803-05
U. S. Army, 1808-13,
resigning as Maj. Gen.

Erected, 1977
S. C. Society
U. S. Daughters 1812

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • War of 1812 • War, US Revolutionary) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Boat Building at the Cumberland Basin

0
0
Maryland, Allegany County, Cumberland
Cumberland, the western terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, was the location where the George's Creek coal from western Allegany County was transferred from the short line railroads to canal boats for shipment east. Cumberland was also the center for canal boat building. C&O Canal Company owned boat yards were located on the Little Basin. A number of private boat builders such as John Mertens and Sons had large boat building yards at the south end of the loading basin known as the Shriver Basin.

The boat builders were skilled craftsmen. Boats were built of Georgia pine and oak and caulked with hemplike material called oakum. Boats could hold 120 tons of cargo each and could last 25 years or more. Originally built in varying sizes small enough to fit inside the 15 foot wide by 100 foot long locks, a standard size for boats of 14 1/2 feet wide by 90-95 feet long was adopted.

In the early years of canal operation, many boats were privately owned and given names such as Yankee, Pilgrim, Clementine and Three Sisters, but following formation of the Canal Towage Company in 1902, boats were numbered instead of named. At its peak, over 550 canal boats worked the canal, most constructed in Cumberland.

Painting
"Cumberland Boatyards" by John Louis Wellington (1878-1965) courtesy of The Maryland Historical Society.Bottom Left Photo
Looking north towards Cumberland Basin

Bottom Center Diagram
Diagram of 92' long by 14 1/2' wide cargo boat

Bottom Left Photo

Typical cargo boat with flags flying

(Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.

In Honor of the Sons and Daughters of Mount Savage

0
0
Maryland, Allegany County, Mount Savage
Who served their country in the World War, this bridge was built, and in loving remembrance of
J. Edward Carney • Walter H. Green • Lloyd H. Hartman • Joseph B. Hammers • Lawrence B. Miller • James Shaffer • H. Earl Snyder
who made the supreme sacrifice

(War, World I) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The National Road

0
0
Maryland, Allegany County, Cumberland
“. . . so many happy people, restless in the midst of abundance.” —Alexis de Tocqueville, 1840.

Americans are an adventurous people. From past to present, they have used feet, horses, wagons, stagecoaches, canals, railroads, bicycles, automobiles, trucks and buses to “perpetually change their plans and abodes.”

Centuries ago, George Washington dreamed of a highway joining east and west. In 1806, Thomas Jefferson made that roadway a reality when he risked his Presidency by authorizing, “an Act to regulate the laying out and making [of] a road from Cumberland in the State of Maryland to the State of Ohio.”

The next generation built that “United States Road,” a thirty-foot wide, crushed stone thoroughfare that spanned rivers, traversed mountains and opened up America’s western frontier to the Mississippi. Merchants, traders and families from all over the world journeyed along this route in their quest to claim land, expand markets and form new lives.

Today, you can trace that same path along the Historic National Road. Discover the places, events and stories that shaped this nation. To have your own adventure, stop by any Welcome Center or local visitor center to speak to a travel counselor and pick up a Historic National Road map-guide.

(sidebar) Built in the early 1800s, a paved highway west was America’s first federal project. Much of the approximately 800 mile long National Road is still marked by historic milestones.

(Roads & Vehicles) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.

“City of Columbia” Anchor

0
0
South Carolina, Lexington County, West Columbia
Anchor from
C. S. N.
“City of Columbia”
----------
Donated by
Mrs. Lemuel Hall
In memory of
Lemuel Hall
Mayor of West Columbia
for 24 years

(Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Siege of Fort Niagara

0
0
New York, Niagara County, Youngstown
In July 1759, 2,300 British and New York troops, with about 900 Iroquois allies laid siege to French-held Fort Niagara. 19 days later, with its wall breached and a French relief force defeated only a mile away, Fort Niagara surrendered.

Plan of Attack
Laying siege to a fort required technical skill and much backbreaking labor. Beginning about 1,000 yards away, attackers dug a trench or "sap" toward the fort. The trench zigzagged its way towards the fort to deflect enemy fire. When the trench was within about 400 yards, artillery batteries were built to bombard the fort.

1. July 10: British open trenches about 1,000 yards from Fort Niagara. The French inside the fort can see fresh dirt at about 640 yards.

2. July 17: British open artillery batteries about 300-400 yards from the fort and bombard the walls with solid iron cannon balls ranging in size from 6 to 18 pounds apiece.

3. July 23: Final British battery is only 100 yards from the fort's outer works. Within two days the fort will surrender.

A siege was an orderly process bound by procedures that were perfected in Europe during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Although Fort Niagara lay deep in the wilderness of North America, the siege of 1759 closely followed siege techniques and conventions that were standard in Europe.

Trench
To safely approach the fort, attackers built trenches and earthworks reinforced by gabions (twig baskets designed to be filled with earth) and fascines (bundles of sticks used to shore up earthen walls).

Engineers first marked out the route of the trench, then gabions were placed between the trench and the enemy.

Method of Approach
Working at night, parties of soldiers advanced the trench toward the fort's outer walls.

The end result was a trench 4½ feet wide and 5½feet deep with a thick earthen wall on one side that sheltered the attackers from enemy fire.

A soldier working on his knees dug out a shallow trench, followed by others who widened and deepened the excavation.

Attackers used mortars, fired from the trenches to lob exploding iron bombs over the forts walls.

Battery
A battery was a protected place for artillery to fire upon the fort's walls. During the Fort Niagara siege, British batteries were designed to house six guns each. Batteries were constructed by filling and covering gabions with earth, then lining the outside of the emplacement with fascines. Embrasures were cut into the battery to allow cannons to fire through the wall toward the fort.

Step By Step

July 6
British land at Four Mile Creek, skirmish with French scouts.

July 8
Main British Army marches from Four Mile Creek to camp east of Fort Niagara.

July 9
Captain Walter Rutherford delivers a surrender demand, the French commander, Captain Pierre Pouchot politely refuses.

July 10
British begin to dig their trench toward fort.

July 12
American Indians withdraw from Siege.

July 17
British complete first battery, open fire on fort.

July 20
British General John Prideaux killed, Sir William Johnson assumes command.

July 22-23
French guns are repeatedly being put out of action and then remounted.

July 23
A new British battery opens only 100 yards from the fort. Word reaches the fort that a French relief party is near.

July 24
Battle of La belle Famille fought just one mile south of Fort Niagara. French relief party is defeated, sealing the fate of Fort Niagara.

July 25
Fort Niagara surrenders

(Forts, Castles • Native Americans • War, French and Indian) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Ephraim Root

0
0
Ohio, Portage County, Rootstown
Ephraim Root (1762-1825), a wealthy Connecticut lawyer, was one of 57 investors in the Connecticut Land Company and served as its secretary and agent. In 1795, this group purchased three million acres of land in the Western Reserve. Root held interest in 100,000 acres, including Township 2 in Range VIII, which he named Rootstown. In 1800, Root traveled by horseback with his helper Henry Davenport and surveyor National Cook to divide the township into 48 sections, reserving Lot 6 for his own use.

(Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Rootstown

0
0
Ohio, Portage County, Rootstown
Ephraim Root returned to Rootstown in 1801 to plant a wheat field and build a log house. In 1802, his brother David Root, with his wife Clara and four sons, moved from Connecticut to Rootstown to establish a home. Rootstown was settled in 1802 and grew into a fruit and dairy community with connection to the early railroads and canals. Rootstown Township was organized in 1810. The town celebrated its centennial in 1902, its sesquicentennial in 1952, and its bicentennial in 2002.

(Colonial Era • Patriots & Patriotism) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Kent State University

0
0
Ohio, Portage County, Kent
In 1968, Richard Nixon won the presidency partly based on a campaign promise to end the Vietnam War. Though the war seemed to winding down, on April 30, 1970, Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia, triggering protests across college campuses. On Friday, May 1, an anti-war rally was held on the Commons at Kent State University. Protestors called for another rally to be held Monday, May 4. Disturbances in downtown Kent that night caused city officials to ask Governor James Rhodes to send the Ohio National Guard to maintain order. Troops put on alert Saturday afternoon were called to campus Saturday evening after an ROTC building was set on fire. Sunday morning in a press conference that was also broadcast to the troops on campus, Rhodes vowed to “eradicate the problem” of protests at Kent State.

Continued from Other Side

On Sunday May 4, 1970, Kent State students protested on the Commons regarding the U.S. invasion of Cambodia and the presence of the National Guard to campus to quell demonstrations. Guard troops advanced, driving students past Taylor Hall. A small group of protestors taunted the Guard from the Prentice Hall parking lot. The National Guard marched back to the Pagoda where members of Company A, 145th Infantry, and Troop G, 107th Armored Cavalry, turned and fired 61-67 shots during the thirteen seconds. Four students were killed, Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Schroeder. Nine students were wounded –Alan Canfora, John Clearly, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, D. Scott MacKenzie, James Russell, Robert Stamps, and Douglas Wrentmore. Those shot were 20 to 245 yards away from the Guard. The Report of the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest concluded that the shootings were “unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable.”

(Disasters • War, Vietnam) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Viewing all 103096 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images