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William Payne Stewart

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Missouri, Greene County, Springfield


Born in Springfield, MO in 1957 to
William Louis Stewart and Bee Payne-Stewart
Attended Greenwood High School and
Southern Methodist University
Married to Tracey Ferguson Stewart
Father to Chelsea and Aaron

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Champion – 1999
U.S. Open Champion – 1991 & 1999
Ryder Cup Team Member – 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, & 1999
Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame – 1999
SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award – 1998
Missouri Sports Hall of Fame – 1994
Three-time “Skins Game” Winner – 1991, 1992, & 1993
PGA Champion – 1989
Missouri State Amateur Champion – 1979
All-American at SMU – 1979
11 Total PGA Tour Victories
7 Total International Victories

Recognized as a
Missouri Sports Legend
February 2000


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

John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil

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Missouri, Greene County, Springfield


Born in Carrabelle, FL in 1911 to
John Sr. and Luella O’Neil
Attended Edward Waters College
Married Ora Lee Owen in 1946

Played for the Kansas City Monarchs from 1938-1943
Managed for the Kansas City Monarchs from 1948-1955
Served as a Scout for the Chicago Cubs from 1956-1962
Became the first African-American Coach in Major League Baseball with the Chicago Cubs – 1962
Served as a Scout for the Kansas City Royals
Missouri Sports Hall of Fame - 1994
Published his autobiography “I Was Right On Time” – 1996
International Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame – 1996
Florida Sports Hall of Fame – 1999
Serves as Board Chairman of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Recognized as a
Missouri Sports Legend
May 2002


(African Americans • Civil Rights • Sports) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Alameda County Courthouses

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California, Alameda County, Oakland
These five panels tell the stories of Alameda County's five courthouses.

Alameda County’s 1st Courthouse
Alvarado • 1853-1855

Alameda County’s first courthouse was a converted loft space above a general store in the frontier town of Alvarado, near where Alameda Creek flowed into San Francisco Bay.

The building, demolished many years ago, was located on what is now the northwest corner of Union City Boulevard and Smith Street in Union City. Henry Clay Smith, a State Assemblyman from Washington Township and a substantial landowner in that area, introduced a bill creating Alameda County, which was approved by the state legislature, then meeting in Benicia, and signed by Governor John Bigler on March 25, 1852. The loft space where the county government first met, when the Court of Sessions convened on June 6, 1853, was, in fact, located above the Smith and Church Store in a building owned by Smith, and the county government agreed to pay him $200 annual rent for use of the space.
The county seat was in Alvarado for less than three years. Dissatisfaction arose over the frequent winter floods and summer dust and mosquitos (sic) in marshy Alvarado. Also, the county’s population, which originally centered around Alvarado, was shifting northward. On December 5, 1854 county voters were given a choice of a county seat, and 782 voted for San Leandro, 614 for Alvarado, 232 for Alameda, 220 for San Lorenzo, 18 for Oakland, and 15 for Haywards (as it was then known). San Leandro won the run-off election by a margin of 1,301 to 1.067 over Alvarado. County official relocated there, but the state Supreme Court ruled in August, 1855, that only the state legislature could change the location of the county seat and so it returned to Alvarado. Agitation continued, however, for a permanent move to San Leandro, and in February, 1856, the state legislature named that town as the new county seat.

Alameda County’s 2nd Courthouse
San Leandro • 1855-1873

The Estudillo family, holders of the original Mexican land grant, was instrumental in bringing the county seat to the town of San Leandro.

They donated four city blocks of their land for public purposes, around which the new town of San Leandro arose. A temporary courthouse had been built in 1855, but following the state legislature’s final vote in favor of that site, work began on a permanent structure. Alameda County’s second courthouse opened in 1857 at a cost of $30,000. Pedimented, with imposing Ionic columns flanking the entry, it was built entirely of bricks made from clay extracted to create the courthouse basement. The first floor was devoted to offices - one room each for the Clerk, Recorder, Treasurer, Assessor, and Sheriff. – and the upper floor held the one court-room and two jury rooms. The basement contained the county jail, consisting of six cells and two guard rooms.

The Greek Revival building was praised as “unsurpassed by any county in the state... for comfort, convenience, elegance, and strength,” but worries arose about its ability to survive a major earthquake. Indeed, it was substantially destroyed by the historic earthquake of October 21, 1868. The county offices and courts moved temporarily to a nearby Methodist Church, and the Supervisors ordered repairs to the courthouse, including iron cells for the subterranean jail and a new frame building over it, as well as a separate fireproof building for the Recorder’s office. The new facilities were ready by January, 1869, and served the county until June, 1873. The courthouse building served as a Catholic school from 1880 until its demolition in 1926. Its site, on the southwest corner of the intersection of Clarke and Davis streets, is currently occupied by St. Leander’s School.

Alameda County’s 3rd Courthouse
East Oakland • 1873-1875

A powerful contingent of Oakland citizens has always wanted to see the county seat located in their city.

April, 1853, one month after the creation of Alameda County, State Assemblyman Horace W. Carpentier (later Oakland’s first mayor) introduced a bill changing the county seat from Alvarado to Oakland. It was narrowly defeated by a vote of 19 to 17. The partisans of Oakland had to wait another twenty years for a new courthouse, and even then it was built in East Oakland, not downtown where they had intended.

By 1870 Oakland had over 10,000 people and was the new terminus of the transcontinental railroad. It was clearly the center of public life in the county, but attempts to relocate the county seat there were met by stiff opposition from representatives of San Leandro and other towns to the south and east. As a compromise, some suggested Brooklyn, a smaller community located between Oakland and San Leandro. However, Brooklyn was annexed to Oakland in November, 1872, and in another popular vote on the location of the county seat, in April, 1873, voters cast 2,254 votes for Oakland and 1,189 votes for San Leandro. Oakland city officials offered temporary quarters in the new City Hall and the donation of Washington and Franklin plazas on Broadway as the future permanent site of county government.

Instead, the County Board of Supervisors accepted the offer of a parcel on East 14th Street, (now International Boulevard) in the Brooklyn neighborhood and $10,000 to build a courthouse there. They authorized the construction of a rather plain frame building costing $18,000. It opened in June of 1873 and, like its predecessor in San Leandro, had offices for county officials on the first floor and one courtroom on the upper floor. This unassuming building, which served as the county courthouse for only two years, still stands at the northeast corner of International Boulevard and 20th Avenue.

Alameda County’s 4th Courthouse
Oakland • 1875-1936


County officials occupied the courthouse in East Oakland only briefly before planning began for much larger and grander facilities in downtown Oakland.

In 1874 the state legislature approved the transfer of two Oakland plazas, located on opposite sides of Broadway between 4th and 5th streets, and the issuance of $200,000 in bonds for construction of new county offices. Washington Plaza, on the west side of Broadway, was chosen as the site for the new courthouse, while Franklin Plaza, across the street, was selected for the Hall of Records.

Alameda county’s fourth courthouse, which opened in June, 1897, was as grand as its predecessor was plain. It was designed by the prominent architects and brothers, John J. and Thomas D. Newsom (who also designed Oakland’s fourth City Hall in 1878). Built in the Second Empire style, the courthouse featured a tall domed central tower and four miniature corner towers with mansard-like roofs and circular dormer windows. Wooden statures of Liberty and Justice, sculpted by Oakland native Charles Keitell, perched over the Broadway façade. With its Parisian grandeur, the new courthouse was a powerful symbol of the importance and wealth of what was then California’s fourth most populous county.

Within fifty years, however, this appraisal of the courthouse would change. By the 1920s – in an era long before the rise of the modern historic preservation movement – the courthouse on Broadway, and the equally grand Hall of Records which faced it, were viewed as outdated and embarrassing. Noting the shift of Oakland business away from lower Broadway, one Oakland journal stated in 1923 that “the center of activities is now many miles away from the old courthouse district and... the buildings are a positive disgrace to the community.” Calling for voters to support a bond to fund completely new county buildings in 1924, the same paper editorialized that the building “must now be swept aside...” While that bond measure failed, it would not be long before those in favor of a new county courthouse would succeed in their efforts.

Alameda County’s 5th Courthouse
Oakland • 1936-Present


In 1933 the Oakland Tribune called for voters to support a new bond measure to replace the “antiquated and condemned” county buildings with a modern courthouse and administrative building.

The measure failed that year, but carried in April, 1934. Totaling $1.7 million, the bond was supplemented by $462,000 in Public Works Administration (PWA) funds to allow for the construction of the 235,000 square foot courthouse that now stands before you.

Designed by a team of locally prominent architects – William Corlett, Henry Minton, James Plachek, William Schirmer, and Carl Werner – the courthouse was dedicated on September 6, 1936, following twenty months of construction. The steel frame and reinforced concrete building features exterior surfaces of California granite and terra cotta trim. The main façade of the building overlooking Lake Merritt, opens to a spacious lobby whose stairway is flanked by fifteen-foot-high marble mosaic murals depicting county history and created by artist Marian Simpson of Berkeley and sculptor Gaetano Duccini of San Francisco. The first and second floors were designed to hold public offices, courtrooms occupy the third through the eighth floors, and the District Attorney’s office occupies the entire ninth floor. A jail with space for over 100 detainees occupies the tenth and eleventh floors, while an observation cupola flanked with eagles crowns the building 200 feet above the base.

Damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, this outstanding example of “PWA Moderne” architecture was completely rehabilitated and continues to actively serve the citizens of Alameda County.

Dedicated in 2003 to honor Alameda County’s Sesquicentennial

(Government • Notable Buildings) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Amador County Veterans' Memorial

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California, Amador County, Jackson
In memory of all men and women who honorably served in the armed forces of the United States of America

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

Dr. Sharp's Drug

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California, Amador County, Jackson
Among city’s oldest brick stores.
Main Mercantile store for decades

1856, c1870 - 1950

(Notable Buildings) Includes location, directions, GPS coordinates, map.

Western Union Railroad Depot

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California, Alameda County, Oakland
First Western Pacific transcontinental passenger train drawn by Engine No. 94 arrived in Oakland via Scenic Feather River Route August 22, 1910. Famed California Zephyr began operation in 1949. Adapted to restaurant in 1975.

(Railroads & Streetcars) Includes location, directions, GPS coordinates, map.

1860 Home Of George Anthony

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New York, Orleans County, Medina
1824 - George Anthony - 1896
Capt. 17th Orleans Battery
Duration of Civil War.
Newspaperman Cousin Susan B.
Kansas Governor 1877-79

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

Union Point

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California, Alameda County, Oakland
Creating a Harbor Spreading before you is the Oakland Estuary. This sheltered inlet of San Francisco Bay was once fringed by broad marshes and shallow tidelands which became mud flats at low tide. A rich wildlife habitat, the estuary was a plentiful source of food for Native Americans. The Ohlone Indians established a village near this spot. A long-vanished shellmound was located near the village, marking the location of discarded shells from oysters, clams, and mussels.

Beginning in the 1870s, harbor improvements by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers transformed the shallow estuary into a working harbor. Channels and basins were deepened, and the dredged mud and sand were used to fill marshes and tidelands. Coast Guard Island, north of here, was created by dumping dredged material behind levees. The excavated mile-long tidal canal, south of here, transformed Alameda from a peninsula to an island and funneled tidal water from San Leandro Bay through the estuary in order to scour the shipping channels. These harbor improvements made the estuary accessible to ocean-going vessels, ushering in a new era of marine commerce.

General Engineering and Alaska Packers Across the estuary is the Alameda Marina, occupying the site of General Engineering & Drydock shipyard. Established in 1922, the yard built diesel-powered ferryboats. During World War II, it was expanded and equipped with a floating drydock (shown above), making it one of the largest ship-repair facilities on the coast. It closed in 1948. Alameda Marina, which opened in 1967, has repaired a number of the old shipyard buildings for new uses.

Farther west is Fortman Marina, the site of the berthing basin of the Alaska Packers Association – the world’s largest salmon-packing concern. Beginning in the 1890s, the company’s ships sailed north each spring, returning in late summer with salmon from the Alaska canneries. After 1900, the fleet was moored and repaired in Alameda. By the 1930s, the square-riggers had been replaced by steamships, and the company moved to Seattle during World War II. The basin was renamed Fortman Marina in honor of the first president of the Alaska Packers.

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

A place of big plans and broken dreams...

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Minnesota, Sibley County, Henderson
The Minnesota River Valley has been home to many cultures. Paleo, Archaic, Plains, Woodland, Iowa, Oneota and Dakota Indians followed each other in the basin. After 1852, settlers from Europe and the eastern U. S. came to the valley looking for a better life.

Farm families, merchants, craftsmen, town developers and dreamers saw great opportunities in the valley. Some merchants and promoters, such as Brown, found success in the valley in supplying provisions and transportation for this westward movement. Others did not survive the rigors of pioneer life. Many returned on to Colorado, Oregon and California.

As settlers' farms displaced the traditional hunting grounds of the Dakota, some Dakota people accepted the immigrants' religions and farming practices. Following the 1862 U.S.–Dakota War, the Dakota people experienced the loss of both traditional and newly adopted lifestyles as they were forced onto reservations further west. Immigrants and Dakota alike lost much because of this six week war.

The Minnesota River Valley... Find out how these and other stories of hope and despair played out in the Minnesota River Valley in the second floor exhibit area.

(Native Americans • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Jackie Marie Stiles

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Missouri, Greene County, Springfield


Born in Kansas City, Kansas
to Pat and Pam Stiles
Attended Claflin High School, Claflin, KS and
Southwest Missouri State University,
Springfield, MO

USA Today and Parade High School All-American First Teams - 1997
Missouri Valley Conference All-Tournament Team -
1998, 1999, 2000, & 2001
Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year -
1999, 2000, & 2001
18-Time Missouri Valley Conference
Player of the Week
Led Nation in Scoring with 27.8 Points Per Game Average - 2000
Member of the USA Basketball Jones Cup Team - 2000
Associated Press First Team All American - 2001
Kodak First Team All-American - 2001
NCAA All-Time Leading Scorer in Women's Basketball History With 3,393 Career Points - 1998-2001
Wade Trophy Recipient - Women's Collegiate Player of the Year - 2001
Won the Broderick Cup - Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year - 2001
#4 Draft Pick by the Portland Fire in the 2001 WNBA Draft
2001 WNBA All-Star Team and WNBA Rookie of the Year
Missouri Sports Hall of Fame - 2002 Inductee

Dedicated October 2002
This statue is provided by Hall of Fame Founder John Q. Hammons in honor of Jackie Stiles and her fans and supporters who created an increased awareness of women's basketball, Southwest Missouri State University, the State of Missouri and the entire Midwest region.

John Q. Hammons, Founder
Joe Greene, Chairman
Larry O'Reilly, Vice Chairman
Jerald L. Andrews, President and Executive Director

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

Bobby Bell

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Missouri, Greene County, Springfield


Born in Shelby, NC in 1940 to
Pink and Zannie Bell
Attended Cleveland High School
and the University of Minnesota
Father to Tracie, Bobby, Jr., and Joshua

Two-time All-American Linebacker/Defensive End
at the University of Minnesota
College Football's Outland Trophy Winner - 1962
Played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1963 - 1974
Led Kansas City to Super Bowl I appearance
and Super Bowl IV championship
Garnered 26 Career Interceptions returning six for touchdowns and ran back one On-Side Kick
for a touchdown
Six-time AFL All-Star Game Selection
Three-time NFL Pro Bowl Game Selection
Member of the AFL's All-Time Team
Member of the NFL's 1970's All-Decade Team
Member of the Shelby, NC and University of Minnesota Halls of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame - 1993
First Kansas City Chiefs Player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame - 1987
College Football Hall of Fame - 1992
Missouri Sports Hall of Fame - 1995

Recognized as a
Missouri Sports Legend
September 2006


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

Lamar Hunt

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Missouri, Greene County, Springfield


Born in Eldorado, Ar. in 1932 to
Lyda Bunker Hunt and Haroldson Layfayette [sic] Hunt
Graduated from the Hill School in Pottstown, Pa.
and Southern Methodist University
Married Norma Lynn Knobel in 1964
Father of Lamar, Jr., Sharron Munson, Clark, and Daniel

Founded the American Football League - 1959
Founded Dallas Texans who later became
Kansas City Chiefs
Helped guide the organization to the 1962, 1966, and 1969 AFL Championships and to the Super Bowl IV Championship - 1969
Played a pivotal role in the AFL-NFL merger - 1960s
Member of the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame (1970),
Pro Football Hall of Fame (1972),
Texas Sports Hall of Fame (1984),
NFL Alumni's Order of the Leather Helmet (1993),
and Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (1995)
President of the American Football Conference
AFC Championship Trophy bears his name

Recognized as a
Missouri Sports Legend
September 2004


Presented by
Kansas City Chiefs

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

Norman E. Stewart

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Missouri, Greene County, Springfield


Born in Leonard, MO in 1935 to
Kenneth and Leona Stewart
Attended Shelbyville High School and
the University of Missouri - Columbia
Married to Virginia Zimmerley
Father to Jeffrey, Lindsey Scott, and Laura

All-State High School Basketball Player
Scored 2,000 points at Shelbyville High School
All-Conference Basketball Player at Mizzou
Helms Foundation Basketball All-American
Pitcher on Mizzou's 1954 National Championship Team
Played professionally with the St. Louis Hawks
Played professionally with the Baltimore Orioles organization
Northern Iowa Head Basketball Coach for 6 Years
University of Missouri Head Basketball Coach for 32 Years
AP Big 8 Conference All-Time Coach
Eight Big 8 Conference Championships
Six Big 8 Conference Post Season Championships
Five Big 8 Conference Pre-Season Championships
National Coach of the Year - 1993-94
Seven-time Big 8 Coach of the Year
UPI National Coach of the Year - 1982
Missouri Sports Hall of Fame - 1989
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame
731 Career Head Coaching Wins

Recognized as a
Missouri Sports Legend
October 2000


Presented by
Don and Audrey Walsworth

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

Henry "Hank" Louis Stram

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Missouri, Greene County, Springfield


Born in Chicago, IL in 1923 to
Henry and Nellie Wilszek
Attended Lew Wallace High School
and Purdue University
Married Phyllis Persha in 1953
Father to Hank Jr., Dale, Stu, Julia
Gary, and Mary Nell

Head Coach and Vice President of
the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs
from 1960 to 1974
Guided the organization to the
1962, 1966, and 1969 AFL Championships
Led the Kansas City Chiefs to the
1969 Super Bowl IV Championship
American Football League
Coach of the Year - 1966 & 1968
Compiled a 131-97-10 regular season and
5-3 postseason career record
Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame - 1987
Missouri Sports Hall of Fame - 1996
Pro Football Hall of Fame - 2003
Color Analyst for the NFL on CBS Radio and TV

Recognized as a
Missouri Sports Legend
September 2004


Presented by
Kansas City Chiefs

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

Liberty Hall

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California, Alameda County, Oakland
Built in 1877, Liberty Hall embodies the many layers of West Oakland history. It is an outstanding example of mid-Victorian commercial architecture, with octagonal turrets, ornamental brackets and window hoods. It was operated as the Western Market by its original owner Harry A. Zeiss, who lived upstairs, and later by another German family, that of Johan Breiling. Early West Oakland was famed as a “melting pot” with large, strong ethnic communities, among them German, Irish, Italian, Portuguese, Slavic, and African-American. In 1925 Oakland Branch No. 188 of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) bought the market building and renamed it Liberty Hall after their headquarters in Harlem. The largest mass movement of African-Americans in history, the UNIA had over 1.000 chapters in 40 countries. In Oakland its membership grew to over 500. Garvey believed African-Americans could achieve economic power by owning their businesses. In the mid-1930s Liberty Hall was used by the Peace Mission of Father Divine, an African-American minister who organized 160 mission throughout the country. The Oakland Peace Mission offered Depression-era banquets for a few pennies per meal, a dormitory, and a furniture repair shop in the now demolished stable. The movement began to decline after the start of World War II, but the Oakland branch was listed in the telephone directory at this location until 1956. From the closing of the Peace Mission until the early 1970s, Liberty Hall was occupied by several African-American churches. By 1985 it was abandoned and scheduled to be demolished. Through the vision and leadership of Sister Pat Sears, CSJ, Sister Joanna Bramble, CSJ and many others, Jubilee West bought and renovated Liberty Hall to house its services to the neighborhood. It became an Oakland Landmark in 1987 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

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

USS Oakland CL-AA 95

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California, Alameda County, Oakland
Commanding Officers
Captain William K. Phillips, USN • Captain Kendall S. Reed, USN • Captain Allen P. Calvert, USN • Captain Thomas J. Casey, USN • Captain John N. Opie III, USN • Captain Hugh J. Martin, USN • Commander E.B. Ellsworth, USN

The U.S.S. Oakland CL-AA 95 earned 9 Battle Stars * Gilbert Islands Operation: 13 Nov. to 8 Dec. 1943
* Marshall Islands Operations: 29 Jan. to 8 Feb. 1944
* Hollandia Operation: 21 April to 1 June 1944
* Asiatic – Pacific Raids: 16 Feb. to 1 May 1944
* Marianas Operation: 11June to 5 Aug. 1944
* Western Caroline Island Operation: 6 Sept. to 24 Sept. 1044
* Leyte Operation: 10 Oct. to 26 Oct. 1944
* Okinawa Gunto Operation: 14 March to 11 June 1945
* Third Fleet Operation against Japan: 10 July to 15 Aug. 1945

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

USS Oakland Mast

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California, Alameda County, Oakland
The ship’s mast in front of you is salvaged from the USS Oakland, an anti-aircraft cruiser – typical of many ships that received supplies sent from the Oakland Naval Supply Depot during World War II. The Oakland was assigned to the fast carrier strike force. The force was a self-defending convoy of aircraft carriers, battleships, destroyers, submarines and cruisers, equipped to travel at speeds over 30 knots. The Oakland participated in many of the war’s major battles and historic actions, earning nine Battle Stars and numerous other medals.

Life of a ship:
Construction began at Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco, July 1941
Launched, October 1942
Commissioned – official acceptance into the Navy, July 1943
Sailed for Pearl Harbor, November 1943
Decommissioned – retired from active duty, 1949
Struck from active list, March 1959
Sold for scrap, December 1959
Mainmast & nameplate salvaged by the Navy and presented to Oakland: November 1965

(War, World II • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Laurel: Half-way between Baltimore and Washington

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Maryland, Prince George's County, Laurel
Route 1, originally known as the Washington-Baltimore Turnpike was part of the major road between Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.

Laurel, located half-way between Baltimore and Washington was an important and convenient stopping place. A hotel was in operation close to this location across the street by the early 1800s, and early on was known as "Half-Way House." Other names reflecting a succession of owners, including Harrison's Hotel and later Milstead's Hotel. The complex included a livery stable, and blacksmith's shop and undertaker(!) in addition to a hotel.

The B&O railroad, laid out along a path that had earlier been surveyed for a canal, arrived in 1835. Laurel benefited economically from this early and easy access to the important city and commercial port of Baltimore. In later years, the easy access to Washington also became important to the community's many government workers.

Laurel's Francis Baldwin-designed train station was built in 1884. A train station was originally on the other side of the tracks, as shown on this 1878 map. When the Civil War began there was just a single track connecting Washington with the Union states to the north. By the end of the war, rail traffic had increased dramatically and a second track was laid.

Union troops stationed in and around Laurel guarded the tracks from sabotage and Confederate attack.

(Railroads & Streetcars • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Avondale Mill: A Lost Treasure

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Maryland, Prince George's County, Laurel
The Avondale Mill was built by Horace Capron in between 1845-1848. Later owned by George Wheeler and others, for many years it was known as Crabbs' Mill after owner Benjamin F. Crabbs. Over the years flour, corn, and lace embroidery were among the products manufactured there. Until its destruction in 1991 from a devastating fire it was the oldest mill in Prince George's County.

(Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Riverfront Park

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Maryland, Prince George's County, Laurel
Riverfront Park offers visitors the chance to experience the heritage and nature of Laurel, Maryland.

The town owes its very existence to the river - which in pre-Colonial times provided Native Americans food and transportation. It later provided the power to operate the mills which were the center of the town's early economic life. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the riverfront was a bustling, basically industrial site. Today, with the mills just a memory, it has reverted to its earlier, more restful, natural state.

During your walk you can enjoy an eco-system rich in flowers, trees, brush and other plant life. A wide variety of animals also make the park and the river community their homes.

(Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 10 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
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