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The Site of W.H.H. Ransom & Sons, .

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New York, Niagara County, Ransomville
The Ransom Family, after whom Ransomville was named, in mercantile trade since 1830.

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

Yates Academy

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New York, Orleans County, Yates
Founded 1841 by Peter Saxe for higher education. First year attendance 161. Incorporated 1842. Moved here 1847. Closed 1889.

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

Elmer Kelton Memorial Mural

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Texas, Tom Green County, San Angelo


[Scenes of Kelton and his Western novel themes]

[Novels include]
Hot Iron • Donovan • Llano River • The Day The Cowboy Quit • The Good Old Boys • The Time It Never Rained • The Man Who Rode Midnight • The Wolf And The Buffalo • Slaughter • Far Canyon • The Pumpkin Roller • Cloudy In The West • Badger Boy • Texas Standoff

Western Writers of America (WWA):
Golden Saddleman Award • 7 Spur Awards • 3 Stimp Awards • Western Writer of All Time • Owen Wister Lifetime Achievement Award

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Oklahoma City
4 Western Heritage Wrangler Awards
National Cowboy Symposium Lifetime Achievement Award
Lone Star Award for Lifetime Achievement
Academy of Western Artists Lifetime Achievement Award

Texas Trail of Fame • Texas Hall of Honor
"The Time It Never Rained"
Mr. Kelton's Signature Novel

Mural completed June 24, 2010

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

On August 4, 2000

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Pennsylvania, Lawrence County, Wampum
On August 4, 2000, a train carrying Texas Governor George W. Bush, his running mate Dick Cheney, U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, and future Congresswoman Melissa Hart stopped here in Wampum to greet approximately 500 people who had gathered by the tracks. Three months later in the closest election in history, Governor Bush was elected the 43rd President of the United States of America.

(Politics • Railroads & Streetcars) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Oatman Massacre Site

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Arizona, Maricopa County, near Sentinel
Site of
Oatman
Massacre

Feb. 18, 1851

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Exploration • Native Americans • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Oatman Family

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Arizona, Maricopa County, near Sentinel
In memory of
The Oatman Family
Six members of this pioneer family
massacred by Indians in March 1851


(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Native Americans) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Fredericksburg's Wharves and Harbor

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Virginia, Fredericksburg
The dock before you was once the site of a large wharf complex and ferry landing. From the founding of Fredericksburg in 1728, the river played a major role in the transportation of goods such as timber, flour and corn as well as passengers.

During the late 18th century, this area underwent a transformation from an informal scattering of individual docks into an organized wharf complex. The wharves once stretched from where you are standing northward to the railroad bridge.

Prior to the introduction of the railroad, the wharves were the center of commerce and transportation for the city and continued to play a major role in travel and trade throughout the 19th century.

From this site a traveler could board a vessel bound for numerous locations. A November, 1855, report in the Fredericksburg News lists New York, Boston and Portland, Maine, as cities served by vessels calling port in Fredericksburg.

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

Little Fork Episcopal Church

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Virginia, Culpeper County, Rixeyville
In the spring of 1861, the Little Fork Rangers (Co. D, 4th Virginia Cavalry), mustered in the yard of Little Fork Episcopal Church. On July 4, the Rangers were presented with a battle flag as they left Rixeyville for the First Battle of Manassas. Capt. Robert E. Utterback called on them to follow the flag "into the face of the enemy, defending it with the last drop of your blood!" Utterback's call proved all too prophetic as the Rangers served under Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and other commanders from Manassas, to Gettysburg, to Appomattox Court House.

The church also suffered from the war as armies fought and camped nearby. The Reverend Philip Slaughter later wrote, "The peaceful parish became an entrenched camp and a highway for the marching and countermarching of grand armies." Cannonball holes in the sheathing in the attic still testify to the contested ground.

During the Army of the Potomac's winter camp in 1863-1864, a detachment of the 17th Pennsylvania cavalry camped in the churchyard while guarding the fords on the Hazel River. Faced with dwindling supplies of firewood, they burned the box pews and pulpit from the 1776 building. After the war, Lt. David G. Bruce, regretting the damage that his unit had done to a fine church, contributed #100 for the much-needed repairs. Little Fork Church remained dear to the hearts of the Confederate veterans. On May 25, 1904, the surviving Rangers gathered for a memorial service here when their monument was dedicated.

(Sidebar): Little Fork Church was used only sporadically after the war. In 1976, two hundred years after it first opened, a restoration effort began that restored the church to its original appearance. Today it has an active congregation. The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Belleville First Fire House

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New Jersey, Essex County, Belleville
Built for the Valley Hose Co. No. 1
Foreman – John Hughes,   Asst. John Hawie
Locomotive bell sounded the first alarm.

Belleville Historical Society

(Notable Buildings) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Enon Valley

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Pennsylvania, Lawrence County, Enon Valley
Valley of Many Waters. First settled by Samuel Harnit in 1800. Relocated from Old Enon which was settled by Enoch Marvin. P.FT. W.&C. Railroad completed in 1851 created station. Roundhouse repair shops. Town once had three hotels and I.O.O.F. Hall.

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

Jean Baptiste Beaubien

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Illinois, Cook County, Chicago

On this site, then the lake shore, Jean Baptiste Beaubien, Chicago's second civilian, in 1817, built a “mansion” to which he brought his bride, Josette LaFramboise. It remained their home until 1845.

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

Springfield Cemetery

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California, Tuolumne County, Columbia
Springfield was founded in 1850 with up to 2000 inhabitants. Its downfall soon commenced, however, owing, in great part, to the foreign miner’s tax.

This cemetery, located on a hill above the town, was first used in 1852 and the last burial was in 1997. Of the 34 known graves in the cemetery, nine were children under the age of six.

Many of the graves are unmarked.

The cemetery in recent years has been neglected until Columbia Parlor #258 decided to begin regular maintenance as a parlor activity.

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Training Wall

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California, Alameda County, Oakland
This stone wall you see before you is a partial replica of the north training wall, one of two historic jetties called “training walls” because they were designed to direct the forces of the ebb tide to scour Oakland’s shipping channel and keep it open. Before training walls were built, vessels often had to wait until high tide before they could sail through the shallow waters off of Oakland. The training walls were designed by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in 1874. Twenty years in the making, the walls helped make it possible for ocean-going ships to sail up the estuary – an important part of the development of Oakland as a Port.

facts:
Building the training walls took:
• More than 310, 000 tons of stone
• Over 500,000 square feet of dry stone facing
• Approximately $615,000

Length: 9,500 Feet – north wall; 12,000 Feet – south wall
Width: 8 feet (top) – 20 feet (base)
Height: 6 feet above low water

Stone for the training walls came from shoreline quarries at Yerba Buena Island, Angle Island, San Francisco, San Bruno, and San Rafael.

Annual cargo entering of leaving Oakland harbor: 1874 – 154,000 tons; 1900 – 3,250,000 tons (2000% increase!)

Sidebar
In 2001, when the Port of Oakland deepened and widened the estuary to accommodate larger containerships, the north training wall was demolished. Stones were set aside from the original wall and used to rebuild a 150-foot-long portion of the wall at this site. The south training wall can still be seen along the Alameda shore of the estuary.

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

Western Pacific Mole

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California, Alameda County, Oakland
On a January morning in 1906, two hundred workmen from Western Pacific Railway and thirty armed “company soldiers” landed on the north training wall and began laying track. Although the City of Oakland had invited this action, it was considered a brazen challenge to the Southern Pacific’s long standing monopoly of the waterfront. Southern Pacific promptly sued, claiming ownership of all land along the waterfront. In 1907, the court ruled against Southern Pacific in its suit. The result: Oakland regained control of most of its waterfront.

“The advent of the Western Pacific Railway is epochal... for the system’s coming made it possible for Oakland to recover control and possession of its magnificent waterfront.” – Oakland Mayor Frank K. Mort, 1910.

Sidebar, on left
This is the site of the Western Pacific Mole, which opened in 1910 and extended nearly two-miles out from Oakland’s natural shoreline. The term “mole” refers to an earth or stone-filled breakwater, such as a ferry anchorage, that juts out into deep water. Ferries were crucial to Bay Area transportation until bridges were built in the 1930s. People rode ferries from this location until 1933, when passenger operations were transferred to the Southern Pacific Mole on the north side of Middle Harbor. The passenger terminal was demolished in 1940.

(Railroads & Streetcars) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Battle of Parker's Crossroads

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Tennessee, Henderson County, Parkers Crossroads

Union Forces

Cyrus Livingston Dunham was born in Dryden, New York, on January 16, 1817. In 1841 he moved to Salem, Indiana, where he practiced law and served as a Democratic congressman. He entered the Union service in 1861 as Colonel of the 50th Indiana Infantry Regiment. In the September 1862 battle of Munfordville, Kentucky, Donham and the men of the 50th surrendered to the Confederate Forces. Here at the battle of Parker's Crossroads, the fiery and eloquent commander was determined not to surrender his men as he had been forced to before.

Sidebar: Union Order of Battle
Colonel Cyrus L. Dunham, Third Brigade, 16th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel T. Wells, 50th Indiana Infantry
Colonel John I. Rinaker, 122nd Illinois Infantry
Colonel H.J.B. Cummings, 39th Iowa Infantry
Lieutenant Harry S. Lee, 7th Wisconsin Artillery
Colonel John W. Fuller, 2nd Brigade, 16th Army Corps
Lieutenant Colonel Zephaniah S. Spaulding, 27th Ohio Infantry
Colonel John W. Sprague, 63rd Ohio Infantry
Colonel Edward F. Noyes, 39th Ohio Infantry
Captain John Davis, 18th Illinois Mounted Infantry

Confederate Forces

Nathan Bedford Forrest was born in Bedford County, Tennessee, on July 13, 1821. Entering Confdederate service as a private in the cavalry, he ended the Civil War as a respected Lieutenant General. Understanding that "war means fightin' and fightin' means killin'," he refused to surrender at Fort Donelson; then stopped the Federal pursuit at Shiloh, and later captured the entire Union garrison at Murfreesboro. Newly promoted to Brigadier General, he rode into battle at Parker's Crossroads after crippling and destroying Union railroad supply lines across Tennessee and Kentucky.

Sidebar: Confederate Order of Battle
Brigadier General Nathan B. Forrest, Forrest's Cavalry Brigade, Army of Middle Tennessee
Colonel George G. Dibrell, 8th Tennessee Cavalry
Colonel James W. Starnes, 4th Tennessee Cavalry
Colonel Jacob B. Biffle, 9th Tennessee Cavalry
Colonel A.A. Russell, 4th Alabama Cavalry
Major Nicholas N. Cox, Cox's Tennessee Cavalry Battalion
Captain Samuel L. Freeman, Freeman's Battery
Lieutenant Colonel T. Alonzo Napier, Napier's Tennessee Cavalry Battalion
Lieutenant Colonel T.G. Woodward, Woodward's Kentucky Battalion

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Freeman's Battery

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Tennessee, Henderson County, Parkers Crossroads

Front

Dedicated to
Freeman's Battery
Forrest's Artillery
and
Samuel L. Freeman.
General Nathan Bedford
Forrest's First Artillery
Captain Freeman's Battery
fought near here
during the Battle of
Parker's Crossroads
Dec. 31, 1862


Rear

General N.B. Forrest opened the battle of Parker's Crossroads by placing a 12 pounder bronze field howitzer under the command of Sergeant Nat Baxter on a knoll in Hicks field four hundred yards from the enemy. The Federals were supported by three cannon. The Union assault was so intense Baxter's men were forced to load and fire lying down. In spite of the awkward position, the firing was rapid. Baxter's gun dismounted one of the Federal guns to the great satisfaction of General Forrest, who remained with Baxter's gun during the duel and was with the piece frequently throughout the day. The other two guns were later captured. Forrest relied chiefly on his artillery in fighting the Federals at the crossroads and did not expose his soldiers unless necessary for the protection of the guns.

The Federals were driven beyond the crossroads and were surrendering when Forrest was surprised by another Union force behind his artillery. Exposed to fire front and rear, he withdrew in good order leaving the three captured guns and one Confederate gun that had exploded. Two additional guns of Freeman's Battery were left when the new Federal force killed all the artillery horses.

In his report of the battle General Forrest stated that Captain Freeman … and all of his men deserved special mention, keeping up as they did a constant fire from their pieces not withstanding the enemy made every effort at silencing their guns.

Erected June 8, 2002 by Freeman's Battery Forrest's Artillery, Camp 1939. Sons of Confederate Veterans

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

Morton's Battery

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Tennessee, Henderson County, Parkers Crossroads

FrontDedicated to
Morton's Battery
Forrest's Artillery
and
Captain John W. Morton, Jr.
The Confederacy's Youngest
Captain of Artillery

Morton's Battery fought near here
December 31, 1862
in the Battle of
Parker's Crossroads, TN.
with Two Mountain Howitzers
and Two 3" Steel Rifled
Cannon.

Rear
Morton's Battery
December 27, 1862 — May 9, 1865

Porter's Battery was captured at Fort Donelson, TN and imprisoned at Johnson Island., Ohio. After being exchanged, Lieutenant John Watson Morton, Jr. and ten of his men were assigned to General Nathan Bedford Forrest's Artillery. Captain Samuel L. Freeman commanded Forrest's Artillery and was acquainted with Lieutenant Morton, who was a personal friend of long standing. Freeman loaned Morton two cannon and sufficient men to man the pieces so Morton could accompany Forrest on his West Tennessee Raid, in December of 1862. On December 18, 1862, Forrest's command captured two three-inch steel-rifled Rodman guns made by Singer-Nimick Company of Pittsburgh, PA, fully equipped from the 14th Indiana Battery. These pieces were given into Morton's possession, enabling him to return to Captain Freeman the two which had been loaned. These two captured cannon became the famous "bull pups," of Forrest's Artillery. Three other cannon were also captured during the raid of 1862. Napier's Battalion, which had joined General Forrest shortly after the Battle of Trenton, TN, contained two mountain howitzers, commanded by Lieutenant A.W. Gould. These were consolidated with Morton's guns at Dresden, TN, December 27, 1862, forming the battery known thereafter as Morton's Battery, with John W. Morton Jr., Captain; A.W. Gould, 1st Lieutenant, and T. Sanders Sale, 2nd Lieutenant. The battery numbered sixty-three non-commissioned officers and men.

Morton's Battery served at Parker's Crossroads on December 31, 1862. The artillery was placed at close range and ordered by Forrest to "Give 'em Hell." During the battle, one of the Confederate guns exploded. While the U.S. forces were surrendering, Forrest's was surprised by the brigade of Colonel John W. Fuller under the command of Brigadier General Jeremiah Sullivan. What looked like victory began to resemble a defeat. Forrest was able to extract most of his command. With the exception of the exploded gun, all the Confederate artillery, including the "bull pups," was safely removed. The three captured pieces were left behind, as their horses had been killed and there was not time to substitute others. Eighteen members of Morton's Battery were captured along with three hundred cavalrymen. Freeman and Morton were conspicuous for their coolness, their intelligent, intrepid management of their guns, and General Forrest attributed the larger part of the loss inflicted that day on the enemy to this and the bravery of their companies. In his official report General Forrest commended the action of his artillery. "Captain Freeman and Lieutenant Morton, of our batteries, with all of their men, deserve especial mention, keeping up, as they did, a constant fire from their pieces, notwithstanding the enemy made every effort at silencing them by shooting down the artillerist at their guns."

After Captain Freeman's death, April 10, 1863, Captain Morton later became General Forrest's Chief of Artillery.

Erected December 27, 2007
by
Freeman's Battery Forrest's Artillery
Camp 1939
Sons of Confederate Veterans

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

Delaware Twp. Hall

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New Jersey, Hunterdon County, Sergeantsville
Long the Sergeantsville Hotel. Gordon's Tavern in 1780. It has been the site of every town meeting since 1838. The township bought it in 1948.

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

Pleasant Hill

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Alabama, Limestone County, Athens

Front
Built abt. 1849 by Rev. Robert Donnell, a native of North Carolina, and his second wife Clara Lindley Donnell. He was greatly inspired by the Great Spiritual Revival of 1800 and became a Presbyterian circuit rider, one of the "flaming fires," so called because of their spiritual intensity. Donnell held the first camp meeting in the settlement that became Huntsville, started new churches in North Alabama and Tennessee, and retired as minister of the Athens Cumberland Presbyterian Church. For his service and dedication, the North Alabama Presbytery was named in his honor.

After the death of Rev. Donnell in 1855, this house and surrounding acreage passed to his son James Webb Smith Donnell.

J.W.S. Donnell and his family lived here during (Continued on other side) Back (Continued from other side)the Civil War, even though he was wanted by the Union Army for aiding the Confederacy. In 1862, during the sacking of Athens, Federal troops camped on the house grounds, looted and damaged the house.

The Donnells lost the house through bankruptcy after the war. It served as a boarding school for boys for a time and later as the home of Athens School Superintendent, Julian Newman and his family.

In the 1970s, a campaign to save and restore the house was initiated by local historians and authors Christine W. Edwards and Faye A. Axford. Local citizens, businesses and Donnell descendants contributed to the restoration of this historical landmark.

(Churches, Etc. • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault / Three Men on a Flying Trapeze

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Maxwell AFB

(Side 1)
Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault

Born in Commerce, Tx, on 6 Sep 1893, Chennault was commissioned in 1917 and received his wings in 1919. A graduate of and instructor at the Air Corps Tactical School, he became a leading advocate of pursuit aviation, and later formed the nationally renowned aero demonstration team called the "Flying Trapezers." Chennault retired in 1937 and went to China where he established the legendary "Flying Tigers." He was recalled to active duty in 1942 as commander of the USAF in China and later commanded the 14th Air Force. He retired from service in 1945 and died in New Orleans, LA, on July 27, 1958. (Continued on other side) (Side 2) Three Men on a Flying Trapeze
(Continued from other side) The Flying Trapezers, the Air Corps' first aerial demonstration team, was established under Maxwell's Air Corps Tactical School in 1932. Led by Capt Claire Chennault, members included Lt Haywood Hansell, Sgt John Williamson, and Sgt William McDonald. Chennault used P-12Cs to perform loops, rolls, and figure eights to show his fellow officers that three planes could execute with precision the violent and difficult maneuvers necessary to attack and destroy invading bombers. The team played a key role in developing pursuit tactics and in discrediting the "bomber invincibility" theory before being disbanded in 1936.

(Air & Space) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
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