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Stewartstown

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West Virginia, Monongalia County, near Stewartstown
William Stewart settled here in 1771. Northeast was Fort Dinwiddie. Forks of Cheat Baptist Church was organized here, 1775, by John Corbley, the pioneer minister, whose family was massacred later by the Indians.

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

Hopkins Township Veterans Memorial

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Michigan, Allegan County, Hopkins


In Memory of Hopkins Township Veterans Lost in Wars

Civil War
Frederick A. Brewer   6-17-1865 • Darwin E. Calloway    POW • William Everhart    3-28-1863 • Reuben Grommon    6-21-1865 • Reuben Hoffmaster    2-19-1865 • Homer Mankin    7-12-1864 • Charles Parsons    4-25-1863 • Joseph R. Round    POW • Charles F. Smith    2-1-1863 • Benjamin Ward    9-14-1862

Indian Wars
Pvt. Charles Anway    12-25-1892 • Sgt. Harry B. Stone    1-11-1891

World War I
Cpl. Frank Packer    8-27-1918

In Memory of Veterans of World War II of U.S.A. Armed Forces
Cpl. Stephen J. Kamyszek, 4-7-1944 • Pvt. Marvin A. Wamhoff, 7-15-1944 • T-4 Med. Det. Elwin Reynolds, 9-26-1944 • P.F.C. Clifford F. Hazen, 3-2-1945 • Cpl. Mitchell Laker, 3-18-1945 • T-5 Med. Det. Robert M. Smith, 6-6-1945

Vietnam
2nd Lt James E. Parmelee    7-17-1965

(Military) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Welcome to the Village of Hopkins

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Michigan, Allegan County, Hopkins
Jonathan Olin Round built the first log cabin in the area known as Hopkinsburg in 1837. His family came to join him in 1838. Other settlers soon followed. They settled in Hopkinsburg due to the good farmland the creek flowing through, providing water power for businesses such as the Flour Mill and Saw Mill.

It is said that Hopkins was named after Jonathan Round’s young son Oziel Hopkins Round. Oziel was the first settler to die in the territory. Nine men of the territory put names of their choice on slips of paper and put them in a hat. The slip of paper with the name Hopkins was pulled out of the hat, thus naming the territory Hopkins.

Some thirty years after Jonathan settled in Hopkins, the Kalamazoo branch of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad went through the area that we know today as Hopkins. Industry and trade came to the area and soon Hopkins (Hopkinsburg) was a dwindling community and the new Hopkins was a booming village. Its leading places of business were: a hotel, sawmill, broom handle factory, three general stores, a harness shop, a tin shop, blacksmith shops, a wagon shop, millinery stores and a market. Later came the Creamery, the Bost Factory, the Hoop Shop Factory and the Shoe Factory.

Hopkins was hit by several fires, the Creamery explosion in 1919, the business district fire in 1920 and the Hotel fire in 1923. Hopkins has also endured several floods, the latest in 1997.

Thank you for visiting the Village of Hopkins!

(Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 12 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Fighting for Trenton

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Tennessee, Gibson County, Trenton
(preface)
Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest led his cavalry brigade on a raid through West Tennessee, Dec. 15, 1862-Jan. 3, 1863, destroying railroads and severing Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's supply line between Columbus, Kentucky and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Forrest crossed the Tennessee River at Clifton, defeated Union Col. Robert C. Ingersoll's cavalry at Lexington, captured Trenton and Union City, and ranged briefly into Kentucky. He raided back through Tennessee, evaded defeat at Parker's Cross Roads, and crossed the river again at Clifton. Grant changed his supply base to Memphis.

(main text)
As Confederate Gen. Nathan B. Forrest’s cavalry brigade approached Trenton in December 1862, Union Col. Jacob Fry prepared to meet the attack. Although Fry had fortified the high ground overlooking the town, he received orders to transfer his 500 men to Jackson. This left him with 250 “convalescents, stragglers, fugitives, and other soldiers”—only enough to defend the Mobile and Ohio Railroad depot, which he barricaded with cotton bales. On December 20, he stationed 25 sharpshooters in a brick building across the street behind a parapet on the roof, and 6 more in the windows of another brick building. Others were posted in a nearby “stockade.” When Forrest’s men rode into town at 3:00 that afternoon, the Federals opened fire from the buildings and other positions. The Confederates then moved out of range and surrounded the Union position, shelling it from the earthworks that Fry had constructed. Fry decided to surrender, as Forrest “could have leveled the stockade, depot, and all in thirty minutes, and probably killed and wounded a large portion of our men, while we could have done them no damage, being armed only with old guns, without bayonets, and therefore unable to make a charge.”

Forrest reported only two men killed and seven wounded. He claimed that the Federals lost two killed and seven hundred prisoners. The Confederates captured military stores, which they destroyed, as well as several hundred cavalry horses. Forrest took those that were in good condition and gave the rest to the town’s residents. The next morning, he paroled all the prisoners and rode on toward Union City.

(captions)
(lower left) Forrest's First West Tennessee Raid, Dec. 15, 1862-Jan. 2, 1863
(lower center) Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest Courtesy Library of Congress
(upper right) “Rail-Road Station at Trenton, Tenn.,” Harper’s Weekly, September 13, 1862

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

Fighting for Trenton

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Tennessee, Gibson County, Trenton
(preface)
Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest led his cavalry brigade on a raid through West Tennessee, Dec. 15, 1862 - Jan. 3, 1863, destroying railroads and severing Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's supply line between Columbus, Kentucky and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Forrest crossed the Tennessee River at Clifton, defeated Union Col. Robert C. Ingersoll's cavalry at Lexington, captured Trenton and Union City, and ranged briefly into Kentucky. He raided back through Tennessee, evaded defeat at Parker's Cross Roads, and crossed the river again at Clifton. Grant changed his supply base to Memphis.

(main text)
Gen. Nathan B Forrest placed his artillery here during the attack on Trenton on December 20, 1862. Union Col. Jacob Fry, commanding a unit of about 250 hastily assembled convalescents and other soldiers, occupied the area around the Mobile and Ohio Railroad depot about eight blocks in front of you. He had earlier fortified the high ground here, but had been ordered to send his regular troops to Jackson, and therefore could only defend a small area within the town. Federal sharpshooters stopped Forrest’s initial charge, but the Confederates surrounded the Union position and shelled him from this hill. Fry soon surrendered.

In 1895, a monument was erected to honor nine Confederate soldiers (six known and three unknown) buried here. Local residents interred here include Col. Thomas J. Freeman and Col. Munson R. Hill. Hill moved to Trenton in 1849, and during the war he commanded the 47th Tennessee Infantry. He and his men arrived at the Battle of Shiloh on April 7, 1862, the only reinforcements the Confederates received. Hill died in 1863. Freeman was born near Trenton in 1827 and commanded the 22nd Tennessee Infantry during the war. The unit fought in several battles including Shiloh and Belmont, Missouri. Freeman later served with Forrest. He died in 1891.

“They planted a battery of six guns on an elevated position southeast of the stockade. Two of these guns were inside of our own earthworks, one howitzer on the southwest and one on the north, and commenced shelling our position. Sixteen shells were fired, one passing through the depot, near a large quantity of ammunition, but did not explode.” — Col. Jacob Fry

“I dashed into town and attacked the enemy at Trenton. They were fortified at the depot, but were without artillery. After a short engagement between their sharpshooters and our cavalry out battery opened on them, and on the third fire from the battery, they surrendered.” — Gen. Nathan B. Forrest

(captions)
(lower left) Forrest's First West Tennessee Raid, Dec. 15, 1862-Jan. 2, 1863
(center) Shelling Trenton - Courtesy Tennessee State Library and Archives
(lower right) Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest Courtesy Library of Congress

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Jacob Waltz

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Arizona, Maricopa County, Phoenix
Jacob Waltz was born in the kingdom of Wurttemberg Germany circa 1810. He immigrated to the USA in 1839 and became a naturalized citizen in 1864. Waltz was prospecting in Arizona and is reputed to have found a gold deposit near the superstition mountain now known as the legendary lost Dutchman Mine.

In 1868 Jacob Waltz was living as a humble farmer on the north bank of the Salt River. He died on October 26, 1891 and was buried in the southwest corner of City Cemetery.

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

Old Mission Indian Cemetery

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Washington, Chelan County, Cashmere
Near this marker is the
site of
Old Mission Indian Cemetery
established in 1867

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Johnson-Taylor Adobe Ranch House

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California, San Diego County, San Diego
Established in 1862 by George Alonzo Johnson. The residence and later additions were used as a hotel, bunkhouse, and quarters for a working cattle ranch into the 1960's. Acquired by the County of San Diego in 1974, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, the adobe is being restored as a focal point for the Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve.

(Notable Buildings • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

1862 Fort Ruby 1869

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Nevada, White Pine County, near Ely
Colonel P. Edward Connor was ordered to build and command this post in 1862. The fort was built midway between Salt Lake City, Utah and Carson City, Nevada to protect the Overland Mail Route (Pony Express) and emigrant travelers from Indian raiders. Most Army outposts of this time were built in remote areas, but this post was classified by the Army as the "Worst Post in the West." In 1869 the completion of the transcontinental railroad brought an end to the Pony Express, and the need for this fort. Post Commander Captain Timothy was ordered to close the fort. He and his men returned "Worst Post in the West" back to the Nevada desert in 1869.

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

Jesse L. Reno

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Pennsylvania, Venango County, Reno
A distinguished Civil War General, Reno commanded a brigade of Burnside's Army in its North Carolina expedition and the 9th Corps of the Army of the Potomac at the battle of South Mountain, Md. where he was killed. He served previously in the Mexican War, taught at West Point, commanded several arsenals at Philadelphia and elsewhere, and wrote a manual on arsenal warfare. Reno was raised in nearby Franklin and this town was named for him.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Kaiser Lumber Company Office

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Wisconsin, Eau Claire County, Eau Claire
Historic Building This building which was built in 1905 is the former office of the Kaiser Lumber Company. It is one of the few remaining buildings from Eau Claire's great lumber industry which got its start in the 1860's. Kaiser Lumber Company was formed in 1905 by John Kaiser and employed 350 persons at its peak. It closed in 1939 bringing an end to the Eau Claire lumber industry.

Designated July Sixth
Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Nine

(Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Old State LIne

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Pennsylvania, Erie County, near Waterford
The northern boundary of Pennsylvania, before the purchase of the Erie Triangle in 1792, crossed the highway at this point. The State paid $151,640.25 for the Erie tract and its port on the Lakes.

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

The Ice Industry and the Ice Houses

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Pennsylvania, Crawford County, Conneaut Lake
Just east of Ice House Park stood two large wooden structures to store ice harvested from the lake during the winter. Inclined wooden ramps led from the frozen lake to storage within the buildings whose walls were 12 inches thick and filled with sawdust. Packed in additional sawdust for insulation, the ice was preserved through the summer. Storage capacity was approximately 12,000 tons. Ice was shipped by railroad throughout the eastern United States to markets that included Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and east as far as New York City. Conneaut Lake ice was known for its purity.

The Conneaut Lake Ice Company was founded in 1880 at the end of the canal era, and as railroads were becoming a dominate method of transportation. Ice harvesting, storage, and shipping was an important business for Evansburg, now Conneaut Lake Borough, employing 200 men in the winter and 100 during the summer. The Meadville and Linesville Railroad transported 100,000 tons annually from Conneaut Lake.

The business flourished until the 1920's when electric refrigeration replaced blocks of ice. The last ice was harvested for the Conneaut Lake Ice Company in 1929.

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

The Historic Hurricane Canal

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Utah, Washington County, Hurricane
When first conceived, the Hurricane Canal seemed like an impossible dream. Beginning at a point seven miles up the Virgin River, water had to travel through flumes, tunnels, and over deep ravines. The canal had to hang on steep, unstable cliffs and be tunneled through sections of mountain. To make matters more difficult, money was virtually non-existent for the local residents. Engineers said the canal could not be built.

Upriver, the little towns suffered from the flash floods of the wild Virgin River that devoured half their farmland. The men were desperate. More cultivated land was needed to support their growing families. In the fall of 1893, James Jepson of Virgin and John Steele of Toquierville envisioned and promoted the plan for the water to be brought to the “Hurricane Bench.” With a simple carpenter’s spirit level, they figured a feasible route, and men were recruited from neighboring towns. Isaac McFarlane, county surveyor, surveyed and estimated the construction cost at $53,000. The only tools available were picks, shovels, crowbars, and a homemade wheelbarrow. Over 100 hopeful me worked on the canal project the first few winters.

By 1902, long after the expected completion date, only eight to ten men were left working. Many of the men had sold their stock and quit. Expensive portions remained undone, and the few remaining men were broke and discouraged. Life was injected back into the project when Jepson went to Salt Lake City and convinced the LDS Church to buy $5,000 worth of canal stock. The influx of money restored morale; and now, giant powder to blast through tunnels and lumber to build the flumes could be purchased.

Two years later, August 6, 1904, the impossible dream came true as water flowed onto the Hurricane Bench from the canal, giving life to 2,000 acres of fertile land. The valley could now be settled. After twelve years of sacrifice, incredibly hard work, and true grit, a community was born, complete with real heroes.

The vision of two men, James Jepson and John Sttele, along with the faith, dedication, and tenacity of many others, changed forever the lives and dreams of thousands of people in Utah’s Dixie. They did all this for their families. And they did it for us. We give thanks to these men of valor.

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

The Historic Dixie-Long Valley, Utah Pioneer Trail

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Utah, Washington County, Hurricane
Segments of the old Indian trails between St. George and Long Valley were used by Mormon pioneers to settle Long Valley in 1864 and for its resettlement in 1871 following Indian conflicts. The trail divided just east of present-day Colorado City, Arizona, the Elephant Trail took a northeasterly route while the alternate Cottonwood Canyon-Sand Ridge Trail went more easterly before joining the Elephant Trail after is descended into Parunuweap Canyon/Long Valley. The desert trail, about 85 miles long, traversed deep sand, sandstone ledges and lava faults and was the primary transportation route, including mail and heavy freight, for half a century. It took four days for loaded wagons drawn by horse or ox teams to travel the distance.

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

Bradshaw House/Hotel

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Utah, Washington County, Hurricane
This house was built in 1906-08 by Ira E. and Marion Hinton Bradshaw, lifelong residents of southern Utah. It was the first permanent house built in the town of Hurricane, which was established soon after completion of the Hurricane Canal in 1904.
In addition to its use as the Bradshaw family residence, the house served as the first school in the town, as the Sunday School meeting place, and for a variety of public gatherings. The Bradshaws and later their daughter, operated it as a boarding house and hotel for over 25 years.
The house was saved from demolition in 1988 and rehabilitated as part of the Hurricane Valley Heritage Park and Pioneer Museum.

(Education • Notable Buildings • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Monongalia County Courthouse

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West Virginia, Monongalia County, Morgantown
Monongolia County was established in 1776 from the Virginia District of West Augusta and named for the Monongahela River. When the Mason Dixon line was formally recognized in 1783, officials determined that the first meeting place of the county court (now the county commission) was actually in Pennsylvania, so the court met at the home of Zackquill Morgan until a new courthouse was erected. The second courthouse was finished 1784 at a cost of $250. After its demolition, a third building was constructed in 1802, and a fourth in 1848 at a cost of $6.500. The fifth and current courthouse was built in 1891 at a cost of $43,478, and the annex was completed in 1976 for an additional $1.5 million. The courthouse was designed by architect James Baily of Pittsburgh in the Romanesque Revival Style.

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

The Railroads

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Pennsylvania, Crawford County, Conneaut Lake
Railroad service came to Evansburg, (Conneaut Lake), in 1859 with the establishment of a station south of town at Stoney Point, a stop on the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. Passengers and freight were transferred to horse buggies and wagons for the three mile trip into town. Twenty-two years later in 1881, Conneaut Lake was directly connected by rail with the Meadville and Linesville Railroad. In addition to serving the ice industry, the connection allowed access to the New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio Railroads at Meadville, and the Pennsylvania and Lake Erie Railroad at Linesville.

In 1892 the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad built tracks along the canal's abandoned towpath to provide service to Conneaut Lake Park. Thousands of visitors and vacationers came by excursion trains. As many as eight sidings were required to accommodate the trains at the park. The B&LE RR once owned the park and was a prime factor in its promotion and growth. Better roads and the increased use of automobiles and trucks led to the decline of rail service. The last train went through Conneaut Lake in 1969.

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

Geology

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Pennsylvania, Crawford County, Conneaut Lake
Conneaut Lake is a kettle lake formed by the receding glacier during the last Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago. As the glacier melted, a large block of ice partially embedded in accumulated sediment formed the depression, which became the lake. Prehistoric Mastadon and Woolly Mammoth bones have been found preserved in the layers of silt in and around the lake, giving evidence of their existence during this period. The glacier changed the water flow from the north to south, making it a part of the Mississippi River drainage system.

Conneaut Lake is Pennsylvania's largest natural lake, four smaller kettle lakes exist in the area.

(Paleontology • Science & Medicine • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Conneaut Reservoir

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Pennsylvania, Crawford County, Conneaut Lake
Raised some 10 feet by a 23-mile "feeder" from Meadville, this lake was the vital source of water for the highest part of the canal, 4 miles west. Lake water and traffic flowed north to Erie, south to the Ohio River.

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