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Isaac Long Alley

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New York, Erie County, Hamburg
The namesake for Long Avenue in the village, Isaac Long for many years owned the water-powered mill on Eighteen Mile Creek at the foot of the present South Buffalo Street. This mill and other similar water-powered mills on the creek were the foundation of the early 1800s commercial development of White's Corners, now the Village of Hamburg. Long Mill and Eighteen Mile Creek are symbolized on the village's 1974 Centennial Seal.

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

First African Presbyterian Church

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Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, Philadelphia
Founded 1807 by John Gloucester, a former slave who was instrumental in establishing Presbyterianism among African-Americans. First edifice was dedicated 1811 at 7th & Bainbridge Streets. Church has been at this location since 1957.

(African Americans • Churches, Etc.) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

John W. Coltrane

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Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, Philadelphia
A pioneering African-American jazz musician, composer, saxophonist. Coltrane used African and Indian elements to create a distinctive style which at first shocked audiences but ultimately gained wide acceptance. He lived here, 1952-1958.

(African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Henry O. Tanner

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Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, Philadelphia
While living here, Tanner studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His earlier works portrayed the ordinary lives of African-Americans. After moving to Paris, Tanner painted religious subjects and won international acclaim.

(African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett

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Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, Philadelphia
Educator and diplomat. Bassett was principal, Institute for Colored Youth, 1857-69. He was U.S. minister to Haiti, 1869-77; appointed by President Grant, he was the first African-American to receive a diplomatic post. Here he lived his last years

(African Americans • Education) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Pearl Bailey

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Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, Philadelphia
Bailey, who lived here as a youth, became one of America's most prominent entertainers. She sang with the big bands during the 1940s and gained her greatest fame in the 1967 Broadway production of "Hello, Dolly!"

(African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Lodge at Sugar Bowl

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California, Nevada County, Norden

History
William Wilson Wurster was the most “influential unknown architect in California.” He designed many houses and buildings such as Ghirardelli Square, Cowell College at UC Santa Cruz, as well as other U.C. and Stanford University buildings. Wurster Hall at U.C. Be(r)keley in named for him.

Wurster believed in simple, climate suited designs that were understated. He wanted buildings that fit and took advantage of the environment or even seemed to grow from it. He could, as his wife said, make a $80,000 house seem like a $10,000 house with unostentatious simple design. That’s what he accomplished with the Lodge at Sugar Bowl.

Take a look at the lodge. The back side nestles among the trees while the open front faces the mountain it serves. This exposes the life in the lodge to the mountain view, the center of skiing activity, and the sun. The design takes into account Summit snowfalls of 35-40 feet a year and drifts as high as 20 feet. The lodge sits off the ground and the roof sheds to the back. Large overhangs shelter balconies. The exterior is simple and unpretentious. The simple design lets the grandeur around the lodge be the focus rather than the lodge itself.

Pictured right is the lodge in 1939 and before expansion. The middle picture shows the lower terminal of the first chair lift. As snows deepened, the motor would move up the ramp.

A Good Story
A number of movies have been done on Donner Summit and a couple of those have been done at Sugar Bowl. “A Two Faced Woman,” staring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas was one featuring Sugar Bowl and the lodge along with some amazing comedic skiing. A second starring Goofie, “The Art of Skiing,” also featured a cameo by the lodge as well as some amazing skiing that you should not try on your own. Both are still available today on the internet.

Things to do right here
There are a lot of things to do here besides have a meal or drink in the restaurant or bar or before you come into the lodge for a refreshment. Roller Pass sits above the lodge and was the entry way for wagon trains. A little higher is Mr. Lincoln. a wonderful hike is the Judah Loop, which takes off from the Pacific Crest Trail and conquers Mt. Judah. The views are spectacular. More ambitious people can even hike from Donner Summit to Squaw Valley along the Pacific Crest Trail. (15 miles).

(Entertainment • Sports) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Village of Hamburg

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New York, Erie County, Hamburg

[left photos] Street parade, circa 1940. George M. Pierce, President of the village of Hamburg, 1874-76. Hotel Hamburg was built on the site of the old B.M. Fish Dry Goods Store after it burned in 1917.

1798 - Joseph Ellicott, a land agent for the Holland Land Company, began surveying western New York.
1806 - John Cummings purchased the first lot in the town of Hamburg from the Holland Land Company and built a grist mill on Eighteenmile Creek.
1811 - Daniel and Richard Smith built a grist mill on Eighteenmile Creek and the early settlement known as Smith's Corners developed, later called the village of Hamburg.
1813 - The British burned Buffalo; refugees sought shelter in the Center House, a new inn on the corner of Lake and Main Street.
1820 - Thomas White ran a tannery and general store near Main and Buffalo Streets and the community was called White's corners.
1836 - The First Baptist Church was built on the south side of Main Street at Center Street.
1849 - Hamburg's brick schoolhouse was built at 65 Main Street. Village businesses grew to include Kronenberg's Shop, many taverns, a brewery, a saw mill, a tannery, and the Hamburgh Planing Mill.
1857 - Kopp's Hotel opened and later added an opera house.
1861-1864 - Hamburg men joined the 116th Regiment of the New York State Volunteers. It was during this time that Union Street was named.
1874 - The village of Hamburgh was incorporated with George M. Pierce as the first president.
1877 - The spelling of the village was changed to Hamburg.
1878 - The old village cemetery, now Memorial Park, was closed and graves were moved to the new Prospect Lawn Cemetery.
1883 - Fire destroyed a section of the business district. Soon after the fire, two and three story brick buildings were built, replacing the old wooden structures.
1884 - Hamburg veterans organized a Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) post. The monument in Memorial Park honors Hamburg's soldiers.
1886 - The first telephone came to the village.
1889 - The Hamburg Water and Electric Light Company was established under the leadership of Thomas L. Bunting.
1897 - The Nineteenth Century Club established the Hamburg Free Library with Amanda Michael Dorland as the first librarian.
1900-1901 - Two trolley lines, the Sunshine Line and the Allen Line, linked Hamburg to Buffalo.

[right photos] The Bank of Hamburgh was constructed in 1907. It also housed the Post Office and Hamburg Businessmen's Club. Amanda Michael Dorland, First Librarian, Hamburg Free Library, 1901-20. Main and Buffalo Streets were paved with brick and opened in 1904. John Van Epps, photographer

(Industry & Commerce • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Story of Half Dome

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California, Mariposa County, Yosemite National Park
Millions of years ago the granite block of Half Dome was larger, but there was never a matching half. Undercut by glaciers near the base, slabs of rock fell away from a broad vertical crack in the granite, leaving a sheer face. Remnants of the missing rock still project from Half Dome's rim.

There are more granite domes here than in any other place in the world. Massive granite domes form when large curved layers of rock "exfoliate" or slab off.

An Anwahneechee Tale of Half Dome
Long ago, two travelers, Tissiak and her husband, Tokoyee, fought with each other. He became so angry that he began to beat her; enraged, she hurled her basket of acorns at him. As they stood facing each other, they were turned to stone for their wickedness. The acorn basket (Basket Dome) lies upturned beside Tokoyee (North Dome) and the rock face of Tissiak (Half Dome) is stained with her tears.

(Environment • Native Americans) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Yosemite Valley

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California, Mariposa County, Yosemite National Park
On June 30, 1864 the United States granted the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove to the State of California to "be held for public use, resort and recreation...inalienable for all time." This act, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, was the first Federal authorization to preserve scenic and scientific values for public benefit. It was the basis for the later concept of state and National Park Systems. In 1906 the State of California returned the land, considered to the first State Park in the country, so that it could become part of Yosemite National Park.

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

The Journey to Yosemite

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California, Mariposa County, Yosemite National
Tourism in Yosemite began long before it became a national park. In the 1850s, daring visitors endured long days of rugged travel on foot and horseback. Indian trails led them to never-to-be-forgotten views of Yosemite.

Entrepreneurs were soon competing to establish hotels and stage roads to cater to Yosemite-bound travelers. A rail line up the Merced Canyon to El Portal served passengers from 1907 to 1945.

The Lure of Falling Water
Reports of fabulous waterfalls tempted tourists to make the long and arduous trek to Yosemite. Engravings of waterfalls were among the first views of Yosemite ever published.

Early twentieth century Yosemite visitors could travel from San Francisco or Los Angeles to El Portal by train. From El Portal, they transferred to horse-drawn or motor carriages for the last few miles to Yosemite Valley.

(Environment • Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.

Waterfalls of Yosemite Valley

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California, Mariposa County, Yosemite National Park
Nowhere else on earth are there so many spectacular waterfalls in such a concentrated area.

During the spring, torrents of water from melted snow thunder over Yosemite's precipices. By August, the "ephemeral" falls disappear; others, like the Cascades before you, dwindle to a mere trickle.

Spectacular, but Dangerous
Ahwahneechee legend warns of the danger of approaching too near a waterfall. The story of Po-ho-no (Bridalveil Fall) tells how an Indian woman fell into the creek and was swept over the waterfall, never to be seen again. Since then, Po-ho-no has been dreaded as the home of a powerful spirit.

(Environment • Native Americans • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Glaciers at the Gate

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California, Mariposa County, Yosemite National Park
Geologic processes that created Yosemite Valley include glaciation, erosion, rockfalls, and earthquakes. Most of these processes are still at work here, shaping and reshaping the land. Ancient glaciers have left dramatic geologic evidence virtually everywhere in Yosemite Valley.

Take it for Granite
Yosemite's awe-inspiring granite formation have made the park world famous. Samples of most of Yosemite's sixteen types of granite have been carried to this area by glaciers.

Several of Yosemite's granites are visible nearby where the road cuts through the "terminal moraine," the mass of debris left behind after the glacier retreated.

After millions of years of uplift and cutting by the Merced River, at the onset of the Ice Age Yosemite Valley was 3,000 feet deep.

One or more glaciers filled the Valley to its brim between 250,000 and 1,000,000 years ago. The Valley was gouged into a U-shaped trough. About 30,000 years ago, a thinner glacier advanced to today's "Gates of the Valley." When this glacier melted, its terminal moraine dammed the Valley, creating a shallow lake. This lake eventually filled with sediment, leaving today's level Valley floor.

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

In God We Trust

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New York, Erie County, Hamburg
Hamburg Lakeshore Overseas Veterans, Inc., home to Hamburg Township Post 1419, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Memorial Park and Museum, established April 24, 1971.
When the call of our country was heard, they answered. Self was forgotten in the cause of the greater good. As brave men and women, they marched away with the abiding faith in God, country, and flag.

Our comrades are in the hands of our Heavenly Father. "God giveth his beloved sleep."

(Military) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

El Capitan

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California, Mariposa County, Yosemite National Park
El Capitan is famous for its massive bulk of largely unbroken rock and its sheer, vertical face soaring 3,000 feet into the air. This monolith is composed of a particularly durable granite, allowing it to withstand the pressures of glaciers and erosion.

Climbing the monolith
El Capitan was first scaled in 1958. Since then, climbers have explored nearly a hundred climbing routes. If you look closely, you may see climbers, like tiny specks, inching up the granite wall.

Tutokanula
The Ahwahneechee name for the rock we now call El Capitan is Tutokanula. Ahwahneechee legend tells how El Capitan was created in the time of the animal people. As two bear cubs slept on a large flat rock near the river, the rock grew until the bears scratched their faces against the moon. The mother bear called on all the animals to rescue her babies, but none succeded until the lowly inchworm (tutokanula) crawled slowly to the top and led the cubs safely down.

(Environment • Exploration • Native Americans) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Natural Dam

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California, Mariposa County, Yosemite National Park
Perhaps only three or four hundred years ago, an enormous rockfall dumped boulders across this canyon, damming Tenaya Creek. During spring and early summer, the stream backs up into the two pools on either side of the dam.

Tinkering with nature
Nineteenth-century tourists admired the reflection on the surface of the upper pool of Mirror Lake. To enlarge the pool and reflection, early entrepreneurs piled boulders onto the natural dam. Ironically, this helped the pool to fill with sand and silt, leading to regular dredging of the lake. Today, the National Park Service manages Tenaya Creek and Mirror Lake as a natural system.

Sediment continues to build in the upper pool, which is gradually becoming shallower. The force of springtime water scours out most deposits in the undammed lower pool.

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

Mirror Lake Resources

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California, Mariposa County, Yosemite National Park
For centuries, the local Indians use the bracken fern found above Mirror Lake. In the 1800s, Euro-American entrepreneurs found new uses for the area's resources. Hotel owners marketed the magnificent scenery to an enthusiastic audience or travelers. The lakes ice and eventually its sand were harvested as well.

Ice and Sand
Yosemite's early hotel industry responded to increasing tourism by providing diverse services for guests. The harvesting of ice from Mirror Lake made it possible to store foods grown in Yosemite Valley. The ice house foundation is nearby.

Crews dredge sand from Mirror Lake and spread it on Yosemite's icy roads in winter. Dredging, started in the 1880s, maintained the size of Mirror Lake's reflective surface. The Park discontinued this practice in 1971.

(Environment • Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.

A Seasonal Lake

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California, Mariposa County, Yosemite National Park
Mirror Lake was once regarded by park scientists as a stream-fed lake slowly filling in to become a meadow. As hydrologists have developed a more complex understanding of the water's dynamics, they now theorize that the "lake" is a pool in a seasonal stream. Changes in the volume and speed of the stream's water cause sand to be deposited in and scoured from the pool in cycles.

Rockfall Changes
The rockfall that created Mirror Lake altered the streamside habitat of Tenaya Creek. More aquatic and streamside plants took hold in the pooled water and saturated soils. These plants, in turn, are habitat for ducks, frogs, and other aquatic species that prefer still water.

Endangered Species Habitat
The cliffs and rocky crevices looming above Mirror Lake are prime nesting spots for peregrine falcons and spotted bats, two of the park's endangered species. Swifts and swallows also roost there, feeding on insects that thrive in the pooled water. Peregrine falcons prey upon the insect-eating birds.

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

First Settler

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New York, Erie County, Hamburg

First Settler
John Cummings, the original settler in the
Town of Hamburg, built the first grist mill
south of Buffalo, here at the waterfalls
of Eighteen Mile Creek in 1806.

(Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Bracken Fern and Baskets

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California, Mariposa County, Yosemite National Park
Just above Mirror Lake, bracken ferns grow in large tracts. The root-like portion of the fern (rhizome) is favored for making the black designs in Southern Miwok and Mono Lake Paiute baskets. Because of the rich sandy sediments here, bracken fern rhizomes reach lengths of more than six feet, which made them a valuable item for the Miwok to trade to the Paiutes.

The End of an Era The 1849 Gold Rush brought tragedy and irreversible changes to the local Indian people. Europeans invaded Miwok homelands, leaving about 90% of the local people dead. By the 1860s, those remaining in Yosemite found themselves homeless and without rights. Still, the people survived. Many of their descendants live in the local area today.

(Environment • Native Americans) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.
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