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Elks Lodge

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Virginia, Portsmouth
This Romanesque Revival dwelling was constructed for Laura C. Armistead and her family in 1894 by her father Beverly A. Armistead, president of the Bank of Portsmouth. Identifying features of this architectural style are the round arches over thick, cavernous entryways and window openings, as well as the round towers.

In the 20th century, the home was converted to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge 82. In more recent times, the house has become known locally as Dr. Madblood's Castle, the imaginary home of a local television personality and host of The Friday Night Frights.

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

Preservation and Restoration of Alexander Majors House

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Missouri, Jackson County, Kansas City

In memory of Miss Louisa P. Johnston, great-granddaughter of Alexander Majors, whose steadfast determination led to the preservation of this house to honor him and the historic transportation firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell

and in recognition of Terry W. and Victoria M. Chapman and family, who oversaw the restoration of this house and devotedly managed it for many years.

[Dedicated] April 2011

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

Alexander Majors House

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Missouri, Jackson County, Kansas City

When Alexander Majors completed this house and its accompanying, but now demolished barns and pens, it formed a trading terminus for the firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell. By 1858 the firm was responsible for a force of 3,500 wagons carrying freight to the southwest. Annual transactions of more than $2,000,000 clearly stimulated the area's economy.

Entered on the National Register of Historic Places. 1970

(Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.

North Carolina

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Virginia, Appomattox County, Appomattox Court House
At this place was fought the last skirmish
by Captain Wilson T. Jenkins of the 14th
North Carolina Regiment commanding 25
men of the 4th and 14th N.C. Regiments.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Philippi

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Greece, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Region, Kavala Regional Unit, near Krinides
English text:

The ancient city of Philippi was built on the fringes of the marshes that occupied the south-east part of the plain of Drama. The first settlers were colonists from Thasos who were aware of the rich sources of precious metals, timber, and agricultural products in the region and therefore founded the colony of Krenides in 360 BC. The new colony was soon threatened by the Thracians and in 356 BC sought the aid of Philip II, king of Macedonia. Discerning the economic and strategic importance of the city, Philip captured and fortified it and gave it his name.: Philippi.

The city prospered greatly in the Hellenistic period, when it acquired its fortification walls, theatre, public buildings and private residences. The fact that the Via Egnatia passed through Philippi in the 2nd c. BC made the city much more important and transformed it into a major centre of the region.

In 42 BC, the battle of Philippi, fought on the two low hills outside the west walls of the city, changed its character completely: after his victory, Octavian converted Philippi into a Roman colony (Colonia Augusta Julia Philippensis). The city expanded and developed into an economic, administrative and artistic centre, especially during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.

However, another important event was to change the personality of the city once again: the visit of St. Paul the Apostle, who founded the first Christian church on European soil here in AD 49/50. The predomination of the new religion and the transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople lent Philippi considerable luster and reputation.

In the Early Christian period (4th-6th c. AD), the Octagon complex was built on the site of Roman buildings, with the cathedral dedicated to St. Paul and four magnificent basilicas.

Excavations were begun at Philippi by the French School at Athens in 1914. After the Second World War, the Archaeological Service and the Archaeological Society conducted systematic excavations there. At present, the Archaeological Service, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the French School at Athens are continuing the archaeological investigation of the site. The finds from the excavations are housed in the Philippi Museum.

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

Ancient Theater

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Greece, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Region, Kavala Regional Unit, near Krinides
English Text:

The ancient theater of Philippi is a very important monument, located on the southeastern hillside of the acropolis leaning against the eastern city wall. Its initial phase is dated in the reign of the King of Macedonia Philip II (middle of the 4th c. BC). The Roman colonizers continued to use the Hellenistic theater but they remodeled it in order to be adapted to the new spectacles of the Roman society and to receive a multitude of spectators from the city and the towns of the colony.

During the 2nd century AD the theater acquired a typically Roman form; it included a majestic three-story stage building, an orchestra paved with marble slabs and a koilon that was extended above the parodoi, covered with vaulted structures. The south portico of the stage building, which bears relief plaques with representations referring to Dionysos (maenads and others) on the pillar fronts is preserved.

During the 3rd century AD the theater was transformed into an arena for animal fights. The proscenium was demolished, the first rows of seats were removed from the koilon and a wall was built with a fence for the protection of the spectators from the wild animals, which were kept in a large underground space at the southern end of the orchestra. The epitheater must have been constructed during this period. This was a vaulted structure at the topmost part of the koilon, which contained additional rows of benches and increased the capacity of the theater.

The two arches used for bracing the theater against neighboring city-wall were probably constructed during the Late Roman times (end of the 3rd/beginning of the 4th c. AD).

During the Early Christian period (5th-6th c. AD) the performances at the theater of Philippi ceased. Its abandonment is probably connected to the prevalence of Christianity and the new morals that were not congruent with the animal fights or theatrical performances. The portico at the back of the stage building was remodeled into an area of workshops. The great earthquake that destroyed the city of Philippi at the beginning of the 7th century AD probably caused the destruction of the stage-building by fire. From then onwards the theater was systemically demolished, so that its members could be used as construction material for the creation of new buildings.

In the early Byzantine period the area southeast of the theater housed workshops. Finally, during the Turkish occupation the cobblestone road that connected Kavala and Drama until the beginning of the 20th century and crossed the archaeological site of Philippi, passed in front of the theater.

The first sources of information found today about the theater are provided by European travelers who started visiting the area from the middle of the 16th century onwards. The systematic excavations of the theater started in 1921-1927 by the French School of Archaeology at Athens and continued at the end of 1950s by the department of Archaeology. During this period the theater was altered in a quick and slipshod fashion in order to host the Festival of Philippi and Thasos. The 18th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities in Kavala resumed the excavations in 1974 and since 1993 it co-operated with the Department of Architecture of the Aristotelian University of Thessalonica in a project including excavations and studies of conservation, repair and restoration of the orchestra, parade, stage building and retaining walls of the theater; which were completed in 2009 with the financing from the Management Fund for Archaeological Projects Execution and from the Second and Third Community Support Framework (B & C CSF).

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

Donivan Slough

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Mississippi, Itawamba County, near Kirkville
This woodland trail takes you through a lowland where rich soil and abundant moisture support a variety of large, water-tolerant trees including tulip poplar, sycamore, and water oak.
     Baldcypress thrive in the swampy backwaters of a “slue” or channel winding through the bottomland.
     A 20 minute walk lets you see these trees and the dramatic way the baldcypress grow only in the wet slough.

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

Twentymile Bottom

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Mississippi, Lee County, near Baldwyn
Twentymile Bottom, now cultivated, was typical of the many low areas along streams through which the Natchez Trace passed.
     In 1812 Reverend John Johnson stopped at Old Factors Stand, near this bottom, and wrote this account of bottomland travel:
     “I have this day swam my horse 5 times, bridged one creek, forded several others, besides the swamp we had to wade through. At night we had a shower of rain – took up my usual lodging on the ground in company with several Indians”.

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

Dogwood Valley

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Mississippi, Lee County, near Guntown
Flowering dogwood is a common small tree throughout the eastern United States from Maine and Michigan south to Texas and Florida.
     Here the Natchez Trace passes through a small valley with an usual stand of large dogwood trees.
     An easy 15-minute walk takes you along a sunken portion of the Old Trace and through a small wooded area named Dogwood Valley.

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

Pennsylvania

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Pennsylvania, Erie County, West Springfield
Founded 1681 by William Penn as a Quaker Commonwealth. Birthplace of THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE and THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

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

Old State Line

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Pennsylvania, Erie County, North Springfield
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.

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

Confederate Artillery Position

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Virginia, Appomattox County, Appomattox
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Norther Virginia began the retreat west from Richmond and Petersburg on April 3, 1865, with about 250 cannon. Two days later, at Amelia Court House, about a hundred of the least effective pieces were culled from the army and placed under Gen. Reuben L. Walker, who was directed to march north of the main army and west toward Lynchburg. Lee hoped to reach North Carolina to combine his army with that of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.

Both Walker’s column and Lee’s army were not far apart late on the afternoon of April 8. Walker’s artillerymen had stopped along the road here to Appomattox Station for a respite and were cooking rations when Union Gen. George A. Custer’s troopers attacked at about 4 P.M. One part of Walker’s command escaped to Lynchburg with 21 cannon and another with 54 artillery pieces to Oakville (five miles north). Walker put up a stout defense with about 30 cannon before his position was overrun. At about 8 P.M., Custer launched a final assault with all of his brigades and captured the remaining cannon. The French Creole gunners of the Donaldsonville (Louisiana) Artillery muttered, “Tout perdu” (“All is lost”). Confederate artillery Capt. William G. McCabe wrote, “Enemy attacked us in park. … Disgraceful panic. … Saw a captain of art’y behind a stump on his knees.” One hundred cannon were effectively eliminated from Lee’s army.

”Our men stood off the enemy until dusk, repelling numerous attacks, until the greater part of the guns and wagons had moved off towards Lynchburg, when nearly the whole of Custer’s division having arrived, they made a charge and swept over all that was left.”—Capt. William W. Chamberlaine, of Walker’s staff

(captions)
(top left) Gen. Reuben L. Walker Courtesy Valentine Richmond History Center
(top center) Gen. George A. Custer Courtesy Library of Congress
(bottom right) William G. McCabe, from Armistead C. Gordon, Memories and Memorials of William Gordon McCabe (1925)
(top right) William W. Chaberlaine, from his Memoirs of the Civil War (12912)

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

Walker's Last Stand

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Virginia, Appomattox County, Appomattox
One of the last battles of the Civil War in Virginia took place here early in the evening of April 8, 1865. Confederate Gen. Reuben L. Walker, who commanded 100 guns of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s reserve artillery, made camp here late in the afternoon. Walker was shaving, and his men were cooking rations when Federal cavalrymen burst from the woods south of here. Walker formed one-third of his batteries into a semicircle, and his men began firing.

Gen. George A. Custer commanded the charging Federals, who had just captured Confederate supply trains at nearby Appomattox Station. Fighting without infantry support, Walker’s men repulsed the first three charges, but at 8 P.M. Custer’s final assault resulted in the capture of 25 cannon, 200 wagons, and 1,000 prisoners. Most of Walker’s command fled north to Oakville where the men buried 54 guns and disbanded the next day. Custer’s advance also secured the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road. By holding the high ground west of Appomattox Court House, the Federal cavalry blocked Lee’s escape route and forced his surrender the next day.

“Custer’s Division, as usual, went in on a charge. We had a thick piece of woods to get through to reach their Artillery. … We received the most terrible fire of cannister that ever I saw. … Soon getting out of the thicket we went on a perfect jump. Suddenly I felt a blow and a numbing sensation across my breast, & found myself turning a double summer set off into the bushes.”— Lt. Eri D. Woodbury, 1st Vermont Cavalry

(sidebar)
Pvt. Bernard Shields, 2nd West Virginia Cavalry, received the Medal of Honor for striking down Pvt. William Davis. 2nd Co., Washington Artillery of New Orleans, and capturing the battery's flag from Davis.
Pvt. Bernard Shields Courtesy John Elder Pvt. William Davis Courtesy Tulane University

(captions)
(top center) Gen. Reuben L. Walker Courtesy Valentine Richmond History Center / Gen. George A. Custer Courtesy Library of Congress
(top right) Lt. Eri D. Woodbury, received Medal of Honor for actions at Battle of Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864 – Courtesy Francis Guber Collection

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

Custer's Third Brigade

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Virginia, Appomattox County, Appomattox
Union Col. Henry Capehart commanded Gen. George A. Custer’s Third Cavalry Brigade on Custer’s left flank. On April 8, 1865, Capehart had only the 1st New York (Lincoln) an 1st and 2nd West Virginia regiments on hand, the 3rd West Virginia had been detached after the Battles of Sailor’s Creek to guard Confederate prisoners. Capehart arrived at Appomattox Station at about 5 P.M., soon after the Confederate supply trains were captured there. At dusk, Custer led the men of the 1st New York on an advance into a thicket to locate the Confederate right flank. Lt. Joseph Walter was wounded in the action and died eleven days later. Finding the woods impassible, Custer shouted, “Boys, try to get back the best way you can. We cannot get through here.” Sgt. Anthony Fiala captured four Confederates during the withdrawal.

Pvt. Joseph Sutton, 2nd West Virginia, wrote of Custer’s subsequent moonlight charge on the Confederate artillery, “A battery … hurled grape and canister down the road in such a manner that a little column of the regiment, … was nearly half unhorsed. The flashes of the enemy’s guns, as reflected against the sky, resembled a furious storm of lightning. But the battery was captured.” Maj. Shesh Howe, commanding the 1st West Virginia, was wounded in the last charge. Transported to nearby Liberty Baptist Church, which was used as a field hospital, Howe soon died and was buried there. After the war, his body was reinterred at Poplar Grove Cemetery near Petersburg.

(captions)
(bottom left) Wounding of Lt. Joseph Walter, from James H. Stevenson. Boats and Saddles (1879)
(top center) Sgt. Anthony Fiala, from William H. Beach,The First New York (Lincoln) Cavalry (1902)
(bottom right) Howe grave — (Courtesy Appomattox Court House National Hotorical Park
(top right) Maj. Shesh Howe Courtesy Richard A. Wolfe

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

Westview Cemetery

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Virginia, Montgomery County, Blacksburg
This cemetery is the final resting place for numerous Civil War veterans. It was originally the burial ground of the Black family, for whom the town is named. The cemetery later grew in size and eventually merged with the African American graveyard located across the street.

Notable veterans resting here include Dr. Harvey Black, 4th Virginia Infantry, who assisted in amputating Stonewall Jackson’s arm; Col. Charles Ronald of the Stonewall Brigade; John McBryde of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s command and 5th president of Virginia Tech; Captain Thomas Nelson Conrad, Confederate spymaster and 3rd president of Virginia Tech; and Union Capt. John Brady of Gen. William T. Sherman’s command.

The town of Blacksburg, just west of here, was a thriving hamlet before the Civil War. Men from the town and Montgomery County filled the ranks of numerous Confederate regiments, including the 4th Virginia Infantry, which became part of the Stonewall Brigade. Many of those men survived the war and returned to Blacksburg to take part in the region’s postwar recovery. Many other Confederate and Union veterans gravitated to Blacksburg after the war and helped to develop the land-grant college known today as Virginia Tech.

The Preston and Olin Institute in Blacks- burg (forerunner of Virginia Tech) was used as a Federal encampment following the 1864 Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain. That engagement was the largest battle in Southwest Virginia and part of Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s total war initiative that eventually crippled the Confederacy.

(captions)
(upper left) Dr. Harvey Black / Thomas Nelson Conrad
(top center) United Veterans Group from Blacksburg, ca. 1901
(lower right) Preston and Olin Institute, 1870 All images courtesy Virginia Tech

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Education • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Erie Extension Canal

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Pennsylvania, Erie County, Platea
Part of the old channel is visible by the present railroad, which replaced the canal. Lockport, now Platea, was founded in 1839 at a point where a series of locks, 28 in two miles, lowered boats bound for Erie. Canal open 1844-71.

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

Blacksburg Motor Company Building 1924

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Virginia, Montgomery County, Blacksburg
The Blacksburg Motor Company building was built by Robert and Mason Heavener, two well-respected Blacksburg businessmen. Robert Heavener was a prominent citizen serving on Town Council and the National Bank of Blacksburg Board of Directors.

The art deco features of the building include terrazzo floors, arched woodwork, and tin ceilings. A 1942 article announcing the construction of the Motor Company noted a unique feature for tourists - a ladies‘ restroom. The building burned in 1933, but was quickly rebuilt with an addition to the original structure. It served various functions relating to the automobile including a filling station, repair shop, dealership, and tire store until 2007.

The building was purchased by the Town of Blacksburg in April 2007 and renovated as space for municipal services. This historic rehabilitation, low impact development, and green building techniques earned the Town of Blacksburg the Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

(captions)
(left) Blacksburg Motor Company ca. 1960's
(right) filling station detail ca. 1960's
(right) During the 1933 Fire

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

Circus History

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Pennsylvania, Erie County, Girard
America's most famous clown of the Nineteenth Century, Dan Rice (1823-1900), had the winter quarters of his circus in Girard from 1852 to 1875. The nearby Soldiers' Monument was donated by the versatile clown and showman, whose home stood opposite.

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

Miracles On Maple Hill

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Pennsylvania, Erie County, Edinboro
This award-winning novel for children was inspired by author Virginia Sorensen's time in Edinboro. In it, she illuminates the centuries-long agricultural traditions of the rural maple syrup industry in Erie and Crawford Counties and the restorative qualities of country life. Miracles on Maple Hill won the 1957 Newbery Medal for its distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

(Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment • Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Thirteen Unknown Confederates

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Mississippi, Lee County, near Saltillo
Were they some of Shiloh’s wounded who retreated here in 1862 to die beside the Natchez Trace? Did they serve under the daring General Nathan Forest who passed this way in 1864? Or were they guarding the Tupelo headquarters of J.B. Hood’s Army of Tennessee near the end of the Civil War? We may never know.

Tradition holds that the unknown graves in front of you belong to Confederate soldiers who marched and camped along this stretch of the Old Trace. Perhaps they died of wounds, or the lingering hunger, poverty, and sickness in the army camps. Their simple grave markers face backwards—toward the Trace—so travelers might read and remember.


The original grave markers may have borne names, but they disappeared a long time ago. In 1940 Senator Theodore Bilbo arranged for marble headstones, but they were stolen. The National Park Service erected the headstones now in place.

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Roads & Vehicles • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 9 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
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