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Shelbyville, Tennessee

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Tennessee, Bedford County, Shelbyville
Shelbyville was established in 1810 on 100 acres of land donated by Clement Cannon (1783-1860), local manufacturer and veteran of the War of 1812. The city was named in honor of General Isaac Shelby (1750-1826), statesman and noted Revolutionary War hero who led colonial forces to victory at King's Mountain. The town was formally chartered on October 7, 1819.

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

Stories Told by Things the Enslaved Left Behind

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Tennessee, Davidson County, Hermitage
Artifacts found during excavations of the Field Quarter have much to say about daily life within the Hermitage enslaved community.

Animal bones tell us a great deal about diet. Buttons and sewing equipment provide details about clothing. Marbles, china doll fragments, and other toys provide glimpses into the children's world. Beads, brass charms, and worked bone and ceramic fragments reflect spiritual practices. Coins confirm that some Hermitage slaves earned money, providing a way to purchase extras for their families.

The amount and variety of artifacts excavated here initially surprised researchers. It is often assumed that field hands made do with much less than those slaves who worked in a planter's house. However, artifacts found here are very much like those found at slave dwellings near the Hermitage mansion. Jackson's wealth and social position, the long-term stability of the enslaved community, and access to major trading markets in Nashville show that life at The Hermitage allowed Field Quarter families to transform their circumstances in ways perhaps unavailable to other plantation communities.

I am truly astonished at Mr. Steels neglect of my negroes when taken sick & shall write to him on this subject...I will turn him away unless he pays more attention to their health, by sending for Doctor Hogg in due time after they are taken sick. - Andrew Jackson to Charles Love Jones, December 17, 1829

Captions:
Archaeologists have found ceramic fragments such as this Chinese porcelain at most Hermitage slave dwellings. The Jackson family may have given cracked or chipped items to the slaves, or the slaves may have taken them. Other ceramics found at the Field Quarter were inexpensive at the time, and may represent the items Jackson provided for the enslaved.

Excavations unearthed this 1853 gold dollar in the rubble of one of the Field Quarter foundations. Coins have been found at every slave dwelling excavated at The Hermitage.

Andrew Jackson provided his slaves with medical treatment and medicine. Medicinal vials such as these have been found at several slave dwellings.

A hair comb found at the Field Quarter.

Archaeologists discovered several padlocks within the foundation of one of the Field Quarter dwellings. The reason why the occupants discarded so many locks remains a mystery.

Children's toys such as this porcelain doll body have been found at several slave dwellings on the Hermitage property.

Archaeologists unearthed a wide variety of animal bone at every Hermitage slave dwelling. Species represented in the archaeological collection show that Hermitage slaves had access to sheep, pigs, cattle, squirrel, opossum, chicken, turkey, goose, and sturgeon, a fish once abundant in the nearby Cumberland River.

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

Land Conservation at The Hermitage

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Tennessee, Davidson County, Hermitage
Native warm season grasses grow well during the summer heat. These are bunch type grasses, and the bare ground between the grass clumps provides wildlife cover and nesting space. Habitat conditions are excellent for species such as bobwhite quail, cottontail rabbit, and various small mammals. Whitetail deer graze native grasses, and prey species attract predators.

When the early settlers of European descent came to Tennessee, they found native grasses growing in treeless areas that they called “barrens.” It is believed that these open areas were maintained by fires set by American Indians, lightning strikes, and/or grazing and trampling by herds of bison, deer, and elk.

As the settlers made their homes and altered the landscape for agriculture, native warm season grasses were replaced by hay and pasture grasses introduced from Europe. Controlling wildfires also allowed some native grass lands to gradually become forests.

Many of the common introduced agricultural grasses provide very little habitat benefits for wildlife. In the southeast, bobwhite quail populations in particular have been adversely affected by widespread loss of suitable habitat. Planting and properly maintaining native warm season grasses can restore vital small game, non-game habitat, and provide grazing for livestock in Tennessee.

Technical assistance and funding for this Native Warm Season Grass establishment was provided by:
• Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Davidson County Soil Conservation District
• Tennessee Department of Agriculture

Native warm season grasses: big and little bluestem, indiangrass, and switchgrass can be planted as a field border, filter strip, or field planting. NWSG have many purposes:
• Improving water quality
• Wildlife cover
• Forage for grazing and haying

Captions:
Indiangrass and forbs
Switchgrass
Little bluestem
Big bluestem
Big bluestem seedhead


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

Saylor Park-Welcome

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Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Coplay
David Oliver Saylor was born on October 20, 1827 in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. In 1866, he organized the Coplay Cement Company for the manufacture of natural cement. He soon began experiments to produce Portland cement in 1871. He was granted a patent on his process. With the help of John W. Eckert the process was improved, and in 1876 Saylor’s Portland Cement received an award at the Centennial Exposition. His was the moving spirit in the founding of the American Portland Cement industry. He died on July 21, 1884.

(Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Schoefer Kilns

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Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Coplay
Portland cement is essentially an artificial product. It is made by burning various minerals in a kiln at intensive heat to produce clinker. The upright dome kiln was the first type used in America. An improvement was the Schoefer vertical kiln with chambers for heating burning and cooling the material. The kiln was in continuous production except when closed for repairs. Bituminous coal served as fuel. Coplay Cement Company built the kilns preserved in Saylor Park in 1892-1893 and operated them until 1904. They were replaced by the rotary kiln. One of the most important advances in cement manufacture.

(Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Suleymaniye Mosque and Social Complex

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Turkey, Istanbul Province, Fatih district, Istanbul
English:
This building is a social complex constructed by Mimar Sinan (Sinan the Architect) on the order of Suleiman the Magnificent (1550-1557). The Süleymaniye Mosque is at the center of the social complex constructed on a high hill facing Bosphorus and the Golden Horn.

The social complex includes a mosque, dâruttıb (medical school), madrasas, dârulkurrâ (Quran recitation school), elementary school, Turkish bath, imaret (public soup kitchen), bîmârhâne (asylum), bazaar, tombs of Suleiman the Magnificent and Hurrem Sultan. Ebussu'ûd Efendi, a prominent Ottoman scholar, laid the first stone of the foundation.

This social complex, which Mimar Sinan described as his semiskilled work, was completed in a very short time, which was a great success in that era. The mosque was opened to worship on August 16th, 1557 by Mimar Sinan with a ceremony participated by Suleiman the Magnificent and all of the high dignitaries.

The Suleymaniye Mosque: This building has a central location in İstanbul. The harim is rectangular with its yard and its dimensions are 68 x 63m. The flat pendentive dome, whose diameter is 26,50m and height is 53m, rests on four arches and has thirty two round-arched windows on its pedestals.

One of the columns was brought from Topkapı Palace, another one from Kıztaşı, another one from Alexandria and another one from Baalbek. Two semi-domes are placed over the mihrab and the entrance portal. Flanking the portal on both sides are three rows of lancet galleries, each stands on two marble columns with muqarnas capitals. The mosque is illuminated by 138 windows and has an acoustics quality and ventilation system that is clearly the work of an architectural genius. Taking into consideration the acoustics, all the domes were built as double domes. 64 jars which are made of terracotta are placed into the main dome. These jars are also placed on the corners of small domes and under the stalactites. There are 64 cubes placed into the main dome and into its corners and the stalactites. The floor of the mosque has holes made of bricks to reflect sound.

The inscriptions on the walls were written by a renowned calligrapher Ahmed Karahlsârî and his student Hasan Çelebi. Two of the mosques four minarets are on the two corners of the inner courtyard's north facade and they have two balconies each. The other two minarets have three balconies each and are on the corners of the rear facade.

Turkish:
Kânûnî Sultan Süleymân tarafından Mimar Sinân'a (1550-1557) yaptırılan külliyedir. Boğaza ve Haliç'e bakan yüksek bir tepe üzerinde yapılan külliyenin merkezinde Süleymâniye Câmii yer almaktadır.

Külliye; Câmi, dârüttıb, medreseler, dârülkurrâ, sıbyan mektebi, hamam, imâret, bîmârhâne, çarşı, Kânûnî ve Hürrem Sultan'ın türbeleri gibi yapılardan meydana geImiştir. Temeline ilk taşı, büyük Osmanlı âlimi Ebüss'ud Efendi koymuştur.

Mîmâr Sinân'ın kalfalık eserim diye nitelendirdiği bu büyük külliyenin kısa sürede yapılması, zamanına göre fevkalâde bir başarıdır. Cami, 16 Ağustos 1557'de Kânûnî Sultan Süleymân Han ve bütün devlet ricalinin hazır bulunduğu bir törende, Mimar Sinan tarafından ibadete açılmıştır.

Süleymaniye Camii: Bulunduğu yer, Istanbul'a hâkim bir noktadadır. Avlusu ile birlikte dikdörtgen şeklinde olan câminin harim kısmı 68 x 63 m ölçüsündedir. 26,50 m çapında ve 53 m yükseklikte olan düz pandantifli kubbe, dört kalın kemer üzerinde oturmakta ve kaidesinde yuvarlak kemerli otuz iki pencere bulunmaktadır.

Sütunlardan biri Topkapı Sarayından, biri Kıztaşı'ndan, biri lskenderiye, diğeri de Baalbek'ten getirilmiştir. Mihrap ve cümle kapısı tarafında iki yarım kubbe bulunmaktadır. Yanlarda, ayaklar arasında mukarnas başlıklı ikişer mermer sütuna dayanan üç sivri kemerli galeri uzanmaktadır. Câmi, 138 pencereden ışık almaktadır. Câminin akustik ve havalandırma düzeni bir mimari deha ürünüdür. Akustik düşünülerek, bütün kubbeler, çift kubbe şeklinde yapılmıştır. Ana kubbeye ağızları içeri doğru açılan altmış dört küp yerleştirilmiştir. Bu küplerden ayrıca küçük kubbelerin köşelerine ve stalâktitlerin altına da konulmuştur. Câminin zeminine de sesi aksettiren tuğladan boşluklar yapılmıştır.

Camideki yazılar meşhur hattat Ahmed Karahisârî ve talebesi Hasan Çelebi tarafından yazılmıştır. Caminin dört minaresinden ikisi, iç avlunun kuzey cephesinin iki köşesinde olup, ikişer şerefelidir. Diğer ikisi ise üç şerefeli olup, arka cephenin köşelerinde yer almaktadır.

Arabic: To read the Arabic text, click on the Arabic image to enlarge it.

(Charity & Public Work • Churches, Etc. • Education) Includes location, directions, 11 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Discovery of Portland Cement

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Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Coplay
The modern cement industry began in 1756 when John Smeaton, an English engineer succeeded in producing a hydraulic cement that would harden under water. In 1824, Joseph Aspdin, an English bricklayer, produced a new cement by burning chalk and clay at much higher temperatures than those used in manufacturing hydraulic cement. On hardening it resembled the limestone taken from the Isle of Portland for building purposes, and was named Portland Cement. In this country hydraulic cement had come into use with the construction of canals.

(Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Lehigh Valley Rock Suitable for Hydraulic Cement

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Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Coplay
In the Lehigh Valley rock suitable for hydraulic cement had been found near the present locations of Palmerton and Northampton when the Lehigh Canal was built. Mills to produce hydraulic cement were erected at these sites before the Civil War. It was against this background that David O. Saylor began his experiments for producing Portland cement. As had been true in Europe he learned that by burning certain limestone almost to a melting point, he produced the material which upon further refinement became Portland Cement.

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

Coplay Made Cement: Cement Made Coplay

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Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Coplay
In 1900, the scene before you was a smelly, dirty, noisy inferno. Trains roared in, carrying coal from the nearby northern anthracite fields and local cement rock, a form of limestone. Day and night smoke and dust belched from the towering kilns. Originally these kilns, taller than they are today, were enclosed in a huge building. Only their tops emerged from an industrial plant that produced vast quantities of cement supplying the demands of a growing nation.

The inventive genius behind the industry was David Saylor (1827-1884). In 1871 Saylor received the first American patent for high-quality Portland cement. By 1894 Saylor’s Coplay Cement Company built these kilns. During the plant’s heyday, workers loaded endless numbers of bricks made from ground cement rock into the doors at the tops of the kilns. On the second level down, laborers shoveled in coal as fuel. Kiln temperatures above 2000 degrees Fahrenheit transferred the cement rock into chunks of clinker. Carts of clinker clattered into the growing mill to be ground into cement.

By 1900, the Lehigh Valley produced ¾ of all Portland cement used in this country. Despite long hours, hard labor, and clinging cement dust, Eastern European immigrants and local residents flocked to work in local cement mills. Ethnic social clubs and churches helped groups create their own communities.

The great size of the kilns could not save them from becoming swiftly obsolete. Across the Lehigh River to Northampton, the Atlas Cement Company built America’s first rotary kiln, an invention that saved both money and labor. In 1904, the fires these Coplay kilns went out forever. Their ruins survive today because of cooperative efforts among local government, community members, and preservation organizations.

“I saw a great dust flying out of the mills and the men who carried the ground cement away in bags, to load the wagons were covered with dust.”

(Inscription below the image in the upper right)
Blockhouses, a brick factory, grinding mills and other long-gone factory structures live on in this photograph of the cement plant taken about 1900. Today only the kilns remain.

(Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Eagle Rocks

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West Virginia, Grant County, near Upper Tract

Named for William Eagle, a Revolutionary War soldier who lived nearby. Enlisting at age fifteen, 12-24-1776, he served in the 3rd, 4th, 8th, and 12th Va. Rgts., Continental Line, at Valley Forge and Yorktown. Died, 1848, and is buried here.

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

South Entrance, Corridor with the "Prince of the Lilies" Fresco

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Greece, Crete, Heraklion, Knosos
English Text:

The south part and south facade of the Palace is very eroded. Today one can only see foundations on tiered levels. At the bottom, a tower-like projection is all that remains of the south entrance to the Palace. An ascending corridor led to the Central Court.

The section of the corridor closest to the Central Court is reconstructed. Evans put a copy of a relief wall painting here, of which only a few fragments were found (Figure 1). On these it was possible to make out a figure wearing jewelry in the shape lilies. The reconstruction you see here is uncertain. In Evan's opinion, it represented the "Priest-King". Other scholars think that it is prince, whilst others believe it depicts a female figure.

(Notable Places) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

"Shrine of the Double Axes"

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Greece, Crete, Heraklion, Knosos
English Text:

The room before you was made into a shrine at the end of the Postpalatial period (1375-1200 B.C.). It is known as the "Shrine of the Double Axes" (Figure 1). On a bench at the back, different ritual objects were found amongst which were a stone double axe and votive clay idols (Figure 2). Similar small shrines have been found in houses of the same period.

(Notable Places) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

William Carey Crane

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Texas, Crane County, Crane
Noted church leader, educator. A Virginian. Received B. A. and M. A., George Washington University. Taught in Georgia, 1837-39; was ordained Baptist minister, 1838. Was pastor of various leading churches; president of 2 church colleges in Mississippi, 1851-60.

Came to Confederate Texas, 1863, as president, Baylor University -- position held 22 years. His work and use of his personal funds kept Baylor open while many of state's 25 colleges were closed.

First president, 1871, of Texas State Teachers Association and chairman, committee to study public school reorganization.

(Churches, Etc. • Education) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Monument of Respect for the Mehmetcik

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Turkey, Çanakkale Province, Eceabat district, near Eceabat
Turkish:
"Biz Çanakkale Yarımadasının Türklerle savaşarak ve binlerce insanımızı kaybederek kahraman Turk milletine ve onun essiz vatan sevgisine duyduǧumuz büyük takdir ve hayranlıkla ayrıldık. Bütün Avustralyalılar Mehmetçiǧi kendi evlatları gibi sever Onum mertliǧi, vatan ve insan sevgisi siperlerdeki dayanılmaz heybet ve cesareti, bütün. Anzakları hayran bırakan yurt sevgisi insanlığın örnek alacaǧı büyük hasletlerdir. Mehmetçiǧe minnet ve saygılarımla..." -- Avustralya Genel Valisi Lord Casey

English:
Despite battling against the Turks at the Canakkale peninsula and loosing thousands of our people, we left with great admirance for the Turkish people and how patriotic they were. All Australians love the Mehmetcik. Their greatness, their love for people as a race, their love for their own people, and their unimaginable courage and glory… The love that Turkish people displayed for their country is a great example for man kind, that left Australians stunned.

To the Turkish Soldiers, with gratefulness and regards,

Viceroy Lord Casey.

(War, World I) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Determined Resistance

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Tennessee, Davidson County, Hermitage
In spite of the threat of violence, the men, women, and children who Andrew Jackson held in bondage still found ways to fight against the injustice and inhumanity of slavery. There were several instances of slaves running away. Jackson family letters and archaeological evidence suggest the enslaved at The Hermitage also found other ways to assert some control over their lives.

Breaking tools or feigning illness allowed some physical relief from the backbreaking and unending tasks of the day. Speaking out against the overseer or even the Jackson family brought a degree of emotional satisfaction. However, such actions also assured a violent reprisal from the lash as well as the tongue. It is likely that in most cases, the enslaved directed most of their resistance toward the overseer, since he managed their activities on a daily basis.

In individual cases, slavery may have been less brutal, but it was never benign.

...Mrs. Jackson informs me that her maid Betty has been putting on some airs, and has been guilty of a great deal of impudence...I have directed that the first impertinence she uses, or the first disobedience of orders, that she be publicly whipped. She can behave herself if she will and I have told her that Publickly whipped she shall be, the first offence. - Andrew Jackson to Andrew Jackson Donelson, July 3, 1821

...if I live we will own fewer of them for they vex me often and in my situation it is hurtful... - Rachel Jackson to Andrew Jackson, April 7, 1814

I will thank you to say to Mr. Nicholson that my Negro fellow Gilbert has runaway on the 31rst. Of August – that I have not heard word of him since he left me; but from information it is probably he may attempt to go back to Alabama in his neighborhood & I wish him to keep a look out in that quarter for him. - Andrew Jackson to John Coffee, September 20, 1824

Few of us can imagine leaving everything we know to become a fugitive from an entire society. But some of the enslaved did just that, risking their lives to flee from The Hermitage. Gilbert had no family at The Hermitage.

Dick (the cook) has been sick. He made up his mind to trouble and annoy me as much as he can, and I am teaching a new cook... - Sarah Yorke Jackson to Rachel Jackson (Lawrence) July 27, 18(59)

Captions.
Andrew Jackson advertised for the return of a runaway slave in 1804. Ads such as this ran continuously in Southern newspapers as slave owners attempted to recover their property.

While the Jacksons were in Florida during Jackson's term as Territorial Governor, Betty incurred Andrew Jackson's wrath by trying to earn money taking in laundry from others. She also angered him with her attitude.

Archaeologists have found three “fist charms” at The Hermitage, as well as several other sites around the country. All of these sites were associated with the enslaved. Although we are unsure of the exact meaning and use of these charms, the enslaved may have used them as a signaling device.

(Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans • Anthropology) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The North Cabin

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Tennessee, Davidson County, Hermitage
The remains of the North Cabin stood near this spot until 1988 when it was dismantled because of structural instability. The foundation of the chimney is the only part of the building visible. The North Cabin was a one-story log dwelling with a corner stair leading to a loft. It also had opposing doors and windows on its east and west facades and exterior weatherboards. The North Cabin was built before 1865, but the exact year of its construction is a mystery. Future archaeological investigation at this site may help to recover the missing elements of the North Cabin's history.

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

Lockport

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Louisiana, Lafourche Parish, Lockport
Ruins of locks not washed away by a crevasse in 1917 are near here for which Lockport is named. An earlier settlement was named Longueville by 1835 when William Fields donated land for a canal later known as the Company Canal which connected Bayou Terrebonne with New Orleans across the lakes and Bayou Lafourche. After the locks were built in 1850, the name of the settlement changed and the town was incorporated in 1899 as Lockport.

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

Francis Tillou Nicholls

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Louisiana, Lafourche Parish, Thibodaux
Homesite of distinguished Confederate brigadier-general, twice governor of Louisiana 1877-80 and 1888-92; he was appointed Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court serving from 1892 until 1911.

(Politics • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.

A Unique Photograph

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Virginia, Henrico County, near Henrico
On November 28, 1864, photographer T.C. Roche stood atop the Great Traverse, behind you, and took this remarkable photograph. He produced a rare unposed view of Union and Confederate fighting men in the field, seen together while at war.

A Confederate soldier stands atop Fort Beauregard in the distance, in plain sight of pickets from the 7th United States Colored Troops. In the foreground, other members of the regiment relax beside their winter quarters. Just two months earlier the 7th suffered terribly in the failed attack against Fort Gilmer, a mile north of here.

(captions)
Confederate soldier stands atop Fort Beauregard
Union picket of the 7th United States Colored Troops
Fort Beauregard

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

Confederate Counterattack

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Virginia, Henrico County, near Henrico
General Robert E. Lee deplored the loss of Fort Harrison and made immediate efforts to recapture it. Lee himself accompanied a large body of reinforcements from Petersburg on September 29. The next afternoon he threw five veteran brigades, numbering 5,000 men, into an attack against Fort Harrison. Union infantrymen stood here with little protection, not having had time to build substantial entrenchments or to enclose the old Confederate fort. But superior weaponry and and outstanding field of fire across the treeless plain to their front gave the advantage to the defenders. Disjointed Confederate attacks ended disastrously, with over 1,000 casualties. Fort Harrison stayed in Union hands for the rest of the war.

Five years later a battlefield visitor explained the fate of many Confederates killed on September 30, 1864:
"We saw in a small field northwest of the fort...about 50, or more, bodies—or, the bones of bodies...and in the adjacent bushes were four times the number...the tenant of the land has gathered up two large piles of the bones and burnt them to ashes."
Richmond Dispatch, April 8, 1869

(caption)
Artist William Waud made this sketch while the Confederate counterattack was underway. In the days following this attack, the Confederates steadily shelled the Union defenders of Fort Burnham while both armies built new lines.

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