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The Bermuda Hundred Campaign

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Virginia, Chesterfield County, Chester
This photograph of the Dutch Gap Canal was taken from near this location in 1865. It shows the canal with a dredge boat in the background. The canal was dug in an attempt to bypass Confederate gun positions at Battery Dantzler approximately one mile to your right. Work on the canal began in August 1864 and ended in December of that year. Changes in the Federal and Confederate lines north of the river in September 1864 made the canal of little strategic value and it was not fully completed until after the war. In the 1930‘s the left bank of the canal was widened to create the modern day river channel. The low area behind the dredge in the photograph is now a golf course.

This sign was sponsored by Douglas Waters, Carrollton, TX

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

"Lest We Forget"

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New York, Saint Lawrence County, Gouverneur

[north header] "Lest We Forget"

[south header] Our Nation's Defenders

[keystone]1805 —•—1905

(Military) Includes location, directions, 11 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Lagoon

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Virginia, Chesterfield County, Chester
Civilization has dramatically transformed the landscape. Before 1930s, the land around you was probably swamp and bottomland forest. From the 1930s to around the 1960s, companies mined the area for sand and gravel. During this time, the large open pit was created from mining. Later, in an effort to load barges more easily with sand and gravel, a channel was cut between the pit and the old James River channel. The James River flooded the pit and created what is now a tidal lagoon.

Tempered by time and nature, this area teems with wildlife. The sunken barges provide habitat for small fish and a feeding site for predatory fish such as bass. Deer seek refuge i on the islands, great blue heron stalk prey along the shoreline, river otters play in the lagoon, and cormorants roost on exposed barges. Nature has reclaimed this land.

Signs of mining still exists. The man-made channel still links the lagoon to the old river channel. One end of the channel can be seen slightly to your left. The islands, created by the mining operations, reveal the dredged materials (spoils) and the skeletons of old sunken barges.

(Environment • Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Tides

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Virginia, Chesterfield County, Chester
One of the most dramatic changes along the James River is the daily tide. The tides originating in the Atlantic Ocean influence the river all the way to the City of Richmond. Constant sources of freshwater from replenishing rainfalls and streams in the mountain and piedmont regions of Virgina make this section of the river freshwater tidal.

During low tides, mud flats and shorelines are more exposed. Birds such as the spotted sandpiper probe the exposed mud and shoreline for worms, crustaceans and fish. Raccoons and opossums scavenge along the shoreline at low tides looking for food. At high tide, smaller fish find refuge in the shallow waters along the shore.

Many fishermen time their fishing with the tide. During outgoing tides, smaller fish are forced into the deeper channels where larger, predatory fish are feeding. Recognizing this feeding time, fishermen cast their lures into the water with hopes of reeling in a trophy fish.

(caption)
(lower right) Though separated by nearly 80 nautical miles from the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, the Dutch Gap Conservation Area experiences a tidal change of 3 to 3½ feet. The photographs reveal the difference between low and high tide.

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

Mount Malady

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Virginia, Chesterfield County, Chester
Mt. Malady, the first hospital in the American colonies, was built in Coxendale near Henricus in 1612. It had 40 beds for 80 patients! Many colonists arrived in poor health from their long sea voyage. Others acquired diseases, such as dysentery, typhoid and malaria in the heat and humidity of their first Virginia summer. These colonists could recuperate at Mt Malady, a “retreat for the sick."

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

The St. Lawrence Plain

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New York, Saint Lawrence County, DeKalb
The gently rolling country between the St. Lawrence River and the Adirondack Mountains is cut by the St. Regis, Raquette, Grass and Oswegatchie Rivers. Tumbling from the slopes of the Adirondacks, these swift streams flow in westerly and northerly directions before emptying into the St. Lawrence.
Although the French maintained an Indian mission from 1746 to 1756 at the mouth of the Oswegatchie, Ogdensburg became the first settlement in 1796. In 1791, Alexander Macomb bought four million acres in the "North Country". Purchasers from Macomb surveyed the land and opened it to settlers, many of whom were New Englanders. The St. Lawrence Turnpike constructed in 1810 from Malone to Carthage improved transpotation. Railroads after 1850 led to more rapid development of the region.
Agriculture, dairying, and maple sugar provided the basic economy. Potash production for export was an early local enterprise. Paper mills used the abundant supply of water power which later was harnessed to supply electrical energy. Lead, zinc and talc are found in large quantities. Near Star Lake is the world's largest open-cut magnetite iron mine. Massena is a center for aluminum production. The St. Lawrence Seaway and the New York State Power development add much to the area's economy.

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

Dutch Gap

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Virginia, Chesterfield County, Chester
1611 Sir Thomas Dale and his men, using a tactic developed in the Dutch Low Country, dug a ditch and erected a fence across the neck of the peninsula for the defense of Henricus.

1864 Federal forces under General Benjamin Butler began construction of a canal on the ditch site. This canal would cut off approximately six miles of river travel and protect Federal gunboats from the fire of Confederate land batteries. Federal soldiers labored 144 days under constant fire.

1865 The only remaining barrier to the completion of the canal was a large bulkhead. On January 1, the troops ignited the gun powder buried within it. The bulkhead exploded but the earth came back to rest in the newly dug canal. The project was abandoned.

1871 The U.S. Government completed the dredging of the gap, and opened the canal. The steamship was the first commercial vessel to use the canal.

1930 The Army Corps of Engineers extended the canal to the Virginia Power plant. This created Hatcher’s Island and eliminated another large loop in the river.

(Man-Made Features • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Civil • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The James River...Floating Through The Centuries

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Virginia, Chesterfield County, Chester

Native Americans 1500's
These boats were used by the Powhatan Indians to carry furs, food, and other trading items.

First Settlers 1600's
Shallops were wider and sometimes longer than canoes. They were propelled by oars or by mast. These wide body crafts were excellent for shallow water and were a practical means to transport people and cargo from one settlement to the next.

Colonists 1700's
Sloops, shallops, barges, and double canoes were some of the more popular modes of floating the James during the 18th century.

Antebellum 1800's
Prior to the Civil War, the James was alive wth packets from New York, Baltimore, and Boston carrying a variety of cargo to and from Richmond.

Today
Floating past Henricus today are pleasure crafts, tugboats and 10,000 ton cargo ships hauling tobacco, cotton, and other goods.

(captions)
"Rough canoes, burned and scraped out of virgin timber"
"Boats on the James were versions of the Indian canoe or shallop"
"The River was swarming with boats and ships of all descriptions, many built right on the plantation from their own forests" "in 1855 1,217 boats and ships entered the (Richmond) dock,1,377 departed from it"
"The James is now one of the state's more accessible rivers"
Quotes from In River Time Ann Woodlief, 1985

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

The Power of the American Rapids

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New York, Niagara County, Niagara Falls
The American Rapids begin at the upstream end of Goat Island. From there, they drop about 50 feet (15 meters) in elevation to the brink of the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. Although no more than a few feet deep, these swift rapids are extremely dangerous. The hard dolostone riverbed has been worn smooth by water, but is also quite fractured and covered with numerous potholes.

In the 1750's, Daniel Chabert de Joncaire built a sawmill and dug a small canal along these rapids. The canal created an island that was later called Willow Island. During the French and Indian War, Joncaire burned the sawmill to keep it out of British hands. In 1805, Augustus and Peter Porter and other local businessmen purchased land near the falls. The sawmill was rebuilt, and along with other industries, helped establish the village that would eventually become Niagara Falls. During the construction of the Robert Moses Parkway in the 1960s, Joncaire's canal was filled in.

In the spring of 1969, a cofferdam made of boulders, gravel, and soil was built from the mainland to the upper end of Goat Island to prevent water from flowing over the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. Between June and November, scientists and engineers conducted an in-depth geologic study of the rock. They determined that the talus, or rocks below the falls, should not be removed and that Niagara Falls be allowed to retreat upstream through its natural process.

Canal channel, rustic bridge, and part of Willow Island to the right. Photograph courtesy of the Niagara Falls Public Library.
Construction of cofferdam out from the mainland.
Cofferdam being removed from the American Rapids channel.
Rapids above the American Falls, ca. 1868 postcard.
The lower section of the American Rapids has been illuminated at night since 1989, and the upper section since 1998.

(Environment • Industry & Commerce • War, French and Indian • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

World War II Memorial

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Iowa, Montgomery County, Red Oak

Dedicated to the Men of
Red Oak and Vicinity
who gave their lives in
World War II

[Roll of Honored Dead]

(Fraternal or Sororal Organizations • Patriots & Patriotism • War, World II) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Immaculate Conception Church - Chenal Cemetery

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Louisiana, Pointe Coupee Parish, Lakeland
This monument stands near the site of the altar portion of the original Immaculate Conception church structure. The original structure was built in 1859 and was enlarged three times to its final dimension of 35 ft. wide X 100 ft. deep. Immaculate Conception Parish was formed from a Mission Parish of St. Francis Church Parish located on the Mississippi River about 8 miles upstream from its intersection with Bayou Chenal. All church services were held at this location until 1927when the current Church was constructed at Lakeland under the Reverend Savare. The Chenal church building remained at this site and its use was primarily relegated to funeral services for parishoners buried at the Chenal Cemetery. Reverend Neubig had the church removed from this site in 1953 because of its deteriorated condition.

Plaque design & construction - Carl Bellelo
Donated by the Pierre Guidroz Family
Masonry construction by Donald and Denita Ricard

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Churches, Etc.) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Canton

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Connecticut, Hartford County, Canton
Canton Settlement of the area later called Canton, originally part of Simsbury, began in 1737 with the erection of the Richard Case II home on East Hill. The earliest homes were constructed along “Cherry’s” brook. The settlers’ name for the Indian chief Waquaheag, and at Suffrage, the present center of Canton, where the first post office was established in 1798. In 1750 West Simsbury was recognized as a parish, distinct and separate from Simsbury, and the first meeting house was built in 1763 at the present Canton Center. Incorporation was granted in 1806.
(back)
Samuel and David Collins began the manufacture of axes in South Canton in 1826. The growing prosperity of Collins and Company caused the rerouting of the Albany Turnpike through South Canton. This necessitated a post office and the name of the industrial area was changed to Collinsville, honoring the name of Collins. In 1850 Samuel Collins persuaded the “Canal Line Railroad” to build a branch to Collinsville, and by 1859 The Collins Company was established as the world’s largest manufacturer of axes and edged tools.

Erected by the Town of Canton
The Canton Historical Society
and the Connecticut Historical Commission
1975

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

Christ Episcopal Church

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Louisiana, Assumption Parish, Napoleonville
Site of Elm Hall Plantation donated by Dr. E. E. Kittredge. Congregation organized and church constructed in 1853. Frank Willis, Architect. Consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Leonidas K. Polk in 1854. W.W. Pugh, Warden, 1853-1905.

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

Vail Campus

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Vermont, Caledonia County, Lyndon Center

Dedicated to the memory of Theodore Newton Vail (1848–1920), president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, a most generous benefactor of Lyndon Institute and Vail Agricultural School – one who had faith in the young people of this area and a firm belief in both the practical and liberal arts in education.

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

Simsbury

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Connecticut, Hartford County, Simsbury
Simsbury
(Massaco Plantation) Manufactory for tar, pitch, and turpentine established here in 1642. Destroyed by fire of Indian origin in 1647. Local tribal lands were deeded as reparation. Named Simsbury in 1670 and granted town privileges by the General Court of the Colonie of Connecticut. Burned by hostile Indians March 26, 1676. Reconstruction commenced in the Spring of 1677.
Here began
Copper Mining and Smelting   1705
Manufacture of Steel   1727
Copper Coinage   1737
Safety Fuse   1836
Silver Plating of spoons and forks   1845

Connecticut Historical Commission
1970

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

Camp Stark

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New Hampshire, Coos County, near Stark

In the spring of 1944 a high fence and four guard towers transformed a former Civilian Conservation Corps camp on this site into New Hampshire's sole World War II prisoner of war camp. Approximately 250 German and Austrian soldiers, most captured in North Africa and Normandy, lived in Camp Stark while working in the forest cutting pulpwood vital to wartime industry. The camp closed in the spring of 1946 when the prisoners of war were returned to their homeland. Several maintained the new friendships they had formed with local residents. Germans and Americans attended a reunion here in 1986.

(Industry & Commerce • War, World II) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Nansen Ski Jump

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New Hampshire, Coos County, near Milan

Named for Fridjof Nansen, the Greenland explorer, Berlin's first ski club formed in 1872. The club sponsored the "Big Nansen" constructed in 1936–38 by the National Youth Administration and the City of Berlin. At the time, it was possibly the tallest steel-tower ski jump in the world, standing 171 feet high. The first jumper was Clarence "Spike" Oleson in 1937. In 1938, the Olympic trials were held here. Four times Milan hosted the United States Ski Jumping National Championships: 1940, '57, '65, '72.

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

5th Indiana Battery

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Georgia, Catoosa County, near Fort Oglethorpe
Text on the Front Side of the Monument:

5th Indiana Battery
3rd Brigade - Baldwin
2nd Division - Johnson
20th Corps - McCook

Text on the Back Side of the Monument:

Indiana's Tribute
To Her
Fifth Battery.
Captain Peter Simonson, Commanding.
Third Brigade (Baldwin).
Second Division (Johnson).
Twentieth Corps (McCook).

Saturday, September 19th, 1863, at one p.m., this battery went into position and was actively engaged with its Brigade in the Reed Field near the place where Colonel Baldwin was killed, losing one gun.

Sunday morning, September 20th, the Battery was ordered to this position and here remained hotly engaged at intervals during the day. A second gun was disabled and lost. During the two days battle this Battery fired over 1,200 rounds of ammunition.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 9 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Esquisuchil

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Guatemala, Sacatepéquez, Antigua Guatemala

Esquisuchil
Bourreria huanita (llave & lex) hemsi. Boraginaceae
Sembrado por el Santo Hermano
Pedro de Betancourt
el 19 de maro de 1657
Patrimonio cultural
Tangible e intangible de la Nacion
Acuerdo Ministerial 250-2004
La Antigua Guatemala 19 de marzo de 2006
XXV Aniversario de
Obras Sociales de Hermano Pedro
iniciadas en este lugar

English translation:
Esquisuchil
Bourreria huanita (llave & lex) hemsi. Boraginaceae
Planted by Saint Brother Peter of Betancourt
on March 19, 1657
Cultural legacy of the Nation
Ministerial Accord 250-2004
Antigua, Guatemala, March 19, 2006
XXV Anniversary of Social Works of Brother Peter
in this location.



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

Korean War Memorial

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Iowa, Montgomery County, Red Oak

Dedicated to the men and women
of Montgomery county
who served in the
Armed Forces of
the United States
during the Korean War

[Roll of Honored Dead]
Henry M. Bailey
KIA 2 Nov 1950

Sidney J. Botts
KIA 15 Oct 1952

Lloyd D. Renander
KIA 8 Oct 1952

Richard L. Scott
KIA 26 Nov 1950

Franklin H. Wilkey
KIA 3 Sept 1950

(Patriots & Patriotism • War, Korean) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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