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Camp Mackall

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North Carolina, Hoke County, near Aberdeen
Primary training site for U.S. Army airborne troops in World War II. Established 1943; named for Private John Thomas Mackall. Two miles W.

(War, World II) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Fog Signal Building

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Rhode Island, Newport County, near Jamestown

In 1829, Congress appropriated $1,250 for a 600-pound fog bell for Beavertail. Prior to that time the keeper fired a cannon on foggy nights. That same year a fog bell house was built adjacent to the tower.

Beavertail has probably seen more types of fog signals than any other New England lighthouse. An air fog trumpet powered by a horse driving a 10-foot wheel was added in 1851. This was followed by a number of innovations, with Beavertail usually one of the first to field-test new devices.

In 1939, after the Great Hurricane of 1938 destroyed the fog signal building, the Coast Guard built this structure. It contained air modulated fog signal equipment, an emergency generator, an air compressor and compressed air storage tanks.

Two large diaphone trumpets protruded from the south side of the building (you can still see where the trumpet openings were). These emitted a two-tone signal: a high frequency tone and then a low frequency "grunt." A siren compressor replaced the diaphones in 1962.

Its use as a fog signal building ended in 1971 when an automatic electronic fog signal was installed across the road.

(The foghorn) was installed in a house by the road so that the motorist had to drive directly in front of it. If the visitor listened carefully in a fog, he could hear a sound resembling the clanking of a chain in a dungeon. Then suddenly would come a blast that would shiver the timbers of a cast iron dog.
Bertram Lippincott, Jamestown Sampler

(Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Winters

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Nebraska, Scotts Bluff County, Scottsbluff
In memory of
Rebecca Burdick
wife of
Hiram Winters.
She died a faithful
Latter Day Saint,
Aug. 15, 1852,
Aged 50 Yrs.
While making that memorable journey across
the plains with her people to find a new home
in the far distant Salt Lake Valley, she gave her
life for her faith, her reward will be according
to her works.

This monument was
erected in 1902,
her centennial year by
her numerous descendants.

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Keeper's House

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Rhode Island, Newport County, near Jamestown

Although most lighthouse keepers were married, at many small lighthouses they lived a solitary life while their families remained on the mainland. Beavertail, being on Conanicut Island, allowed the keepers and their family to live at the site.

There were 27 keepers at Beavertail. The first was Abel Franklin who was appointed in 1749. In 1844, Robert H. Wheeler was appointed keeper. He served four years. After he died, his wife Damaris became Beavertail's first and only female keeper.

When the current light tower was built in 1856, the U.S. Lighthouse Board constructed this brick lighthouse keeper's residence to replace an older house.

Carl Chellis was the Coast Guard Light Keeper at Beavertail in 1938. When the Great Hurricane of 1938 hit, Chellis' son Clayton, his daughter Marion, and six other children were returning home from school. As the school bus crossed the Mackerel Cove causeway, a huge storm surge hit and only the bus driver and the keeper's son Clayton survived.

In 1939 management of all lighthouses transferred from the U.S. Lighthouse Service to the U.S. Coast Guard. the light was automated in 1972, five years later a property custodian was assigned to provide maintenance and security.

When a sou'easter screeches through here you see some weather. I remember the night a few years ago when a sou'easter came through and raised plenty of trouble. I went out to set the fog signal running and the wind threw me right across the yard, into a wall. I crept over to the whistle house on my hands and knees.
Captain George T. Manders, Lighthouse Keeper, 1913 to 1937

(Disasters • Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

1915 Ohio Michigan State Line Survey

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Ohio, Fulton County, Fayette
Between July 12 and October 26, 1915, Samuel Stinson Gannet,Geographer of the United States Geological Survey and crew retraced and surveyed the Ohio and Michigan State line. Working with a transit and dragging a 300 foot steel tape, the crew surveyed 69.92 miles and set 72 granite monuments.The 700-pound monuments are 5 feet 6 inches tall and cost $18.00 each, including delivery from Mount Airy, North Carolina. The top 18 inches were cut and carved by Lloyd Brothers in Toledo. Once the survey was complete, it put an end to one of the greatest disputes over a state line in the history of the United States.

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

The Great Platte River Road

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North Dakota, Lincoln County, Sutherland

      This is the Platte River Valley, America’s great road west. It provided a natural pathway for westward expansion across the continent during the nineteenth century. Here passed the Oregon Trail, following the South Platte River along much the same route as the highway over which you travel. Beginning in 1841, nearly 250,000 travelers crossed the plains to Oregon and California over this important overland route. Here at O’Fallon’s Bluffs, the wagon trains faced one of the most difficult and dangerous spots on the trail. The Platte River cut directly against the bluff, making it necessary to travel the narrow roadway over O’Fallon’s Bluffs. Deep sand caught the wagon wheels, and Indian attacks were always a danger. A few feet southeast of this point, ruts made by thousands of wagon wheels still remain. Although first traveled primarily by immigrants, the trail was later used by the Pony Express and became an important freight and military route. With the completion of the trans-continental railroad across Nebraska in 1867, travel on the trail declined. Although the danger and hardships faced by early travelers no longer exist, the Great Platte Valley route remains an important modern thoroughfare across Nebraska and across the nation.

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

Burns Cottage

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United Kingdom, Scotland, South Ayrshire, Alloway

Robert Burns, the Ayshire Poet,
was born in this cottage
on 25th Jan. A.D. 1759
and died 21st July A.D. 1796 age 37 1/2 years.

(Arts, Letters, Music) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Crossing the Overland Trail

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Nebraska, Lincoln County, Sutherland

      Beneath this platform, evidence of the great westward migration still remains. These shallow depressions were once deep ruts created by thousands of hooves, shoes and wheels. The Overland Trail is often visualized as a single well-defined roadway. However, except in narrow spots such as this, the actual route through the Platte Valley during any given year varied considerably, depending upon such factors as soil conditions and the availability of grass for the animals. Traveling an average of fifteen to twenty miles a day in various conveyances, the emigrants spent from four to six months on the trail during the long trek from the Missouri River to Oregon or California. At best, the journey was arduous, often marked only by the dusty monotony of daily routine. At other times, disease and Indian attacks were very real dangers, and the number of fresh graves along the road bore testimony to the sacrifices made by many pioneers. Some emigrants were better equipped than others, some were wiser, some were simply luckier; but all suffered weariness, hardship and danger. However, as the many overland diaries and letters testify, this was a great human experience, one which was vital to the settlement of the West.

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

Albani

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Quebec, Vallée du Richelieu MRC, Chambly

Albani, one of the great sopranos of her generation, was born Emma Lajeunesse at Chambly. After studies at home, in Paris and in Milan she was, for 24 years, a principal artist at Covent Garden and a favourite of Queen Victoria. She was mistress of the Italian, French, German and English repertoires, and ranged stylistically from oratorio, through the bel canto operas, to Wagner. In demand in all the musical capitals of the world, and welcomed home enthusiastically during her North American tours, Albani became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1925. She died in London.

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

Cooking Hillside

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Wyoming, Park County, Yellowstone National Park

Shake, then Bake
Covered by dense forest until 1978, this hillside changed dramatically after a swarm of earthquakes struck the area. In spite of being jolted again and again, the trees remained standing, but met their demise soon afterward when ground temperatures soared to 200° F or 94° C!

Roots sizzled in the super-heated soil and trees toppled over one by one as steam rose eerily between the branches. No wonder the hill was dubbed “Cooking Hillside.”

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

Mud Geyser

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Wyoming, Park County, Yellowstone National Park

Imagine walking on a densely forested trail to arrive at Mud Geyser – a trail once shaded by trees now criss-crossing the ground around you. Before 1978, Mud Geyser was hidden by forest except from a platform beyond this point!

A Once and Future Geyser?
In the late 1800s, Mud Geyser erupted every few hours, spewing muddy water 50 feet or 17 meters into the air! By 1927, eruptions no longer occurred.

Half a century later, a swarm of earthquakes shook the area. Soil temperatures skyrocketed, killing many of the trees that surrounded the pool.

Around the turn of the 21st Century, violent steam vents hissed forth, their large craters gaping open wide enough to swallow the logs that fell in.

Will Mud Geyser erupt again? Nobody knows, but this changeable area will likely look different on your next visit.

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

Rushton Boat Shop

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New York, Saint Lawrence County, Canton

Canton, N.Y.
home of
Rushton Boat Shop
1873 - 1916
Famed for its craft and craftmanship
• • •
J. Henry Rushton 1843-1906
Founder - Proprietor - Guiding Genius
Charter Member
American Canoe Association - 1880
Builder of many renowned
and historic canoes

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

History of the Beavertail Light Station

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Rhode Island, Newport County, near Jamestown

1678
Town of Jamestown is incorporated. There are about 150 residents.

1705
Jamestown Town Council orders that a Watch House be built at "Beaver Tail."

1712
Jamestown Town Council orders Gershom Remington to build a "Fire Beacon" and Benedict Arnold to "look after the watch and see that it be faithfully kept".

1749
Peter Harrison, known as "America's First Architect," designs and builds the first light tower. It is the 3rd lighthouse built in Colonial America. Constructed of wood, the tower is 58 feet in height to the cornice with an 11-foot lantern on top.

1753
Tower burns down from an unknown cause. Second tower is constructed of stone and rubble left over from building Fort George (Goat Island) in Newport.

1776
Rhode Island is the first American colony to declare Independence from Britain.

1779
British Troops departing Newport during the Revolution set fire to the inside tower wood and remove some of the lighting equipment.

1787
Town windmill on North Road is rebuilt after the British destroy the previous mill.

1789
Beavertail Light and 11 other lighthouses are selected by George Washington to be transferred to the National Government.

1790
Rhode Island is the last of the thirteen colonies to join the Union, the United States Revenue Service (forerunner of the Coast Guard) is established.

1793
The deed to Beavertail is transferred to the United States Government.

1817
Beavertail beacon is lit with manufactured gas for one year in an experiment conducted by the Newport inventor David Melville.

1827
First Dutch Island Lighthouse is constructed.

1849
The United States Lighthouse Board is established to improve lighthouses throughout the country.

1851
An air fog trumpet powered by a horse driven compressor pump is installed.

1856
The present granite light tower is constructed to replace the deteriorating 1753 structure. A third-order Fresnel lens installed and a keeper's residence constructed. The old tower is removed and on its foundation a fog-whistle house built.

1857
First Ericssion coloric coal fed engine is install for use with the fog signal. Several other "firsts" in foghorn equipment are tested at Beavertail over the next 40 years.

1882
Whale Rock Lighthouse is constructed.

1884
The Naval War College opens in Newport.

1898
An assistant keeper's residence is added. Ninety one years later this building will serve at the first Beavertail Lighthouse Museum.

1903
United States Lighthouse Board is transferred to the United States Department of Commerce.

1910
The Bureau of Lighthouses is established.

1930
America's Cup Yacht Race moved to waters off Newport and Jamestown where they remained the next 53 years (1983).

1931
The first electric light-beacon is installed at Beavertail.

1938
The Great Hurricane of 1938 destroys the fog signal building and exposes the original 1749 lighthouse foundation. A new fog signal building is erected adjacent to the granite light tower.

1939
The Bureau of Lighthouses is abolished. Responsibilities for navigational aids is transferred to the United States Coast Guard, which continues these duties today.

1940
First Jamestown Bridge opens at a cost of $3 million.

1969
The $61 million bridge between Jamestown and Newport is opened

1972
The beacon and fog signal apparatus is automated. The last keeper and assistant keeper are transferred off site.

1977
Beavertail Light Station is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

1983
The Rhode Island Parks Association announces that they will restore the deteriorating Assistant Keeper's House as a lighthouse museum.

1989
The Beavertail Lighthouse Museum is announced; the result of a joint effort by the Rhode Island Parks Association, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the Town of Jamestown, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

1991
The Fresnel lens at Beavertail is removed and replaced by a Rotating Aero Beacon.

1992
The $161 million Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge opens, replacing the former Jamestown Bridge.

1993
The non-profit Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association is organized and takes over management of the museum.

2007
A ground penetrating radar survey determines that the original 1749 light tower was octagonal in shape.

2009
The first major restoration of granite light tower in 156 years is completed.

2010
The oil storage building, built in 1905, is restored by museum volunteers.

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

Churning Caldron

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Wyoming, Park County, Yellowstone National Park

Frothing and fuming as heat and gas rise from Yellowstone’s magma chamber, this muddy pool churns and cooks. Shaken again and again by earthquakes, the temperature beneath it rises and falls, transforming Churning Caldron.

Roiling or Boiling?
Churning Caldron is scalding hot, but not boiling. Gases rise through vents opened by earthquakes, then rumble and bubble to the surface, causing the water to roil.

Sidebar :>
Temperatures through Time

In 1971, Churning Caldron defied its name. Mats of microorganisms grew on the pool’s warm, calm surface.

Jolted repeatedly by a swarm of earthquakes in 1978 and 1979, Churning Caldron’s temperature rose. Gases bubbled up and microbes died. The pool began to churn again.

Nearly five hundred earthquakes shook the area between July 1 and July 15 in 1995! Churning Caldron’s water still roiled violently in 2002 as gases escaped from below.

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

The King Iron Bowstring Bridge

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New York, Saint Lawrence County, Canton
The King Iron Bowstring Bridge was designed by Zenas King and built in the 1870s. Before he founded the King Bridge Company in Cleveland, Ohio, Zenas King lived and worked in the Depeyster area of St. Lawrence County. One of a very few bowstring bridges that remain in service in New York State, this bridge, 75 feet long and 13 feet wide, was the link between the industries that operated on Falls Island and the Village of Canton. Teams of horses used to bring in loads of raw materials, including grains such as barley, oats, and wheat, logs of white pine, hemlock and various hardwoods, apples, and wool. Wagons left the island loaded with flour, cattle feed, lumber, building supplies, apple cider, yarn, and hardware products. By restoring this bridge, Grasse River Heritage has saved the heart of Canton's early history. The engineering firm, the contractor, and bridge restoration crews worked to insure that the restoration was for the most part true to the original design and construction techniques of this unique bridge.

How does the bowstring truss bridge actually work? The load of this bridge is carried by the arch. The weight is trust downward and vertically. The lower chord comes under tension, allowing the footings to take only vertical forces. All of the parts work together to create a bridge that is simple, light weight, dynamic, and elegant.

L.H. Evert's "History of St. Lawrence County," 1878. The two bowstring bridges shown over the east channel were never built.
"The King Iron Bridge in Winter" Fred Ashley photo, ca 1975. Canton Town and Village Historian's Office
"A Rare View of a Rare Bridge, 2004"
"Welding and Painting Completed, the Bridge Returns, September 28, 2007."
The King Iron Bowstring Bridge Heading Home, September 28, 2007."

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

Black Dragon’s Caldron

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Wyoming, Park County, Yellowstone National Park

This mudpot roared into existence in 1948, blowing trees out by roots and forever changing this once quiet forested hillside. A park interpreter named the new feature for its resemblance to a darkly colored “demon of the backwoods.” For several decades, it erupted in explosive 10 – 20 foot bursts of black mud. Over the years, it has moved 200’ to the southeast and become relatively quiet. However as change is constant in Yellowstone, the black dragon may one day roar back to life.

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

Preserving Fair Lane — An Iconic American Estate

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Michigan, Wayne County, Dearborn
The Power of Water

Clara and Henry Ford situated their new home along the banks of the Rouge River to take advantage of nature's beauty and power. Construction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant provided the necessary electrical needs for the estate.

The water through the turbine tubes is delivered into the Rouge river fourteen feet below the bed of the river. From a scientific standpoint, and as an engineering development, this building stands unique as a most complete conception not only of the full supplying of every adequate means of power, etc, for the house, but a most practical and complete experimental department for Mr. Ford's private use. - Fair Lane architect William Van Tine, March 1916

The cornerstone of the Powerhouse was laid on October 28, 1914 by Henry Ford's mentor and close friend, Thomas A. Edison.

Thoughful Design

In 1913, the Fords engaged noted Danish-American landscape architect, Jens Jensen. Jensen is best known for his "prairie-style" design and his use of native plants. Jensen's plans, the first submitted in January 1914, were designed for wandering and discovery and included an expansive meadow and naturalistic garden areas. His approach to the to the riverbank included a stone dam with pathway across the top and layered limestone walls along the banks.

Jensen did other projects for Henry Ford including the Dearborn Inn, the Henry Ford Hospital, Greenfield Village and the "Ford Pavilion" at the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Exposition. Reconstruction of Riverbank

In 2011, a 100 foot section of the riverbank, near the Main Residence, collapsed, undermined by years of the Rouge River cutting into the bank. In 2014, architects and engineers at SmithGroupJJR, Ann Arbor, MI, partnered with Henry Ford Estate staff, researched the original construction details and developed a reconstruction plan. In 2014, Faust Construction, Albaugh Masonry and Inland Lakes Landscaping began efforts to reconstruct the wall.

Reconstruction involved laying large irregular limestone rock to form multiple terraces, steps and walkways. A wooden foot bridge was replicated using historic aerial photography. To provide additional structural support, modern hidden sheet piling was utilized.

Reconstruction efforts will conclude by the end of 2015

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

Ed Cross Farm

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Michigan, Jackson County, Spring Arbor
Ed Cross and his wife, Edith, built this house, barn and granary in 1919. As a young man Cross (1863 - 1938) spent several years working as a logger in Mackinac County, eventually returning to Spring Arbor. During the last fifty years of his life he operated a sawmill, a cider mill and a threshing rig. He also served as the township treasurer, as a highway commissioner, and on the Jackson County Board of Supervisors. In 1932, Ed Cross, like many farmers during the Great Depression, lost the farm to foreclosure.

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

Spring Arbor College

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Michigan, Jackson County, Spring Arbor
Three Michigan institutions of higher education have had their roots here. The predecessor of Albion College, the Spring Arbor Seminary was chartered in 1835. Michigan Central College, founded in 1844, was located here until its removal in 1855 when it became Hillsdale College. Spring Arbor was opened by free Methodists in 1873 as an academy with elementary and secondary grades. In 1928 the elementary program was discontinued when a junior college was officially introduced. The high school was terminated in 1961 when a senior college was proposed. In September 1963, the first junior class was accepted into the regionally accredited four-year liberal arts college. Throughout its history, the Spring Arbor Faculty and students have been dedicated to "the serious study of the liberal arts, commitment to Jesus Christ as a perspective for learning and participation in the campus community and the contemporary world."

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

Webster's Brigade

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Kentucky, Boyle County, Perryville

In these fields, a Union brigade commanded by Colonel George Penny Webster supported the main Union battle line. Webster's troops, numbering more than 3,000 men from Ohio and Indiana, were new soldiers who would soon experience the horrors of battle for the first time. Many of the men carried antiquated Prussian muskets that were old and unreliable. During combat, many of the guns would not fire at the oncoming enemy.

Posted on high ground in support of Captain Samuel Harris' artillery battery, Webster's infantry formed a second line against the brunt of the Confederate attack. When the Federal brigade in front of them finally retreated, the advancing Southern troops hit Webster's men squarely for the first time. As the enemy swarmed near them, Colonel Webster was shot in the hip, and he fell from his horse. Taken to a field hospital, Webster eventually died from his wound. Inexperienced and hindered by their outdated weaponry, his troops quickly retreated to the west.

The Battle of Perryville was a vicious baptism of fire for these raw troops. The brigade suffered 90 killed, 345 wounded, and 144 missing. Their experience was indicative of many Union soldiers who fought at Perryville. Untested in battle, many of these men were forced to retreat when threatened by veteran Confederate soldiers.

(Webster) told me he thought he was mortally wounded, and prayed for God to have mercy on his soul. He also said, "Tell my dear wife and children they were last in my thoughts."
Union Sergeant Major Duncan C. Milner
98th Ohio Infantry

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