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Semper Paratus

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Wisconsin, Door County, Sturgeon Bay

This plaque is given by the State of Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs in grateful recognition of the United States Coast Guard, for its long and storied history of steadfast service in Wisconsin. On the mighty Mississippi River, the storm-swept shores of Lake Superior, and the shipwreck strewn waters of Lake Michigan, dedicated Coast Guard men and women protect, defend and save.

Given this day, November 10, 2014 in Sturgeon Bay -
Wisconsin's Coast Guard City

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


Anchor

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Wisconsin, Door County, Sturgeon Bay

This anchor was recovered in Northern Lake Michigan in 1979 by the crew of the USCG cutter/buoy tender Acacia when that ship was stationed in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. It was assumed that the anchor got fouled in the rocks and could not be raised by the ship's gear.

Donated by the Crew of Acacia

(Man-Made Features • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The "Final Spike"

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Mississippi, Montgomery County, Winona

On Jan. 31, 1860 The Final Spike
Of The Old Mississippi Central
Was Driven Just South Of
Winona Establishing For The
First Time Direct Rail Service
From The Great Lakes To the
Gulf Of Mexico.

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

Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway

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Mississippi, Montgomery County, Winona
Created by Congress in 1913, the highway in Mississippi follows U.S. 51, 49, & 90. Its central route runs from Fairview, Ky., Davis' birthplace, to Beauvior, his last home at Biloxi.

(Notable Persons • Roads & Vehicles) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Camp Davis

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Virginia, Lynchburg
Camp Davis, a Civil War mustering ground for Confederate troops from Virginia under the command of Col. Jubal A. Early, once occupied this area. At least 130 Southern soldiers died at the camp's own Pratt Hospital and were buried in Lynchburg's Old City Cemetery. The neighborhood's historically African American identity took shape during Reconstruction, when Camp Davis became an important refuge for freed slaves. Before being annexed by the city in 1870, it was the site of Federal military headquarters, the Freedmen's Bureau Camp Davis School headed by Jacob Eschbach Yoder and a black Methodist Episcopal Church.

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

Fort Fred Steele after 1886

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Wyoming, Carbon County, near Sinclair
Officially abandoned in 1886, the fort came under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior in 1887. In 1892 and 1893 most of the buildings were sold a public auction. In 1897 the land, opened to homesteading, was patented by the Union Pacific Railroad.
Primary industries in the town of Fort Steele after the turn of the century were sheep ranching and tie processing. The Lincoln Highway, the nation's first transcontinental highway, passed through the town and boosted the economy between 1920 and 1939. When the highway was moved in 1939 most commercial activity ended. The number of residents declined rapidly and the town became practically deserted.
In 1973 the Wyoming State Legislature created the Fort Steele State Historic Site. Although the number of structures has declined dramatically over the years what remains standing is mute testimony to the flourishing and subsequent passing of several frontiers.

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

The Passenger's Railroad

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Wyoming, Carbon County, near Sinclair
Passenger travel on the Union Pacific Railroad began in July of 1868, with the first trans-continental service beginning just 10 days after the golden spike was driven on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Point in Utah. The first passenger trains were undeniably crude, they seldom traveled more than 20 miles per hour and meals were eaten quickly in station dining halls. Wooden benches were the standard seating accommodations and wood stoves furnished heat, while air conditioning was unheard of until the 1930's. Slowly improvements began to occur with the introduction of sleeper service (folding wooden benches) in the fall of 1869, new engines and reworked grades and bridges.
In the early years there were occasional wrecks until the intricacies of traffic control were figured out. Improvements and innovations began with continental travel. George Pullman developed his famous "hotel" sleeping cars, the "Pullman Sleeper". Then came dinners (sic), buffet cars and other special railroad cars.
Different engines were made for different grades. Bridges, trestles and tunnels were rebuilt and realigned to ensure safety, and feeder lines were constructed to haul passengers and freight to every corner of the continent. Soon inter-cities and high mountain villages had their own train service. Then came the automobile and the Linclon Highway.

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

Amelia Perry Pride’s Dorchester Home

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Virginia, Lynchburg
Near this spot stood a small frame house known as Dorchester Home or Old Folks Home for impoverished former slave women. Established in 1897 by Hampton Institute graduate and Lynchburg public school principal Amelia Perry Pride (1857-1932), it provided shelter, fuel, clothing, and food for its residents until their deaths. Following Hampton Institute’s principle of uplifting her race through self-help, Pride was a passionate advocate of African American and Virginia Indian education. In Lynchburg, she provided scholarships for many young women seeking higher education and established sewing and cooking schools for women and men entering vocational fields.

(Education • Charity & Public Work • African Americans) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Andrew Davidson

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West Virginia, Mercer County, Bluefield
Site of the pioneer cabin of Andrew Davidson. While he was absent, Indians burned his cabin, tomahawked his children, and captured his wife. Mrs. Davidson was sold to a Canadian family from whom she was ransomed.

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

41-Foot Utility Boat Large (UTB)

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Wisconsin, Door County, Sturgeon Bay

The Coast Guard built 207 UTBs, at a cost of $235,000 for each boat, all at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, from 1973 to 1978. The 41-ft. UTB has been one of the most successful boats in Coast Guard history, ably serving as the general workhorse at multi-mission stations for 41 years. The UTB was designed to operate under moderate weather and sea conditions where speed and maneuverability were crucial. While they were primarily used for search and rescue, the mission expanded to include boating safety, marine environmental protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, security of ports, waterways and coasts and defense operations including missions associated with homeland security. Since its first year in service in 1973, the 41-ft. UTB class has

Conducted over 350,000 sorties
Saved over $400 million in property
And saved over 41,800 lives!

Starting in the early 1990s, minor stress cracks began to develop in the aluminum hulls of some boats from wear and tear. While at Station Milwaukee, CG-41410 was pulled from the water and cannibalized for parts in order to keep other 41s in the group going. Later, she was fully repaired and returned to the water where she participated in countless search and rescue cases and various other operations.

Beginning in 2008, these aging boats were gradually retired. The CG-41410 has the distinction of being the last UTB in service, having been decommissioned in Grand Haven, Michigan, on July 31, 2014.

CG-41410 went into service on July 1, 1977 at Station Milwaukee and served at a number of Lake Michigan stations in the succeeding 37 years. That included being stationed twice at the Sturgeon Bay Canal Station from April 26, 2002 until August 15, 2003 and again from June 12, 2007 until August 6, 2007. She was last stationed in Muskegon, Michigan.

In accordance with Coast Guard tradition, the hull numbers of the cutter with the earliest commissioning date are painted gold to honor this unique senior status. The vessel is affectionately referred to as "the queen of the fleet." This tradition has been adopted by the boat forces as well. The gold hull numbers indicate that particular boat is the oldest in its class still in operation. CG-41410 sported the gold numbers for the 41-ft. UTB class prior to retirement. Because she was the last operational vessel in her class, she continues to display the gold hull numbers so proudly earned.

The CG-41410 is back in Sturgeon Bay through a cooperative effort by the USCG Historian's Office, USCG Sector Lake Michigan, the Door County Maritime Museum, the City of Sturgeon Bay, and the Sturgeon Bay Coast Guard Committee. She arrived in Sturgeon Bay in April 2015 aboard a USCG barge being pushed by the USCGC Mobile Bay from the USCG facility in Milwaukee. She was lifted and settled into her final mooring place by a crew from Bay Shipbuilding Company. As a proud Coast Guard City, Sturgeon Bay and the Door County Maritime Museum are honored to help tell the Coast Guard's story on the Door Peninsula with this display of CG-41410. The boat is on permanent loan from the U.S. Coast Guard Heritage Asset Collection.

[Photo captions, clockwise from top left, read]

CG-41410 conducts flight operations while on duty at Station Milwaukee

41-ft. UTB at work [putting out fire]

CG-41410 being delivered to Sturgeon Bay aboard Coast Guard barge pushed by USCGC Mobile Bay

CG-41410 being maneuvered into her final mooring place

Typical three-person 41-ft. UTB crew

CG-41410 being retired at Grand Haven, Michigan

(Man-Made Features • Patriots & Patriotism • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Ensign William Devotie Billingsley

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Mississippi, Montgomery County, Winona
A graduate of Winona High School and the United States Naval Academy Class of 1909, Ensign Billingsley was one of the "Bird Men" — the pioneers of naval aviation, the pioneers of the test pilot generation, and the grandfathers of the astronauts. He was the first U.S. naval and military aviator to die in the line of duty when he perished in an aircraft accident over the Chesapeake Bay on June 20, 1913. Ensign Billingsley is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Winona.

(Military • Air & Space • Disasters) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Legendary Home of the Blues

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Mississippi, Tallahatchie County, Tutwiler

In his autobiography,
father of the blues, W.C. Handy
stated that he first heard the blues,
a native negro ballad form, in the
railroad station of Tutwiler in 1895.

(Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment • African Americans) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Delta Blues Inspires W.C. Handy

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Mississippi, Bolivar County, Cleveland
While leading his orchestra at a dance on this site c. 1905, Handy was unable to perform requested blues numbers. A local band stepped in and stole the show. "My enlightenment came in Cleveland. That night an American composer was born," he wrote. Handy later penned such blues classics as Memphis Blues and St. Louis Blues.

(Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

David R. Bowen

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Mississippi, Bolivar County, Cleveland
A Cleveland High School graduate, Bowen (D-Miss.) served five terms in Congress (1973-1983). As chair of the Cotton, Rice, and Sugar Subcommittee and a member of the House Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, and Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committees, his legislation opened rice production and rewrote cotton and sugar laws and the Endangered Species Act. A graduate of Harvard and Oxford, he taught at Millsaps, Mississippi College and Mississippi State. An author, he also served as president of the Mississippi Historical Society.

(Agriculture • Education • Government) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

8064 Hwy. 57

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Wisconsin, Door County, Baileys Harbor

Now known as the Hjertehjem Shop, Roger Eatough also built this original building, the south part, in 1885. The foundation of chipped stone is no longer visible. The original part was used as a drug store, furniture store, a mortuary, and the post office. Then Ernald Viste bought this building in the 1950s and added the north part to operate a hardware store, a realty and insurance office. Ernald Viste was town clerk for 51 years, so it often served to hold town board meetings. More recently, it has been the location of Hjertehjem, in business in Baileys Harbor for 36 years.

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


The Cleveland Depot

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Mississippi, Bolivar County, Cleveland
Four railroad depots have operated here since Cleveland was incorporated in 1886. The first depot—two Yazoo & Mississippi Valley RR cars tied together and parked on a side track—disappeared when a prankster hooked it to an outgoing train. A temporary depot was used until 1896 when a larger, wooden building was constructed. This depot burned in 1914 but was replaced the following year by the Illinois Central Railroad. The present structure, renovated in 2003, incorporates a portion of the 1915 depot.

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

8068 Hwy. 57

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Wisconsin, Door County, Baileys Harbor

Nathan Nichols (the north building) was formerly two buildings, now connected, that were built by Roger Eatough (owner of the Globe Hotel). The little house in the rear was built as a residence and was built in 1890. The building to the north was built in 1879 and served as a drug store, a veterinary office and a bakery. It was also used by Chris Johnson as a barbershop with Dr. John, a dentist, upstairs.

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

Historic Cemetery

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Maryland, Washington County, Sharpsburg

Although now part of the Mumma Farm, and known as Mumma Cemetery, this site was first established as a burial ground by the Orndorff family. Living on this farm at the time of his death, Major Christian Orndorff II was buried here in December 1797.

Orndorff came to the Sharpsburg area in 1762 from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and settled on the banks of Antietam Creek where he established a milling operation. A known patriot, he became an active organizer and leader during the Revolutionary War. He was commissioned a major in the American Army in 1778. In September of 1871 at the request of General Washington, he returned home and operated his flour mill to furnish supplies for the Continental Army. Christian acquired large tracts of land and settled on this property after retiring from milling in 1790.

The Orndorff heirs sold this farm to the Mumma family in 1811. When Elizabeth Hoffman Orndorff, wife of Christian II died in 1829, it is believed that she was also buried here. The exact location of these early Orndorff graves has unfortunately been lost to time and the elements.

In 1873, the cemetery was enlarged. The stone wall was constructed and the Mumma family deeded to specific members of the Dunker Church the right to be buried here.

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

August Zahn Residence

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Wisconsin, Door County, Baileys Harbor

This property
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places

by the United States
Department of the Interior

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

Center City Cemetery

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Texas, Mills County, near Goldthwaite
The Center City Cemetery began with the burials in 1874 of Julia M. Bishop and M.E. Hughes, the adult and infant daughters of W.C. and Caroline Hughes, early settlers of this area. Judge L.E. Patterson purchased 2.5 acres containing the Hughes burials in 1905 for use as a community graveyard. Concern for its upkeep prompted the establishment of a cemetery committee in 1951. A $1000 gift to the cemetery in J.M. Dalton’s will in 1967 helped establish a maintenance fund. The more than 500 burials recorded here include those of many of this area’s earliest settlers.

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