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Fort Ridgely State Park's Buildings Today

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Minnesota, Nicollet County, near Fairfax

The legacy of the hard work by the young men of the CCC and veterans of the VCC during the five years the camp was here lives on in the structures we still use and enjoy today.

"The CCC has opened up recreational opportunities in the nation's forest and parks for millions by stimulating new state park development projects, by improving and developing recreational facilities in national and state parks, and in other areas."

"It has developed parks in states, counties, municipalities and other areas set aside by federal or local agencies for recreational use. It is not to much to say that the CCC put the now flourishing state park system on its feet."

       Robert Fechner, Director, Civilian Conservation Corps

(map) Fort Ridgely
State Park and
Historic Site


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

Chimney Tops

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Tennessee, Sevier County, near Gatlinburg
Can you imagine smoke wafting from the chimney-like formations on this ridge? Nearly vertical holes in the tops of these jutting rocks make them look like natural chimney flues, and mountain people named them so—Chimney Tops. The Cherokees called the mountain Duniskwalguni, meaning ‘forked antlers.’

The half-billion-year-old Chimney Tops, made of slates, schists, and phyllites, sit atop even older rock—Thunderhead sandstone, a tough, erosion resistant rock. They chimney rock (Anakeesta Formation) is softer than the sandstone, allowing rain, hail, and ice—over hundreds of millions of years—to fashion its chimney-shaped likeness.

(Left Photo Caption)
The rugged Chimney Tops pierce the forest that cloaks most of the Great Smoky Mountain ridges. The bare rock offers scant soil for plants. Only shallow-rooted shrubs and trees like rhododendron, mountain laurel, red spruce, and eastern hemlock thrive here.

(Right Photo Caption)
Notice the dead trees on the adjacent slopes? They are eastern hemlocks, killed by tiny, non-native insects called hemlock wooly adelgids. The adelgids feed at the base of hemlock needles, cutting off nutrients and starving the trees to death. Using insecticides and biological controls park managers hope to save some hemlocks, but millions will be lost.

(Map Caption)
A steep, rocky, and rugged two-mile (3.2 km) trail leads to Chimney Tops and a panoramic view of the Sugarlands valley. The hike begins at the Chimney Tops trailhead, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) up the road from here.

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

The Geographic Center

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Kansas, Smith County, near Lebanon
In a park three miles north and one mile west is the exact geographic center of the 48 contiguous states. The location has been officially established by the U.S. Geological Survey. It is the point where a plane map of the 48 states would balance if it were of uniform thickness. Transcontinental highway miles are:

(Map of 48 Contiguous United States with transcontinental highway mileage from the geographic center)

(Exploration • Man-Made Features • Science & Medicine) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Blacksmith

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Texas, Tom Green County, San Angelo


Village Blacksmith Mural
March 2003
Made possible by funds raised from the first West Texas Regional Domino Tournament.
Originated, organized and chaired by
Dal De Wees

[Historical nature of mural is understood, however, it's the marker that provides context for how the mural was created]

(Charity & Public Work • Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

South Chadbourne 200 Block Early 1900's

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Texas, Tom Green County, San Angelo


This Mural is a street scene from the early 1900's looking north down Chadbourne Street from the Concho Street [sic - Avenue] corner behind you.

The building on the far left was the Ragsdale building which used to sit in this parking lot. M.C. Ragsdale was responsible for most of the earlier photos taken of San Angelo. His photo documents the Trolley and car wreck. This street was made of wooden blocks and had over 30 businesses operating at that time.

The muralist adds her own details such as three tiny mice, a white cat, horses with only three legs and a famous quote or two.

Enjoy the Third Historic Mural of San Angelo, Texas. The first can be seen at the corner of Chadbourne and Ave. C by the train Depot and the second can be seen on the Oak[es] Street side one block east of here.

Sept. 2005

(Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Operation Pedro Pan

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Florida, Miami-Dade County, Florida City
On this site, which was officially known as the Florida City Shelter of the Catholic Welfare Bureau’s Children’s Program, thousands of Operation Pedro Pan children found refuge from Communist Cuba between 1961 and 1966. Operation Pedro Pan was conceived and organized by Monsignor Bryan O. Walsh of the Archdiocese of Miami and James Baker, headmaster of Ruston Academy in Havana, Cuba, at the request of parents who sought to prevent Communist indoctrination of their children. It was financed largely by the United States Government with full support of the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations, and was supervised by the State of Florida. Between December 1960 and October 1962, over 14,000 Pedro Pan children arrived in South Florida. The Florida City shelter was the largest of the Operation’s facilities in the state. It housed girls 5-19 years old and boys under 13 who lived in home units under the care of exiled Cuban couples who served as house parents. Its day-to-day operations were managed by Catholic priests and Sisters of St. Philip Neri. Many Operation Pedro Pan children went on to plant deep roots in the region and made significant contributions to Florida and the nation.

En este sitio, denominado Refugio de Florida City del Programa de Niños Cubanos del Buró Católico de Bienestar Social, miles de niños integrantes de la Operación Pedro Pan recibieron albergue de Cuba Comunista entre 1961 y 1966. La operación fue concebida y organizada por el Monseñor Bryan O. Walsh de la Arquidiócesis de Miami y por James Baker, director de la Academia Ruston, ubicada en La Habana, Cuba, a solicitud de padres que no querían que sus hijos fueran adoctrinados por el régimen. Fue financiada por el gobierno estadounidense, con respaldo de la administraciones de Eisenhower, Kennedy y Johnson y supervisada por el gobierno estatal de Florida. Entre diciembre de 1960 y octubre de 1962, más de 14,000 niños cubanos llegaron al sur de Florida. En el Refugio de Florida City, el mayor del estado, se acogieron niñas entre 5 y 19 años de edad y niños menores de 13. Los menores residían en hogares encabezados por matrimonios cubanos exiliados que fungían como padres. La administración estaba bajo la dirección de sacerdotes católicos y las Hermanas de San Felipe Neri. Muchos niños de Operacion Pedro Pan echaron raíces en la región y contribuyeron al desarrollo socioeconómico y cultural de Florida y del país.

Placa patrimonial de Florida auspiciada por Operación Pedro Pan Group., Inc. y el Departamento de Estado de Florida.

(Charity & Public Work • Hispanic Americans • Settlements & Settlers • War, Cold) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

San Angelo National Bank Building

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Texas, Tom Green County, San Angelo


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, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

John Yellott Rust

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Texas, Tom Green County, San Angelo


President and General Manager, for more than 50 years, of San Angelo Telephone Company (first office near this site).

Born to a prominent family at Leesburg, Virginia, Rust was educated there and in Maryland. He went to work at 16 digging post holes for a telegraph company and at 17 became construction foreman on a telegraph line from New York City to Buffalo. At the age of 19 he moved to Hamilton, Texas, and spent 12 years there as a farmer and rancher. In 1892, joined by two younger brothers, he moved his outfit to West Texas.

On a cattle-buying trip in 1898, he first saw San Angelo and recognized its potential for growth. Soon he bought the local hand-operated telephone business and began running toll lines to nearby towns. In the early days he and his brothers dug the holes, placed the poles, and strung the telephone wire. On occasion they even handled the downtown switchboard.

Under Rust's leadership the company extended 100 toll lines to 10 counties, serving 19 exchanges in this area. When he retired in 1948 it was the second largest independent telephone firm in Texas.

A civic leader, Rust served the city as alderman after it incorporated in 1904. He died in San Angelo on October 7, 1952.

(Agriculture • Communications • Industry & Commerce • Politics) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

O.C. Fisher Federal Building and United States Courthouse

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Texas, Tom Green County, San Angelo


Completed in 1911 and expanded in 1932, the O.C. Fisher Federal Building has continuously served the citizens of San Angelo and surrounding communities. This edifice was originally built to house the city's main post office and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Its high-style Italian Renaissance Revival architecture reflects the 1909 design work of the U.S. Treasury Department under architect James Knox Taylor. Today, it bears the name of San Angelo lawyer O.C. Fisher who served the community as county attorney, state legislature, and U.S. congressman for 32 years.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

(Charity & Public Work • Man-Made Features • Politics) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church

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Texas, Tom Green County, San Angelo


Catholic priests visited the Concho River area in the 17th and 18th centuries, but modern Catholicism began after the founding of Fort Concho in 1867. Father Mathurin J. Pairier (1822?-1888) began visiting here in 1874. He cared for the Catholics of Fort Concho, Ben Ficklin, and Santa Angela. On September 22, 1874, he accepted donation of this land, known as "The Catholic Block," from San Angelo promoter Bart J. DeWitt.

After the county seat moved to San Angelo in 1882, Father Pairier began plans for a church building here. Completed in 1884, the year Pairer became resident pastor, the stone edifice was the first church building in San Angelo. Known as Immaculate Conception, the parish included Mexican, English, Irish, and German Catholics. In 1888, Father John Sheehan, the second pastor, welcomed the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of San Antonio, who started a Catholic school.

A portion of the block was sold in 1906 when a new church building was constructed under Father Joseph Hoban. This church became known as Sacred Heart.

In 1961 Pope John XXIII established the Diocese of San Angelo with Sacred Heart as the Cathedral Church. It is the mother church for many Catholic parishes in West Texas.

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

First United Methodist Church of San Angelo

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Texas, Tom Green County, San Angelo


A product of 1870s religious zeal on this Indian-menaced frontier. After flood destroyed area's early community of Ben Ficklin (5 mi. s), closing its Sunday school, this church was organized and chartered by the West Texas Methodist Conference in November of 1882. On this site was erected a forty- by sixty-foot frame building with a cupola - said to be the first Protestant church house between Mason and El Paso.

The founding pastor was the rugged frontiersman, Parson Andrew Jackson Potter (1830-1895), succeeded in 1886 by the dynamic Rev. Arthur E. Rector (1855-1955).

Rapid growth soon necessitated a twenty-foot addition for nursery and choir loft. The building became a community center for various social and religious occasions. Miss Mary West (later Mrs. J. B. Taylor) organized the first choir. Other leading musicians: Miss Amie Cornick, J. R. Sanders, Mrs. L. B. Horton, Mrs. F. O. Perry, and Mrs. Mary Deal Metz.

The frame church was replaced in 1904 by a large masonry building in the square "Akron" style then in vogue. The present Gothic edifice was completed in 1950. Four-story educational building was added, 1962.

This church has excelled in education, sacred music, and missionary activities over the years.

(Arts, Letters, Music • Churches, Etc. • Man-Made Features) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Indian Boundary Line

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Indiana, Benton County, near Fowler

(Tablet 1)
This boulder marks a boundary line between United States territory and Indian lands which existed for fourteen years.

At St. Mary's Ohio on October 2, 1818, a treaty was made and concluded between Jonathan Jennings, Lewis Cass, and Benjamin Parke, Commissioners of the United States, and 35 of the Sachem's Chiefs and Warriors of the Potawatomie Tribe of Indians ceding the following territory,-

"Beginning at the mouth of the Tippecanoe River, and running up the same to a point twenty five miles in a direct line from the Wabash River, thence on a line (this) as nearly parallel to the general course of the Wabash River as practicable, to a point on the Vermilion River, twenty five miles from the Wabash River; thence down the vermilion River to its mouth and thence up the Wabash River to the place of beginning."

For which the United States agreed to pay to the Potawatomies a perpetual annuity of $2,500.00 in silver. (Continued on other tablet,) (Tablet 2)
(Please read other tablet first,) This boundary line which had existed for fourteen years, was obliterated by the signing of the following treaty,-

At Chippewaynung, (where the Tippecanoe River crosses the Michigan Road, 2 miles north of Rochester, Ind.,) on October 26, 1832, a treaty was made and concluded by Jonathan Jennings, John W. Davis, and Marks Crume, Commissioners of the United States, and 48 Chiefs, Headman, and Warriors of the Potawatomie Indians, whereby all lands lying between this line and the Ind.-Ill. state line, Lake Michigan, and the Ind.-Mich. state line, were ceded to the United States.

For which the United States agreed to pay $20,000.00 annually for 20 years, goods to the value of $100,000.00 in 1832, and of $30,000.00 value in 1833, pay Indian debts of $62,412.00, help them in emigrating, and build them a sawmill.

Line located by Don Heaton, County Surveyor.
Boulder placed by A.G. Mitton, Goodland, Ind.,
Unveiled September 14, 1930.

(Native Americans • Peace) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Nine Miles West is the Enchanted Rock

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Texas, Llano County, Llano
From its summit, in the fall of 1841 Captain John C. Hays while surrounded by Comanche Indians who cut him off from his ranging company, repulsed the whole band and inflicted upon them such heavy loss that they fled.

(Native Americans • Notable Places • Wars, US Indian) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Cross Mountain

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Texas, Gillespie County, Fredricksburg
This marl and limestone hill, elevation 1,915 feet, was an Indian signal point, advancing news of the intrusions of white settlers. The hill was first recorded and described by the German geologist, Dr. Ferdinand Roemer in 1847. A timber cross found on the hilltop the same year suggests that Spanish missionaries recognized it as a landmark on the path from San Antonio to Mission San Saba. John Christian Durst (1825-1898), arriving with his family in 1847 from Germany, received a town lot and 10 acres of land, including this hill. On finding the cross, he named it "Kreuzberg," or Cross Mountain. The Easter fires on Cross Mountain and the surrounding hills recall a German tradition of burning the old growth to make way for the new, and also commemorate the 1847 treaty made by John O. Meusebach and the settlers to establish peace with the Comanche nation.

In 1849, a Bohemian priest, Father George Menzel, erected a more substantial cross as a symbol of redemption and civilization. Easter Sunrise Services were held on the mountain for many years prior to 1941. In 1946 the Very Rev. F. X. Wolf threw the switch to illuminate the permanent cross of metal and concrete built by St. Mary's Catholic Church.

(Churches, Etc. • Hispanic Americans • Native Americans • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Dr. Jose P. Rizal

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California, San Francisco City and County, San Francisco
Philippine national hero and martyr stayed at the Palace Hotel from May 4 to 6, 1888 in the course of his only visit to the Unites States.

Imbued with a superior intellect and an intense love for his country, Dr. Rizal sought to gain freedom for the Filipino people from centuries of Spanish domination through peaceful means. His writings, foremost of which were novels, “Noli Me Tanfere” and “El Filibuserismo,” dared to expose the cancer of colonial rule and agitated for reforms. For this he was arrested, tried and executed by firing squad on December 30, 1896. With his martyrdom, the man of peace fanned the flames of the Revolution of 1896, the first successful uprising in Asia against a Western colonial power.

Installed on December 30, 1996 in commemoration of the first centennial of his martyrdom.

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

Boulder City, Nevada

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Nevada, Clark County, Boulder City
Originally founded in 1931 as a community for the workers building Hoover Dam, Boulder City was the first planned community in southern Nevada. Designed by Saco Rienk DeBoer, it was a federal reservation. Only workers associated with the building or operations of the dam could live in the new community. Gaming and alcohol were both banned initially, and today Boulder City is the only incorporated city in Nevada where gaming is not allowed.

The community grew quickly. The post office opened and the rail line was completed to the dam site in 1931. The first airport opened in 1933. With the completion of the Boulder Canyon Project, the town became the home of dam workers and their families.

In 1959, the community was incorporated, with a celebration held on January 4, 1960. The land and buildings owned by the federal government were turned over to the new city. Since then, the community has grown, becoming the gateway to Hoover Dam.

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

The Tower of Snow

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Florida, Miami-Dade County, Miami
2012, Bronze 132 x 89 x 64 in. The Tower of Snow by distinguished Cuban-born artist Enrique Martínez Celaya honors the 50th anniversary of Operation Pedro Pan, which brought thousands of Cuban children, without their parents, to the United States in pursuit of freedom and stability.

“For years, feelings of displacement and foreignness had seemed specific to my experience, then I began to read about the ‘Operación Pedro Pan’ and I found my story in many of their accounts. This recognition brought along a new sense of belonging to a group larger than myself, a group whose longing did not fit in any one heart.” —Enrique Martínez Celaya

(Arts, Letters, Music • Hispanic Americans • War, Cold) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Life Above and Below Ground

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Wyoming, Crook County, near Hulett
Above ground, prairie dogs are usually looking for plants to eat, eating, or scanning for predators. At a warning bark, prairie dogs dive into a dark city of tunnels, where they spend more than half their lives. They play an important role in the prairie ecosystem. Their habits change the environment, resulting in increased plant and animal diversity.

Eradication programs have reduced the black-tailed prairie dog’s range from thousands of square miles to a few scattered preserves like this one at Devils Tower National Monument. Prairie dogs now inhabit about two percent of the area they occupied 200 years ago.

Two hundred years ago, black-tailed prairie dogs lived throughout most of the Great Plains.

Safety for Prairie Dogs and People
  • Do not fee or get close to prairie dogs. They can bite, and some may have plague-carrying fleas. Human food sickens prairie dogs, and feeding encourages them to wander into the road where they may be run over.
  • Do not reach into prairie dog holes. Black widow spiders and rattlesnakes may live there also, and both have poisonous bites.


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

First Discovery of Gold in Montana

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Montana, Powell County, near Garrison
Opposite this point a creek flows into the Clark Fork River from the west. In 1852, a French mixed-blood named Francois “Benetsee,” Finlay, prospected the creek for placer gold. Although he raised some color, Finlay was ill-equipped to take advantage of his discovery and the mine languished. Several years later, in 1858, brothers James and Granville Stuart, Reece Anderson and Thomas Adams, having heard of Finlay’s discovery, prospected the creek. They found enough gold to convince them that there were rich placer mines in Montana. The creek was first called “Benetsee Creek” and afterwards became known as Gold Creek. Rumors of the strike reached disappointed “Pikes Peakers” as well as the backwash of prospectors from California and resulted in an era of prospecting that uncovered the famous placer deposits of Montana.

It was also near here in September, 1883, that Northern Pacific Railway president Henry Villard drove the last spike on the nation’s second trans-continental railroad. In addition to hundreds of spectators, the gala event was attended by company officials, President Ulysses S. Grant and Captain John Mullan, who constructed a road along the river in 1860.

(Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Forbes Road, 1758

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Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pittsburgh
This tablet marks the site of a giant oak which stood on the northerly side of the road built in 1758 by Brigadier-General John Forbes on his military expedition against the French and Indians at Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh).
On November 25, 1758, the expedition, composed of 1267 Scotch Highlanders 363 Loyal Americans and 4350 Provincial Troops took possession of the site of the fort which had been burned and abandoned the night before. This achievement resulted in the permanent occupation of the adjacent territory by English-speaking people.

(Forts, Castles • Native Americans • Roads & Vehicles • War, French and Indian) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
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