name something interesting about you town and or county

[jasoncran]

I will go first.

1) old navy base to the north that is now our airport with a unsecured or recovered ammo bunker per the stories and this has been around as a story as a while. some have pics as recent as the early 90s. I intend to go see myself as I know where it was.
2) the beaches were used to train the seals and also for Normandy

 

[tim-from-pa]

There's several historical and celebrity interests in this area. I'll name a few that come to my mind now, but I may revisit this thread to add more, as there is a lot.

First of all, I live in the country just south of Easton Pa (My friend Atonement has the coordinates that takes one right to my driveway ) But I was raised, worked and lived in Allentown Pa, lived and now work in Bethlehem Pa, so I am familiar with the tri-city area, and across the river in NJ and places north of me.

Here's some highlights in factoids:

• Zion's reformed church in Allentown once housed the Liberty Bell.
• It is indeed the same city Billy Joel had a song about
• Bethlehem was once the great steel-making center, along with Pittsburgh that is probably in most buildings, ships and bridges (in their heyday, that is). Now there's only a "steel stacks" run-down place that they made into an entertainment center, and a gambling casino down the street --- that's what this generation became.
• Just across the river from Easton (Phillipsburg) was the childhood home of the famous Jayne Mansfield, who had roots in Pen Argyl Pa (here we pronounce Pen Argyl as Pen Arjel, not Pen Argel) Her grave is 17 miles north of me and once in awhile it is said her daughter Mariska Hargitay is seen there. I visited it often, and the tombstone is shaped like a big heart.

(Jayne Mansfield)

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/cm/harpersbazaar/images/jayne-mansfield-de-77062214.jpg


(Hargitay)
http://i2.listal.com/image/1428988/600full-mariska-hargitay.jpg

• For you trekkies out there, Bethlehem Pa was the childhood home of Jonathan Frakes.
• Upper Macungie township west of Allentown Pa is where the father of fugitive Edward Snowden lives.
• The famous Appalachian trail runs along the north mountain where I used to own a cabin near Wind Gap Pa

 

[evenifigoalone]

My city is supposed to be the second oldest city in the US. Doesn't seem to be a very well known fact. I only heard it once when the city had a tour train running. I told a couple people about it, and they knew what I was talking about. Said some stores used to sell coffee cups with that information on them.

Most people have never heard of my city, though. xD They do know my county, as the high school football team won the state championships several years back.

 

[Tony Hyman]

Here is something interesting which I read in a book by an English gentleman (Mortan) 1948 edition,about South Africa while it was still a British Colony.The book is called In Search Of South Africa.He refered to filies still obtainable from the old Dutch East India Company(Amterdam) and their ventures in the 1600's.
He draws a parallel between the establishing of a refreshment post at the southern tip of Africa called Cape Town ex (Kaap de Goede Hoop) , by a gentleman called Jan Van Riebeek in 1652.He and a cirtain Captain Minuet were both in the employ of the D.E.I.C. at the time and about ten jrs layer Captain Minuet made the real estate deal of the millinium by purchasing an island on the East Coast of America from a Red Indian Chief for a bag of beads.

This "amazing deal" enabeled him to establish a Dutch Fort on this little Island which is now called Manhatten Island. In Captain Minuets day it was called New Amterdam (now New York) .Captain Jan Van Riebeek like Captain Minuet posted staff to grow vegitables and farm on a tempory basis to supply the ships on route to their various destinations.In Cape Town they were called Fee Burgers(nothing to do with hamburgers ,mind) but in New Amsterdam they were called The Free Dutch).Surnames like "Van der Walt", Van Buren and "Van de Bult" are common in both South Africa and America.
See Wikipedia regarding the Free Dutch and the discovery of Manhatten Island by Captain Minuet and other referances to Peter Styvesant .It seems to me the Dutch carry just as much credit as the Mayflower immigrants did ,in discovering the New World across the Atlantic; from Europe in the 1600's.

 

[Deborah13]

My city is supposed to be the second oldest city in the US. Doesn't seem to be a very well known fact. I only heard it once when the city had a tour train running. I told a couple people about it, and they knew what I was talking about. Said some stores used to sell coffee cups with that information on them.

Most people have never heard of my city, though. xD They do know my county, as the high school football team won the state championships several years back.

I love your new avatar, did you draw it?

 

[Deborah13]

I live in a Very small town in, Colorado. We live on a mountain mesa, they are called high desert mesas. From my house I see the San Juan Mts to the east and the Monticellos to the west, to the south are more mountains. Only two people have died by another man's hand in 100 yrs. One was shot as a horse thief. This mesa was homesteaded in the early 1900's by ranchers, beef and sheep. Before it was Native American country.
We have a small school where Christian songs are still allowed to be sung and people salute the flag with pride. Parents attend Jr and Sr proms. And I don't know anyone that locks their doors much.
We have bush track horse races in the spring, the native americans come from other states, they have great horses and the best jockeys. Later, in the summer we have a sanctioned rodeo and roping every week.
When my husband's Dad was a boy, his mom would give him a basket of rolls to put under the big pine that the old Indian sat in early every morning. No one knew where he had come from or where he went. I can see that tree from my back door.
Lots of wildlife visit. My daughter has had two different bears in her yard in the last month. Couple years ago our tom cat decided to chase a little bobcat out of our yard, my husband chased after the cat, before the cat got himself killed, in his boxers, bathrobe, and slippers, climbed through a barbwire fence. Wish I had a video of that, pretty funny. God's creation, nature is the best.

 

[evenifigoalone]

My city is supposed to be the second oldest city in the US. Doesn't seem to be a very well known fact. I only heard it once when the city had a tour train running. I told a couple people about it, and they knew what I was talking about. Said some stores used to sell coffee cups with that information on them.

Most people have never heard of my city, though. xD They do know my county, as the high school football team won the state championships several years back.

I love your new avatar, did you draw it?

No. But it is cute, isn't it? It's from the back of the first volume of a D. N. Angel manga.

 

[WIP]

How about my home? According to a former tenant who has a passion for history, my home was once a Pony Express relay station. I have never found anything to confirm or refute his claims. Not too far away one can find remnants of an old ox trail that was the main road from Fargo, ND to Minneapolis, MN.

There is a story about a man that needed to pick up a bag of wheat seed from St. Cloud, MN which is about 50 miles away from here by car. He walked to St. Cloud and returned with a 50 pound gunny sack of seed on his back. Not something I would even consider doing in my lifetime.

 

[evenifigoalone]

It's from the back of the first volume of a D. N. Angel manga.

Is that the same stuff that member Kami-No-Ko draws? (I hope I got his screen name right. )

Don't think so. D. N. Angel has been around a few years, as an anime alone. I imagine the manga has been around a bit longer.

Also, my copy of the manga is in English. Unless a manga series is insanely popular, like Naruto, it takes a while before there's an official English translation. Or so I'm told.

 

[handy]

Our small town consists of a cafe (great food), a volunteer fire station, a post office, a school, a community hall and a church. There are seven homes "in town", the rest of us who consider ourselves Ola residents live in about a 15 mile radius. Population totals about 130-150 give or take. Even though we're a very small town, we do a lot of things together and we support one another. Criminal activity is limited to occasional minor theft or vandalism. When someone slammed the door of the post office so hard that it put a hole in the wall, as well as made a mess of the 4'x10' lobby, that was the first crime that had happened in the town since we moved here over 15 years ago. As far as I know, there has never been any serious crime in the history of the town.

Back in the 1900's, there was a body discovered not all that far from where I now live. The town decided that they would bury the body. However, there was some controversy because they didn't know if the deceased had been a Christian in life. They didn't want to give him a Christian burial in the "hallowed" ground of the cemetery connected to the church, just in case he was a heathen. So, they compromised by burying the remains just outside the fence of the cemetery and having the circuit preacher say a prayer over the remains.

After a while, the sheriff's investigation was able to track down the deceased. A miner looked at the photograph the sheriff had taken of the body before the burial, and identified him as "Parker", another miner. The miner didn't know much about Mr. Parker (or even if Parker was his first or last name). But, the miner was able to say that Parker "didn't cuss or drink much and had prayed". Based upon this, the townspeople decided that Mr. Parker must have been a Christian in life. So, the rancher who owned the land surrounding the Church and cemetery donated an extra four feet of land along the northern side of the cemetery to be consecrated as hallowed ground and the fence was moved so that Mr. Parker was now buried in a Christian cemetery. The town gave him a Christian funeral about a year and a half after he had been buried and had a simple stone engraved with "Mr. Parker" set over the grave.

In the 1930's when there was a need to enlarge the cemetery and the Blessinger family donated the chunk of land that the current cemetery, park and Community Hall are now located, the townspeople were still commenting, around 30 years after the fact, how good it turned out that Mr. Parker had been a Christian after all. Otherwise, they would have had to go to the trouble of digging up the heathen and moving his body after all.

 

[jasoncran]

ok. has any actually looked at old topos of their town. if you know me on fb that is what I am and other are talking about. an old bombing range that was near rt 60.

 

[Lewis]

Philly Firsts and Other Distinctions
Philadelphia is considered the birthplace of the United States of America. But that is just one of the city’s many claims to fame. The city is over 300 years old, and it has countless landmark “firsts†and other distinctions in American history. This list covers just a few of the many distinguished accomplishments that can be credited to Philadelphians.
Philadelphia Firsts (in order from earliest date)




1681: The first parks were created simply for the pleasure of people. They were three of William Penn’s original squares that remain an anchor today in Center City Philadelphia.
1690: The first paper mill in North America was built near Germantown by William Bradford.
1685: The first almanac, America’s Messenger, was created by William Bradford
1728: The first botanical gardens was created by John Bartram along the Schuylkill River, now Bartram’s Gardens.
1731: The first lending library, the Library Company of Philadelphia, was opened by Benjamin Franklin, among others.
1736: Founding of the first voluntary fire squad in the United States, the Union Fire Company
1743: The first institution devoted to science and philosophy in North America, the American Philosophical Institution, was founded.
1751: Founding of the first Hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital.
1752: Founding of first fire insurance company, the Philadelphia Contributionship.
1776: The first reading of the Declaration of Independence took place in Philadelphia.
1777: The first United States flag on record and the first Fourth of July celebration in the nation.
1780: The first bank in the nation, Pennsylvania Bank, opened.
1790: The first stock exchange was the Philadelphia Exchange.
1790-1800: Philadelphia was the first capital of the United States as a nation.
1799-1802: The first row houses ever built were originally called Carstairs Row (now Jewelers’ Row).
1802: The first public water supply project, Philadelphia Water Works, opened and remains as a historic site behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
1805: The first art museum and art school was the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
1812: The first natural history institution was The Academy of Natural Sciences.
1854: The first Consolidation Act by a city and its townships took place in Philadelphia and expanded the city’s boundaries, population, and most importantly, tax base.
1874: The nation’s first zoo was the Philadelphia Zoo.
1876: The nation’s first department store was Wanamaker’s (now Macy’s occupies the building).
1920: The first Thanksgiving Day Parade in the nation was here in Philadelphia.
1934 : The first professional football game took place in Philadelphia, and for the record, Philadelphia Eagles beat Cincinnati Reds, (64-0).
1946: The first computer (ENIAC) was constructed at University of Pennsylvania.
Other Distinctions
The oldest street in continuous use is Elfreth’s Alley, since 1702.
Philadelphia has more murals than any city in the world, more than 3,000.
The oldest theater in continuous use in the English-speaking world is the Walnut Street Theatre, since 1809.
The oldest and largest outdoor market is the Italian Market.
The largest landscaped city park is Fairmount Park with 9,200 acres.
The oldest African American newspaper: The Philadelphia Tribune, since 1885.
The largest masonry building in the world is City Hall.

 

[jasoncran]

@lewis, the man john bartrum trekked all the way down to Sebastian florida and also has a trail named after him as it follows what area he used. its now called a1a.

 

[mcmurry]

Ok, so in Union County/El Dorado Arkansas. Lamar Hunt who founded the American Football League. Charles Portis who wrote "True Grit". William Ragsdale, an actor. Marcus Rucker, Seattle Seahawks. Willie Frazier, Huston Oilers. Also Floyd Cramer, musician. Also Union County has no natural gravel deposits. In a small community about 6 miles north, there is a huge crater where an explosion occurred in the 1920's when a drilling rig struck a huge natural gas pocket. Oh, this county is also where oil was discovered first in Arkansas, in the 20's.

 

[rockey_f_squirrell]

RANDOLPH COUNTY, Illinois (Where Illinois began)

Randolph County is on the Mississippi River, and the Original Capital was destroyed by a flood, in the 1800's. Two rivers met (the Kaskaskia river) at where the first capital was, but after relentless flooding, the Mississippi river (which used to make a large bend around), took a straight path, overrunning the first capital city of Kaskaskia. It is now an Island in the Mississippi River, and the only city (population 12), in Illinois, that is on the Missouri side of the M-River.

Nearby Fort de Chartres, was a supply fort through the 1700's-1800's. It is where George Rogers Clark (From Lewis and Clark expedition), recruited over half of his crew), yes right here in my home county.

And also very close by is the city of Chester, IL (County seat) also a River town, is the 'Home of Popeye the Sailor' Yes, based on actual residents, Popeye, Olive, and Wimpy (although with different names), were featured in the local Opera House dramas/comedies, as they would also poke fun at locals, The owner of King Feature syndicate was passing through and watched one of the plays, and liked what he saw, so he bought the rights and 'Popeye' was born.

Being a christian site, I wont tap too much into it, but there is an Indian Curse that Originated at Kaskaskia that is believed to be responsible for the times of flooding, yes even the flood of 1993, but that is another long story.