<p>Chestertown Historic District is a historic district in Chestertown, Maryland. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970, and its area was increased in 1984.</p><br>
<p>The historic residential area is concentrated along Water Street between the business district and the Chester River. Highlights include:</p><br>
<p>Ringgold-Pearce House ("The Abbey"), 100 South Water Street. Built in 1767 by merchant Thomas Ringgold by uniting two adjoining 1735 houses into a three-art house. Interiors were designed by William Buckland between 1767 and 1771. The original Chippendale-Georgian paneling in the drawing room was removed and installed at the Baltimore Museum of Art in the 1920s. The house was restored in the 1930s and is the residence of the president of Washington College.</p><br>
<p>Custom House, 101 South Water Street. A three story brick house in two parts, stated to have been built by the Ringgold family in the 1746. The first floor was used as a warehouse, with living quarters on the upper levels. The building was used as Chestertown&#39;s custom house. The rear section was added in 1771.</p><br>
<p>Widehall, 101 North Water Street. Individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Widehall was built by Thomas Smythe about 1770. The house&#39;s exterior has been altered from the original Georgian style, while elaborate interiors remain.</p><br>
<p>River House, also known as the Denton House, 107 North Water Street. Built between 1737 and 1743 by William Timbrill, a Barbados merchant. The interiors are Georgian, while the exterior has been modified in Greek Revival style. The paneling of the third floor master bedroom was purchased by the Winterthur Museum in 1926.</p><br>
<p>A number of other structures on Water Street, High Street and Queen Street are included. Denton House and Widehall are also individually listed Registered Historic Places included in the district.</p><br>
<p>J. C. Lore Oyster House, also known as J. C. Lore and Sons, Inc., Seafood Packing Plant, is located at 14430 Solomons Island Road South, in Solomons, Calvert County, Maryland. It is a large two story, rectangular frame industrial building constructed in 1934 as a seafood packing plant. It replaced a 1922 building that was destroyed by the 1933 Chesapeake Potomac hurricane. It is significant for its historical association with the commercial fisheries of Maryland&#39;s Patuxent River region, and architecturally as a substantially unaltered example of an early-20th century seafood packing plant. It has been adapted by the Calvert Marine Museum to house exhibits and many of its original spaces, artifacts, and records have been incorporated into them.</p><br>
<p>It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001.</p><br>
<h2>History and significance</h2><br>
<p>The J.C. Lore Company was a principal supplier of oysters to the Acme Markets and Kroger companies under the "Patuxent" brand in the midwestern United States. The J.C. Lore Oyster House is one of five nationally important properties associated with the oyster-processing industry. The Rudolph Oyster House in West Sayville, New York, Thomas Oyster House in Mystic, Connecticut, the Oyster Barge in New Haven, Connecticut and the Platt & Co. Cannery in Baltimore, Maryland are noted as complementary examples of oyster-related landmarks.</p><br>
<p>The Lore company was founded by Joseph Cobb Lore (1863–1945), who arrived in Solomons in 1888 from Newport, New Jersey to buy and ship oysters to Philadelphia. Lore established his own oyster packing house in Solomons in 1922, but it was destroyed by the powerful 1933 hurricane, and was rebuilt in 1934. His sons, J.C. Lore, Jr. and G.I. Rupert Lore managed the business together until 1961, when Rupert started his own operation in St. Mary&#39;s County. The Lore Company also packed crabmeat from 1925 to 1945, as well as fish. Other ventures included boat rental, charter fishing, a bait store, a company store and a school boat, which was considered more useful than a school bus in the locale.</p><br>
<p>The Lore Company maintained a fleet of three boats for oyster buying and planting. Two boats, the William B. Tennison and the Sidney B. Riggin, were converted bugeyes, former sailing oyster dredges. The Tennison is now itself a national Historic Landmark and is preserved at the museum. A third vessel, the Pengui, was a Hooper Island draketail workboat.</p><br>
<p>The Lore company ceased business in 1978, a victim of declining harvests and shortages of cheap labor.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The J.C. Lore Oyster House is located on an island in the Patuxent River near the point at which the Patuxent enters Chesapeake Bay. The island is partly artificial, built up from oyster shells produced by the 1918 Woodburn and 1922 Lore oyster houses. The present 1934 structure is a two story building or somewhat irregular plan, clad in novelty-style wood siding, with a metal roof. The portion of the walls below the roof is concrete to minimize storm damage from flooding. A one-story shed-roofed wing extends to the south, while a 1965 concrete block addition covers two thirds of the rear elevation. Windows are irregularly placed, reflecting the functional requirements of the interior spaces. Interior walls are framed with horizontal planks, with beaded tongue and groove ceilings. Floors are concrete slabs, some of which are sloped for drainage, typically with a high point at the center of the room.</p><br>
<p>The chief interior spaces are arranged for receiving, shucking, processing and packing oysters. A storage area on the upper level is provided for cans and boxes, together with office space. The property is arranged with a bulkhead to the rear of the building where buy-boats and independent oystermen could tie up and unload. Between 1945 and 1965 it was possible to hoist oysters directly out of a boat and into the receiving area through an overhang over the water. Oysters were moved from the receiving room in wheelbarrows, while shells of shucked oysters were moved outside on a conveyor belt. The two shucking rooms are long and narrow, with concrete shucking tables around the perimeter, and could accommodate fifty shuckers. The shuckers stood a three-sided shucking stands, taking whole oysters from the tables, opening them on the stand, and letting the shells fall away to the outside, the stands protecting the shuckers from the sharp-edged shells even when the piles of shells were several feet deep. The shuckers stood on an adjustable platform that kept their feet off the cold, wet floor.</p><br>
<p>Buckets of shucked oysters were passed through a window into the processing room, where they were rinsed, weighed and tallied. Shuckers were paid by the weight or volume of oyster meat produced. Oyster meats were rinsed on a perforated "skimmer table" to remove grit, shell and worms. A "blow tank" was used to rinse the oyster meats using aerated water. Oysters were drained on a second skimmer table. The meats were sorted by size and packed in metal cans, which were then steam-sterilized. The J.C. Lore processing room retains its complement of this equipment.</p><br>
<p>The building remains as it was in 1965 when some system renovation took place and a fire-suppression sprinkler system was installed. The museum has built a theater in one of the cold storage rooms for interpretation, and the southern shucking room is used as a classroom. The company store that stood nearby was demolished in 1995, prior to the museum&#39;s acquisition of the property.</p><br>
<p>Uvas Reservoir is an artificial lake located west of San Martin, California in the United States. The reservoir is surrounded by a 626 acre park managed by the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department. The park provides limited fishing , picnicking, and hiking activities. Boating is not permitted in the reservoir.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The reservoir sits atop part of the Franciscan Formation, which also comprise much of the Foothill region&#39;s rocks to the east of the San Andreas Fault. A variety of rocks from the formation can be found there, including slate, basalt, marble, and many others.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The reservoir was created in 1957 by the construction of the Uvas Dam across Uvas Creek in the southern part of Uvas Valley. It is the fifth largest reservoir owned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District.</p><br>
<p>In 2013, the Scoffone family sold 357 acre adjacent to the park to the Peninsula Open Space Trust, which doubled the park&#39;s size.</p><br>
<p>The Linwood Historic District is an industrial historic district in the Linwood village of Northbridge, Massachusetts. It is the site of the Linwood Cotton Mill and is roughly bounded by Linwood Aveue, Maple Court, and Pine Court. On June 16, 1989, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>The Linwood Mill was built in 1866 by members of the Whitin family, who had purchased land in the area in the late 1840s. The Whitins had a history in the textile industry dating as far back as 1809, and are for whom the Northbridge village of Whitinsville is named. At the time of Linwood&#39;s development they owned virtually all of the textile industry in Northbridge. The Linwood property was built to process cotton, and produced cambrics, sateens, and shirting fabric. The original mill was a 3.5 story brick structure, which was expanded c. 1870 with the addition of a steam power plant in order to increase production. From the 1870s, the only other surviving building is a brick storehouse.</p><br>
<p>The mill complex, in addition to industrial facilities, also included worker housing. The district includes the fine Second Empire proprietor&#39;s residence, carriage house, and greenhouse, as well as a selection of tenement houses, dormitories, and duplexes built by the Whitins to house the factory workers. The mill complex is the best preserved of those built by the Whitins; the others have either been altered significantly, or been damaged or destroyed by fire.</p><br>
<p>The draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes occurred in Iraq and to a smaller degree in Iran between the 1950s and 1990s to clear large areas of the marshes in the Tigris-Euphrates river system. Formerly covering an area of around 20,000 km&sup2;, the main sub-marshes, the Hawizeh, Central, and Hammar Marshes and all three were drained at different times for different reasons.</p><br>
<p>The draining of the Central Marshes was intended to reclaim land for agriculture and exterminate a breeding ground for the malaria-spreading mosquitoes. However, some Western and Islamist sources have described the draining as a political attempt to force the Ma&#39;dan people out of the area through water diversion tactics.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Since the time of the Sumer, agriculture in Mesopotamia involved major melioration, including drainage and building of irrigation canals. After the collapse of the Mesopotamian civilization and the Arab conquest the territory was derelict, which resulted in the restoration of the original wetland conditions. The wetlands were gradually populated by the Marsh Arabs, or Ma&#39;dan, who, being ignorant of the advanced agricultural techniques practiced by the Sumer and Babylonians, grew rice and grazed buffalo on the natural vegetation. At times, they had also served as a refuge for escaped slaves and serfs, such as during the Zanj Rebellion, becoming a source of instability for the whole region.</p><br>
<p>The British colonial administrators were the first to attempt to drain the marshes, motivated by their role as a breeding ground for mosquitoes and lack of apparent economic value, as well as the potential use of the water for irrigation. Prepared in 1951, The Haigh Report outlined a series of sluices, embankments and canals on the lower ends of the Tigris and Euphrates that would drain water for agriculture. These notably included the Main Outfall Drain (MOD), a large canal also referred to as the Third River, and the Nasiriyah Drainage Pump Station. Neither were completed under British rule: they were later revived by the Ba&#39;athist government.</p><br>
<p>During the 1970s, the expansion of irrigation projects had begun to disrupt the flow of water to the marshes; by the early 1980s, it was evident that these had significantly affected water levels. Part of the Hammar Marsh was also drained in 1985 during efforts to prepare the area for oil exploration.</p><br>
<p>By the mid 1980s, the marshes had become a refuge for elements persecuted by the Baathist government of Saddam Hussein (Shiites in particular), and a low-level insurgency had developed against the drainage and resettlement projects, led by Sheik Abdul Kerim Mahud al-Muhammadawi of the Al bu Muhammad under the nom de guerre Abu Hatim.</p><br>
<h2>Gulf War draining</h2><br>
<p>After the First Gulf War (1991), the Iraqi government revived a program to divert the flow of the Tigris River and the Euphrates River away from the marshes. This was done to prevent any remaining militiamen from taking refuge in the marshes, the Badr Brigades and other militias having used them as cover.</p><br>
<p>The flow southwards from the distributary streams of the Tigris was blocked by large embankments and discharged into the Al-Amarah or Glory Canal, resulting in the loss of two-thirds of the Central Marshes by as early as 1993. By the late 1990s, the Central Marsh had become completely desiccated, suffering the most severe damage of the three main areas of wetland. By 2000, the United Nations Environment Programme estimated that 90% of the marshlands had disappeared.</p><br>
<h3>Environmental effects</h3><br>
<p>The Central Marshes stretched between Nasiriyah, Al-Uzair (Ezras Tomb) and Al-Qurnah and were mainly fed by the Tigris and its distributaries. They were characterised by tall qasab reeds but included a number of freshwater lakes, of which the largest were the Haur az-Zikri and Umm al-Binni (literally "mother of binni", the latter being a species of barbel).</p><br>
<p>It was feared that the Levant darter (Anhinga rufa chantrei), a subspecies of the African darter, and the maxwelli subspecies of the smooth-coated otter had disappeared entirely, but small and threatened populations remain of both. It is feared that the Bunn&#39;s short-tailed bandicoot rat (Nesokia bunnii, syn. Erythronesokia bunnii), which had only been described from specimens obtained in the Central Marshes, is extinct.</p><br>
<p>A study by the Wetland Ecosystem Research Group at Royal Holloway, University of London concluded that thousands of fish and waterfowl died as the waters receded, and that the central Qurnah marshes essentially no longer exist as an ecosystem.</p><br>
<p>According to a 2001 United Nations Environmental Programme report, the projects resulted in:</p><br>
<p>The loss of a migration area for birds migrating from Eurasia to Africa, and consequent decrease in bird populations in areas such as Ukraine and the Caucasus</p><br>
<p>Probable extinction of several plant and animal species endemic to the Marshes</p><br>
<p>Higher soil salinity in the Marshes and adjacent areas, resulting in loss of dairy production, fishing, and rice cultivation.</p><br>
<p>Desertification of over 7,500 square miles.</p><br>
<p>Saltwater intrusion and increased flow of pollutants into the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, causing disruption of fisheries in the Persian Gulf</p><br>
<h3>Demographic effects</h3><br>
<p>The water diversion plan, which was accompanied by a series of propaganda articles by the Iraqi regime directed against the Ma&#39;dan, systematically converted the wetlands into a desert, forcing the residents out of their settlements in the region. The western Hammar Marshes and the Qurnah or Central Marshes became completely desiccated, while the eastern Hawizeh Marshes dramatically shrank. Furthermore, villages in the marshes were attacked and burnt down and there were reports of the water being deliberately poisoned.</p><br>
<p>The majority of the Maʻdān were displaced either to areas adjacent to the drained marshes, abandoning their traditional lifestyle in favour of conventional agriculture, or to towns and camps in other areas of Iraq. An estimated 80,000 to 120,000 fled to refugee camps in Iran. The Marsh Arabs, who numbered about half a million in the 1950s, have dwindled to as few as 20,000 in Iraq. Only 1,600 of them were estimated to still be living on traditional dibins by 2003.</p><br>
<h3>Political response</h3><br>
<p>The AMAR International Charitable Foundation described the event as "an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe of monumental proportions with regional and global implications."</p><br>
<p>Besides the general UN-imposed Gulf war sanctions, there was no specific legal recourse for those displaced by the drainage projects, or prosecution of those involved. Article 2.c of the Genocide Convention (to which Iraq had acceded in 1951) forbids “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” Additionally, the Saint Petersburg Declaration says that “the only legitimate object which States should endeavour to accomplish during war is to weaken the military forces of the enemy”, a provision potentially violated by the Ba&#39;athist government as part of their campaign against the insurgents which had taken refuge in the marshlands.</p><br>
<p>Since water flowed unfiltered into the Gulf through the newly-dug canal system, The Kuwait Regional Convention for Co-operation on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution could be used to compensate Iraq’s neighbours for the increase in marine pollution, but it does not protect the Ma&#39;adan for the loss of their marshlands.</p><br>
<h2>Reflooding</h2><br>
<p>Following the 2003 USA invasion of Iraq, many embankments and drainage works were dismantled under the newly formed administration, and the marshes began to refill. The Central Marshes showed little recovery through 2003, but by early 2004 a patchwork of lakes had appeared in northern areas. There was flooding in southern areas which had previously been dry since the early 1990s.</p><br>
<p>There has been some corresponding recolonization by the natural marsh vegetation since that time, and return of some species of fish and birds. However, recovery of the Central Marshes has been much slower compared to the Huwaizah and Hammar Marshes; the most severely damaged sections of the wetlands have yet to show any signs of regeneration.</p><br>
<p>The Île de la Jatte or Île de la Grande Jatte is an island in the river Seine, located in the department of Hauts-de-Seine, and shared between the two communes of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Levallois. It is situated at the very gates of Paris, being 7 km distant  from the towers of Notre Dame and 3 km from the Place de l&#39;Étoile. The island is nearly 2 km long and almost 200 m wide at its widest point, and has about 4,000 inhabitants. Its name translates as "Island of the Bowl" or "Island of the Big Bowl".</p><br>
<p>It is best known as the setting for Georges Seurat&#39;s pointillist oil painting, Un Dimanche après-midi à l&#39;Île de la Grande Jatte (A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte) (1884-6 and 1889), and also for the Stephen Sondheim musical, Sunday in the Park with George.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1818, the Duke of Orléans, Louis-Philippe, acquired the Château de Neuilly to house his family of ten children. He bought the land and created a park which included the island, reachable only by boat. He also moved the Temple de Mars (Temple of Mars), which his father had commissioned, from Parc Monceau, and put it on the northern point of the island, converting it into the Temple de l’amour (Temple of Love). It was moved to the southern end of the island in 1930.</p><br>
<p>Between 1850 and 1870, Napoléon III and Baron Haussmann further modified the island, and artists began painting there. At the end of the 19th century the island became known for its painters, especially the impressionists. In addition to Georges Seurat, artist such as Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Alfred Sisley, Charles Angrand, and Albert Gleizes painted scenes of the island.</p><br>
<p>In June 2009, a walk around the island (Île des impressionnistes) was established, detailing the works of the impressionists.</p><br>
<h3>Selected paintings</h3><br>
<p>Many artists have painted L’Île de la Grande Jatte:</p><br>
<p>* Émile Bernard</p><br>
<p>** Le Pont de fer d’Asnières, 1887, oil on canvas, 45.9 × 54.2 cm, Museum of Modern Art</p><br>
<p>* Albert Gleizes</p><br>
<p>** Les Baigneuses (The Bathers), 1912, oil on canvas, 105 x 171 cm, Musée d&#39;Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris</p><br>
<p>** L’Île de la Grande Jatte ou Bord de parc avec rivière animée de canots, 1907-09, pastel and ink on paper, 25 × 41.5 cm, private collection</p><br>
<p>** L’Île de la Grande Jatte, 1908, charcoal and gouache on paper, 25 × 41.5 cm, Musée National d&#39;Art Moderne</p><br>
<p>** La Seine près de Courbevoie, 1908, oil on canvas, 54 × 65 cm,</p><br>
<p>* Claude Monet</p><br>
<p>** L’île de la Grande Jatte, 1874, oil on canvas, 50 × 70 cm, private collection</p><br>
<p>** À travers les arbres, île de la Grande Jatte, 1878, oil on canvas, 54 × 65 cm, private collection</p><br>
<p>** Les rives de la Seine, île de la Grande Jatte, 1878, oil on canvas, 52 × 63 cm, Musée Marmottan</p><br>
<p>** Printemps à l&#39;Île de la Grande Jatte, 1878, oil on canvas, 50 × 61 cm, National Gallery (Norway)</p><br>
<p>** L’Embâcle de la Seine entre Asnières et Courbevoie, 1891, pastel and graphite on canvas, 51 × 90 cm, Petit Palais</p><br>
<p>* Georges Seurat</p><br>
<p>** Baignade à Asnières, 1884, oil on canvas, 201 × 300 cm, National Gallery</p><br>
<p>** La Seine à Courbevoie ou Paysage à la tourelle, 1884, oil on canvas, 15.5 × 24.5 cm, Van Gogh Museum</p><br>
<p>** Un dimanche après-midi à l&#39;Île de la Grande Jatte, 1884-86, oil on canvas, 207.5 × 308.1 cm, Art Institute of Chicago</p><br>
<p>** Temps gris, Grande-Jatte, 1886, oil on canvas, 70.5 × 86.4 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art</p><br>
<p>** Le Pont de Courbevoie, 1886-87, oil on canvas 46.4 × 55.3 cm, Courtauld Gallery</p><br>
<p>** La Seine à la Grande Jatte, 1888, oil on canvas, 65 × 81 cm, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium</p><br>
<p>* Alfred Sisley</p><br>
<p>** L’Île de la Grande Jatte, 1873, oil on canvas, 50 × 65 cm, Musée d&#39;Orsay</p><br>
<p>* Vincent van Gogh</p><br>
<p>** La Seine et le pont de la Grande Jatte, 1887, oil on canvas, 32 × 40.5 cm, Van Gogh Museum</p><br>
<p>* Pierre Bonnard</p><br>
<p>** Les travailleurs à la Grande Jatte, c. 1916-20, oil on canvas, 130 x 160 cm, National Museum of Western Art</p><br>
<h2>Celebrities having lived on the island</h2><br>
<p>* Christian Clavier, actor</p><br>
<p>* Alexander Grothendieck, mathematician</p><br>
<p>* Jean Reno, actor</p><br>
<p>* Yves Rénier, actor</p><br>
<p>* Patricia Kaas, singer</p><br>
<p>* Nicolas Sarkozy, politician, 23rd President of France</p><br>
<p>* Marco Verratti, football (soccer) player</p><br>
<p>* Richard Branson, business magnate, investor and philanthropist</p><br>
<p>* Alessandra Sublet, radio and television host</p><br>
<p>Svartediket is a lake in the city of Bergen in Hordaland county, Norway. The 0.5 km&sup2; lake lies immediately north of the mountain Ulriken, northeast of the Store Lungegårdsvannet bay. Historically, this lake was called Ålrekstadsvannet, but in the late 19th century, a dam was built on the south end of the lake to create a reservoir for the city&#39;s drinking water. Since then it was called Svartediket, after the water plant built there.</p><br>
<p>The lake is the main source of drinking water for the central parts of the city of Bergen. There is a pumping station and treatment facility build adjacent to the lake inside the mountain Ulriken. Drinking water is collected at a 28 m depth in Svartediket. Inside the water treatment plant, the water is filtered and irradiated with UV light to kill harmful microorganisms. After treatment, the clean drinking water is stored in a 15,000 m&sup3; large water pool inside the mountain. This is the water that is pumped down to the city center for drinking water. In 2004, Bergen was hit by a Giardia lamblia epidemic which had its source in the lake Svartediket. The water treatment facility was upgraded in 2007.</p><br>
<p>Coralville Lake is an artificial lake formed by the Coralville Dam, a 1949 built dam on the Iowa River several miles upstream from the city of Coralville, Iowa.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>After widespread flooding in the US during the early 1930s, Congress passed the Flood Control Act of 1938.</p><br>
<p>The United States Army Corps of Engineers built the 100-foot-high earthen dam primarily as a flood control project for the Mississippi River. Construction started in 1949, was delayed by the Korean War, and finished in 1958.</p><br>
<p>The lake has a capacity of 461,200 acre.ft of water, equal to 137.18 billion gallons at its "100 year flood" level of 712 ft.</p><br>
<h3>Floods</h3><br>
<p>Water first flowed over the 712 ft emergency spillway on July 5, 1993 (see Great Flood of 1993), reaching a then-record crest. This flood uncovered what is now the Devonian Fossil Gorge.</p><br>
<p>The 1993 record was surpassed by the June 2008 Midwest floods, when water again flowed over the 712 ft emergency spillway on June 12, 2008, and the reservoir crested at 717 ft early in the morning on June 15, 2008.</p><br>
<p>Lake Macbride is formed by another dam just up from the Coralville reservoir. This dam was overtopped by floodwaters in the flood of 2008, and the lake effectively became part of Coralville Lake.</p><br>
<h2>Use</h2><br>
<p>The lake and surrounding lake shore have been extensively developed for recreational use, including hiking, biking, camping, fishing and boating.</p><br>
<h2>Photos</h2><br>
<p>The Hammar Marshes  are a large complex of wetlands in Iraq that are part of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along with the Mesopotamian Marshes which also encompass the Hawizeh and Central Marshes. The Hammar Marshes formerly covered an area of 2,800 square kilometres of permanent wetland, extending to over 4,500 square kilometres in certain seasons, but were almost totally destroyed during the 1990s by drainage projects, and have only recently seen some recovery.</p><br>
<h2>Characteristics</h2><br>
<p>The Hammar Marshes stretched between Nasiriyah and Basra and were located south of the Euphrates River, which formed their principal source. Their main feature was the large brackish lake Haur al-Hammar, the largest water body in the lower Euphrates. Additional water from the Tigris reached the system through overflow from the Central Marshes.</p><br>
<p>With a wide variety of habitats, the Hammar Marshes and the Haur al-Hammar supported large populations of birds, notably pelicans and ducks, with the Haur Aluwez in the south-east being especially significant for these species.</p><br>
<p>The area was formerly populated by the Marsh Arabs or Ma&#39;dan.</p><br>
<h2>Draining</h2><br>
<p>During the late 1970s, it was reported that some draining of the marshes was taking place; parts of the Haur Aluwez had been closed off by embankments and drained in order to facilitate oil exploration. Subsequently, much of the northern and western end of the Haur al-Hammar was drained for development of the West Qurnah Oilfield. In the Iran–Iraq War, the southern part of the Haur al-Hammar was connected to the Al-Basrah Canal and thence to the Persian Gulf, directly increasing the salinity of the wetlands.</p><br>
<p>The greatest damage occurred in the early 1990s, when the Saddam Hussein government of Iraq undertook a series of major destructive drainage projects, at least partly in reprisal for the 1991 uprisings. Reports suggested that the flow of the Euphrates had been diverted into the Third River, a huge drainage canal. By 2002, the Hammar Marshes and the Haur al-Hammar had entirely disappeared.</p><br>
<h2>Partial recovery</h2><br>
<p>Following the 2003 USA invasion of Iraq, embankments and drainage works were broken open, and the marshes began to reflood. By the following year there was a significant regrowth of vegetation in the western part of the Hammar Marshes, and refilling of the eastern parts. Recovery of the marshland habitat has been significantly greater than expected, though there are still long-term risks to the habitat&#39;s viability due to pollution and water extraction from the Euphrates.</p><br>
<p>Old Town Hall is an historic town hall on 1307 Main Street in Athol, Massachusetts.</p><br>
<p>The hall was built in 1828 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.</p><br>
<p>It was the town&#39;s fourth meeting house and was built for "public worship of god forever."</p><br>
<p>It was remodelled in 1847 to be used as the town hall, and kept this use until 1921. A Women&#39;s Club occupied the building between 1821 and 1957, and the Athol Historical Society has occupied it since then.</p><br>
<p>It remains an important tourist attraction for Athol and is included in their historical trail. The building features a display of local historic artifacts and is open to the public on Sunday afternoons in June and July.</p><br>
<p>The Tuttle Square School, now the Auburn Historical Museum, is an historic school building at 41 South Street in Auburn, Massachusetts. The single story two-room wood frame building was constructed in 1922 to replace a smaller school on the site, in the face of increasing school population. The building&#39;s most prominent decorative feature is its Federal-style entry door surround, with pilasters supporting scrolled brackets, topped by a fanlight. The school served the Auburn public schools from 1923 to 1933. During the Second World War it was outfitted as a hospital in case of emergency, and briefly returned to use as a school between 1948 and 1953. Thereafter its primary purpose was to house school administrative office, and was finally vacated by the school administration in 1981. It then served as home to the Auburn District Nursing Association until about 1990. In 1999 the town voted to lease the building to the Auburn Historical Society for use as a museum.</p><br>
<p>The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.</p><br>
<p>The Ayer Main Street Historic District encompasses most of the historic central business district of Ayer, Massachusetts. It extends along Main Street between Park and Columbia Streets, and was mostly developed between 1872 and 1898 as a hub of railroad and roadway-based economic activity. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The town of Ayer, although not incorporated until 1871, became an important railroad hub in the 1840s, with the completion of both north-south and east-west railroad routes that crossed just southwest of the present downtown area. During the American Civil War, a military camp was established to the south (later to become Fort Devens). The downtown area began to develop most significantly after incorporation in 1871 and a fire in 1872 that destroyed many earlier structures. The north side of Main Street, opposite the rail yards of the junction, is where this new commercial development was focused.</p><br>
<p>The historic district covers four blocks of buildings on the both sides of Main Street, extending from Pleasant Street in the west to Columbia Street in the east, including also the former railroad depot building that stands just south of Main Street parallel to the east-west tracks. Most of the buildings are built of brick and stone, although there are three wood-frame structures. The district&#39;s oldest building is one of these: built in 1868, it was originally located south of the tracks, and was moved to its present location opposite Pleasant Street in 1878. Ayer Town Hall stands near the eastern end of the district; it is a fine example of high-style Victorian Gothic architecture.</p><br>
<p>The Sturbridge Common Historic District encompasses the historic center of Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Encompassing some 138 acre, the district is focused around the town common, which was laid out when the town established in 1738. The district is roughly linear, extending along Main Street from its junction with Interstate 84 eastward to Hall Road. The district also extends for short distances along Haynes, Maple, and Charlton Streets. Although most of the properties in the district are residential, the institutional properties, including the 1838 Greek Revival Town Hall, the 1896 Joshua Hyde Library building, and the 1922 Federated Church. The oldest building in the district is the c. 1772 Publick House, a tavern which has dominated the south side of the district since its construction.</p><br>
<p>The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.</p><br>
<p>Winthrop Street Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church located at 39 Winthrop Street in Taunton, Massachusetts, USA. The Late Gothic Revival church was built in 1862 and was the second Baptist church built on the site. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Winthrop Street Baptist Church is set on the west side of Winthrop Street (United States Route 44), across the Mill River from the heart of downtown Taunton. It is a single-story structure, built out of brick with brownstone trim. It has a gable, roof, and a square tower projects from the front (east-facing) facade. The main entrance is at the base of the tower, set in a Gothic-arched opening with brownstone drip molding. This molding detail and Gothic styling is repeated on most of the churchs windows. The tower has buttresses at the corners, and the sides of the building are similarly buttressed. Above the main entrance is a large Gothic-arched stained glass window in the towers tall second stage, above which stands the belfry, with louvered round-arch openings. The tower is topped by a pyramidal roof.</p><br>
<p>The church was built in 1862, and is one of the city&#39;s finest examples of mid-19th century ecclesiastical architecture. Its integrity has been compromised, however, since the demolition in 1994 of its original steeple, and the local historical commission believes it is therefore no longer eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>The West Congregational Church of Taunton, formerly the Westville Congregational Church, is a historic church located at 415 Winthrop Street in Taunton, Massachusetts. Built in 1792 and moved to its present location in 1824, it is the city&#39;s oldest church building, and a well-preserved example of Federal period architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The West Congregation Church is located in the center of Westville village on the west side of Taunton, at the northwest corner of Winthrop and North Walker Streets. It is a single-story rectangular wood frame structure, with a gable roof and clapboard siding. An entry vestibule projects from the east-facing front facade, topped by a gable roof and a square tower topped by an octagonal belfry and cupola. The main entry is framed by pilasters and topped by a cap-molded entablature.</p><br>
<p>The West Congregational Society was organized in 1792 by dissenters from the First Parish Church, and built this meeting house in Oakland village at the corner of Glebe and Oakland Streets. In 1824 the building was disassembled and moved to the present location, on land purchased from John West, owner of the local mill. It is the city&#39;s oldest surviving church building, and a fine example of a Federal period church.</p><br>
<p>Unitarian Memorial Church is a historic church on 102 Green Street in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, home to the Unitarian Universalist Society of Fairhaven.</p><br>
<p>The congregation was founded as the Washington Street Christian Church in 1819, and called its first minister in 1840. The Reverend Jordinn Nelson Long is its currently serving minister, and the Society President is Lawrence DeSalvatore. UUSF is a member congregation of the Boston-based Unitarian Universalist Association, and a designated GLBTQA Welcoming Congregation, a UUA Honor Congregation, and a part of the Green Sanctuary movement. Services are held in the neo-Gothic sanctuary at 10:30 a.m. from September through mid-June each year. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.</p><br>
<p>The Unitarian Memorial Church in Fairhaven Massachusetts was built, financed and donated to the Unitarians in 1904 by Henry H. Rogers in memory of his mother, Mary Eldredge Huttleston. The church was designed by Boston architect Charles Brigham in a Gothic Revival style. It is one hundred fourteen feet in height, one hundred feet long in body and fifty-three feet wide. The nave is thirty-two feet wide and seventy-one feet long. The main aisle is sixty-two feet long and six feet wide. The church, parish house and former parsonage (now Harrop Center) of the Unitarian Society are so placed as to form three sides of a quadrangle, set among well-kept lawns and shrubbery. Granite (locally quarried) with Indiana limestone decorative carvings dominate the exterior while marble and limestone carvings dominate the interior. All stonework artistry was created by forty-five Italian craftsmen brought to Fairhaven by Rogers.</p><br>
<h2>Sanctuary</h2><br>
<p>All the woodwork in the sanctuary is English bog oak carved by forty-five Bavarian craftsmen. No two carvings are alike on the thirty-two pews, the ornate pulpit, the organ pipe cases, the choir screen or the doors.</p><br>
<p>In the rafters above the pews are ten wooden angels covered in beaten gold. Each ten foot high angel holds articles and bear inscriptions symbolizing ten attributes of the intellectual life.</p><br>
<p>The south entrance has twelve bronze symbols of the zodiac inlaid in the marble floor.</p><br>
<h2>Tower</h2><br>
<p>The great tower, over one hundred and sixty-five feet high, of sparkling granite and carved limestone, is a landmark for many miles. There are one hundred eighty granite steps leading to the tower. In this tower is a finely adjusted D Chime of eleven bells. They weigh a total of 14,000 pounds and are played (struck) by iron hammers. The bells were cast by Chester Meneelly of the Meneelly Bell Company of Troy, New York. The original ringer’s gallery is still in the tower even though the bells are now played both by hand or electronically from a small room in the sanctuary.</p><br>
<h2>Bronze doors</h2><br>
<p>At the south entrance to the sanctuary are the great bronze doors, extremely rich in design, each leaf is solid bronze weighing 2 1/4 tons. Following the Gothic outline of each leaf is a series of niches. Those on the exterior are canopied, each containing a finely modeled figure nine inches high. The thirty-eight statues represent great characters in the history of Christianity, covering a period of nineteen centuries.</p><br>
<h2>Baptismal font</h2><br>
<p>From the cloister with its ornate bronze gates and marble mosaic floor we enter the foyer with the baptismal font. The font sits on elegant white Indian marble inlaid with bronze lettering. Over the font hangs a large oak canopy carved by Johannes Kirchmayer with ten angels each holding a scroll engraved with one of the Ten Commandments. Above them are ten standing figures of men who preached and spread Christianity throughout the world.</p><br>
<p>Below the majestic vaulted ceiling in four corners are stone carvings symbolizing the four stages of womanhood: Infant, Youth, Maturity and Old Age. The beautiful bronze medallions inlaid in the marble floor represent Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.</p><br>
<h2>Organ</h2><br>
<p>The organ manufactured by the Hutchings and Votey Company was installed in 1909. With 2,300 pipes (24 ranks) on 3 manuals, it was considered one of the finest in the country at that time. When the new hot-air heating system installed in 1968 ruined the Hutchings pneumatic mechanism, the organ was replaced by Roche Organ Co of Taunton MA in 1971 saving exterior casework and 12 original ranks increasing the number of ranks to 60, 3450 pipes. The console was relocated from the left side to the center of the organ loft at that time. A digital upgrade of the console was accomplished by Barry Turley in 2008. Today, the Organ remains among the finest for its size. All the ornamental pipes on the organ case are covered in beaten gold, the color of clouded silver. They are decorated very ornately.</p><br>
<h2>Stained glass windows</h2><br>
<p>The stained glass windows are the work of American Impressionist artist, Robert Reid. They cover the theme of the birth of Jesus in the Memorial Window utilizing color and shading from cool blues to warm earth tones through the nine clerestory windows from East to West. Seven of these windows are titled with one of the Beatitudes (or Blessed Be’s) which Jesus was teaching his Disciples as illuminated in the glorious twenty-four foot high Sermon on the Mount window located on the west wall.</p><br>
<p>One notable effect of the windows is the natural flesh quality in the figures. Two years were spent in their design and execution. These stained glass windows were Reid’s most prized work, a masterpiece set and his only effort in stained glass.</p><br>
<p>Still River Baptist Church  is the home of the Harvard Historical Society. It is an historic Gothic Revival-style meeting house located at 213 Still River Road in Harvard, Massachusetts. The building houses the Harvard Historical Society&#39;s museum and archival collections.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1832, the Still River Baptist Society built the current Still River Baptist Meeting House to use for weekly worship services. The Baptist Society was founded on 27 June 1776. The first building on this site was purchased from the town of Leominster, Massachusetts where it had served as the Standing Order (Congregational) church. When the current meeting house was built, the Baptist Society moved their first building across the street (218 Still River Road) to serve as a parsonage. Although it burned down in 1910, a photograph showing the original building is in the possession of the Harvard Historical Society.</p><br>
<p>The Still River Baptist Church was an active congregation through the nineteenth century and its members founded numerous other churches in the region. In 1966, the Still River Baptist Society merged with Harvard&#39;s "Evangelical Congregational Church" and sold its meetinghouse to the Harvard Historical Society. Briefly, an Episcopalian congregation rented the building to use for worship services.</p><br>
<p>The present 1832 building houses a steeple bell believed to have been originally from the Congregational Church, a baptismal font built into the stage, and an 1870 Stevens & Company organ. The organ has been awarded an Organ Historical Society citation honoring its historic qualities. The Harvard Historical Society is restoring the organ.</p><br>
<h3>Church Society</h3><br>
<p>On June 27, 1776, fourteen individuals signed the covenant that established a Baptist church in Harvard. They were Jemima Blanchard, Huldah Edes, Elizabeth Gates, Stephen Gates, Ruth Kilburn, Sarah Kilburn, Doctor Isaiah Parker, Joseph Stone, Annis Willard, Josiah Willard, Rachel Willard, Sarah Willard, Tarbel Willard, and William Willard Jr. The church&#39;s first minister, the Reverend Isaiah Parker MD, was ordained on 10 June 1778 by the Reverend Samuel Stillman DD.</p><br>
<p>During its early years, this church represented a dissenting denomination in Harvard—in marked contrast to the town-supported Standing Order church. However, some Baptist members sat on town committees and were sent to the State House. Co-founder Deacon Joseph Stone represented Harvard as a state senator, and the Reverend Isaiah Parker was a one-time member of the House of Representatives.</p><br>
<p>Some early church records are held in the Harvard Historical Societys collections. The church was a member of the Warren (Baptist) Association, an intrastate organization that supported individual churches in their struggle to separate church and state. Yearly association letters written by the Reverend Parker and others are in the Isaac Backus Collection at the Andover Newton Theological School. Statistical information on the early churchs membership taken from these letters was published in the yearly Warren Association Minutes.</p><br>
<h3>Harvard Historical Society</h3><br>
<p>The Harvard Historical Society was founded in 1897 and currently operates a museum and archives in the building. The Harvard Historical Society sponsors educational events for local students and the public, and periodically publishes historical tracts. The meeting house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The Society&#39;s office is normally open to the public Monday and Tuesday afternoons from 1 to 5 pm and by appointment.</p><br>
<h2>Historical Society Publications</h2><br>
<p>History of Harvard, 1894-1941 compiled by Ida Harris</p><br>
<p>Directions of a Town (1977) compiled by Robert Anderson</p><br>
<p>The Harvard Album (1997) in memory of Elvira Scorgie</p><br>
<p>Brookfield Cemetery is an historic cemetery on Main Street  on the west side of Brookfield, Massachusetts. Established in 1714, it is the towns only cemetery. It consequently holds the burials of many of Brookfields founders and leading citizens, from the 18th century to the present, including those of neighboring towns that were once a part of Brookfield. The 43 acre cemetery has about 10,000 marked graves. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.</p><br>
<p>The cemetery was developed in three distinct phases. Brookfield once encompassed most of what is now the towns of Warren, West Brookfield, and East Brookfield, with the West Brookfield area being the earliest area of settlement in the 1670s. First known as Quaboag Plantation, it was abandoned after a 1675 attack by Native Amaericans in King Philip&#39;s War, and resettlement only began early in the 18th century. Burial practices before 1714 are poorly documented. In that year local church members set aside the first plot of land for burials; this was confirmed by town officials after Brookfield was incorporated in 1720. The cemetery was at first owned as part of church lands, but 5 acre (the westernmost portion of the modern cemetery) were deeded to the town of Brookfield in 1760, probably as part of the division of the town into three parishes (which later became Brookfield, East Brookfield, and West Brookfield).</p><br>
<p>During the 19th century the town undertook a number of improvements to the cemetery. A stone wall was built around it in the 1850s, and a receiving tomb was added in 1861. The large granite entrance gate was built in 1873, the gift of local residents William Banister and Otis Hayden Banister, and its Civil War memorial was dedicated in 1890. These were added in the central section of the cemetery, which was laid out in the Victorian rural cemetery style that was then fashionable.</p><br>
<p>The easternmost part of the cemetery was developed beginning about 1920, and has been expanded several times, most recently in 1996. Its layout reflects the aesthetics of the 20th Century Modern Cemetery movement.</p><br>
<h2>Notable interments</h2><br>
<p>Brookfield Cemetery has the burials of many notable figures:</p><br>
<p>Dwight Foster, U. S. Senator and USA Representative</p><br>
<p>The Edsel and Eleanor Ford House is a mansion located at 1100 Lake Shore Drive in Grosse Pointe Shores, northeast of Detroit, Michigan; it stands on the site known as "Gaukler Point", on the shore of Lake St. Clair. The house became the new residence of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford family in 1929. Edsel Ford was the son of Henry Ford and an executive at Ford Motor Company. The estate&#39;s buildings were designed by architect Albert Kahn, its site plan and gardens by renowned landscape designer Jens Jensen. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>House</h3><br>
<p>The Fords traveled to England with Albert Kahn for the concepts ideas, where they were attracted to the vernacular architecture of the Cotswolds. They asked Kahn to design a house that would resemble the closely assembled village cottages typical of that rural region. Kahns design included sandstone exterior walls, a traditional slate roof with the stone shingles decreasing in size as they reach its peak, and moss with ivy grown across the house’s exterior. Construction on the house began in 1926.</p><br>
<p>While construction of the house itself took only one year, two years were spent fitting it with antique wood paneling and fireplaces brought from English Manor houses; interior fittings were in the hands of Charles Roberson, an expert in adapting old European paneling and fittings to American interiors. The Gallery, the largest room in the house, is paneled with sixteenth-century oak linenfold relief carved wood panelling. Its hooded chimneypiece is from Wollaston Hall in Worcestershire, England; the timber-framed house had been demolished in 1925 and its dismantled elements and fittings were in the process of being dispersed. Fourteenth century stained-glass window medallions were added to the house in the late 1930s. Robersons barrel-vaulted ceiling for the Gallery was modeled on one at Boughton Malherbe, Kent, England. Paneling and doors in the Dining Room, entirely devoid of electricity, came from New Place, a victim of early twentieth-century expansion in Upminster, a new suburb of London. The Librarys paneling and its stone chimneypiece came from the Brudenell seat, Deene Park, Northamptonshire, England. Harris suggests that this already once removed paneling had come from another Brudenell seat.</p><br>
<p>The Study has a wooden overmantel with the date 1585, from Heronden Hall, in Tenterden, Kent.</p><br>
<p>Other interesting design elements include kitchen counters made of sterling silver, a "secret" photographic darkroom behind a panel of Edsel Fords office, and Art Deco style rooms designed by Walter Dorwin Teague, a leading industrial designer of the 1930s. Teague’s first floor “Modern Room” features the new&#39; indirect lighting method, taupe colored leather wall panels, and a curved niche with eighteen vertical mirrored sections. He also designed bedrooms and sitting rooms for all three of Edsel and Eleanor’s sons. Teague’s design for son Henry Ford II’s bathroom includes grey glass walls made of the same structural glass as its shower stall.</p><br>
<h3>Furnishings</h3><br>
<p>The house featured an extensive art collection, reflecting Edsel and Eleanor’s status as serious museum benefactors. After Eleanor Ford’s death, many important paintings were donated to the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Reproductions were hung in their place. The classical French-style Drawing Room features two original Paul Cézanne paintings and reproductions of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas works. A reproduction of Vincent van Gogh&#39;s The Postman Roulin hangs in the Morning Room. An original Diego Rivera painting, Cactus on the Plains, hangs in the Modern Room.</p><br>
<h3>Gardens</h3><br>
<p>The estates gardens were designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen with his traditional long view,&#39; giving visitors a glimpse of the residence down the long meadow after the passing the entry gates, then brief partial views along the long drive, and only at the end revealing the entire house and another view back up the long meadow.</p><br>
<p>Mrs. Ford wanted to have a rose garden installed but Jensen originally disapproved of this claiming that it would ruin the landscape which was designed to look completely natural. Jensen had previously quit on Henry Ford and Clara Ford, when Clara wanted to install a rose garden directly in the center of the backyard meadow at the Henry Ford Estate. Eleanor and Jensen eventually came to a compromise and the rose garden was placed behind some native bushes which was out of sight of the meadow that is the focal piece of the front lawn. Jensen&#39;s son was contracted later on to install the new garden area which has a reflecting pool and does not have the natural stylizing of the rest of the grounds. Instead he opted for finely trimmed bushes and square grassy areas.</p><br>
<p>The grounds of the estate include a power house and a gate house along affluent Lake Shore Drive, often mistaken for the actual house. The gate house includes apartments formerly used by staff and an eight-car garage with a turntable to rotate cars so they don’t need to back out. The Recreation House beyond the man-made lagoon and swimming pool contains changing rooms and a squash court with spectator’s gallery. Closer to the gate house is Josephine Ford’s child-sized playhouse, built for her by her grandmother Clara (Mrs. Henry Ford), in 1930. It features working electricity and plumbing and an exterior decorated with characters from nursery rhymes.</p><br>
<p>For William on his 21st birthday the family enlisted a company which built a full size replica pirate ship on the lagoon as a party showpiece. The party was held outside just off the Apple Patio and featured live acts including Frank Sinatra.</p><br>
<h2>Museum</h2><br>
<p>Edsel Ford died in this house in 1943 and his wife Eleanor Ford lived there until her death in 1976. It was her wish that the property be used for "the benefit of the public". The is open to the public for guided tours. Located on 87 acre at 1100 Lake Shore Road in Grosse Pointe Shores, the 20,000 ft&sup2; house has a fine collection of original antiques and art, and beautiful lakefront grounds. The grounds include the frontage on Ford&#39;s Cove, the total Lake St. Clair waterfront of the property is 3,100 feet (985 m). The house currently hosts special events, classes and lectures, The estate is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<h2>Restoration</h2><br>
<p>Several restoration projects have been started in recent years, most of which were to fix the deteriorating masonry on the main house, the play house, and the various walks. The Edsel Ford house relies on donations as well as an original trust set up by Mrs. Ford to continue restoration work. Mrs. Ford left a total of $15,000,000 USD when she handed the house over in trust in the 1970s. In 2007 the fund reached a value of $98,000,000 USD.</p><br>
<p>The house has undergone multiple large scale restoration projects, including new roofing which was conducted by a firm from England using five professional masons. The roof was torn down to the base wood all of which was replaced where needed. The stone was selected to match the existing stone from the same quarry as the original.</p><br>
<p>The restoration projects are done by skilled craftsmen who have had proven previous experience in their fields. The foundation selects bidders for projects based on their previous experience, portfolio and firms that can provide near original/original material over pricing to ensure that the estate is restored to the original construction specifications.</p><br>
<p>The most recent restoration project was to replace the sandstone pillars on the outside of the lakefront patio, which had started to crack around the upper edges. To ensure complete historical accuracy the foundation contracted a firm from the same region from where the original stone was purchased.</p><br>
<p>There are still many rooms where visitors are not permitted, including the basement. While the estate houses 60-plus rooms as well as other buildings, the public tours usually only showcase 20 of them. Occasionally the other rooms, such as staff living quarters, are showcased in specific tours. Though a number of rooms in the north upstairs wing of the house hold administrative offices, these are not shown to the public. Some of the rooms are still in less than desirable condition, and restoration projects hope to have the entire estate in show-worthy condition within the next few years.</p><br>
<p>El Greco Apartments is a historic twelve-unit, Spanish Revival style apartment building located in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles, California. The building was built in 1929 as one of the original buildings in the Westwood Village section of Los Angeles. Located in the heart of Westwood, the building was the home of film celebrities, including Erich von Stroheim, Michael Curtiz, and Joel McCrea. In the 1980s, the owner planned to demolish the building to erect a condominium building. In response to tenant protests, the owner agreed to pay to have the building moved to another location. The building was ultimately moved to the Fairfax district where it was converted to low-income housing for senior citizens.</p><br>
<h2>Construction and architecture</h2><br>
<p>The Spanish-Mediterranean style El Greco was built from 1929 to 1930 and was one of the original buildings in Westwood Village. The two-story, 12-unit structure was designed by architect Clara Bertram Humphrey, and modeled after the home of artist El Greco in Toledo, Spain. The red tile roof and brick courtyard of the El Greco became a trend that was followed in many other structures in Westwood Village.</p><br>
<p>Once located in the heart of Westwood Village, the El Greco was the first hotel in Westwood Village and was reportedly the home to international film personalities, including Erich von Stroheim (Austrian director of the silent film classic Greed, among other works), Michael Curtiz (director of films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, Angels with Dirty Faces, Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy and White Christmas), and Joel McCrea (star of films including Alfred Hitchcocks Foreign Correspondent and Preston Sturges, Sullivan&#39;s Travels and The Palm Beach Story).</p><br>
<p>In April 1939, the El Greco was purchased by A.J. Dolan for $37,500.</p><br>
<h2>Preservation efforts and relocation to Fairfax district</h2><br>
<p>By the end of the 1970s, many of the old Spanish-Mediterranean style buildings in Westwood Village had been replaced with high-rises. Accordingly, controversy arose when the owner of the El Greco announced plans in 1979 to demolish the structure and replace it with condominiums. Tenants of the old building, who were served with 60-day notices to vacate, led the preservation effort. Tenants including Leonard Nimoys son Adam Nimoy and James Davidson, with assistances from City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, led an effort to have the building declared a historic monument by the citys Cultural Heritage Board. In February 1980, the building was declared a Historic-Cultural Monument (#231), putting demolition plans on hold. Members of the Cultural Heritage Board referred to El Greco as "a stunning building... that ought to be saved." And in October 1980, the Los Angeles City Council voted 10-0 to prevent demolition of the building.</p><br>
<p>With demolition halted, plans circulated to donate the building to the city for low-income housing, to relocate the structure to vacant land, or to sell the property to UCLA for use as affordable housing for young faculty members and their families. None of those plans was accepted, and in 1984, the owner again moved forward with efforts to demolish the building. On this occasion, a group known as Alternative Living for the Aging came forward with a plan to move the building to vacant land in the Beverly-Fairfax district, where it would be converted to low-income housing for senior citizens. The City Council voted to withhold permission for demolition to allow time for the group to raise funds for the relocation and refurbishment. The owner ultimately agreed to pay $55,000 for the cost of moving the building, and a combination of private and public funds totaling $600,000 was raised to pay for the cost of the land and refurbishment of the building. Among other efforts, Leonard Nimoy (Spock in the 1960s television series Star Trek) staged a fund-raiser for the effort to preserve the El Greco.</p><br>
<p>In September 1985, the El Greco was carefully carved into four pieces and hauled from its original site in Westwood to its new location in the Beverly-Fairfax district. Architect Peter de Bretteville, who was in charge of the move and refurbishment, noted: "The difficult relocation was accomplished by dividing the apartment into four separate sections, preserving all of the structure&#39;s Spanish roof tiles and other elements of the charming brick and tile courtyard, including its central fish pond, which was recreated to its original appearance on the new site. The haul from Westwood required a great deal of preparation on the site, careful planning and finally settling of the structure on the new site. We worked within certain budget constraints and we tried to intrude as little as possible on the structure itself. I believe we came up with a good compromise." When the old structure was removed, construction began on a new $7.5 million, 112-unit apartment complex on the original site.</p><br>
<h2>Current operation as alternative living for seniors</h2><br>
<p>The relocated El Greco opened in December 1986 as housing for senior citizens. The building provides "alternative living" for seniors who do not need institutionalized care, but who choose not to live alone. Each resident is paired with another resident as "buddies" who check up on each other on a daily basis. Columnist Jack Smith profiled the novel facility in 1989, noting: "ALA screens every applicant for his or her compatibility degree. They must be clear-headed and without debilitating health problems.... It doesn&#39;t hurt to be good at Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit."</p><br>
<p>In 1988, the original building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>The McElroy Octagon House, also known as the Colonial Dames Octagon House, is a historic octagonal house now located at 2645 Gough Street at Union Street in the Cow Hollow neighborhood of San Francisco, California. William C. McElroy built it in 1861 across the street from its present location. It was vacant and neglected in 1951 when the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in California bought it, moved it across the street and began its restoration. In 1971 it became San Francisco Landmark 17. It, the Feusier Octagon House and the Marine Exchange Lookout Station at Land&#39;s End are the only three remaining octagon houses in the city.</p><br>
<p>On February 23, 1972, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>The house is open to the public for tours.</p><br>
<p>The Bidente-Ronco is a river in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The first portion of the river is called the Bidente. Once the river passes under the Ponte dei Veneziani  in Meldola, the river is called the Ronco. The source of the river is near the border between the province of Forlì-Cesena, the province of Arezzo, and the province of Florence in the Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna National Park. The river flows northeast through the mountains in the province of Forlì-Cesena and flows near Santa Sofia, Galeata, Civitella di Romagna and Meldola. Beyond Meldola, the river flows north near Bertinoro, Forlimpopoli, and Forlì before crossing the border into the province of Ravenna. The river flows northeast until it joins the Montone south of Ravenna, and the resulting river is known as the Uniti. The Battle of Ronco took place here.</p><br>
<p>Blue Pool is a flooded, disused clay pit where Purbeck ball clay was once extracted. It is now a lake within the Furzebrook Estate, a 25 acre park of heath woodland and gorse near Furzebrook on the Isle of Purbeck, in the county of Dorset, southern England.</p><br>
<p>Furzebrook Estate is about 5 km south of Wareham and 3 km west of Corfe Castle.</p><br>
<p>The pool started life early in the 17th century as a chalk pit. Purbeck ball clay was dug from the pit from the mid-17th century to the early 20th century. The ball clay was used to make fine ceramic products, such as smoking pipes, plates, cups and tea pots. The pit became disused before the First World War, but ball clay is still extracted from other pits in the area.</p><br>
<p>The title blue arose because there are minute particles of clay in colloidal suspension within the water. These suspensions variously diffract the light depending on the particles size (with differences in size often linked to changes in concentration and pH), yielding colours from red-brown, through grey and green, to the more typical turquoise. The metallic blue sometimes found in photographs is more likely to be a reflection of the sky, as the attractions own website makes no such claim for the water, and their leaflets call it “a turquoise jewel set in the heart of Purbeck”.</p><br>
<p>In 1935 a café was opened at the site. There is also a museum and gift shop. Now law protects the habitat of a variety of rare plants and animals. The site includes nature reserves managed by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and a private nature reserve.</p><br>
<p>Blue Pool is now a popular tourist attraction, especially because it is a place of peace and tranquillity. The pool is surrounded by 25 acre of heathland. The nationally rare Dorset heath and marsh gentian are common to the area. The estate is crossed by a network of sandy paths. There are steps down to the edge of the pool and there are also steps on some paths around the pool, but there is also a completely flat route around the pool, which is suitable for wheelchairs.</p><br>
<p>The lush vegetation around the pool is inhabited by grey squirrels, rabbits and badgers. The Estate supports numerous rare birds, amphibians and reptiles. Visitors may therefore be lucky enough to spot the Dartford warbler or the nightjar. Both of Britain&#39;s endangered and protected reptiles, the green sand lizard and the smooth snake, live here in considerable numbers. There are also many dragonflies and the rare Sika deer.</p><br>
<p>Jordalsvatnet is a lake in the municipality of Bergen in Hordaland county, Norway. The 0.57 km&sup2; artificial lake has a small dam on the western end and it is the main source of drinking water for the borough of Åsane  in the city of Bergen, as well as the Ytre Sandviken parts of the neighboring Bergenhus borough. The lake lies east of the village of Eidsvåg, with the European route E39 highway running along the western shoreline. The surrounding valley of Jordalen is primarily agricultural in nature.</p><br>
<p>In May 2005, a new water treatment plant along the lake opened in order to improve the quality of the drinking water. The untreated water coming out of the lake is lower than in other drinking water sources in the Bergen area due to the agricultural activity in the Jordalen valley.</p><br>
<p>The William Bryant Octagon House is an historic octagon house located at 2 Spring Street in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Built about 1851, it is the best-preserved of three such houses built in the town in the 1850s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The William Bryant Octagon House stands east of Stoneham&#39;s Central Square, at the northwest corner of Spring and Washington Streets. The setting is residential, but Washington Street is a busy artery, and the house stands just northeast of its junction with Pleasant Street, another artery. It is a two-story eight-sided structure, covered by a low-pitch hip roof with a central octagonal cupola. The walls are finished in wooden clapboards, and the house rests on a granite foundation. The roof has extended eaves studded with decorative brackets. The entry, set in the south-facing front facade, is sheltered by an open porch with decorative square posts and brackets, and there is a two-story addition projecting from the rear side of the house. The other faces of the build have sash windows set in simple molded frames on each floor.</p><br>
<p>The house was built in 1851 by the Worcester Bros. firm for William Bryant, Jr., a shoecutter, and Lucinda A. (Hook) Bryant, his wife. It is one of three octagon houses built in Stoneham during the 1850s, and is the best preserved. Octagon houses were promoted by Orson Squire Fowler, and were an architectural fad during the 1850s.</p><br>
<p>The Richard Barker Octagon House is a historic octagon house located at 312 Plantation Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built sometime between 1855 and 1865, during a brief period in their popularity, it is one of two octagon houses in the city, and a relatively rare instance of one built using Orson Squire Fowler&#39;s recommended gravel wall technique. On March 5, 1980, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Barker Octagon House is set on Worcester&#39;s east side, on the east side of Plantation Street a short way south of Massachusetts Route 9. The house is two stories in height, with a low-pitch octagonal hip roof with a deep eave supported by paired decorative brackets. The walls are finished in stucco, and it has simple pilasters at the corners, giving the wall faces a paneled appearance. A Colonial Revival porch shelters the front entry, its four Tuscan columns supporting a shed roof. The building at one time had an octagonal cupola at the top, but this has been removed.</p><br>
<p>The house was built during the brief period between about 1848 and 1865, when octagon houses were popularized by the works of Orson Squire Fowler. This house is particularly unusual, in that its wall construction may follow one of Fowler&#39;s recommendations, using gravel stone chips; most octagon houses were built using then-standard wood frame construction methods. The first documented owner was Richard Barker, a carpenter, who purchased the house in 1866, when the craze was already dying out.</p><br>
<p>Moores Building is a historic building located in the downtown area of the Hamlet of Oyster Bay and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. First built in 1901, the building gained significance when Theodore Roosevelt had his staff take offices here while he served as USA President. The Moores Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a Town of Oyster Bay Landmark, and a featured site on the Oyster Bay History Walk audio walking tour.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>This landmark building with its Queen Anne style tower and cornices is called the Moore Building, but when James Moore originally built it in 1891 to house his corner grocery store, it had a much more humble appearance. It began as a one story structure, made mostly of wood with a section of brick on the front wrapping around each side for about 10 ft. Mr. Moore also built a row of attached wood buildings extending up East Main Street, which housed various shops such as Oyster Bay’s first ice cream parlor, a furniture store, and an undertaker. Only five years after they had been built, several of these buildings were destroyed by a fire which broke out in the middle of the night.</p><br>
<p>Fortunately, the newly formed Atlantic Steamer Fire Company had invested in the Silsby Steamer, which extinguished the fire in time to save Moore’s Grocery. In 1901, Moore built the statuesque building you see today, incorporating the original brick facade. It included a large ground floor for his growing grocery business and high-ceiling upper floors, in which public meetings could be held just as they had been across the street in Old Fleets Hall. But these upper floors were to rise to ever greater fame - when President Theodore Roosevelt outgrew his suite of offices at the Oyster Bay Bank Building on Audrey Avenue. While Sagamore Hill served as the Summer White House, Moore’s Building now housed the Summer Executive Offices where Secretary William Loeb, Jr. and his staff-conducted any business of the President which did not require his personal attention.</p><br>
<p>Secretary Loeb installed telegraph and telephone “hotlines” which connected directly to Sagamore Hill and the White House in Washington, D.C., and in 1903, the first “round the world” cable was transmitted from this building.</p><br>
<p>In recent years several restaurants have graced this lovely corner which was restored to its original beauty in 1995.</p><br>
<p>The Oyster Bay Post Office in Oyster Bay, New York was completed in 1936. New York architect William Bottomley designed this colonial revival structure to mirror the Oyster Bay Town Hall across the street. Inside are murals by the prominent American artist, illustrator and author Ernest Peixotto, depicting scenes in Oyster Bay from 1653 to 1936 when the Post Office was built. This building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and featured on the Oyster Bay History Walk.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first Oyster Bay Post Office was located in Ezra Minor’s house on East Main Street around the year 1800. In subsequent years there were at least three other Post Office buildings in the village of Oyster Bay. This building was completed in 1936 with a focus on art and architecture. New York architect William Bottomley designed this colonial revival structure to be a mirror image of the Town Hall building it opposes, and he hired two prominent artists to adorn it with historical murals and sculptures. During the 1930s a government program called the Works Progress Administration’s Art Project commissioned the creation of over 120,000 murals and sculptures nationwide to be incorporated into government owned buildings such as post offices schools hospitals and museums. These WPA projects employed hundreds of artists and enhanced people’s lives by bringing them into daily contact with fine art.</p><br>
<p>The prominent American artist illustrator and author Ernest Peixotto was commissioned to paint five murals which are in themselves, a tour of historic Oyster Bay, depicting scenes from 1653 to 1936. The vaulted ceiling was painted by Peixotto assistant, Arthur Sturges and depicts beautiful women representing different countries sending mail to North America on ships and planes. Mercury, the winged messenger, sits atop the dome to receive the mail with speed.</p><br>
<p>Leo Lentelli, a noted Italian sculptor, whose work can be seen throughout America on public buildings created the terracotta panels above the interior doorways, depicting the continents symbolized by animals. On the Africa/Oceania panel the dates 1858 and 1919 refer to the years of Theodore Roosevelt’s life. On the Asia/America panel the date 1902 refers to the year Roosevelt returned to Oyster Bay as President and the year 1936, the year the Post Office was built.</p><br>
<p>Lentelli also sculpted the bust of Theodore Roosevelt as well as a stunning stone flagpole base on the grounds outside the Post Office. After the block of stone was put in place, Lentelli had a wood shack built around it and spent the winter of 1936 carving the beautiful seahorses, dolphins, and shells you see today.</p><br>
<p>Raynham Hall is in Oyster Bay, New York. Home of the Townsend family, one of the founding families of Oyster Bay, on Long Island, New York, and a member of George Washington&#39;s Culper Ring of spies, the house was renamed Raynham Hall  after the Townsend seat in Norfolk, England, in 1850 by a grandson of the original owner. The house is now owned by the Town of Oyster Bay and operated as a public museum by the Friends of Raynham Hall Museum, Inc. Raynham Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a Town of Oyster Bay Landmark, and is a featured site on the Oyster Bay History Walk audio walking tour. It is located at 20 West Main Street, right in the heart of Oyster Bay.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Raynham Hall was built in 1738 as a "two by two," or two rooms on the first floor with two rooms above it and a central chimney. After Samuel Townsend bought the house and moved in he added onto the home four more rooms giving the newly dubbed "Homestead" a lean-to addition in the saltbox-style structure. The home remained this way until in 1851 when Solomon Townsend remade the house in the Victorian style, adding carpeting, highly decorated wallpaper, ornate furnishings, a central tower onto the houses exterior with a skylight, as well as an entire new wing to the home. Renaming the house "Raynham Hall," Solomon projected his wealth and affluence where his colonial Quaker counterparts lived a much more conservative style.</p><br>
<p>In 1941, the family no longer had the wealth to retain the house and handed the deed over to the Daughters of the American Revolution&#39;s local chapter in Oyster Bay. The maintenance of the house was too much, and finally the home was granted to the Town of Oyster Bay. After deliberation it was decided that Raynham Hall would continue as a part of Oyster Bay as a historic home and museum to represent the Colonial and Victorian lifestyles of the Townsend family.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Before the Revolution</h3><br>
<p>On May 6, 1738, Samuel Townsend (1717–1790) purchased the property now known as Raynham Hall from Thomas Weedon for 70 pounds. At that time the house consisted of four rooms with a large central chimney. It is possible that Weedon, whose trade is listed as a carpenter, may have constructed the original building.</p><br>
<p>Between 1738 and 1740, Townsend enlarged the property to expand it to eight rooms, making it a story and a half salt box. Although the rooms may seem small to us today, the house was fairly large by 18th century standards. Townsend was a merchant as well as Justice of the Peace and Town Clerk and at least one of the front rooms of the house may have been used both as an office and a store.</p><br>
<h3>During the War</h3><br>
<p>The Outbreak of the Revolution found Samuel Townsends sympathies on the side of the Patriots despite the fact that half of Oyster Bays inhabitants were Loyalists. Townsend went on to become a member of the New York Provincial Congress, which voted to ratify the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776.</p><br>
<p>Following the Patriots defeat at the Battle of Long Island in the autumn of 1776, the Townsend home became the headquarters for the Loyalist Queens Rangers, led by British Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe. Since resisting a British officer could mean imprisonment or death, Samuel Townsend and his family had little choice but to make room for Col. Simcoe and his fellow officers. At this time, those members of the Townsend family living at Raynham Hall probably numbered seven, including five children (two boys - William and David, and three girls - Audrey, Sally, and Phebe) as well as Samuel and his wife Sarah Stoddard. In addition, a census taken in 1781 shows that Samuel owned eight slaves, one man and three women and four children. Samuels older sons, Solomon, Samuel, and Robert were all engaged in trade and living away from home. Whatever their personal feelings were regarding the British, the family seemed to get along quite well with the officers on a certain level. In fact, on Valentines Day 1778, Lt. Col. Simcoe gave Sally a Valentine, and a number of compliments were etched on panes of glass from the soldiers to two of the sisters. Even Robert Townsend who worked as a spy for General Washington during the Revolution, remarked when Major Andre died that he had "never felt more sensibly for the death of a person.</p><br>
<p>Raynham Hall finds its place in national history through the activities of Robert Townsend. Prior to the outbreak of war, Robert had served as a purchasing agent for his father. However by the late 1770s he was living and working in Manhattan as a merchant and a freelance journalist. Since his business contacts brought him into close contact with many of the British officers then occupying the city, Abraham Woodhull, known within the New York spy ring as "Culper, Sr.," asked Robert if he would act as a spy in the city. With a certain amount of reluctance Robert accepted the position and became known as "Culper, Jr.," thus completing the circle of communication that went from Manhattan to Setauket across the sound to Connecticut and on the General George Washingtons headquarters. From August 1779 until May of the following year, Robert provided George Washington with as much useful information as he could gather regarding British plans and troop movements. In May 1780, Culper, Jr. abruptly stopped work only to resume again in July. One of Roberts Oyster Bay cousins, Samuel Townsend (1744–1792) also served the colonial cause as a Captain and Paymaster in the New York 5th Regiment of the Continental Line.</p><br>
<h4>The Valentine</h4><br>
<p>In the winter of 1779, Lieutenant Colonel John Simcoe gave a Valentines Day letter to Sarah Sally Townsend, the daughter of Samuel Townsend and Sarah Stoddard Townsend. The museum claims that this letter is the first recorded Valentines Day letter in America.</p><br>
<p>Fairest Maid, where all is fair</p><br>
<p>Beautys pride and Natures care</p><br>
<p>To you my heart I must resign</p><br>
<p>O choose me for your Valentine!</p><br>
<p>Love, Mighty God! Thou know&#39;st full well</p><br>
<p>Where all thy Mother&#39;s graces dwell,</p><br>
<p>Where they inhabit and combine</p><br>
<p>To fix thy power with spells divine</p><br>
<p>Thou know&#39;st what powerful magick lies</p><br>
<p>Within the round of Sarah&#39;s eyes,</p><br>
<p>Or darted thence like lightning fires</p><br>
<p>And Heaven&#39;s own joys around inspires</p><br>
<p>Thou know&#39;st my heart will always prove</p><br>
<p>The shrine of pure unchanging love!</p><br>
<p>Say; awful God! Since to thy throne</p><br>
<p>Two ways that lead are only known-</p><br>
<p>Here gay Variety presides,</p><br>
<p>And many a youthful circle guides</p><br>
<p>Through paths where lilies, roses sweet,</p><br>
<p>Bloom and decay beneath their feet</p><br>
<p>Here constancy with sober mein</p><br>
<p>Regardless of the flowery Scene</p><br>
<p>With Myrtle crowned that never fades,</p><br>
<p>In silence seeks the Cypress Shades,</p><br>
<p>Or fixed near Contemplation&#39;s cell,</p><br>
<p>Chief with the Muses loves to dwell,</p><br>
<p>Leads those who inward feel and burn</p><br>
<p>And often clasp the abandon&#39;d urn,--</p><br>
<p>Say, awful God! Did&#39;st thou not prove</p><br>
<p>My heart was formed for Constant love?</p><br>
<p>Thou saw&#39;st me once on every plain</p><br>
<p>To Delia pour the artless strain -</p><br>
<p>Thou weptsd her death and badst me change</p><br>
<p>My happier days no more to range</p><br>
<p>Oer hill, ore dale, in sweet Employ,</p><br>
<p>Of singing Delia, Nature&#39;s joy</p><br>
<p>Thou bad&#39;st me change the pastoral scene</p><br>
<p>Forget my Crook; with haughty mien</p><br>
<p>To raise the iron Spear of War,</p><br>
<p>Victim of Grief and deep Despair:</p><br>
<p>Say, must I all my joys forego</p><br>
<p>And still maintain this outward show?</p><br>
<p>Say, shall this breast that&#39;s pained to fell</p><br>
<p>Be ever clad in horrid steel?</p><br>
<p>Now swell with other joys than those</p><br>
<p>Of conquest o&#39;er unworthy foes?</p><br>
<p>Shall no fair maid with equal fire</p><br>
<p>Awake the flames of soft desire:</p><br>
<p>My bosom born, for transport, burn</p><br>
<p>And raise my thoughts from Delia&#39;s urn?</p><br>
<p>"Fond Youth," the God of Love replies,</p><br>
<p>"Your answer take from Sarah&#39;s eyes."</p><br>
<h3>From the homestead to the hall: the Victorian Era</h3><br>
<p>Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Raynham Hall was occupied by various members of the Townsend Family. Phebe married Dr. Ebenezer Seely of Norwalk, Connecticut on December 25, 1808, when Phebe was 45 years of age Dr. Seely became the owner of the house in 1812 through a transfer from Sally Townsend. Robert and his sister, Sally, along with the Seelys, spent their adult lives at the "Old Homestead" (Raynham Hall). Robert died in 1838 at the age of 85 and Sally in 1842 at the age of 82.</p><br>
<p>In 1851, Solomon Townsend, grandson of Samuel, purchased the Townsend home and land from Dr. Seely for $1,300. Solomon transformed the house by adding a rear wing, a water tower and a number of other Victorian architectural features. He then renamed the house Raynham Hall after the baronial great house, begun in 1619, of the distantly connected Townshends in Norfolk, England. It appears that Solomon had spent summers in Oyster Bay until 1861, when he moved there permanently from New York City at the outbreak of the Civil War. Like his father and grandfather before him, Solomon II was also a merchant and importer. By his early twenties he had begun his own business which would eventually be known as Townsend, Clinch and Dike. In 1849, at the age of 44, he married his first cousin Helene DeKay. The couple had six children, five boys and a girl, all of whom were brought up in Raynham Hall. By 1860, he was one of the wealthiest men in Oyster Bay with a personal worth of $97,000.</p><br>
<p>In keeping with the tradition of public service established by his father and grandfather, Solomon II represented New York Count in the State Legislature and served as a delegate to two State Constitutional Conventions. He also completed two terms as Commissionaire of Education in New York City and after his return to Oyster Bay served as President to the Oyster Bay Board of Education.</p><br>
<h3>Raynham Hall becomes a museum</h3><br>
<p>Solomon died on April 2, 1880. His wife, Helene, died on February 3, 1895, leaving daughter Maria holding the land and house. In one of her obituaries, Helene Townsend was described as "preeminently domestic in her habits," a phrase which helps conjure up the busy Victorian household which must have existed at Raynham Hall.</p><br>
<p>Maria died on March 7, 1908 without a will. Her brothers Maurice and Solomon Samuel were left residing at the house. As a result of family dispute, the courts ordered that the house and various lots be sold to pay Maria&#39;s debts. Edward Nicholl Townsend Jr. (grandson of Solomon II) purchased the house for $4,800 on October 14, 1912.</p><br>
<p>The last Townsend to live in Raynham Hall was Maurice, who died at the Amityville Sanitarium on November 26, 1927. In 1914 Julia Weeks Cole (niece of Helene DeKay), with the help of her sister Sallie Townsend Coles Halstead, purchased Raynham Hall for $100 to preserve it from change. During their tenure, it was used as both a tea room and meeting place for the Oyster Bay Historical and Genealogical Society. In 1933 Miss Coles deeded the house to the Oyster Bay Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), with a mortgage of $20,000. The DAR maintained the house through the depression, and in 1941 Miss Cole gave the house to DAR. The DAR continued to keep the house open to the public, as well as maintaining the Raynham Hall Tea Room. Six years later, maintenance on Raynham Hall became too burdensome for the DAR and the decision was made to offer the building to the Town of Oyster Bay. The Town accepted the offer and in 1947 took possession of the building and with an advisory committee made the decision to restore the front of the building to its original 18th century proportions in the 1950s.</p><br>
<p>The New York firm of Goodwin and Jaeger were responsible for the initial restoration which involved removing many of Solomon&#39;s Victorian additions. The focus of the house and the interpretation were turned back to the historical events of the Revolutionary period. In 1953, with the help of the Friends of Raynham Hall, Inc., the building officially opened as a museum. The last restoration was completed in 1958 by Watland and Hopping when the front windows were realigned and the exterior siding of the Colonial saltbox refinished.</p><br>
<p>Raynham Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.</p><br>
<p>The written record of Raynham Hall&#39;s ghosts goes back only to the early 20th century. Julia Weeks Cole, who owned the house from 1914 to 1933, wrote an article on the ghosts for the Glen Cove Record in 1938. In her article, Miss Coles recorded the story of an overnight guest to Raynham Hall who awoke to the sounds of a ghostly white horse and a rider outside her bedroom window. Miss Coles theorized that this might have been the spectre of Major John Andre, who visited the house shortly before his capture and execution during the American Revolution. Other accounts have connected this particular ghost with the original Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England, where it is supposed to appear as a harbinger of an impending death in the family.</p><br>
<p>A second incident from Miss Coles&#39; files concerned her sister, Susan Coles Halstead, who signed a ghost descending the front stairs. She saw the spectre of an elderly man come down the stairs, turn back toward the dining room, and vanish. Mrs. Halstead stated that she was sure that the ghost was Robert Townsend, the Revolutionary War spy also known as "Culper, Jr.". What she did not explain was why Robert would be haunting a portion of the house which was not built until 13 years after his death in 1838.</p><br>
<p>Whoever the ghost on the stairs is, he may not be alone. The only recent incidents of a possibly supernatural origin have all taken place on or near the stairs. A visitor to the museum claimed to hear the swish of petticoats behind her as she walked past the base of the staircase. Turning, she was able to see just a portion of a figure, dressed in Victorian finery, go past her down the hallway toward the back of the house.</p><br>
<p>Also unexplained noises have been heard throughout the house, staff members have heard distinct footsteps following them throughout the front hallway of the Victorian section of the house. Noises have been heard up in the slaves quarters which are currently used only for storage. Several unexplained smells have also been noticed in the house. From the first floor of the Colonial section staff and visitors have noticed smells of pipe tobacco and wood fire in an area where Samuel Townsend used to relax with his family in front of the fireplace with his pipe. From the kitchen the scent of apple pies baking or cinnamon have been known as a welcoming smell from the spirits to visitors of the house. And smells of roses have been noticed coming from the slave quarters.</p><br>
<p>Another spectral resident made himself know back in 1999. He was first sighted looking into the garden from the servant&#39;s entrance at the rear of the house. A man, between the ages of 20 and 30 with dark curly hair. Beard and moustache, and wearing a dark coat with brass buttons. It is believed that this man is one of the Irish servants employed by the Townsend home during the Victorian period by the name of Michael Conlin. The records have been unable to confirm the name of Michael Conlin in connection with the house as the records of servants during that period were not kept very well.</p><br>
<p>The main ghost story at the home revolves around the relationship of Sally Townsend with John Simcoe. She is believed to have fallen in love with Colonel Simcoe during his stay at the home during the Revolutionary War. But, at the wars end Simcoe returned to England where he married. Sally on the other hand never married and died in the house, a spinster at the age of 82. After her death the Valentines latter that Simcoe had given her during his stay at the house was found with well worn creases from countless rereadings. The room belonging to Sally is in the Colonial portion of the house known as the West Room. Many have said they noticed a change in temperature inside the room, usually about 5 - 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house. Some psychics and ghost hunters have come to the house and found Sally&#39;s aura to be one of sadness.</p><br>
<p>Raynham Hall in Oyster Bay also shares a haunted connection with its namesake in Norfolk, England. The ancestral estate hosts The Brown Lady, first photographed in 1938 as a wispy figure descending the staircase. The Brown Lady has been spotted repeatedly since then along with other spirits of that home.</p><br>
<h2>Hours of operation</h2><br>
<p>Tuesday-Sunday, 1pm – 5pm.</p><br>
<p>Fee: $7 adults, $5 seniors & students, youngsters under age 6 free.</p><br>
<p>First Presbyterian Church built in 1873 is an historic Carpenter Gothic-style Presbyterian church building located at 60 East Main Street in Oyster Bay, New York. Its architect was J. Cleveland Cady, who was just beginning his career and would go on to design the original Metropolitan Opera House, the American Museum of Natural History, buildings at Yale University, Trinity College, and 23 other churches, but he never designed any other churches in the Carpenter Gothic-style.</p><br>
<p>Note: This includes</p><br>
<p>The congregation which dates back to 1842, is noted for its association with Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., his wife, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, and their children including their son, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., the future president of the United States. The funeral of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., was held in this building in 1878.</p><br>
<p>On December 12, 1976, the church building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>First Presbyterian Church&#39;s ministry began in Oyster Bay, New York, in 1842. In its early days the congregation had no permanent church building. A traveling pastor from Hempstead, the Rev. Mr. Woodbridge, preached at the Oyster Bay Academy or at the Baptist Church on West Main Street.</p><br>
<p>The first church building was located on East Main Street at the rear half of the present Nobman&#39;s Hardware. In the 1850s the congregation faced financial difficulties and was unable to function. Growth and reorganization occurred in the 1860s so that by 1872 led by Pastor Benjamin L. Swan, it began building this church on the hill. The architect selected was J. Cleveland Cady.</p><br>
<p>Dramatic arched entryways inside the church are inscribed with Biblical verses. A Hillborn Roosevelt pipe organ was placed at the front of church. Billy Swan donated and played the organ for next 52 years. The future president, Theodore Roosevelt, attended his father&#39;s funeral service held here and later wrote in his diary how he saw his father sitting beside him in the pew, "as distinctly as if he were alive."</p><br>
<p>The H. L. Mencken House was the home of Baltimore Sun journalist and author Henry Louis Mencken, who lived here from 1883 until his death in 1956. The Italianate brick row house at 1524 Hollins Street in Baltimore was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985. Mencken wrote of his home: “I have lived in one house in Baltimore for nearly 45 years. It has changed in that time, as I have—but somehow it still remains the same.... It is as much a part of me as my two hands. If I had to leave it I’d be as certainly crippled as if I lost a leg.”</p><br>
<p>After his death on January 26, 1956, his home was bequeathed to the University of Maryland. In 1983 the City of Baltimore acquired the H. L. Mencken House from the University, in exchange for the Old Pine Street Station. With period furniture, his restored second-floor office, and backyard gazebo, the H. L. Mencken House opened as part of the City Life Museums and a center for theatrical, literary and musical events. Although the City Life Museums closed in 1997, the landmark still displays a special commemorative plaque about its famous occupant. The house is currently not open to the public and now stands empty, a shuttered burden for the City of Baltimore, which plans to dispose of the property. The organization “Friends of the H. L. Mencken House” is leading efforts of several groups to redirect and expand the use of this neighborhood treasure.</p><br>
<p>It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The Mencken House is a three-story brick row house in Baltimore&#39;s Union Square neighborhood. The property extends between Hollins Street at the front to Booth Street to the rear. The house fronts on Union Square. It is one of several nearly identical houses on the north side of the park, sharing Italianate detailing with its neighbors. The house and its interiors have remained faithful to its period of historical significance, from 1883 to 1956. The three-story section stands at the front, while an extension to the rear telescopes to two stories, then one story. In standard Baltimore rowhouse style, the house has a marble foundation and entrance steps.</p><br>
<p>The entry features double doors leading to a vestibule with marble flooring and tiled walls. A further set of glazed double doors leads to the stair hall on the side of the house. A front parlor is located to one side of the hall, followed by the back parlor, connected by pocket doors. A further room was a dining room in the Mencken years, but was probably originally the kitchen. It is followed by the existing kitchen, built in 1923. On the second floor, the front room was Mencken&#39;s study.</p><br>
<p>The Millersburg Ferry, also known as the Kramer-Crow Ferry, is the last operating ferry on the Susquehanna River. It is owned by the Millersburg Chamber of Commerce and operated by the Millersburg Ferryboat Association from May until October when water levels permit.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Ferries have been crossing the Susquehanna River at Millersburg since at least the early 19th century. The one mile (1.6 km) crossing was first served by a pole ferry that was much like a bateau. The ferry predates the establishment of Millersburg in 1807. The borough&#39;s founder Daniel Miller reserved the ferry and shad fishery rights along the Susquehanna for himself.</p><br>
<p>Records from 1817 and 1820 show that the ferry was operated by George Carson or Michael Crow. Crow was to have built a road from the ferry landing on the west shore in Perry County to the "Great Road", modern USA Routes 11 and 15, and Carson would operate the ferry.</p><br>
<p>Ownership and rights to the ferry were hotly contested between the 1820s and 1866. These conflicts were not settled until 1866 when the Millersburg Ferry was licensed by the Pennsylvania State Legislature. Note: This includes</p><br>
<p>Joseph Kramer, son of David Kramer, was granted by the Act of March 21, 1866 P.L. 358, the right to operate the ferry at his own expense. Part of the act stipulated that Kramer build and maintain landings on both shores of the river.</p><br>
<p>Steam powered ferry boats replaced the old pole boats in 1873. These boats were much heavier and required deeper water to cross the Susquehanna River. This was accomplished by building a ferry wall or dam from shore to shore. These walls are still used today and are an important part of the ferry&#39;s designation as a Registered Historic Place.</p><br>
<p>The Millersburg Ferry grew in importance over the years and ownership was transferred from David Kramer to his sons George and Joseph. The ferry was sold at least ten times between the 1870s and 1907. Thomas Radel and his family and Warren "Pop" Hunter and his family operated the ferry from 1907 until 1968 when it was sold to Robert and Bud Wallis and Jim Zeiders. Robert Wallis became the sole owner in 1972. Wallis sold the ferry operation to Community Banks, N.A. of Millersburg in 1990. The bank then donated the historic ferry boat operation to the Millersburg Chamber of Commerce in 1990, which formed the Millersburg Ferryboat Association.</p><br>
<p>The construction of bridges over the Susquehanna River led to the closing of all the ferries on the river. The Millersburg Ferry remains for its historic significance and for practical reasons as well. It is the only crossing of the river for forty miles between Duncannon and Sunbury.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>The Millersburg Ferry was a crucial part of transportation in the central Susquehanna River Valley from 1866 until 1956. The construction of the railroad through Millersburg and establishment of a station there increased the importance of the ferry. Citizens from the western shore used the ferry on a regular basis to transport their goods from Perry and Juniata Counties to the commercial centers of Harrisburg, Lancaster and Philadelphia. People on the eastern shore used the ferry to reach recreational destinations on the western shore.</p><br>
<p>The Millersburg Ferry used as many as four boats to shuttle produce, livestock, building supplies and people and their horses, wagons, and eventually motor vehicles. This boom period for the ferry lasted from 1905 until 1936. The Great Depression resulted in the ferry service being cut to three boats. The ferry company now has a fleet of two boats.</p><br>
<h2>Fleet and operation</h2><br>
<p>The Millersburg Ferry consists of two boats. The Roaring Bull V is a red paddle wheeler that was built in 1998. The "flat" of the ferry is 83 ft long and the power unit is 50 ft. It is powered by a 57 hp Deutz diesel engine with a hydraulic drive system. The Falcon III was built in 1974. It is gray and is 8.3 ft longer than the Roaring Bull V. It also has a Deutz diesel air-cooled engine and a hydraulic drive system.</p><br>
<p>According to Captain Donald Lebo, the trip is 4,785 ft shore to shore, about nine-tenths of a mile, and takes about 20 minutes. Passenger traffic in 2009 was above normal because the water level was high and operations did not have to shut for low water. About 20,000 passengers, who were mostly tourists, were served, paying either by the person or by the car. As of the 2013 season, the rates are $3 for a one-way walk on passenger, $5 for a round trip walk on passenger, $7 for a motorcycle and rider, $8 for a car and driver, and $9 for an extended length vehicle and driver. All other passengers in a vehicle are charged the $3 fare. There are also fares for specialty vehicles such as horse and buggy and golf carts.</p><br>
<p>The Millersburg Ferry is reached from Pennsylvania Route 147 on the eastern shore in Millersburg and from USA Route 11/15 on the western shore just south of Liverpool. It is open on weekends only beginning May 1 from 9:00 a.m. until dusk. The ferry operates daily June through Labor Day 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and it returns to the weekend schedule through the end of September. The Millersburg Ferry does not operate during the months of October through April.</p><br>
<p>The Western Mountains or Western Hills  are a scenic mountain area located 12 km to the west of Kunming, Yunnan, China. They are formed by the Huating, Taihua and Luohan mountain ranges rising above the eastern and northern banks of Dianchi Lake.</p><br>
<h2>Protected area</h2><br>
<p>The Western Hills are a protected area known as the Western Hills Forest Reserve. The ranges have spectacular steep cliffs and stretch from the wooded Huating Temple to the Longmen Mountains (Dragon&#39;s Gate Mountains). Clouds and mist often hide the mountain sides covered with giant firs and pines where some ancient temples are to be found.</p><br>
<h3>Caves</h3><br>
<p>In the cliffs under Luohan Peak, in the Western Hills, are the Longmen Grottoes, with a stone gate leading to the Datiange chamber. 2,300 metres above sea level, these are the largest Taoist grottoes in Yunnan. It took 72 years to build these grottoes during the Qing dynasty, from the 46th year of the Qianlong Emperors reign (1782) to the 3rd year of the Xianfeng Emperors reign (1854). The project was undertaken by stone craftsmen living at the foot of the Western Hills. It is said that the workers could get a measure of rice for each measure of stone, poor payment for such hard and dangerous work.</p><br>
<p>Datiange (Mansion of Heaven) is a stone chamber carved out of the cliffs and is regarded as the finest of the Longmen Grottoes. The relief carving on the walls, the gods, the sacrificial table and the candlesticks are all sculpted following the original shape of the rocks. The Kuixing (God of literature and exams) in the center has one foot on a huge turtle. Holding a dipper and a brush, he turns back to look into the blue sky above the cliffs. Yet his brush has no point. It is said that the stone carver broke the brush point by accident and spoiled the work of decades. He dropped his knife and threw himself over the cliffs. Standing on the Longmen, the lake is vast and the sky is endless. In the morning, it is an ideal place to greet the rising sun. In the evening, one can admire the sparkling lights of downtown Kunming.</p><br>
<p>The 3rd of March is a festive time in the Western Hills, when it is considered the best time for Kunming residents to climb the mountains and look into the distance, to admire the spring flowers and appreciate the feeling of new life.</p><br>
<h3>The Sleeping Beauty</h3><br>
<p>Local folklore describes this mountain range as a young girl with her hair drifting into the lake. Thus it is also known as "Sleeping Beauty" or "Sleeping Maiden". The lake itself is said to have formed from her tears, shed while she awaited her lover&#39;s return according to local tradition. This range is alternatively known as the "Sleeping Buddha".</p><br>
<h3>Dragon Gate</h3><br>
<p>Lying 15 km west of Kunming City, the Dragon Gate in the Western Hills is close to the west shore of the Dianchi Lake. It consists of the Sanqing Temple Complex and the Dragon Gate Grotto Complex.</p><br>
<p>The buildings of the Sanqing Taoist Temple are arranged in nine tiers: They are the Lingguan Hall, the Chunyang Pavilion, the Sanqing Hall, the Yuhuang Temple, the Taiqing Palace, the Zhenwu Hall, the Luzu Temple, the Qisheng Temple, Lingxiao Pavilion, the Laojun Pavilion and the Taiji Palace.</p><br>
<p>The Dragon Gate Grotto Complex includes Lanhaichu, the Ciyun Cave, the Yunhua Cave and the Datian Pavilion. The marvelous Dragon Gate Grotto Complex was accomplished through 72 years of hard work (1781–1853). The Dragon Gate consists of 3 parts: a stone archway, a platform, a stone room and a number of sculptures, all carved out of the same rock. It is both the summit of the grotto and the highlight of the grotto as well. The characters "Longmen-Dragon Gate, (the sign of the Dragon Gate)" are inscribed in red and gold upon the arch. On the left, a platform surrounded by a stone railing is the ideal place to welcome the wind and to view the bold cliff. The elevation of the Dragon Gate is over 2,300 meters, 300 meters higher than the water surface of the Dianchi Lake.</p><br>
<h2>Temples</h2><br>
<p>The Huating Temple, the Taihua Temple, Sanqingge and Longmen were all built around the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Taihua Mountains, old roads lead to places surrounded by trees.</p><br>
<p>The Huating Temple is famous for its colorful statues that combine styles of Buddhism and Taoism. The solemnity of Buddhism and the freedom of Taoism blend into one.</p><br>
<p>The Taihua Temple, often shrouded in mist, is 1.5 km from the Huating Temple on the main peak of the Taihua Mountains. This tranquil and isolated temple is reputed as a place of "heavenly peace". The main halls are built along the rising slopes. Covered corridors connect each pavilion and mansion. With its ancient trees, perfumed orchids, camellias, osmanthus and plum trees, the Taihua Temple is noted for its tranquility and elegance.</p><br>
<p>Smoke Hole Canyon — traditionally called The Smoke Holes and later simply Smoke Hole — is a rugged 20 mi long gorge carved by the South Branch Potomac River in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, United States. The area is rather isolated and remote with parts accessible only by boat or on foot.</p><br>
<p>Defined to the east by Cave Mountain and to the west by North Fork Mountain, Smoke Hole has been part of the Monongahela National Forest&#39;s Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area since 1965, although some of it is still private land. Formerly, the area was home to a scattered community of family homesteads, storied for their isolation, traditional lifestyles, and skilled production of the illicit liquor known as "moonshine". Today, The Nature Conservancy considers Smoke Hole and the surrounding mountains to be "one of the most biologically rich places in the East", especially as regards its rare plant communities. It included the Canyon as part of the greater Smoke Hole-North Mountain Bioreserve during its "Last Great Places" campaign.</p><br>
<h2>Geography and description</h2><br>
<p>Smoke Hole is situated in southern Grant and northern Pendleton Counties. It is defined by North Fork Mountain to the west and Cave Mountain to the east. At places the Canyon is over 1,000 ft deep with nearly vertical walls. (The riverbed is at about 1,100 ft above sea level and the summit of Cave Mountain is 2,470 ft.)</p><br>
<p>Spectacular views of the Canyon can be had along the 24 mi long North Fork Mountain Trail to the west where sods and cedar barrens can be visited. Caves are common in the Canyon slopes. Some are home to the endangered Virginia big-eared bat and are therefore closed to visitors during critical nesting or hibernation periods</p><br>
<p>The main — and traditional — entrance into the Smoke Hole is from the south through a water gap between Big Mountain and Cave Mountain about two miles north of the community of Upper Tract. (This is about 1.5 miles along Pendleton County Route 2 beyond the bridge where US Route 220 crosses the South Branch.) The name of this "gateway" to the Canyon is Cave Mountain Gap and it represents a half mile cut through the high ridge separating the ancient riverbed of the South Branch Potomac River (to the east) from the ancient bed of Briggs Run (to the west). Eons ago — through a process known as "river piracy" or stream capture — the flow of the river was diverted cataclysmically from its old bed westward into what would eventually become the present Smoke Hole gorge through massive excavation and erosion. This likely developed through an intermediate stage during which the South Branch (or its precursor stream here, the lower Briggs Run) traversed the future Smoke Hole region underground. The roof of the vast subterranean channel then collapsed forming the karst topography seen today. Before the river exits the gap it passes through a narrow channel with ferocious rapids locally known as the "Rock Break". Nearby is Big Spring, source of the water supply for Upper Tract, which discharges 1,040 gallons per minute. (The spring issues from the base of Cave Mountain and is situated about 1,000 feet directly downhill of Cave Mountain Cave (formerly, "Big Cave"). Many explorers have tried to find connections between the dry cave — which has had over two miles of passages mapped as of 2001 — and the spring, but so far without success. It was here, at cave and spring, that Confederates operated a salt petre works during the Civil War.) High above the river, on the north side of the gap, is a prominent range of limestone cliffs which represent the Cave Mountain Anticline. Here also, at river level, is a very prominent crag — Eagle Rock. A bit further on, Cat Path Rocks, a perpendicular cliff, has been partially cut through by the roadbed and is followed by another outcropping known as High Rocks.</p><br>
<p>About two miles downstream of the entrance, the river bifurcates to create the low-lying Hermit Island (4.5 acres), formerly a popular picnicing ground and site of a two-storey log cabin that served as a community center ("Calhouns Community Camp") from 1928. Almost directly across the river, and high on the hillside, is the Canyons namesake Smoke Hole Cave. Passing on down the river, one encounters Fishing Rock and Fishing Rock Ford and finally comes, at 3.8 miles from the entrance, to an intersection near Shreve&#39;s Store, the Smoke Hole Campground and the old Palestine Church ("Old Log Church"). This area was the center of the "town of Smoke Hole" proper, site of an official post office for a time. From here a steep Forest Service road switchbacks 5.4 miles up to the former site of the North Fork Mountain Lookout Tower. Grant County Route 28/11 also proceeds from this intersection and traverses the northern half of the Canyon well above the river level for about 12 mi where it exits the Canyon at WV Route 55/28. (NB: Both Grant County Route 28/11 and Pendleton County Route 2 are indicated on maps as "Smoke Hole Road". The former was previously called FR 74.)</p><br>
<p>From the Shreve&#39;s Store intersection, CR 2 continues north another two miles along the river (past Old Mines Cave Rocks, mile 4.1 and Old Mines Cave, mile 5.8) to the abandoned town of Ketterman (mile 6.3) — also site of an erstwhile post office — and then a final mile to Big Bend Campground (mile 7.3) where the motorable roadway ends. Big Bend constitutes an unusual "peninsula" in the river; the river here loops for about 1.3 miles back to a point just 350 feet from itself. (The narrow ridge between the riverbanks here was traditionally known as "Arm Ridge".)</p><br>
<p>The South Branch collects a number of minor streams in the Canyon; these include Briggs Run (0.6 mile from the entrance), Dry Hollow Run (mile 1.0), Chevaux-de-fris Run (mile 3.8, at the road intersection), Short (Pack Saddle) Run (mile 5.5), Long (Feather Bed) Run (mile 5.8), and — beyond the Big Bend — Redman Run (mile 13.3) and Landes Hollow Run (mile 16.6). Beyond the Big Bend, the Canyon has the character of a remote wilderness; it is one of the most isolated regions of the state and can be traversed only on foot or by boat. Formerly, a primitive wagon road threaded its way through the lower Canyon, but most traces of this are long gone. Prominent named crags and caves along this section include Indian House Cave (mile 10.1), Castle Rock (mile 11.3), Blue Rock (mile 16.2), and Bulls Head (mile 16.6), just below which is Peacock Cave (mile 16.6). About 3 miles on (mile 20.7), the river debouches from the Canyon. After another half mile, the South Branch collects the North Fork South Branch just below Cabins.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Early settlers</h3><br>
<p>The first Smoke Hole settlers followed quickly on the heels of the first in the South Branch valley, which arrived in the late 1740s. A man named Steele (given name now lost) was the first Smoke Holer, arriving sometime in the 1750s. He built a cabin near the (still standing) Palestine Church and his daughter Katie married another pioneer, George Full — the first wedding celebrated in the Canyon. Another young Steele daughter, Susie, out alone searching for a family cow, fell victim to a wandering band of Native Americans. Her father found her scalped, she died soon after, and he buried her nearby on a small promontory still known as “Susie Hill”. George Full built his home and a grist mill in the same vicinity. The parents of Revolutionary War veteran William Eagle (1761–1848) arrived shortly afterward. (Eagle returned after the war and is buried near the 300-foot-high crag that bears his name.) Another Revolutionary War veteran settled there in the years after the conflict, but he — Charles Bleachynden — had been one of the enemy: he was one of the Hessian soldiers (German mercenaries) surrendered at Yorktown in 1781 with Lord Cornwallis&#39; forces.</p><br>
<p>The earliest settler families — the Steeles, Fulls, Eagles, Coxes, Boars, Shreves, and Van Meters — were sustained by smallholder farming, supplemented by hunting and fishing. (In those days, available game included bison, elk and puma.) Livestock, especially swine and sheep, were typically free-ranging and huckleberries and chestnuts were harvested from the wooded mountainsides in quantity. Maple sugar, maple syrup and wild honey were all available with a minimum of effort. Fruit orchards were also harvested, but — owing to the inaccessibility of the community — only very infrequently was local produce brought to market at nearby Petersburg or Franklin. This situation continued to prevail for several generations.</p><br>
<p>The origin of the name “Smoke Hole” is undocumented. Some old timers used to refer to the area as the "Smoke Holes”. The oldest explanation appears to be the story that Native Americans used a well-known cave in the gorge (Smoke Hole Cave) for smoking meat; this cave has a room shaped like an inverted funnel with a hole at the apex through which smoke could escape and be seen from some distance. But it has also been suggested that a misty fog often lies along the river and ascends, thus evoking a "smoky hole", and that this is possibly the origin. A third popular story is that the fires of moonshiner&#39;s stills during prohibition days (and before) gave the gorge its name. Longtime residents of the gorge have insisted that the Indian "smoke house" cave story is the only genuine one and the only explanation that pre-dates the ones on the local state historical highway markers.</p><br>
<h3>The 19th century</h3><br>
<p>The earliest settler families were followed, a generation or two later, by a second wave — the Kimbles, Alts, Stumps, Judys, Helmicks, and Kettermans.</p><br>
<p>A still extant log church — Palestine Church — was built as a Methodist Episcopal meeting house around 1850.</p><br>
<p>The nearby cavern known as "Big Cave", on Cave Mountain, was a source of saltpeter for the production of gunpowder from the earliest settlements through the War of 1812. This cave (not to be confused with the commercially developed Smoke Hole Caverns, just outside the Canyon, or with Smoke Hole Cave in the Canyon itself) is now better known as Cave Mountain Cave. Confederates again mined there during the American Civil War. This work was undertaken by the 46th Regiment Militia, a Virginia State Unit based in Pendleton County, but Smoke Holers too old or too young to be drafted were coerced into doing the hard labor. Union-supporting Home Guards — known locally as "Swamp Dragons" — destroyed the works. The Smoke Hole settlers were not generally slaveholders and became overwhelmingly Unionist during the War. With most local men of military age away for the duration of the War, the depredations of local Confederate partisans — known as the "Rebel Raiders" — included a number of ambushes and killings. This created a bitter legacy. One result of this was that the Smoke Holers, previously staunch Democrats (along with most antebellum Virginians), became inveterate Republicans afterward.</p><br>
<h3>Early 20th-century life</h3><br>
<p>Descriptions of conditions prevailing in the Smoke Hole during the early 20th century were highlighted by wild tales of inaccessibility and the outmoded pioneer lifestyles of the inhabitants. Many stories centered on the production of the illicit homemade liquor known as "moonshine". The more gullible travellers believed that Smoke Holers were so uncivilized and violent that it was dangerous to go there and that "revenuers" (federal law officers) frequently disappeared in the Canyon. In the 1920s, sympathetic Franklin attorney H. M. Calhoun, Sr (1866–1933) became a public champion of the Smoke Hole and its people.</p><br>
<p>High quality moonshine, however, was a booming cottage industry for Smoke Holers in the 1920s and early &#39;30s. It was made for local consumption as well as distributed (on the black market) for hundreds of miles around. Production on a small scale had been a local tradition long before the institution of Prohibition (1919) and continued to be so long after its repeal (1933). The "revenuers" destroyed many "stills" (distilleries) during this period and sent many moonshiners to the state penitentiary — the typical term of incarceration was one year. (Not uncommonly, an offender would serve his term, be released, and promptly resume production.) Local constables sometimes cooperated with the "revenuers" in busting up the stills, but at other times were themselves participants in moonshine production and distribution. Despite the wild stories, there is no evidence that any "revenuer" was ever assaulted or "disappeared" in the Smoke Hole.</p><br>
<p>The Monongahela National Forest (MNF) extended its boundaries in 1927 to include the Smoke Hole and in 1930 the first improved (graded) road was extended into the southern half of the gorge. The Civilian Conservation Corps stationed a battalion in Smoke Hole between 1934 and 1936 and constructed a popular recreation area there. In the latter year, their encampment was washed away in a river flood. At this period, local grade school children could attend a long-established local, one-room schoolhouse, but those few who were ambitious enough to try and attend high school had to walk seven miles (each way) to catch a school bus.</p><br>
<p>A visitor in the late 1930s observed that:Their speech is quaint, containing many archaic forms handed down from the first settlers of the eighteenth century. They use such plural forms as postes, beastes, nestes, ghostes, and analogous verb forms, costes and twistes. They employ clumb for climbed, wrop for wrapped, holp for helped, and such redundancies as rifle-gun, rock-clift, ham-meat and tooth-dentist. Peculiarly free from modern slang, their vocabulary includes such a familiar term as budget to signify a bag, wallet, or bundle. The Smoke Holer is most precise: Is that a bushel basket? he is asked. No, I reckon not, is the reply, but hitll hold nigh onto a bushel.&#39;</p><br>
<p>In 1940, the West Virginia Writers&#39; Project provided a vivid description of life and politics in the Smoke Hole:</p><br>
<p>Notwithstanding the comparative isolation from daily events, the Smoke Hole resident takes a keen interest in governmental affairs and goes to some lengths to express his political convictions at the polls... Along with occasional Saturday night jaunts to Petersburg or Franklin, one of his choicest entertainments consists of gathering in jeans-clad groups on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in Shreves store, there to discuss crops, hunting, and politics. The political situation in the Smoke Hole is certainly unusual; until a few years ago it was said the Smoke Hole had "only one Democrat and lightnin killed him", but recently there has been some swing of political allegiances. There are 113 registered voters in the Smoke Hole, and of these 81 are members of one of seven families, all early settlers, the Alts, Ayres, Judys, Kimbles, Selfs, Shreves, and Shirks, with the Kimble clan alone boasting 29 votes."</p><br>
<p>During the Great Depression, many of the few people then living in the Canyon left to find better jobs, and their homesteads were consolidated among a smaller number of landholders. By this time about 50 families resided in the Canyon — in 1941 there were 260 residents associated with the post office at Smoke Hole and another 49 around the one at Ketterman, three miles downstream — but World War II accelerated the out-migration and long-term population decline. The network of mountain roads formerly connecting homesteads and farms throughout the Canyon is now largely abandoned. Electric and gas service was provided to the few remaining residents only in 1949.</p><br>
<h3>Preservation and recreation</h3><br>
<p>In 1965, much of the Smoke Hole gorge was included in the MNF&#39;s new Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area. A remote hotel — the Smoke Hole Lodge — operated in the Canyon until severely damaged in a 1985 flood; a replacement business operated until 2001.</p><br>
<p>The Smoke Hole region has become a primary protection project of The Nature Conservancy, which purchased an 1,126 acre easement there in April 2004. Under the (2006), over 3,000 acre in the Smoke Hole area were set aside for non-motorized, primitive recreation and remote wildlife habitat. The West Virginia Division of Forestry, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy, acquired conservation easements to protect private woodlands near Smoke Hole in 2009.</p><br>
<p>On 10 November 2013, a fire started on private land adjacent to USFS land in the Smoke Hole. Over the next 12 days, more than 190 personnel were dedicated to fire suppression efforts. The fire grew through the first night, despite rapid response efforts by the Franklin, Seneca Rocks, and Upper Tract Volunteer Fire Departments, as well as crews from the USFS. Several crews, engines, and a helicopter worked to suppress the fire. Resources from 18 other states provided personnel and equipment. The major Smoke Hole Fire effort came under the unified command of the West Virginia Division of Forestry and the USFS. According to Peter Fischer, MNF Fire Management Officer, it was the largest wildfire in the Monongahela National Forest since the 1950s. As of 22 November 2013, the 1,611 acre Smoke Hole Fire had been fully contained.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<h3>Exposed anticlinal-synclinal structures</h3><br>
<p>The geology of the Smoke Holes is dominated by the Cave Mountain anticline. The stratigraphic column exposed in this region contains Lower Silurian to Middle Devonian sandstones, limestones, and shales. This package of rocks is bounded on the lower and upper ends by two fairly competent sandstones: the Silurian Tuscarora and the Devonian Oriskany (Ridgeley), respectively. The anticline trends N 34 degrees E, and is faulted along the southeast-dipping Cave Mountain thrust against the southeast limb of the Wills Mountain anticline (North Fork Mountain). The Cave Mountain anticline is asymmetric to the northwest with a slightly overturned northwest limb. Adjacent to this northwest limb is a highly folded and faulted zone that is representative of the designated Blue Rock synclinal "shear zone" complex of macroscale structures between the Cave Mountain and the Wills Mountain anticlines. Furthermore, the Cave Mountain anticline is a doubly plunging fold showing a culmination at the Lower Silurian strata level near Big Bend in the center of the Smoke Holes. The anticline appears to divide into several plunging folds upsection, at the Lower Devonian strata level, toward each end of the fold. Particularly noticeable are the numerous plunging anticlinal noses at the northeastern end of the Smoke Holes.</p><br>
<p>The Cave Mountain anticline consists of subparallel northeast-trending folds and southeast-dipping thrust faults with a maximum stratigraphic displacement of approximately 1900 feet, throwing Lower Silurian rocks against Lower Devonian rocks. The Cave Mountain anticline is further structurally bounded to the northeast and southwest by major cross-strike structural discontinuities: the nearly east-west trending Petersburg lineament and an extension of the northwest-southeast trending Parsons lineament, respectively.</p><br>
<p>Overall, this region reveals the interior of this thrusted anticlinal-synclinal structure and presents a phenomenal exposure of complex central Appalachian macroscale structures involving the Silurian-Devonian package of rocks. Geologically, the Smoke Holes are the most uniquely exposed region within the westernmost central Appalachians and they have served as a surface model for complex subsurface structures shown and/or suspected by seismic and exploratory drilling. Furthermore, this region provides detailed insight into the lowermost roof-sequence cover above the suspected duplex of Cambrian-Ordovician horse-blocks and blind-thrusts at depth.</p><br>
<h3>Caves and karst</h3><br>
<p>A number of small shelter caves in the Canyon are developed in the Oriskany Sandstone. The larger and more significant limestone solutional caves, however, are mostly developed in limestones of the Helderberg Group (Lower Devonian), especially Corriganville Limestone and New Creek Limestone. A few caves in the lower gorge are developed in the Tonoloway Limestone (Silurian), as is Smoke Hole Caverns, just outside the Canyon&#39;s lower end. A notable Tonoloway Limestone "fin" is "Blue Rock" in the lower gorge. Smoke Hole caves include some that are historically significant for past saltpeter mining operations — Big Cave (now called Cave Mountain Cave) and Old Mines Cave — as well as Peacock Cave, Patricks Cave, Blue Rock Cave, Indian House Cave, and the namesake Smoke Hole Cave. Another dozen or so smaller caves have also been documented.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>Smoke Hole is a biologically diverse area classified as an upland limestone-based ecosystem. It is believed that the Canyon is the largest area of limestone forest left in this region of the country. Most of the forest soil in West Virginia is naturally acidic, only growing a certain range of plants. But limestone soil is not acidic and tends to be richer in certain nutrients than are other soils, thus supporting a different type of plant life. The plant species mix is unique: common Appalachian plants along with prairie species such as prairie rocket, Indian grass and little bluestem.</p><br>
<p>The dry, prairie-like areas along the upper knobs and ridges of the Canyon are home to a variety of typically western plants such as prairie flax and redroot. These plants are more commonly found west of the Mississippi River. Due to the protective effect of surrounding mountains, rainfall in Smoke Hole is unusually light — only about 30-32 inches per year. This relatively low precipitation permits a small haven for these unusual species.</p><br>
<p>About a dozen species of plants and animals in Smoke Hole Canyon are considered to be "globally rare".</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>Trees</p><br>
<p>The dominant trees covering the Canyon&#39;s wooded slopes are oak, black walnut, ash, mulberry and hickory; also abundant are ironwood, linden, flowering dogwood, eastern redcedar, birch, aspen, American beech, tulip poplar and six varieties of pine. The fruit-bearing common pawpaw (Asimina triloba) grows at river level in great profusion, especially in the lower gorge. Before the early-20th-century chestnut blight, the American chestnut was also common here.</p><br>
<p>Shrubs</p><br>
<p>The understory of the Canyon woodland includes such low-lying, fruit-bearing vegetation as huckleberry, blackberry, raspberry, teaberry, and wild grape. Other undergrowth includes crab-apple, witch hazel, rhododendron, sumac, pussy willow, spicewood, dog rose, sloe, chokecherry, haw, and honeysuckle.</p><br>
<p>Herbs and wild flowers</p><br>
<p>The biological richness of Smoke Hole&#39;s plant communities was demonstrated by a botanist in 1933 who documented 283 species of flora on the 4-acre Hermit Island alone. The earliest spring annuals to emerge in the Canyon are bloodroot, followed by the yellow dog-toothed violet. Spring beauties, bluets and dandelions are not far behind. Other violets along with the buttercups follow. Summer brings jack-in-the-pulpit, trilliums, anemones, wild geraniums, wild roses, lady slipper, wild columbine, rhododendron, black-eyed susans, field lilies, and ox-eyed daisies.</p><br>
<p>The prairie-like regions and associated cedar glades around the Smoke Hole Canyon are the largest groupings of such habitats in the Central Appalachians, and a number of unusual disjunct or regionally endemic plant species are known from the Smoke Hole. The Smoke Hole bergamot (Monarda fistulosa var. brevis), a member of the mint family, has some of its few worldwide occurrences within the Smoke Hole area. Virginia nailwort (Paronychia virginica var. virginica) is another rare plant known from the Smoke Hole. This species is so uncommon that the few small patches found among the rocks of the Canyon walls are thought to be the largest population in the world. The prairie flax (Linum lewisii) is a widespread western species quite rare in the east. Sometimes called "Lewis flax", it was originally discovered during the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804–06), and not known wild east of the Great Plains until it was found in the Smoke Hole.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>Mammals</p><br>
<p>The populations of bison, elk and cougar that attracted the earliest settlers to Smoke Hole have long since gone. White-tail deer were also exterminated from the area, as they were from the entire state, by about 1900. Thus, for the first four decades of the 20th century, young Smoke Holers only knew about these "exotic" animals from the nostalgic hunting stories of their fathers and grandfathers. (This changed in the early 1940s when deer were reintroduced into the Canyon; they have thrived there since.)</p><br>
<p>Today the Canyon still has significant black bear and bobcat populations and is known for its large number of timber rattlesnakes, a species now scarce elsewhere in the state. Smaller game animals include red and grey foxes, raccoons, opossums, beavers, mink, wild turkey, cottontails, squirrels, and quail. The coyote has returned in recent years. Smaller mammals include woodchucks, weasels, chipmunks, muskrat and field mice. The Allegheny woodrat, which lives in rocky terrain in the Canyon, has been declining throughout much of its range due to an epidemic of roundworm infestation (acquired from raccoons), among other causes. The Canyon is home to about 40 percent of the world&#39;s Virginia big-eared bat population and the largest single colony of Indiana bats, another endangered animal in the eastern US. The big-eared bat is highly sensitive and needs exacting conditions to hibernate. Its caves are therefore protected during critical months.</p><br>
<p>Birds</p><br>
<p>The Canyon is a prime area for neotropical migrant birds — i.e., those that spend their summers in the US but migrate to South America for the winter. Wood thrushes, scarlet tanagers and various warblers have all been in decline recently because of habitat loss on both continents, but can find sanctuary within the secluded Canyon. Bald eagles also nest in the surrounding mountainsides and great blue heron can be seen hunting at river level. Additional avifauna include bobwhites, robins, cardinals, kingfishers, turkey vultures, and various owls, hawks, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, swallows, and wrens.</p><br>
<p>Others</p><br>
<p>The South Branch in Smoke Hole is home to rainbow trout, black and rock bass and other sunfish as well as eels. A variety of frogs include the wood, bronze, leopard, and green frog, along with spring peepers.</p><br>
<p>Rare species of butterfly (columbine duskywing, cobweb skipper) live in the open, grassy, limestone habitats of the Canyon. A variety of tiger beetle lives in the sandy, cobblestone habitats along the banks of the South Branch.</p><br>
<h3>Invasive species</h3><br>
<p>An Asian grass known as Japanese stiltgrass was accidentally introduced into the USA during the last half of the 20th century and has become a major conservation nuisance nationwide. In recent years, the Canyon has been overwhelmed with this invasive species, first introduced into the state in 1980. The 1996 flood in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia spread the seed throughout Smoke Hole, and now it is the most abundantly growing plant in the area. When introduced into a new area, stiltgrass blankets the ground and suffocates other plant life that would ordinarily grow close to the ground. Unchecked, the plant can spread in a manner almost impossible to abate.</p><br>
<p>Another biological threat to the Canyon is the insect known as hemlock woolly adelgid. Also from Asia and just recently introduced into the Canyon ecosystem, it has been attacking the stands of eastern hemlock there. The bug coats and then kills the tree branches. The Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy are coordinating to find ways to stop the spread of both stiltgrass and the adelgid. A species of Asian beetle known to survive entirely by eating the adelgid is being considered for the Canyon, while a solution to the stiltgrass problem remains as yet unidentified.</p><br>
<p>Two other non-native, invasive plants seriously threaten the rare limestone plant communities in the Canyon — spotted knapweed and viper&#39;s bugloss — and are also the objects of Nature Conservancy abatement projects.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>Popular activities in Smoke Hole Canyon include fishing (rainbow and golden trout; largemouth and smallmouth bass), hunting (squirrel, grouse, turkey, deer, rabbit and bear), hiking, rock climbing, caving, canoeing and camping (Big Bend Campground).</p><br>
<h3>Boating</h3><br>
<p>Kayaking and whitewater canoeing provide the best ways to see the Canyon, particularly the lower section where there are no roads or trails at river level. (The entire Smoke Hole river run — from US 220 to Petersburg — is about 25 mi long. Difficulty ranges from Class I to Class III+.)</p><br>
<h3>Campgrounds</h3><br>
<p>Big Bend Campground is located on a peninsula in the river and features 46 sites with hot and cold water and flush toilets from April 15 to Oct. 1. Hot showers are also provided. Group camping is also available at the Jess Judy Camping Area along the river.</p><br>
<h3>Hiking</h3><br>
<p>The only maintained trail strictly within the Smoke Hole gorge is the 3.5-mile South Branch Trail, a loop trail starting at river level from the FS picnic area (now abandoned). The blue-blazed trail follows the river upstream, ascends part way up Cave Mountain, passes fields and old farms on its way back downstream, and then drops back down to the river nearly opposite Shreve&#39;s Store.</p><br>
<p>The best hiking in the immediate area is undoubtedly the 24-mile-long North Fork Mountain Trail. This stretches along the crest of North Fork Mountain from USA 33 (in the south) to where the Smoke Hole Road (28/11) nears State Route 28 just west of Petersburg (in the north). Other trailheads for NFMT, which looks down upon Smoke Hole from the west, are also located along Smoke Hole Road.</p><br>
<h3>Climbing</h3><br>
<p>There are many opportunities for rock climbing in the canyon, from the walls just inside the Route 220 entrance, to soaring Eagle Rocks, to the shaded walls of Long Branch, the steep stiff routes of Sanctuary and the miles of cliffs lining the west face of North Fork Mountain which can be accessed from trailheads on the canyon rim.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>A 2010 documentary film — The Search for Dillingers Gold, directed by Cam Lemley — alleged that infamous gangster John Dillinger (1903–1934) buried three boxes of gold bullion in a cave somewhere in the Canyon. A man from Oklahoma, claiming to have been a member of Dillingers gang, hired a local in 1965 to help him locate the legendary loot. Lemley travels no fewer than eight times into the Canyon in search of the swag, estimated to be worth about $10 million. Traveling with other campers and adventurous treasure seekers, the film takes the viewer through raging rapids, unexplored mountain caves, and encounters with wilderness and wildlife native to the region. (Other locations rumored to contain the booty include Mercer, Wisconsin and a farm in northeastern Ohio.)</p><br>
<p>St. Marys Seminary Chapel, located at 600 North Paca Street  in the Seton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, is the oldest Neo-Gothic style church in the United States. It was built from 1806 through 1808 by French architect J. Maximilian M. Godefroy for the French Sulpician priests of St. Marys Seminary. Godefroy claimed that his design was the first Gothic building in America.</p><br>
<p>St. Marys Seminary (now St. Marys Seminary and University), founded in 1791, is the oldest Roman Catholic seminary in the United States and the site also included a secular St. Marys College, from 1805-1852. Godefroy also designed in Baltimore, the First Unitarian Church at West Franklin and North Charles Streets during 1817 and the Battle Monument, constructed 1815-1822 in the old Courthouse Square at North Calvert Street, between East Lexington and East Fayette Streets, commemorating the citys dead during the British attack in the War of 1812s Battle of Baltimore with the bombardment of Fort McHenry and the Battle of North Point in September 1814. It is located adjacent to the Mother Seton House. Originally the chapel was surrounded by a quadrangle of four-story buildings of brick Georgian/Federal design with peaked roofs and dormer windows. On one side was a long seminary building and on the other was an L-shaped larger, but similar architectured structure built for the secular College, after it was established in 1805. These were later replaced on the same site by buildings in 1876-78 of Victorian/Second Empire style with mansard roofs although the central chapel of Godefroy endured. In the 1970s, the Victorian buildings were unfortunately also razed leaving St. Marys Park with a historic bandstand to now surround the old Chapel and Mother Seton House. To the east in the 1980s was constructed a four-lane landscaped parkway with median strip of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, edged by short brick retaining walls which curved around the west side of downtown Baltimore like an inner "beltway".</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The small, brick chapel, measuring approximately 90 ft long by 70 ft wide, is one and a half stories high, set on a high basement. The round arched windows are set in rectangular openings. The bricks were originally made for architect Benjamin Henry Latrobes (1764-1820), Baltimore Cathedral/Basilica of the Assumption of Mary (constructed 1806-1821), but it was eventually built of stone blocks. This was the first Roman Catholic cathedral constructed in America to serve the new Archdiocese of Baltimore. The bricks were then purchased for this project for $3,000.00, contributed by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, (1737-1832), last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence and at one time the richest man in America. A stucco cornice lines the sides of the chapel. The interior comprises a wide nave flanked by narrow side aisles. Nine aisle column bays frame three sets of stained glass windows on each side. A sanctuary is set 18 in higher than the nave, flanked by transepts on either side and ending in a small semicircular apse. A balcony extends three bays inward from the entry over the nave. The naves ceiling is plaster, simulating a shallow rib-vault. A crypt underlies the chapel.</p><br>
<p>In 1839, the chapel gained a tower with a spire and interior decoration by noted local architect Robert Cary Long, jr. (1810-1849) However, Longs steeple later became unstable and was removed in 1916. Some of Godefroys wood and plaster work was removed at this time. A 1967 renovation sought to restore the chapel to Godefroy&#39;s original architectural and artistic intentions.</p><br>
<p>The chapel&#39;s basement was used for services by Black Catholic refugees from Santo Domingo (modern Haiti), a former French colony on the western end of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies, where the Black slaves rose up in rebellion during the early 1790s and established the first Black republic, but unleashed decades of turmoil. Lessons for African-American children were also provided there by the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Later these lessons and masses developed into the first black Roman Catholic congregations at St. Francis Xavier Parish on East Oliver Street to commemorate St. Francis Xavier and St. Peter Claver Parish in West Baltimore which remembers St. Peter Claver. The Josephite Fathers religious order has a special ministry among the African American community within the Roman Catholic Church.</p><br>
<p>The chapel was designated a National Historic Landmark on November 11, 1971.</p><br>
<p>The Ebell of Los Angeles is a women&#39;s club housed in a complex in the Mid-Wilshire section of Los Angeles, California. It includes a clubhouse building and the renowned 1,270-seat Wilshire Ebell Theatre.</p><br>
<p>The complex has been owned and operated since 1927 by the Ebell of Los Angeles womens club, which was formed in Los Angeles in 1894 or 1897. Since 1927, the Wilshire Ebell Theatre has hosted musical performances and lectures by world leaders and top artists. Among other events, the Ebell was the site of aviator Amelia Earharts last public appearance before attempting the 1937 around-the-world flight during which she disappeared. It is also the place where Judy Garland was discovered while performing as Baby Frances Gumm in the 1930s.</p><br>
<h2>Formation and early years</h2><br>
<p>Ebell of Los Angeles was formed as a womens club in 1894, based on the principles and teachings of Adrian Ebell, a pioneer in womens education and organizing women&#39;s societies in the late 19th century. Harriet Williams Russell Strong was a founder of the club, serving as its president for three consecutive terms. The minutes of the first meeting of Ebell of Los Angeles identify its purpose "to interest women in the study of all branches of literature, art and science and the advancement of women in every branch of culture." The club adopted as its motto, "I will find a way or make one -- I serve."</p><br>
<p>Over the years, the group has conducted classes, and hosted lectures and seminars, on topics including psychology, parliamentary law, travel, literature, music, gardening and science.</p><br>
<h2>New building on Wilshire Boulevard</h2><br>
<p>In 1923, the group announced plans to build a new clubhouse and theater west of downtown on Wilshire Boulevard. Before construction began, the lot at Wilshire Boulevard and Shatto Place had appreciated in value and was sold for a profit; a new lot at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Lucerne was purchased in 1925.</p><br>
<p>The group commissioned architect Sumner P. Hunt of Hunt & Burns to design the new facility, which was designed in an Italian style with plaster facing and Italian clay tile roofing. The new facilities consisted of multiple structures covering a site 160 × 450 feet, surrounding a 65 × 120 foot patio area. The new facilities included a new 1,300-seat auditorium at the rear of the property facing 8th Street. The two-story structure facing Wilshire Boulevard houses the group&#39;s clubhouse, including a large lounge, art salon, and dining room. The dining room opens to a tile-roofed colonnade walkway and fountain.</p><br>
<p>The clubhouse opened with a musicale tea in October 1927, and the Wilshire Ebell Theater, originally known as the Windsor Square Playhouse, opened to the public in December 1927 with the west coast premiere of Sigmund Rombergs musical The Desert Song. When the buildings opened, the groups president wrote in the clubs newsletter:"The result of their tireless and unceasing labor may be seen at 4400 Wilshire Boulevard where a stately group of buildings now adorns a sightly eminence. The separated units have been so carefully designed as to form a magnificent mass, a colossal edifice, severely simple, classically correct, pleasing in its very ruggedness, elegant in its ornate adornment, suited to the purpose for which it was built." The total cost was $200,000 for the site, $650,000 for the entire structure, and $120,000 for the furnishings. Another writer observed: "Nowhere in America is there a more magnificent womens club house than the new home of Ebell.... Every modern convenience and appliance, together with furnishings of the finest quality, are within its walls. It is lavish, but not flamboyantly so. It is practical and it has beauty and inspiring charm."</p><br>
<p>The 1,300-seat theater is known for its acoustics and its Barton pipe organ.</p><br>
<h2>Notable performances</h2><br>
<p>In more than eighty years of productions, the Wilshire Ebell has witnessed performances by many stars and celebrities, but some stand out from the rest.</p><br>
<p>Young Judy Garland, then known as Baby Frances Gumm, first auditioned on the Wilshire Ebell Theater stage, and was discovered while performing there. MGM producer George Sidney later described Garlands first audition this way: "I had made Judys first screen test. There was a theater here in Los Angeles called the Wilshire-Ebell.... hey used to put on vaudeville acts on certain nights of the week. This little girl came out with her two sisters and her mother playing the piano. She did a little number with a baseball bat. We took her out to the studio and made a test on a soundstage..." And in his biography of Garland, Gerold Frank described an early performance on the Wilshire Ebell stage, witnessed by another MGM producer, Joseph L. Mankiewicz: "Judy sang. And in his seat, Joe Mankiewicz, who was to win half a dozen Oscars as a screenwriter and director, underwent a memorable experience. He sat transfixed. Not only the power, but something electric..." Mankewicz met the 13-year-old Garland backstage at the Ebell and determined to bring her name to the studio&#39;s attention.</p><br>
<p>In 1937, Amelia Earhart made her last public appearance and speech at the Ebell before leaving for her ill-fated around-the-world flight.</p><br>
<p>On April 10, 1964, Glenn Gould gave his final public performance at the Ebell. Among the pieces he performed that night were Beethovens Piano Sonata No. 30, selections from Bachs The Art of Fugue, and the Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 92 No. 4 by Ernst Krenek. Oddly, a recording exists in which Gould claims the event took place in Chicago.</p><br>
<p>Two years before his assassination, Filipino opposition leader and Ferdinand Marcos critic Benigno S. Aquino Jr. held a freedom rally speech at the theater on February 15, 1981; sharing his life and struggle under the martial law dictatorship for the jam-packed crowd of Filipino and American audience.</p><br>
<h2>Renovation and historic designation</h2><br>
<p>A major restoration of the Ebell complex commenced in 1989. The theater&#39;s seats were recovered, the stage refitted, and new sound and lighting systems installed. Renovation work also extended to the main dining room (also known as the Concert Hall), the Grand Salon/Lounge, the Galleria, and the Art Salon.</p><br>
<p>In recent years, the events held at the Wilshire Ebell Theater have reflected the ethnic diversity of the neighborhood, with shows staged in Persian, Korean, and Russian. It has also been the site of annual "Divas Simply Singing" benefits for AIDS, featuring singers Nancy Wilson, Roberta Flack, Rita Moreno, and Toni Tennille.</p><br>
<p>The building has been designated as a historic structure at the local, state and national levels, including the following recognition:</p><br>
<p>The Ebell was declared a Los Angeles Cultural Historic Monument in 1982.</p><br>
<p>It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.</p><br>
<p>It has also been designated an Official American Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.</p><br>
<h2>Notable Members</h2><br>
<p>Lillie Stella Acer Ballagh</p><br>
<p>Ida I. Bellows, president from 1910 to 1912</p><br>
<p>Pearlretta DuPuy, charter member</p><br>
<p>Mabel Barnett Gates, first vice-president</p><br>
<p>Betty Gilmore</p><br>
<p>Mabel D. Mullin</p><br>
<p>Dora A. Stearns</p><br>
<p>The Marine Mill was the first commercial sawmill in what became the USA state of Minnesota, established in 1839. Now in ruins, it is currently a historic site managed by the city of Marine on St. Croix in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society. The site is also a contributing property to the Marine on St. Croix Historic District.</p><br>
<h2>Operational history</h2><br>
<p>Lewis Judd and David Hone identified the site, with a swift-flowing stream for power and a bank suitable for steamboats, as ideal for a sawmill during an 1838 scouting expedition. They were members of a group of New Englanders who had come west in search of new lumbering opportunities. They returned to their home base in Marine, Illinois, and chartered the Marine Lumber Company with six other business partners. In May 1839 the eight partners, plus one member&#39;s wife and two children, arrived by steamboat with a load of milling machinery.</p><br>
<p>The original mill cut less than 5,000 ft of lumber per day, so it was replaced in 1852 with a larger mill powered by a 40 ft water wheel. However the whole building burned down in a fire in September 1863, idling workers for three years until a replacement was constructed in 1866. To keep pace with its competitors, that mill was almost completely remodeled in 1873, at which point it could cut up to 30,000 ft per day.</p><br>
<p>The mill, then known as the Walker, Judd, and Veazie Mill, was at its most profitable in the early 1870s. However a widespread economic depression triggered by the Panic of 1873, delays caused by a series of log jams on the river, and the valley&#39;s dwindling lumber supply soon changed that, and the mill went bankrupt in 1885. Various attempts to reopen the mill failed, and the business was dismantled in 1895. Over its 56 years of operation the mill had produced some 197,000,000 ft of lumber.</p><br>
<h2>Later history</h2><br>
<p>The Marine Mill site lay abandoned for nearly 70 years. It wasn&#39;t until 1964 that a resource commission recommended acquiring the land as a historic site. No action was taken until a local committee formed in 1970 to advocate for preservation, and the following year the Minnesota Legislature appropriated funds to buy the site. The local committee also cleared decades of revegetation, uncovering the foundations of support structures. The land acquisition was completed in 1972 and the property transferred to the Minnesota Historical Society.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>At its peak the mill complex occupied about 6 acre. In addition to the sawmill there was a planing mill, storage sheds, the steamboat levee, and piles of cut lumber, shingles, and laths. Between 1888 and 1895 all the wooden buildings were dismantled and the machinery sold off. All that remained were the stone walls of the 1873 sawmill and its water wheel. Today a historical marker stands by the entrance to the property, and an open lawn leads to an overlook of the sawmill ruins. A short interpretive trail leads past the faint foundations of two other mill complex buildings. The stream that powered the mill still runs through the site.</p><br>
<p>The Henry August  Rowland House is a historic row house at 915 Cathedral Street in Baltimore, Maryland. Built in the 1880s, this nondescript row house is historically important as the home of physicist Henry Augustus Rowland  from 1889-90 until his death in 1901. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Henry August Rowland House is located on the north side of Baltimore&#39;s Mount Vernon neighborhood, at the northeast corner of Cathedral and Brexton Streets. It is the southern of two adjacent row houses, which are typical of brick rowhouses built in the then-fashionable residential area in the 1880s. It is three stories in height, built out of red brick, and topped by a flat roof with a projecting carved wooden cornice. It is three bays wide, with the entrance in the rightmost bay, sheltered by an elaborate surround toppedy a shallow projecting bracketed hood. The building interior was reported in 1975 to be in good condition, with original features including a working dumbwaiter.</p><br>
<p>Rowland purchased the house in 1889 or 1890 and lived there until his death in 1901. His wife and daughter continued to live there after his death. He was educated as a physicist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and in Germany, and was hired in 1876 by Daniel Coit Gilman to help build the physics department of Johns Hopkins University. His achievements include advancements in tools and understanding of magnetism, and the development of a formula for translating heat into mechanical work. His best known work is in the development of a high-precision diffraction grating for doing spectral analysis. Isaac Asimov characterized Rowland as "one of the few important 19th century American physicists."</p><br>
<p>Riversdale, is a five-part, large-scale late Georgian mansion with superior Federal interior, built between 1801 and 1807. Also known as Baltimore House, Calvert Mansion or Riversdale Mansion, it is located at 4811 Riverdale Road in Riverdale Park, Maryland, and is open to the public as a museum.</p><br>
<p>Once the manor house and centerpiece of a 739 acre slave plantation, Riversdale was built for Belgian émigré Henri Joseph Stier, Baron de Stier, who lived in the Brice House in Annapolis, Maryland immediately prior to building Riversdale. Stier planned the house in 1801 to resemble his Belgian residence, the Chateau du Mick. Four years later, Stier returned to Belgium, leaving the unfinished Riversdale to be completed by his daughter, Rosalie Stier Calvert and her husband, George Calvert, the son of Benedict Swingate Calvert, who was a natural son of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. Rosalie and George Calvert&#39;s son, Charles Benedict Calvert, established the Maryland Agricultural College, now the University of Maryland, College Park, on part of the Riversdale property.</p><br>
<p>While its design has been attributed to William Thornton, this is not supported by available evidence on Thornton&#39;s career. The house is architecturally significant as a well-preserved five-part Federal mansion, and historically important for its association with the Calverts, an important Maryland family. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The house was begun in 1801 by Henri Josef Stier and his wife Marie Louise Peeters on almost 800 acre of land north of Bladensburg. Stier first commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe to do design work, but could not wait for Latrobes late response. The local builder-architect William Lovering carried out the design work to Stiers direction, while Latrobe&#39;s rejected design was eventually used at Clifton, in Richmond, Virginia. The east wing was completed first, and the Stiers occupied it in August 1802. However, the elder Stiers returned to Belgium in June 1803, and Rosalie and George Calvert took up residence at Riversdale. Plans for the grounds were developed by landscape architect William Russell Birch in 1805, although much of his plan was unrealized. The west wing was completed in 1806, completing the full five-part ensemble, one of the last of its kind.</p><br>
<p>For thirteen years Riversdale housed the Peeters/Stier collection of European paintings, which was unique in the United States at that time. It included more than 63 paintings by such artists as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Jan Breughel and Titian. However, most of the larger pieces were kept in storage, and in 1816 they were returned. However, before they were packed, Rembrandt Peale persuaded Rosalie Calvert to display them for two weeks at Riversdale in April 1816. Rosalie became the owner of Riversdale in the same year, but died in 1821. George Calvert continued to live there until his death in 1838. The estate was divided between his sons George Henry and Charles Benedict Calvert. Charles Benedict lived his whole life at Riversdale, pursuing agricultural studies. His unique octagonal "cow-house" was particularly notable, but it burned in 1910. Charles Benedict died in 1864. The property was then divided between his widow Charlotte and five children, with Charlotte in the mansion. The 300 acre core of the property was eventually sold to John Fox and Alexander Lutz of New York in 1887.</p><br>
<p>Fox and Lutz acquired an adjacent 174 acre property that belonged to George Henry Calvert and began to develop it as the town of Riverdale Park. The new town offered convenient transportation into Washington on the B&O railroad line that ran through the property. The mansion was preserved in a park, but was eventually used as a boarding house. Thomas H. Pickford bought the house in 1912 and undertook renovations, making significant alterations to the wings and moving some of the original mantels to his house in New York. From 1917 to 1929 the house was occupied by California USA Senator Hiram Johnson. The sale of Riversdale in 1926 to Senator Thaddeus Caraway of Arkansas, was a consternation to Johnson, whose lease ran until 1929. Johnson moved out in the spring of 1929, the Caraways moved in. The Caraways undertook other renovations but died in November 1931. His widow, Hattie Wyatt Caraway, took over his seat and was twice elected but was unable to meet the mortgage. A foreclosure sale ensued, and in 1932, Thomas H. Pickford purchased the property, selling the following year to former Oregon congressman Abraham Walter Lafferty. Lafferty lived at Riversdale from 1933 to 1949, attempting to buy the parcel to the south of the mansion from Hattie Caraway. Mrs. Caraway, however, sold the parcel to a developer in 1947, who drained the small lake and built houses. Lafferty sold Riversdale in 1949 to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission for its Prince George&#39;s County regional office. The offices remained there until 1982, when structural concerns caused the offices to be moved to other quarters. Restoration ensued, and the house opened to the public in 1993.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Riversdale is a Federal style five-part mansion with a 2-story main block and -story end pavilions linked by -story hyphens. The seven-bay stucco-covered brick central block features a hip roof. An entry porch with Tuscan columns and a small pediment shelters double entry doors on the front The porch sits in a three-bay indentation, which is symmetrical to both the north and south sides of the house. The front doors are topped by a fanlight The north porch has a dairy storage area beneath. A low brick basement story is lighted by fixed four-light windows. The south, or garden porch has a hipped roof supported by four Tuscan columns. Triple-sash windows open onto the porch, permitting passage from the porch to the center parlor. Both porches have floors of black, white and pink marble. Apart from the windows on the south porch, windows are typically nine-over-nine sashes on the first floor and six-over-nine on the second. The roof is clad in wood singles, painted red, with four stucco-covered chimneys, one of which is a dummy for the sake of symmetry. Similarly, one second-floor window on the north side is false.</p><br>
<p>The three-by-one-bay end pavilions are turned so that their narrow ends face north and south, with pedimented windows in the center of the main bay. The east pavilion served as the kitchen and has a central entrance on the east side. The west wing contained the stable and carriage house, but was altered in the 1930s as a music room. The 1993 renovation has returned the west elevation to its original form with two doors and three windows. The connecting hyphens each have entrances centered in the north elevations.</p><br>
<p>The interior of the first floor contains three parlors across the south side of the house. On the north side is a central entry hall, with a stair hall on the right and a service hall on the left. All spaces have elaborate original woodwork. The central parlor, or salon de milieu, is the most elaborate space, with wood Ionic pilasters, plaster ceiling decoration and a plaster cornice. The east parlor served as the dining room. The west parlor was the salle de compagnie. The second floor is arranged similarly to the first, with the chief chambers above the east and west parlors. Each chamber has an adjoining dressing chamber. A smaller bedchamber with curved walls on the east and west occupies the center. The north side has several smaller chambers. One window is partially obstructed at the stair hall, blanked on the northeast bedchamber. An unusual mezzanine level with a ceiling height of just over six feet lies between the first and second floors on the northeast side, connected with areas on the same level in the east hyphen and pavilion. The main level of the east hy-hen housed a breakfast room, which was altered in 1912 by the removal of the rooms above into a banquet room. The upper levels have since been restored to provide a caretakers apartment. The west hyphen was the slave plantation proprietors study. The former carriage house and stables, damaged by fire in the late 1920s, was converted into a two-story music room.</p><br>
<p>The basement contains a number of spaces, used principally for storage, including a wine cellar and an interior connection to the dairy under the front stairs. There are crawl spaces under the wings, with impressive brick arches.</p><br>
<p>A three-by-one-bay secondary structure, or dependency, stands to the east of the east wing. The 2-story stucco-covered brick building was used as a kitchen, with single spaces on each level. Archeological studies have revealed the foundations of other structures, including a water tower, wash house and hothouse.</p><br>
<p>The Trundle  is an Iron Age hill fort on Saint Roche&#39;s Hill about 3 mi north of Chichester, Sussex, England. The Trundle is one of just four hill forts built in Sussex. The fort was built around a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, of which very little can be seen on the ground.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>St Roche&#39;s Hill (elevation 675 ft) has been used for several purposes, dating back to the Palaeolithic era. The hill fort was a Neolithic causewayed enclosure before the Iron Age hill fort was built around the pre-existing structure. It is unknown for what purpose the fort was originally built, but the site was used in 1645 by the Clubmen as a military base and subsequently as a beacon site to warn against attack by the French. This beacon was lit in 1745, causing much alarm in the surrounding countryside.</p><br>
<p>The hill was also the site of a small (around 11x14ft) chapel, until it was left to ruin. It is thought the chapel was built at some point in the 15th century and destroyed during the Reformation. A windmill was also present on the site of the hill-fort. It is not known when it was built, but in 1773, the windmill burnt down in a storm, along with a windmill on Portsdown Hill.</p><br>
<p>In World War II, it was the site for a radar early warning system. The summit of St Roche&#39;s Hill is now the site of two large radio masts.</p><br>
<p>The Trundle&#39;s northeast slope is a viewing area for Goodwood Racecourse and the top of the hill offers panoramic views of parts of Sussex, Hampshire and the English Channel beyond. The sculpture was taken to Australia in 2011.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeological excavations</h2><br>
<p>During archaeological excavations (1928-30, 1975, 1980, 1987, 1989 and 1994-95) of the hill fort, numerous objects have been discovered: Middle Iron-Age pottery, potboilers, human bones (an arm bone and a skull), animal bones (ox, horse, pig, dog, cat and sheep), charcoal, various iron objects (including a knife, a spearhead, an adze blade, a sickle, large iron rings and iron slag) and several quern-stone fragments.</p><br>
<p>Casius was a residential episcopal see in the Roman province of Augustamnica Prima in Lower Egypt, and is now a titular see of the Catholic Church.</p><br>
<p>The article about it in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1908 calls the see "Casium", but the official yearbook of the Holy See gives "Casius" as the Latin form (and "Casio" in Italian).</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>The city that gave its name to the see was not far from Pelusium, and close to the sandhills known to Greek geographers as Kasion Oros, today Ras Kouroun, El-Katieh, or El-Kas. Its ruins are at Mahemdiah.</p><br>
<p>A temple of Zeus Kasios, the Aramean god Qasiou, was at the city. Pompey was murdered nearby and was buried there.</p><br>
<h2>Bishops</h2><br>
<p>The town is mentioned in Georgius Cyprius, Hierocless Synecdemos (727, 2), and Partheys Notitia Prima, about 840, as a bishopric depending on Pelusium.</p><br>
<p>Only one bishop is known, Lampetius, present at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Saint Cyril of Alexandria sent him, together with Hermogenes, Bishop of Rhinocorua, to Rome, where both were present at the consecration of Pope Sixtus III. Many letters of Isidore of Pelusium are addressed to him.</p><br>
<p>Barlin Acres  was an historic house located at 284 School Street in Boylston, Massachusetts. The area was first settled in 1718 by Thomas Keyes, whose son Cyprian built a house on the property in 1734. Keyes&#39; property was eventually acquired by George Sumner Barton and his wife, Elizabeth Trumbull Lincoln. They named the property "Barlin Acres" by combining parts of their last names, and expanded the house. One of their notable additions was a room that was disassembled in England, brought to the estate, and reassembled as part of the house, and used by them as a music room.</p><br>
<p>The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 26, 1982. The house was demolished to make way for the clubhouse of the Cyprian Keys Golf Club. The clubhouse contains architectural elements recovered from the house, including some flooring and the 19th century Music Room.</p><br>
<p>Ashurst Lake is a small lake located on the Anderson Mesa 20 mi southeast of Flagstaff. It is one of the few natural lakes in the state of Arizona, the bulk of which reside in the area.</p><br>
<p>Unlike similarly sized lakes in the North Central Arizona region, Ashurst is fed by more reliable springs and has a reputation for retaining water even during long dry periods. The lake is regularly stocked with rainbow trout and thus a common destination for local anglers. Ashurst Lake is also considered a favorable fishing location for Northern Pike. The facilities are maintained under the authority of the Coconino National Forest.</p><br>
<p>The lake has two campgrounds, Ashurst Lake on the west shore and Forked Pine on the east shore.</p><br>
<h2>Fish species</h2><br>
<p>Rainbow Trout</p><br>
<p>Brook Trout</p><br>
<p>The Swift Ditch is a backwater of the River Thames in England, which was formerly the primary navigation channel. With the main river, it creates the large island of Andersey Island near Abingdon, Oxfordshire.</p><br>
<p>As early as 955 to 963 AD, the monks of Abingdon Priory built a canal to the Abbey from the direction of Swift Ditch. There is also evidence that the current course of the river to the confluence had been built by 1060. However the Swift Ditch remained the faster route (hence the name), and a pound lock was built at its head by the Oxford-Burcot Commission in 1624. In 1788 several citizens of Abingdon wanted to divert navigation back to the current course and as a result Abingdon Lock was built near the town. Within ten years, the Wilts & Berks Canal connected to the current navigation channel at Abingdon.</p><br>
<h2>Culham Bridges</h2><br>
<p>The Swift Ditch is crossed by three bridges. The original Culham Bridge was built about the same time as the Abingdon Bridges across the site of a ford. It has been replaced by a more modern bridge carrying the A415 road beside it. A wooden footbridge further downstream carries the Thames Path.</p><br>
<p>Fletcher Pond  is a man-made body of water located in Northeast lower Michigan. The pond covers over 9,000 acre of land that was previously cedar forest. A dam was built in the 1931 that blocked the flow of the Thunder Bay River to provide reserve water for the hydroelectric power plant located in the city of Alpena, Michigan.</p><br>
<p>Fletcher Pond has over 13 islands which provide excellent habitat for the various species of marine birds which use the seclusion as a safe place to make nests and rear young. In addition, several stands have been erected in order to provide an acceptable nesting area for Osprey. This has been very conducive to Osprey frequenting the area as the pond has been said to sustain a very large Osprey population.</p><br>
<p>It is named for George Fletcher, one of the founders of Alpena.</p><br>
<p>Fletcher pond is a popular destination for fishermen, bird watchers, nature lovers and hunters.</p><br>
<p>The Lad in the Lane is a pub in the Bromford area of Erdington in Birmingham, England. Dating to the year 1400, it is considered to be the oldest house and pub in the city, although The Old Crown in Digbeth claims to date from 1368, a date which is yet to be confirmed. Prior to the dating of the building, New Shipton Barn in Walmley was considered to be the oldest building in Birmingham, dating to around 1425. To find the construction date of the building, scientists used a technique called dendrochronology to analyse the timbers in the oldest known part of the building. The results showed that it was constructed in the spring at the end of the 14th century.</p><br>
<p>When constructed in 1400, it was used as a home for a family of high status. It is believed to have remained as a house until the early 1780s, when it was converted into a pub Throughout its lifetime as a pub, it has also been known as The Green Man It was used by foresters who worked for the Earl of Warwick. In the 1930s, the pub was extended and altered.</p><br>
<p>In 1912/13 the register of electors will show that the famous England, Aston Villa, WBA, Leicester Fosse and Lincoln City footballer Billy Garraty was the landlord.</p><br>
<p>On 25 April 1952 the building received listed status. This was altered on 8 July 1982 so that it became a Grade II listed building.</p><br>
<p>Sion Hill is a National Historic Landmark in Havre de Grace, Maryland, notable as an example of high-style Federal architecture and as the home a family of prominent officers of the United States Navy.</p><br>
<p>Work began at Sion Hill around 1785 for the Rev. John Ireland, but progressed slowly, as the unfinished house was sold in 1795 to Gordon Denison. In 1799 the still-unfinished house passed to Denison&#39;s daughter Minerva, who was to marry Commodore John Rodgers in 1806. Together, they finished the house. Descendants of John and Minerva Rodgers still own the house today, and have included son John Rodgers II, who commanded ironclads in the US Civil War, Rear Admiral John Augustus Rodgers (1848-1933) and his son, naval aviator John Rodgers.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>John Ireland bought the unimproved property above Havre de Grace in 1787 and began construction on the Sion Hill Seminary, intended as a boys school. Ireland sold the property with the unfinished house in 1795 to Connecticut merchant Gideon Denison. Denison was apparently a real estate speculator, believing that Havre de Grace would expand significantly, and accumulated 1,820 acre around the house. Denison died in 1799, and his daughter Minerva inherited. After her marriage to John Rodgers at Sion Hill, the couple added the houses details. After Rodgers&#39; retirement from active naval service in 1815 he returned to Sion Hill, continuing to advise on naval policy. Rodgers died in 1838. Minerva survived until 1877, but gave Sion Hill and 1,800 acre of surrounding land to her oldest son, Robert Smith Rodgers (1809-1891). Robert Smith Rodgers, a civil engineer, enlisted in the USA Army as a private and rose to the rank of colonel during the American Civil War. In 1841 he married Sarah Perry, daughter of Commander Matthew C. Perry. The son of Robert S. and Sarah Perry Rodgers, Rear Admiral John Augustus Rodgers inherited the house and lived there until his death in 1933.</p><br>
<p>The house then passed to Rodgers widow, Elizabeth Chambers Rodgers, who in 1944 left the property to a descendant of the first John Rodgers, John Meigs, John Rodgers great-grandson and grandson of Montgomery C. Meigs, who had married Louisa Rodgers. John Meigs in turn left the property to Montgomery Meigs Green in 1946.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Sion Hill is a brick three-part house with a five-bay 2-1/2 story central bock flaked by one-bay shed-roofed wings. The main facade faces south toward Chesapeake Bay. This side features a pedimented porch at the entrance door, a three-part second floor window above, and a lunette in the attic gable. Typical windows are nine-over-nine sashes under flared stone lintels with projecting keystones. The rear elevation is similar, but somewhat simplified. The main roof is a cross-gable with smaller gables front and back. Large chimneys flank the roof, and are traditionally stated to have been built especially tall to be visible from the upper Chesapeake.</p><br>
<p>The interior features a center hall plan. The summer and winter dining rooms, of equal size, lie to the east, with two parlors and the main stairs to the west. The plan plays with proportions; it is a three-part composition with one third a single unit, one third divided in half, and one third divided in three. The hall features a pilastered segmental arch, with a similar arch at the stair alcove. Woodwork is almost all original and of high quality throughout. The west wing was a schoolroom with dormitory space above, and retains its layout. The east wing was the kitchen wing, and has been rearranged to suit modern requirements.</p><br>
<p>The 315 acre property also contains a brick tenant house, circa 1790, with two rooms on each of two levels. The house originally featured formal gardens, now largely lost. The property preserves expansive views of Chesapeake Bay and the town of Havre de Grace.</p><br>
<p>The Gold Coast Historic District is a historic district in Chicago, Illinois. Part of Chicago&#39;s Near North Side community area, it is roughly bounded by North Avenue, Lake Shore Drive, Oak Street, and Clark Street.</p><br>
<p>The Gold Coast neighborhood grew in the wake of the Great Chicago Fire. In 1882, millionaire Potter Palmer moved to the area from the Prairie Avenue neighborhood on the city&#39;s south side. He filled in a swampy area which later became Lake Shore Drive, and built the Palmer Mansion, a forty-two room castle-like structure designed by Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Sumner Frost. Other wealthy Chicagoans followed Potter into the neighborhood, which became one of the richest in Chicago.</p><br>
<p>In the late 1980s, the Gold Coast and neighboring Streeterville comprised the second most-affluent neighborhood in the United States, behind Manhattan&#39;s Upper East Side. Today, the neighborhood is a mixture of mansions, row houses, and high-rise apartments. Highlights include the Astor Street District and the James Charnley House.</p><br>
<p>The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.</p><br>
<p>The nearby East Lake Shore Drive District and parts of northern Streeterville and the Magnificent Mile near the lake also may be considered part of the Gold Coast (such as the area around the famous 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments), even if not technically in the historic designation. The mayors office map extends the Gold Coast south to the area of Northwestern Universitys Chicago campus.</p><br>
<p>The Consulate-General of Poland in Chicago is located at 1530 North Lake Shore Drive, right next to the International Museum of Surgical Science.</p><br>
<p>As of 2011, Gold Coast ranks as the 7th richest urban neighborhood in America with a median household income of $153,358.</p><br>
<h2>Photos</h2><br>
<p>Historical images of Chicago&#39;s Gold Coast can be found in, a digital repository made available by Chicago Collections archives, libraries and other cultural institutions in the city.</p><br>
<h2>Education</h2><br>
<p>Chicago Public Schools (CPS) operates public schools serving the community. Ogden International School of Chicago has its East Campus, which houses elementary school, in the Gold Coast.</p><br>
<p>Residents of the Gold Coast are zoned to Ogden School for grades K-8, while for high school they are zoned to Lincoln Park High School.</p><br>
<p>The Mabel Dodge Luhan House, also known as the Big House, is a historic house at 240 Morada Lane in Taos, New Mexico, United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991. It is now used as a hotel and conference center.</p><br>
<p>It was a home of arts supporter and writer Mabel Dodge Luhan (1879-1962), where she orchestrated one of the most successful artistic salon environments in the early 20th century United States, hosting well-known writers, painters, photographers, and musicians, and nurturing the young Taos art colony.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The Mabel Dodge Luhan House is located near the eastern edge of the town center of Taos, at the end of Morada Lane. The house, originally part of a larger compound, is a 20+ room adobe construction up to three stories in height. Stylistically it is an early example of what is now recognized as the Pueblo Revival style, blending elements of traditional Native American Pueblo elements with those of the Spanish Colonial period.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The house was built over a multiyear period between 1917 and 1922, using largely tradition Puebloan construction methods, and incorporates into its structure two older buildings. The work was overseen by Tony Luhan, a Native American who Mabel Dodge later married. The public spaces of the interior include the large "Big Room", a two-section chamber that doubles as entrance vestibule, and the "Rainbow Room", so named for the colors painted on the latias (the crossing members of the ceiling above the vigas). The house was the largest of several small houses Luhan had built on her property; the others served as additional guest quarters, and have not been well preserved.</p><br>
<p>Mabel Dodge Luhan was born into a wealthy family, and was well educated in the arts. In the 1910s she became well-known for the salon-style gatherings at her New York City apartment. Her short marriage to painter Maurice Sterne brought her to New Mexico in 1917, where she soon bought the property near Taos, and sought to recreate the salon atmosphere in the budding art colony.</p><br>
<p>Her endeavour was highly influential, furthering the careers of writers Willa Cather and D.H. Lawrence, artists and photographers including Ansel Adams, Georgia O&#39;Keeffe, and Edward Weston. Musical guests included composer and conductor Leopold Stokowski and composer Dane Rudhyar. While resident here, Luhan also wrote seven books on cultural and intellectual aspects of American society.</p><br>
<p>The house was later owned for a time by actor Dennis Hopper. It presently is used as a hotel and conference center, with a focus on education.</p><br>
<p>The Hieroglyphic Mountains are a mountain range located in central Arizona. The Hieroglyphics roughly straddle the border between Maricopa and Yavapai counties and form an effective physical barrier northwest of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Due to their proximity to Phoenix and its environs, the mountains offer a number of outdoor recreational activities.</p><br>
<p>The Hieroglyphic Mountains were named in an apparent confusion between Egyptian hieroglyphs and the petroglyphs found in the area.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Early human settlement in the Hieroglyphic mountains is sparse at best. Existing petroglyphs indicate that the area had been settled, or at least visited, by Native Americans prior to the 19th century. A gold strike on the Colorado River near Yuma in 1862 created local interest in prospecting, and the Hieroglyphics were among many of the local mountain ranges visited by prospectors during this time period, but the ruggedness of the terrain and the scarcity of water largely discouraged permanent settlement.</p><br>
<p>In the early 19th century, local Yavapai Indians had discovered a natural hot spring in the mountains, treating the location as a sort of "demilitarized zone" where all were welcome to come and treat their wounds. The springs were discovered by US Army Colonel Charles Craig in 1867 while pursuing a group of Yavapais through the mountains. The group named the spring Castle Springs for the castellated appearance of the surrounding mountains. While most sources credit Craig with the discovery, some sources claim that the springs were first discovered by a gold miner in 1874.</p><br>
<p>Ongoing fighting between the US Army and the Yavapai tribes would discourage further development of the area until the 1880s when the springs and the adjacent land were purchased by Frank Murphy for the construction of a health resort. The resort was completed in 1896 and the newly renamed Castle Hot Springs were heavily advertised to potential clients. During the resort&#39;s heyday in the 1920s it was extremely popular and was visited by celebrities such as Zane Grey, as well as famous families such as the Rockefeller family. The resort was also used by the United States military as a rehabilitation center from 1943-1944 to treat injured veterans of World War II. Future president John F. Kennedy spent 3 months at the resort during this time period to recover from his wounds. The resort continued to be popular until it was heavily damaged in a fire in 1976.</p><br>
<p>In 1928 a dam was constructed on the Agua Fria River where it passes through the mountain range, creating Lake Pleasant. The lake was primarily used as an agricultural storage facility, but with the creation of the Central Arizona Project in 1973 the lake became a permanent water storage facility and an important recreational center. The dam was replaced in 1993, increasing the size of the lake.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Hieroglyphic Mountains run primarily east to west along the border between Maricopa and Yavapai counties. The Agua Fria River is the primary waterway in the region, passing through the southwestern portion of the range. The Buckhorn Mountains are a smaller range located within the Hieroglyphics, and contain the range&#39;s highest points including Crater Benchmark, 4,565 ft in elevation. Other mountains located within the range are:</p><br>
<p>White Picacho 4,283 ft</p><br>
<p>Garfias Mountain 3,381 ft</p><br>
<p>Hellgate Mountain 3,339 ft</p><br>
<p>Governors Peak 3,260 ft</p><br>
<p>The range is bounded, roughly, by the Agua Fria River to the east, the Bradshaw Mountains to the north, and the Wickenburg Mountains to the west, or the Hassayampa River if the Wickenburg Mountains are considered a part of the Hieroglyphics range.</p><br>
<h2>Protected areas</h2><br>
<p>The range is home to the Hells Canyon Wilderness, a wilderness area maintained by the Bureau of Land Reclamation.</p><br>
