The M1 Garand, officially designated “United States M1 Rifle, .30 caliber”, was adopted in 1936 and served as the first standard-issue, self-loading (semi-automatic) rifle of the USA, and indeed, of any major army in history. General Patton called the M1 “the greatest battle implement ever devised” and it gave Americans a great advantage over slower bolt-action rifles.

 

I wanted to revisit my original LEGO M1 (2011), my oldest surviving MOC to date, and see how much farther I could push the realism with all the newer parts and building techniques that are available.

 

Instructions available at brickreplicas.com/m1-garand/, along with more photos and details.

The Old U.S. Post Office and Courthouse is a historic courthouse in Miami, Florida. It is located at 100-118 Northeast 1st Avenue. Constructed over three years (1912–14), it was designed by Kiehnel and Elliott and Oscar Wenderoth. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on January 4, 1989. The Miami-Dade County Tax Records say this building was built in 1917.

 

The three-story Neo-Classical Revival structure is a federally designated historic landmark that is currently being redeveloped.

 

Building history and features:

Original purpose: Miami's first major federal building, originally housing the U.S. Post Office, Federal Courthouse, and Weather Bureau.

 

Architecture: Neo-Classical Revival with balconies, terraces, and French doors.

 

Renovation: The building has undergone extensive renovation and modernization.

 

Current and planned uses

Retail and dining: The historic structure is being repurposed into a vertical entertainment complex that will include bars, cafes, and restaurants.

 

Bar La Real: A bar named Bar La Real currently operates at the address.

 

Biscayne Bay Brewing: Biscayne Bay Brewing also has a location at 100 NE 1st Avenue.

 

In August 1914, the Miami Weather Bureau Office was relocated from the Bank of Bay Biscayne Building to the third floor of the old federal building. Weather instruments were installed on the roof of the building. Richard Gray (1874-1960) was the Official-in-Charge. It was from this location that the warnings from the Weather Bureau Central Office in Washington were disseminated for the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 and the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928. The Miami Weather Bureau Office remained on the third floor from 1914 to 1929, although the weather instruments were moved to the Seybold Building in 1927.

 

Dr. William Homer Walker created First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Miami in 1933, when he acquired the first federal savings and loan charter ever issued in the United States. The original name of the institution was the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Miami. Because it had outgrown two former locations, Walker purchased the abandoned Miami Post Office and Federal Court Building in May 1937 to house his savings and loan. In 1973 the bank moved to the thirty-two story First Federal Building, later known as the AmeriFirst Building and now known as One Downtown, at One Southeast 3rd Avenue in downtown Miami.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_United_States_Post_Office_and_C...(Miami,_Florida)

www.loopnet.com/Listing/100-NE-1st-Ave-54-NE-2nd-St/35442...

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

   

I started wit a snap of two nude women...I do not know where da nude went ??

++++++ from Wikipedia ++++++

 

Taipei (/ˌtaɪˈpeɪ/), officially known as Taipei City, is the capital city and a special municipality of Taiwan (officially known as the Republic of China, "ROC"). Sitting at the northern tip of the island, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City. It is about 25 km (16 mi) southwest of the northern port city Keelung. Most of the city is located on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed bounded by the two relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border.[5] Formerly known as Taipeh-fu during Qing era and Taihoku under Japanese rule, Taipei became the capital of the Taiwan Province as part of the Republic of China in 1945 and recently has been the capital[a] of the ROC since 1949, when the Kuomintang lost the mainland to the Communists in the Chinese Civil War.

 

The city proper is home to an estimated population of 2,704,810 in 2015,[6] forming the core part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area which includes the nearby cities of New Taipei and Keelung with a population of 7,047,559,[6][7] the 40th most-populous urban area in the world—roughly one-third of Taiwanese citizens live in the metro district. The name "Taipei" can refer either to the whole metropolitan area or the city proper.

 

Taipei is the political, economic, educational, and cultural center of Taiwan island, and one of the major hubs of Greater China. Considered to be a global city,[8] Taipei is part of a major high-tech industrial area.[9] Railways, high-speed rail, highways, airports, and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island. The city is served by two airports – Taipei Songshan and Taiwan Taoyuan. Taipei is home to various world-famous architectural or cultural landmarks which include Taipei 101, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Hsing Tian Kong, Lungshan Temple of Manka, National Palace Museum, Presidential Office Building, Taipei Guest House, Ximending, and several night markets dispersing over the city. Its natural features such as Maokong, Yangmingshan, and hot springs are also well known to international visitors.

 

As the capital city, "Taipei" is sometimes used as a synecdoche for the Republic of China. Due to the ongoing controversy over the political status of Taiwan, the name Chinese Taipei is designated for official use when Taiwanese governmental representatives or national teams participate in some international organizations or international sporting events (which may require UN statehood) in order to avoid extensive political controversy by using other names.

 

Contents

 

1 History

1.1 First settlements

1.2 Empire of Japan

1.3 Republic of China

2 Geography

2.1 Climate

2.2 Air quality

2.3 Cityscape

3 Demographics

4 Economy

5 Culture

5.1 Tourism

5.1.1 Commemorative sites and museums

5.1.2 Taipei 101

5.1.3 Performing arts

5.1.4 Shopping and recreation

5.1.5 Temples

5.2 Festivals and events

5.3 Taipei in films

6 Romanization

7 Government

7.1 Garbage recycling

7.2 Administrative divisions

7.3 City planning

8 Transportation

8.1 Metro

8.2 Rail

8.3 Bus

8.4 Airports

8.5 Ticketing

9 Education

9.1 Chinese language program for foreigners

10 Sports

10.1 Major sporting events

10.2 Youth baseball

11 Media

11.1 Television

11.2 Newspapers

12 International relations

12.1 Twin towns and sister cities

12.2 Partner cities

12.3 Friendship cities

13 Gallery

14 See also

15 Notes

16 References

17 External links

 

History

Main article: History of Taipei

The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a famous monument and tourist attraction in Taipei.

 

Prior to the significant influx of Han Chinese immigrants, the region of Taipei Basin was mainly inhabited by the Ketagalan plains aborigines. The number of Han immigrants gradually increased in the early 18th century under Qing Dynasty rule after the government began permitting development in the area.[10] In 1875, the northern part of the island was incorporated into the new Taipeh Prefecture.

 

The Qing dynasty of China made Taipeh the temporary capital of Fujian-Taiwan Province in 1886 when Taiwan was separated from Fujian Province.[11][12] Taipeh was formally made the provincial capital in 1894.

 

Japan acquired Taiwan in 1895 under the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the First Sino-Japanese War. Taiwan became a colony of Imperial Japan with Taihoku (formerly Taipeh) as its capital, in which the city was administered under Taihoku Prefecture. Taiwan's Japanese rulers embarked on an extensive program of advanced urban planning that featured extensive railroad links. A number of Taipei landmarks and cultural institutions date from this period.[13]

 

Following the Japanese surrender of 1945, control of Taiwan was handed to the Republic of China (ROC) (see Retrocession Day). After losing mainland China to the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War, the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) relocated the ROC government to Taiwan and declared Taipei the provisional capital of the ROC in December 1949.[14][15] In 1990 Taipei provided the backdrop for the Wild Lily student rallies that moved Taiwanese society from one-party rule to multi-party democracy. The city is today home to Taiwan's democratically elected national government.

First settlements

 

The region known as the Taipei Basin was home to Ketagalan tribes before the eighteenth century.[16] Han Chinese mainly from Fujian Province of Qing dynasty China began to settle in the Taipei Basin in 1709.[17][18]

 

In the late 19th century, the Taipei area, where the major Han Chinese settlements in northern Taiwan and one of the designated overseas trade ports, Tamsui, were located, gained economic importance due to the booming overseas trade, especially that of tea export. In 1875, the northern part of Taiwan was separated from Taiwan Prefecture and incorporated into the new Taipeh Prefecture as a new administrative entity of the Qing dynasty.[13] Having been established adjoining the flourishing townships of Bangka, Dalongdong, and Twatutia, the new prefectural capital was known as Chengnei (Chinese: 城內; pinyin: chéngnèi; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siâⁿ-lāi), "the inner city", and government buildings were erected there. From 1875 (still Qing era) until the beginning of Japanese rule in 1895, Taipei was part of Tamsui County of Taipeh Prefecture and the prefectural capital.

 

In 1885, work commenced to create an independent Taiwan Province, and Taipei City was temporarily made the provincial capital. Taipei officially became the capital of Taiwan in 1894.[citation needed] All that remains from the Qing era is the north gate. The west gate and city walls were demolished by the Japanese while the south gate, little south gate, and east gate were extensively modified by the Kuomintang (KMT) and have lost much of their original character.[19]

Empire of Japan

The Taihoku Prefecture government building in the 1910s (now the Control Yuan)

 

As settlement for losing the First Sino-Japanese War, China ceded the island of Taiwan to the Empire of Japan in 1895 as part of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. After the Japanese take-over, Taipei, called Taihoku in Japanese, was retained as the capital and emerged as the political center of the Japanese Colonial Government.[13] During that time the city acquired the characteristics of an administrative center, including many new public buildings and housing for civil servants. Much of the architecture of Taipei dates from the period of Japanese rule, including the Presidential Building which was the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan.

 

During Japanese rule, Taihoku was incorporated in 1920 as part of Taihoku Prefecture. It included Bangka, Twatutia, and Jōnai (城內) among other small settlements. The eastern village of Matsuyama (松山庄, modern-day Songshan District, Taipei) was annexed into Taihoku City in 1938. Upon the Japanese defeat in the Pacific War and its consequent surrender in August 1945, the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) assumed control of Taiwan. Subsequently, a temporary Office of the Taiwan Province Administrative Governor was established in Taipei City.[20]

Republic of China

With President Chiang Kai-shek, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower waved to a crowd during his visit to Taipei in June 1960.

 

In 1947 the KMT government under Chiang Kai-shek declared island-wide martial law in Taiwan as a result of the February 28 Incident, which began with incidents in Taipei but led to an island-wide crackdown on the local population by forces loyal to Chiang. Two years later, on December 7, 1949, Chiang and the Kuomintang were forced to flee mainland China by the Communists near the end of the Chinese Civil War. The refugees declared Taipei to be the provisional capital of a continuing Republic of China, with the official capital at Nanjing (Nanking) even though that city was under Communist control.[14][15]

 

Taipei expanded greatly in the decades after 1949, and as approved on December 30, 1966 by the Executive Yuan, Taipei was declared a special centrally administered municipality on July 1, 1967 and given the administrative status of a province.[18] In the following year, Taipei City expanded again by annexing Shilin, Beitou, Neihu, Nangang, Jingmei, and Muzha. At that time, the city's total area increased fourfold through absorbing several outlying towns and villages and the population increased to 1.56 million people.[18]

 

The city's population, which had reached one million in the early 1960s, also expanded rapidly after 1967, exceeding two million by the mid-1970s. Although growth within the city itself gradually slowed thereafter[20] — its population had become relatively stable by the mid-1990s — Taipei remained one of the world's most densely populated urban areas, and the population continued to increase in the region surrounding the city, notably along the corridor between Taipei and Keelung.

 

In 1990 Taipei's 16 districts were consolidated into the current 12 districts.[21] Mass democracy rallies that year in the plaza around Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall led to an island-wide transition to multi-party democracy, where legislators are chosen via regularly scheduled popular elections, during the presidency of Lee Teng-Hui.

Geography

The city of Taipei, as seen from Maokong.

 

Taipei City is located in the Taipei Basin in northern Taiwan.[22] It is bordered by the Xindian River on the south and the Tamsui River on the west. The generally low-lying terrain of the central areas on the western side of the municipality slopes upward to the south and east and especially to the north,[5] where it reaches 1,120 metres (3,675 ft) at Qixing Mountain, the highest (inactive) volcano in Taiwan in Yangmingshan National Park. The northern districts of Shilin and Beitou extend north of the Keelung River and are bordered by Yangmingshan National Park. The Taipei city limits cover an area of 271.7997 km2,[23] ranking sixteenth of twenty-five among all counties and cities in Taiwan.

 

Two peaks, Qixing Mountain and Mt. Datun, rise to the northeast of the city.[24] Qixing Mountain is located on the Tatun Volcano Group and the tallest mountain at the rim of the Taipei Basin, with its main peak at 1,120 metres (3,670 ft). Mt. Datun's main peak is 1,092 metres (3,583 ft). These former volcanoes make up the western section of Yangmingshan National Park, extending from Mt. Datun northward to Mt. Caigongkeng (菜公坑山). Located on a broad saddle between two mountains, the area also contains the marshy Datun Pond.

 

To the southeast of the city lie the Songshan Hills and the Qingshui Ravine, which form a barrier of lush woods.[24]

Climate

 

Taipei has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate[25][26][27] (Köppen: Cfa).[28] Summers are long-lasting, hot and humid, and accompanied by occasional heavy rainstorms and typhoons, while winters are short, generally warm and generally very foggy due to the northeasterly winds from the vast Siberian High being intensified by the pooling of this cooler air in the Taipei Basin. As in the rest of Northern Taiwan, daytime temperatures of Taipei can often peak above 26 degrees Celsius during a warm winter day, while they can dip below 26 degrees Celsius during a rainy summer's afternoon. Occasional cold fronts during the winter months can drop the daily temperature by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius, though temperatures rarely drop below 10 degrees Celsius.[29] Extreme temperatures ranged from −0.2 °C (31.6 °F) on February 13, 1901 to 39.3 °C (102.7 °F) on August 8, 2013, while snow has never been recorded in the city besides on mountains located within the city limit such as Mount Yangmingshan. Due to Taiwan's location in the Pacific Ocean, it is affected by the Pacific typhoon season, which occurs between June and October.

 

Air quality

 

When compared to other Asian cities, Taipei has "excellent" capabilities for managing air quality in the city.[31] Its rainy climate, location near the coast, and strong environmental regulations have prevented air pollution from becoming a substantial health issue, at least compared to cities in southeast Asia and industrial China. However, smog is extremely common and there is poor visibility throughout the city after rain-less days.

 

Motor vehicle engine exhaust, particularly from motor scooters, is a source of air pollution in Taipei. There are higher levels of fine particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the mornings because of less air movement; sunlight reduces some pollution.[32] Occasionally, dust storms from Mainland China can temporarily bring extremely poor air quality to the city.[33]

Cityscape

Taipei viewed from Tiger Mountain, with Taipei 101 on the left.

Demographics

 

Taipei City is home to 2,704,810 people (2015), while the metropolitan area has a population of 7,047,559 people.[6] The population of the city has been decreasing in recent years while the population of the adjacent New Taipei has been increasing. The population loss, while rapid in its early years, has been stabilized by new lower density development and campaigns designed to increase birthrate in the city. The population has begun to rise since 2010.[6][34][35]

 

Due to Taipei's geography and location in the Taipei Basin as well as differing times of economic development of its districts, Taipei's population is not evenly distributed. The districts of Daan, Songshan, and Datong are the most densely populated. These districts, along with adjacent communities such as Yonghe and Zhonghe contain some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the world.[34]

 

In 2008, the crude birth rate stood at 7.88% while the mortality rate stood at 5.94%. A decreasing and rapidly aging population is an important issue for the city.[34] By the end of 2009, one in ten people in Taipei was over 65 years of age.[36] Residents who had obtained a college education or higher accounted for 43.48% of the population, and the literacy rate stood at 99.18%.[34]

 

Like the rest of Taiwan, Taipei is composed of four major ethnic groups: Hoklos, Mainlanders, Hakkas, and aborigines.[34] Although Hoklos and Mainlanders form the majority of the population of the city, in recent decades many Hakkas have moved into the city. The aboriginal population in the city stands at 12,862 (<0.5%), concentrated mostly in the suburban districts. Foreigners (mainly from Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines) numbered 52,426 at the end of 2008.[34]

 

Economy

 

As the center of Taiwan's largest conurbation, Taipei has been at the center of rapid economic development in the country and has now become one of the global cities in the production of high technology and its components.[37] This is part of the so-called Taiwan Miracle which has seen dramatic growth in the city following foreign direct investment in the 1960s. Taiwan is now a creditor economy, holding one of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves of over US$403 billion as of December 2012.[38]

 

Despite the Asian financial crisis, the economy continues to expand at about 5% per year, with virtually full employment and low inflation. As of 2013, the nominal GDP per capita in Taipei city is lower than that in Hong Kong by a narrow margin according to The Economist(Nominal GDP per capita in HK is US$38181 in 2013 from IMF).[39] Furthermore, according to Financial times, GDP per capita based on Purchasing Power Parity(PPP) in Taipei in 2015 is 44173 USD, behind that in Singapore(US$48900 from IMF) and Hong Kong(US$56689 from IMF).[40]

 

Taipei and its environs have long been the foremost industrial area of Taiwan, consisting of industries of the secondary and tertiary sectors.[41] Most of the country's important factories producing textiles and apparel are located there; other industries include the manufacture of electronic products and components, electrical machinery and equipment, printed materials, precision equipment, and foods and beverages. Such companies include Shihlin Electric, CipherLab and Insyde Software. Shipbuilding, including yachts and other pleasure craft, is done in the port of Keelung northeast of the city.

 

Services, including those related to commerce, transportation, and banking, have become increasingly important. Tourism is a small but significant component of the local economy[42][43] with international visitors totaling almost 3 million in 2008.[44] Taipei has many top tourist attractions and contributes a significant amount to the US$6.8 billion tourism industry in Taiwan.[45] National brands such as ASUS,[46] Chunghwa Telecom,[47] Mandarin Airlines,[48] Tatung,[49] and Uni Air,[50][51] D-Link [52] are headquartered in Taipei City.

Culture

Tourism

See also: List of tourist attractions in Taipei

 

Tourism is a major part of Taipei's economy. In 2013, over 6.3 million overseas visitors visited Taipei, making the city the 15th most visited globally.[53] The influx of visitors contributed $10.8 billion USD to the city's economy in 2013, the 9th highest in the world and the most of any city in the Chinese-speaking world.[54]

Commemorative sites and museums

The National Palace Museum

 

The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a famous monument, landmark and tourist attraction that was erected in memory of General Chiang Kai-shek, former President of the Republic of China.[55] The structure stands at the east end of Memorial Hall Square, site of the National Concert Hall and National Theater and their adjacent parks as well as the memorial. The landmarks of Liberty Square stand within sight of Taiwan's Presidential Building in Taipei's Zhongzheng District.

The National Taiwan Museum

 

The National Taiwan Museum sits nearby in what is now 228 Peace Memorial Park and has worn its present name since 1999. The museum is Taiwan's oldest, founded on October 24, 1908 by Taiwan's Japanese colonial government (1895-1945) as the Taiwan Governor's Museum. It was launched with a collection of 10,000 items to celebrate the opening of the island's North-South Railway.[56] In 1915 a new museum building opened its doors in what is now 228 Peace Memorial Park. This structure and the adjacent governor's office (now Presidential Office Building), served as the two most recognizable public buildings in Taiwan during its period of Japanese rule.[56]

Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines

 

The National Palace Museum is a vast art gallery and museum built around a permanent collection centered on ancient Chinese artifacts. It should not be confused with the Palace Museum in Beijing (which it is named after); both institutions trace their origins to the same institution. The collections were divided in the 1940s as a result of the Chinese Civil War.[57][58] The National Palace Museum in Taipei now boasts a truly international collection while housing one of the world's largest collections of artifacts from ancient China.[58]

 

The Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines stands just 200 metres across the road from the National Palace Museum. The museum offers displays of art and historical items by Taiwanese aborigines along with a range of multimedia displays.

 

The Taipei Fine Arts Museum was established in 1983 as the first museum in Taiwan dedicated to modern art. The museum is housed in a building designed for the purpose that takes inspiration from Japanese designs. Most art in the collection is by Taiwanese artists since 1940. Over 3,000 art works are organized into 13 groups.

 

The National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall near Taipei 101 in Xinyi District is named in honor of a founding father of the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen. The hall, completed on May 16, 1972, originally featured exhibits that depicted revolutionary events in China at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Today it functions as multi-purpose social, educational, concert and cultural center for Taiwan's citizens.[59]

Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, aka "old city hall"

 

In 2001 a new museum opened as Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei. The museum is housed in a building that formerly housed Taipei City government offices.[60]

Night view of a fully lit Taipei 101

Taipei 101

 

Taipei 101 is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper that claimed the title of world's tallest building when it opened in 2004, a title it held for six years before relinquishing it to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed by KTRT Joint Venture, Taipei 101 measures 509 m (1,670 ft) from ground to top, making it the first skyscraper in the world to break the half-kilometer mark in height. Built to withstand typhoon winds and earthquake tremors, its design incorporates many engineering innovations and has won numerous international awards. Taipei 101 remains one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world and holds LEED's certification as the world's largest "green" building. Its shopping mall and its indoor and outdoor observatories draw visitors from all over the world. Taipei 101's New Year's Eve fireworks display is a regular feature of international broadcasts.

Performing arts

Taiwan's National Concert Hall at night

 

The National Theater and Concert Hall stand at Taipei's Liberty Square and host events by foreign and domestic performers. Other leading concert venues include Zhongshan Hall at Ximending and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall near Taipei 101.

 

A new venue, the Taipei Performing Arts Center, is under construction and slated to open in 2015.[61][62] The venue will stand near the Shilin Night Market[63] and will house three theaters for events with multi-week runs. The architectural design, by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, was determined in 2009 in an international competition.[64] The same design process is also in place for a new Taipei Center for Popular Music and Taipei City Museum.[65]

Shopping and recreation

Main article: Shopping in Taipei

 

Taipei is known for its many night markets, the most famous of which is the Shilin Night Market in the Shilin District. The surrounding streets by Shilin Night Market are extremely crowded during the evening, usually opening late afternoon and operating well past midnight. Most night markets feature individual stalls selling a mixture of food, clothing, and consumer goods.

The busy streets of Ximending at night

 

Ximending has been a famous area for shopping and entertainment since the 1930s. Historic structures include a concert hall, a historic cinema, and the Red House Theater. Modern structures house karaoke businesses, art film cinemas, wide-release movie cinemas, electronic stores, and a wide variety of restaurants and fashion clothing stores.[66] The pedestrian area is especially popular with teens and has been called the "Harajuku" of Taipei.[67]

Eastern district at night

 

The newly developed Xinyi District is popular with tourists and locals alike for its many entertainment and shopping venues, as well as being the home of Taipei 101, a prime tourist attraction. Malls in the area include the sprawling Shin Kong Mitsukoshi complex, Breeze Center, Bellavita, Taipei 101 mall, Eslite Bookstore's flagship store (which includes a boutique mall), The Living Mall, ATT shopping mall, and the Vieshow Cinemas (formerly known as Warner Village). The Xinyi district also serves as the center of Taipei's active nightlife, with several popular lounge bars and nightclubs concentrated in a relatively small area around the Neo19, ATT 4 FUN and Taipei 101 buildings. Lounge bars such as Barcode and nightclubs such as Spark and Myst are among the most-visited places here.

Eslite Bookstore in Xinyi District

 

The thriving shopping area around Taipei Main Station includes the Taipei Underground Market and the original Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store at Shin Kong Life Tower. Other popular shopping destinations include the Zhongshan Metro Mall, Dihua Street, the Guang Hua Digital Plaza, and the Core Pacific City. The Miramar Entertainment Park is known for its large Ferris wheel and IMAX theater.

 

Taipei maintains an extensive system of parks, green spaces, and nature preserves. Parks and forestry areas of note in and around the city include Yangmingshan National Park, Taipei Zoo and Da-an Forest Park. Yangmingshan National Park (located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of the central city) is famous for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, and sulfur deposits. It is the home of famous writer Lin Yutang, the summer residence of Chiang Kai-shek, residences of foreign diplomats, the Chinese Culture University, the meeting place of the now defunct National Assembly of the Republic of China, and the Kuomintang Party Archives. The Taipei Zoo was founded in 1914 and covers an area of 165 hectares for animal sanctuary.

 

Bitan is known for boating and water sports. Tamsui is a popular sea-side resort town. Ocean beaches are accessible in several directions from Taipei.

Temples

Built in 1738, Longshan Temple is one of the oldest temples in the city.

Street corner shrine, Taipei 2013

 

Taipei is rich in beautiful, ornate temples housing Buddhist, Taoist, and Chinese folk religion deities. The Longshan Temple, built in 1738 and located in the Wanhua District, demonstrates an example of architecture with southern Chinese influences commonly seen on older buildings in Taiwan.

 

Xinsheng South Road is known as the "Road to Heaven" due to its high concentration of temples, shrines, churches, and mosques.[68][69] Other famous temples include Baoan Temple located in historic Dalongdong, a national historical site, and Xiahai City God Temple, located in the old Dadaocheng community, constructed with architecture similar to temples in southern Fujian.[70] The Taipei Confucius Temple traces its history back to 1879 during the Qing Dynasty and also incorporates southern Fujian-style architecture.[71]

 

Besides large temples, small outdoor shrines to local deities are very common and can be spotted on road sides, parks, and neighborhoods. Many homes and businesses may also set up small shrines of candles, figurines, and offerings. Some restaurants, for example, may set up a small shrine to the Kitchen god for success in a restaurant business.[72]

New Year's Eve fireworks at Taipei 101

Festivals and events

 

Many yearly festivals are held in Taipei. In recent years some festivals, such as the Double Ten Day fireworks and concerts, are increasingly hosted on a rotating basis by a number of cities around Taiwan.

 

When New Year's Eve arrives on the solar calendar, thousands of people converge on Taipei's Xinyi District for parades, outdoor concerts by popular artists, street shows, round-the clock nightlife. The high point is of course the countdown to midnight, when Taipei 101 assumes the role of the world's largest fireworks platform.

 

The Taipei Lantern Festival concludes the Lunar New Year holiday. The timing of the city's lantern exhibit coincides with the national festival in Pingxi, when thousands of fire lanterns are released into the sky.[73] The city's lantern exhibit rotates among different downtown locales from year to year, including Liberty Square, Taipei 101, and Zhongshan Hall in Ximending.

 

On Double Ten Day, patriotic celebrations are held in front of the Presidential Building. Other annual festivals include Ancestors Day (Tomb-Sweeping Day), the Dragon Boat Festival, the Ghost Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival).[73]

 

Taipei regularly hosts its share of international events. The city recently hosted the 2009 Summer Deaflympics.[74] This event was followed by the Taipei International Flora Exposition, a garden festival hosted from November 2010 to April 2011. The Floral Expo was the first of its kind to take place in Taiwan and only the seventh hosted in Asia; the expo admitted 110,000 visitors on February 27, 2011.

Taipei in films

  

Romanization

  

The spelling "Taipei" derives from the Wade–Giles romanization T'ai-pei.[75] The name could be also romanized as Táiběi according to Hanyu Pinyin and Tongyong Pinyin.[76][77]

Government

 

Taipei City is a special municipality which is directly under the Executive Yuan (Central Government) of ROC. The mayor of Taipei City had been an appointed position since Taipei's conversion to a centrally administered municipality in 1967 until the first public election was held in 1994.[78] The position has a four-year term and is elected by direct popular vote. The first elected mayor was Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party. Ma Ying-jeou took office in 1998 for two terms, before handing it over to Hau Lung-pin who won the 2006 mayoral election on December 9, 2006.[79] Both Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-Jeou went on to become President of the Republic of China. The incumbent mayor, Ko Wen-je, was elected on November 29, 2014 and took office on December 25, 2014.[80]

 

Based on the outcomes of previous elections in the past decade, the vote of the overall constituency of Taipei City shows a slight inclination towards the pro-KMT camp (the Pan-Blue Coalition);[81] however, the pro-DPP camp (the Pan-Green Coalition) also has considerable support.[82]

 

Ketagalan Boulevard, where the Presidential Office Building and other government structures are situated, is often the site of mass gatherings such as inauguration and national holiday parades, receptions for visiting dignitaries, political demonstrations,[83][84] and public festivals.[85]

Garbage recycling

 

Taipei City is also famous for its effort in garbage recycling, which has become such a good international precedent that other countries have sent teams to study the recycling system. After the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) established a program in 1998 combining the efforts of communities, a financial resource named the Recycling Fund was made available to recycling companies and waste collectors. Manufacturers, vendors and importers of recyclable waste pay fees to the Fund, which uses the money to set firm prices for recyclables and subsidize local recycling efforts. Between 1998 and 2008, the recycling rate increased from 6 percent to 32 percent.[86] This improvement enabled the government of Taipei to demonstrate its recycling system to the world at the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Administrative divisions

 

Taipei City is divided up into 12 administrative districts (區 qu).[87] Each district is further divided up into urban villages (里), which are further sub-divided up into neighborhoods (鄰).

Map District Population

(Jan. 2016) Area

(km2) Postal

code

 

Beitou 北投區 Běitóu Pei-t'ou Pak-tâu 257,922 56.8216 112

Da'an 大安區 Dà'ān Ta-an Tāi-an 312,909 11.3614 106

Datong 大同區 Dàtóng Ta-t'ung Tāi-tông 131,029 5.6815 103

Nangang 南港區 Nángǎng Nan-kang Lâm-káng 122,296 21.8424 115

Neihu 內湖區 Nèihú Nei-hu Lāi-ô͘ 287,726 31.5787 114

Shilin 士林區 Shìlín Shih-lin Sū-lîm 290,682 62.3682 111

Songshan 松山區 Sōngshān Sung-shan Siông-san 209,689 9.2878 105

Wanhua 萬華區 Wànhuá Wan-hua Báng-kah 194,314 8.8522 108

Wenshan 文山區 Wénshān Wen-shan Bûn-san 275,433 31.5090 116

Xinyi 信義區 Xìnyì Hsin-yi Sìn-gī 229,139 11.2077 110

Zhongshan 中山區 Zhōngshān Chung-shan Tiong-san 231,286 13.6821 104

Zhongzheng 中正區 Zhōngzhèng Chung-cheng Tiong-chèng 162,549 7.6071 100

 

City planning

 

The city is characterized by straight roads and public buildings of grand Western architectural styles.[88] The city is built on a square grid configuration, however these blocks are huge by international standards with 500 m (1,640.42 ft) sides. The area in between these blocks are infilled with lanes and alleys, which provide access to quieter residential or mixed-use development. Other than a citywide 30 kilometres per hour (19 mph) speed limit, there is little uniform planning within this "hidden" area; therefore lanes (perpendicular to streets) and alleys (parallel with street, or conceptually, perpendicular to the lane) spill out from the main throughways. These minor roads are not always perpendicular and sometimes cut through the block diagonally.

 

Although development began in the western districts (still considered the cultural heart of the city) of the city due to trade, the eastern districts of the city have become the focus of recent development projects. Many of the western districts, already in decline, have become targets of new urban renewal initiatives.[88]

Transportation

Platform of Wende Station on the Taipei Metro system.

 

Public transport accounts for a substantial portion of different modes of transport in Taiwan, with Taipei residents having the highest utilization rate at 34.1%.[89] Private transport consists of motor scooters, private cars, and bicycles. Motor-scooters often weave between cars and occasionally through oncoming traffic. Respect for traffic laws, once scant, has improved with deployment of traffic cameras and increasing numbers of police roadblocks checking riders for alcohol consumption and other offenses.

 

Taipei Station serves as the comprehensive hub for the subway, bus, conventional rail, and high-speed rail.[41] A contactless smartcard, known as EasyCard, can be used for all modes of public transit as well as several retail outlets. It contains credits that are deducted each time a ride is taken.[90] The EasyCard is read via proximity sensory panels on buses and in MRT stations, and it does not need to be removed from one's wallet or purse.

Metro

Main article: Taipei Metro

 

Taipei's public transport system, the Taipei Metro (commonly referred to as the MRT), incorporates a metro and light rail system based on advanced VAL and Bombardier technology. There are currently five metro lines that are labelled in three ways: color, line number and depot station name. In addition to the rapid transit system itself, the Taipei Metro also includes several public facilities such as the Maokong Gondola, underground shopping malls, parks, and public squares. Modifications to existing railway lines to integrate them into the metro system are underway.

 

In 2017 a rapid transit line was opened to connect Taipei with Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taoyuan City. The new line is part of the new Taoyuan Metro system.

Taipei Railway Station front

Rail

Main articles: Taiwan High Speed Rail and Taiwan Railway Administration

 

Beginning in 1983, surface rail lines in the city were moved underground as part of the Taipei Railway Underground Project.[91] The Taiwan High Speed Rail system opened in 2007. The bullet trains connect Taipei with the west coast cities of New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, and Tainan before terminating at Zuoying (Kaohsiung) at speeds that cut travel times by 60% or more from what they normally are on a bus or conventional train.[92] The Taiwan Railway Administration also runs passenger and freight services throughout the entire island.

Bus

 

An extensive city bus system serves metropolitan areas not covered by the metro, with exclusive bus lanes to facilitate transportation.[41] Riders of the city metro system are able to use the EasyCard for discounted fares on buses, and vice versa. Several major intercity bus terminals are located throughout the city, including the Taipei Bus Station and Taipei City Hall Bus Station.[93]

Taipei Songshan Airport

Airports

Main articles: Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei Songshan Airport

 

Most scheduled international flights are served by Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in nearby Taoyuan City. Songshan Airport at the heart of the city in the Songshan District serves domestic flights and scheduled flights to Tokyo International Airport (also known as Haneda Airport), Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, and about 15 destinations in the People's Republic of China. Songshan Airport is accessible by the Taipei Metro Neihu Line; Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is accessible by the Taoyuan International Airport MRT system.

Ticketing

 

In 1994, with the rapid development of Taipei, a white paper for transport policies expressed the strong objective to "create a civilised transport system for the people of Taipei." In 1999, they chose Mitac consortium, which Thales-Transportation Systems is part of. Thales was then selected again in 2005 to deploy an upgrade of Taipei's public transport network with an end-to-end and fully contactless automatic fare collection solution that integrates 116 metro stations, 5,000 buses and 92 car parks.[citation needed]

Education

West Site of National Taiwan University Hospital

 

24 universities have campuses located in Taipei:

 

National Taiwan University (1928)

National Chengchi University (1927)

National Defense Medical Center (1902)

National Defense University (1906)

National Taipei University (1949)

National Taipei University of Business (1917)

National Taipei University of Education (1895)

National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Science (1947)

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (1974)

National Taipei University of Technology (1912)

National Taiwan College of Performing Arts (1957)

National Taiwan Normal University (1946)

National Yang-Ming University (1975)

Taipei National University of the Arts (1982)

University of Taipei (2013)

  

Tamkang University (1950)

Soochow University (1900)

Chinese Culture University (1962)

Ming Chuan University (1957)

Shih Hsin University (1956)

Shih Chien University (1958)

Taipei Medical University (1960)

Tatung University (1956)

China University of Technology (1965)

 

National Taiwan University (NTU) was established in 1928 during the period of Japanese colonial rule. NTU has produced many political and social leaders in Taiwan. Both pan-blue and pan-green movements in Taiwan are rooted on the NTU campus. The university has six campuses in the greater Taipei region (including New Taipei) and two additional campuses in Nantou County. The university governs farms, forests, and hospitals for educational and research purposes. The main campus is in Taipei's Da-An district, where most department buildings and all the administrative buildings are located. The College of Law and the College of Medicine are located near the Presidential Building. The National Taiwan University Hospital is a leading international center of medical research.[94]

 

National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU or Shida) likewise traces its origins to the Japanese colonial period. Originally a teacher training institution, NTNU has developed into a comprehensive international university with demanding entrance requirements. The university boasts especially strong programs in the humanities and international education. Worldwide it is perhaps best known as home of the Mandarin Training Center, a program that offers Mandarin language training each year to over a thousand students from dozens of countries throughout the world. The main campus in Taipei's Da-An district, near MRT Guting Station, is known for its historic architecture and giving its name to the Shida Night Market, one of the most popular among the numerous night markets in Taipei.

Chinese language program for foreigners

 

Taiwan Mandarin Institute (TMI) (福爾摩莎)

International Chinese Language Program (ICLP) (國際華語研習所) of National Taiwan University

Mandarin Training Center (MTC) (國語教學中心) of National Taiwan Normal University

Taipei Language Institute (中華語文研習所)

 

Nelson is a census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The community is in the Pacific Standard Time zone. The location of Nelson is in El Dorado Canyon, Eldorado Mountains. The town is in the southeast region of the Eldorado Valley. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 37. Nelson is located along Nevada State Route 165, about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of its junction with U.S. Route 95. Route 165 continues east 5 miles (8 km) to a dead end at Nelsons Landing on the Colorado River, 18 miles (29 km) by water north of Cottonwood Cove on Lake Mojave. Nelson is about 25 miles (40 km) from Boulder City by road. The area known as Nelson was originally called Eldorado in 1775, by the Spaniards who made the original discoveries of gold in the area that is now Eldorado Canyon. The town was the site of one of the first major gold strikes in Nevada and one of the biggest mining booms in state history. Gold and silver were discovered here around 1859. The rush to the canyon began in 1861, several mining camps were established in the canyon, and a steamboat landing at the mouth of the canyon on the Colorado River, called Colorado City. In its heyday, the area established a reputation for being rough and lawless. During the American Civil War, deserters from both the Union and Confederate armies would wander there, hoping that such an isolated location would be the last place military authorities would look for them. Among the early mines established was the notorious Techatticup Mine in the middle of the canyon. Disagreements over ownership, management and labor disputes resulted in wanton killings so frequent as to be routine and ordinary. Despite the sinister reputation of the mine, it along with others in the town produced several million dollars in gold, silver, copper and lead. The mines in the canyon were active from about 1858 until 1945. The community called Nelson was named for Charles Nelson, a camp leader who was slain in his home, along with four other people, in 1897 by the renegade Indian, Avote. Between, 1901 and 1905 the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad was built across southern Nevada, through Las Vegas, to Daggett, California where it connected to the AT&SF, and the complete Salt Lake–Los Angeles line was opened on May 1, 1905. This nearby railhead ended the need for steamboats at Eldorado Canyon, the landing and the mill there were abandoned. The town of Nelson was born near the head of the canyon nearest the road to the railroad, the post office of Eldorado was closed on August 31, 1907 and moved to Nelson. The mines and the landing are accessible through the town of Nelson off US 95 about 25 miles southwest of Las Vegas. Much of Nelson, which was not impacted by the 1974 flood, remains today and is located near the top of the wash, away from the flood channels. The sparsely populated community consists mainly of privately owned ranch houses, and a river and mining tour business housed in a former Texaco gas station, north of the road from the Techatticup Mine, that has been used as a filming location for several feature films, including 3000 Miles to Graceland. The fate of Nelson's Landing is a warning to visitors to this region who should watch for conditions leading to flash flooding. They should also be cautious of open mines and ventilation shafts.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson,_Nevada

 

El Dorado Canyon is a canyon in southern Clark County, Nevada famed for its rich silver and gold mines. The canyon was named in 1857 by steamboat entrepreneur Captain George Alonzo Johnson when gold and silver was discovered here. It drains into the Colorado River at the former site of Nelson's Landing. The town of Nelson lies in the upper reach of the canyon. Eldorado Canyon Mine Tours operates mid way in the canyon at the Techatticup Mine one of the oldest and most productive mines in the canyon. Prospecting and mining in the El Dorado Canyon had been going on from at least 1857 if not earlier. But in April 1861, as the American Civil War began, word got out that silver and some gold and copper lodes had been discovered by John Moss and others in what became known as El Dorado Canyon, in New Mexico Territory, now Nevada. The canyon was on the west side of the river sixty five miles above Fort Mohave at what was then considered the limit of navigation of the river. George A. Johnson came up river and made a deal to supply the mines with his steamboats at a lower price than that provided overland across the Mohave Desert from Los Angeles. That fall news of the strikes in the Colorado Mining District, (by 1864 also called the Eldorado Canyon District), brought a flood of miners to the canyon. Several mining camps were founded in the canyon over the years. At the beginning San Juan, or Upper Camp were at the top of the canyon miles from the river near the modern town of Nelson. Midway down the canyon near the Techatticup Mine were Alturas and Louisville. At the mouth of the canyon was the boat landing of Colorado City. During the time of the American Civil War, three new mining camps developed in the middle canyon. In 1862, Lucky Jim Camp was formed along Eldorado Canyon above January Wash, south of the Techatticup Mine. Lucky Jim Camp was the home of miners sympathetic to the Confederate cause. A mile up the canyon was a camp with Union sympathies called Buster Falls. In late 1863, Col. John R. Vineyard, at the time a California State Senator for Los Angeles, completed a ten stamp mill the first in the canyon, on its north side just below Lucky Jim Camp, at what soon became El Dorado City. Vineyard's mill, assembled from mill parts salvaged from abandoned works in the Mother Lode country of California, processed the ore of its mines and cut out the cost of shipping the ore out to San Francisco for such processing, cutting costs in half. George Alonzo Johnson's steamboat company losing this downstream ore trade and making fewer trips up to the Canyon responded by raising its freight rates. From 1865 to 1867 as part of Mohave County, Arizona Territory, El Dorado Canyon had its own post office. In 1867, to secure the riverboat traffic and protect miners in the canyon from Paiute attacks the U.S. Army established Camp El Dorado, an outpost at the mouth of El Dorado Canyon that remained until it was abandoned in 1869. From 1870 the mines again were active to the point where from 1879 to 1907 El Dorado Canyon again had a post office, now in Clark County, Nevada. The mines continued to produce ore until World War II.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Dorado_Canyon_(Nevada)

The four-spot skimmer dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata) was designated the official state insect of Alaska in1995.

 

The four-spot skimmer dragonfly won among 4 insects voted on by Alaskan schoolchildren. The runners up included the Unmarked slender mosquito, the mourning cloak butterfly, and the bumblebee.

Dragonflies live in many parts of North America around lakes, ponds, and slow-moving or still water. They eat mosquitos, midges and black flies. It has been jokingly said that the children voted for the dragonfly because they prey on Alaska's "unofficial state bird" (the mosquito), but state representative Irene Nicholia said it was because "The dragonfly's ability to hover and fly forward and backward reminds us of the skillful maneuvering of the bush pilots in Alaska."

information taken from here.

EU LRV moves through the outskirts of Moscow, supplying troops to designated areas of the city. The city itself is lying in partial ruin as the European forces continue to push towards the heart of the infamous Warsaw Pact. The European Union's superior tactics and technology have crushed the inferior Warsaw Pact forces and defeat is more than highly probable.

    

32 x 32 studs big diorama. Greatly inspired by Andreas's Fallout Zone. However, mine is more situated towards the build and setting rather than the vehicle, although this does offer more views of the EU LRV TT. I quite like how the build turned out actually; looks very good in my opinion.

PACIFIC OCEAN (May 18, 2021) An MV-22 Osprey, attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 165 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), prepares to take off from the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2), May 18. Essex is underway as part of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) conducting integrated training with the 11th MEU off the coast of southern California. Together, the 11th MEU, Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 1, and ships are designated as an ARG. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brett McMinoway)

On the UNESCO World Heritage List

a international tourist attraction.

there are many people today, walking around, many Japanese visitors,they did the same things as I

making photo's :-)

 

The windmills of Kinderdijk concern nineteen mills in the Northwest Alblasserwaard, a region in the province of Ontario. Although they are designated as belonging to the village of Kinderdijk (New Lekkerland town) is a mill just outside (Blokker), in the municipality Alblasserdam. These polder mills, a mill pass, and a large (even international) tourist attraction. All nineteen mills of the complex are owned by the Foundation for World Heritage Kinderdijk. Since 1997 they are on the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mill rows are only accessible by foot or bicycle to visit. One of the mills, pretty close to the village of Kinderdijk area, is also open to visitors (in winter only on weekends).

 

The windmills at Kinderdijk were built from the end of the fourteenth century, but the remaining mills dating from 1738 and 1740.

 

The windmills of Kinderdijk are built to pump water from the polder. They are almost all based sailors. Under each mill is a paddle wheel that brings the water upward, often with a height of 140 centimeters. By the subsidence of the soil of the polders of the Alblasserwaard and rising of water level in the river Lek, there were more mills needed. It stands between the windmills of Kinderdijk a wipmill (Blokker).

 

The mills move water from Alblasserwaard (with an area of ​​24,000 ha) in two stages. First, the water of a low atrial (the polder level) to a high bosom pumped throughout Ablasserwaard runs. In the second stage the water is pumped to a reservoir. From here the water through sluices into the river when the water left almost approaching the highest point. The mills are therefore called atrial mills.

 

The mill complex consists of:

 

eight brick windmills that once belonged to the former water board Nederwaard, built in 1738. These mills are similar to each other, but differ in detail because they are built by different contractors. The length of the blades (the escape called) varies between 27.5 and 28 meters. The paddles are bottom of the hull of the mill. A miller and his family lived in the mill.

eight thatched windmills, formerly owned by the former water board Overwaard, built in 1740. These mills are octagonal and have a flight from 28.6 to 29.5 meters. The paddle wheel of this mill has a diameter of 6.70 meters. Like the mills of these mills Nederwaard water over a height of 1.40 meters move.

These two rows of windmills made, independently, for draining the Alblasserwaard.

two octagonal windmills of the polder Nieuw-Lekkerland built in 1760. These are called respectively. The High Mill (built in 1740) and The Low Mill (1761). Both are octagonal, thatched windmills built on brick walls. The High Mill grinds with a screw diameter of 1.8 meters, which dates from 1962. Before it had a paddle wheel, like the Low Mill.

and a wipmill the Blokweerse Rocker or the blocking of the polder Blokweer built in 1620 and burned down in 1997. The mill is fully restored and operational again since 2000. Already in 1400 a windmill stood here, in 1575 by Spanish troops on fire.

Originally there was still a 20th mill. This was one of the three mills of New Lekkerland. In the mid 20th century the mill collapsed. The blades turned too loud, what the mill could not bear. The mill was never rebuilt.

 

On July 7, 2008 began the restoration of 11 of the 19 mills, by lack of maintenance in neglected state. With a grant from the Ministry of Education of 2.5 million euros and a grant of one million euros from the Province of Ontario and the water recovery may Rivierenland worklife. This varies from the foundation to the roof and the wings. It is envisaged that the end of 2010 all the 19 mills to grind again. [2] [3]

 

The windmills of Kinderdijk were built, because there were difficulties with the drainage of the Alblasserwaard. This area was extensively mined. Through ditches and watercourses, the water drained. First there were more natural waterways, but in the end this remained only Alblas and Giessen. Originally it was the water released into the rivers (including the Lek) runs, but sounded the soil drainage, and problems arose when the river was high.

 

Peat can such effects be one meter per century decline, and that happened here too. The water boards should work together and so were two major drainage units:

 

The water Overwaard (roughly in the east and north of the Alblasserwaard, freeboard along the Giessen)

The water Nederwaard (south and west thereof, through the freeboard Alblas).

Floris V, also founded in 1277, the Water Board on the Alblasserwaard. This put a ring dike around to the whole area, with locks in Giessen and Alblas. At low tide on the Merwede could therefore be discharged. Eventually it was no longer sufficient. Therefore they made freeboard at the site with the lowest water level outside the polder, the most northwestern tip of the Alblasserwaard, at Kinderdijk.

 

In 1366 they shifted the drainage through the Giessen here, and in 1370 the water into the Alblas. This required new drainage channels of 17 km length in the case of Giessen. Both drainage channels running at Kinderdijk parallel and separated by a narrow quay, on which the footpath runs.

 

History

Two hundred years later it did not anymore. The capacity for water storage was increased from 1620. But even 100 years later, this proved once again inadequate. From then (1739 for Nederwaard, 1740 for Overwaard) water was pumped through the atrial mills to storage in the high atria. At low water the water was let out into the River.

EAGLE BAY is a designated place located on the Shuswap Highland Peninsula on the southern shore of Shuswap Lake in British Columbia, Canada. The community is situated across the lake from Crowfoot Mountain on the southern shore of Shuswap Lake. It is 24 kilometres east of Sorrento, British Columbia, which is about 20 minutes by automobile. Access to Eagle Bay from Sorrento is via Blind Bay Road and Eagle Bay Road or via the Trans-Canada Highway, Balmoral Road and Eagle Bay Rd.

 

(from - Wrigley's 1918 British Columbia Directory) - EAGLE BAY - a Post Office and farming settlement 14 miles east of Notch Hill, on east side of Shuswap Lake, in Kamloops Provincial Electoral District, reached by steamer from Notch Hill, the nearest railway C. P. R. point in summer, and by sledge in winter. Local resources, farming.

 

This is a feeding area for bald eagles, and they may have a nest by the south end of the bay....

 

EAGLE BAY Post Office opened - 1 May 1913, so-named in assocation with the nearby water feature, in turn named for the numerous eagles in the area.

 

LINK to a list of the Postmasters who served at the EAGLE BAY, B.C. Post Office - recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record...

 

- sent from - / EAGLE BAY / PM / OC 4 / 41 / B.C. / - cds cancel (large letters)

 

Addressed to: Mr. Everett Armstrong / Apt. B-7, Howland Court, 245 Howland Avenue, / Toronto 4, Ontario

Designated as an A3D-2P, special Photographic Reconnaissance version aircraft and was the 206th Skywarrior of 283 built by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation in El Segundo, CA.

Designated as a Specially Preserved Building on August 29, 1910.Designated as a National Important Cultural Property on December 26, 1963

Mexico has designated 83 towns and villages as Pueblos Magicos (Magical Towns) throughout the country. To achieve such a designation a town must demonstrate natural beauty, historical significance and cultural diversity.

 

70 km east of the beautiful colonial town of Merida in the Mexican state of Yucatan, is the enchanting “Magical Town” of Izamal, nicknamed La Ciudad Amarilla (the Yellow City) for the glowing yellow paint that covers the colonial buildings. Izamal is a beautiful place to experience the diversity of three cultures: Maya, Mexican and Spanish.

 

In the middle of the town plaza is the brightly colored Franciscan convent of San Antonio de Padua which contrast well against the Yucatan’s blue skies. The convent was built in the 16th century on the remains of a Mayan pyramid and if you look closely you can see the Mayan stones integrated into the stonework of the monastery’s arcade walkways. I framed the monastery’s main church, the Santuario de la Virgen de Izamal, with the arcades of the enormous courtyard.

 

Buenas tardes my Flickr amigos!

 

Happy Travels!

 

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

 

Facebook | Google + | Twitter | Pinterest | Photography Blog | Travel Photography Gallery

 

Silverton is a former silver mining camp and now Designated National Historic Landmark

Silverton is located Colorado USA

Photo taken by me while on Holiday

9ZZ_8914

 

The locomotives designated in Russia "E" were built for Tsarist Russia during WW1 on three American locomotive plants, ALCO, Baldwin and Canadian Locomotive Company under common terms of reference to have 2-10-0 class locomotive. The class gave semi-formal naming of the E type in Russia: "The Russian decapode". A lot of work were needed to unify their final design between so proud producers. There were few generations and orders during active phase of the World War. After the war ending the new order for production of 500 locomotives (with option of 1000 in future) was canceled due to the inability of new Russia to pay the rest of the war credit. From this oreder 100 already built locomotives have been transported in Russia, but another 200 left in US where were rebuilt to European gauge and worked on Erie, Seabord Air Line railroad and others. Totally 881 locomotives built by ALCO, Baldwin and CLC were sell to Imperial and Soviet Russia. They worked mostly in Siberian region and on the Far East of Russia.

AllenTown, Buffalo, New York

 

Designated a local preservation district in 1978 and listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1980, Allentown is one of the first and largest residential historic districts in the United States. The Allentown Historic Preservation District is bound by North Street to the north, Main Street to the East, Edward Street to the South, and Plymouth to the West, and is walking distance from downtown Buffalo, the West Village, the Elmwood Village, the Fruit Belt neighborhood, and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. ThankYou Explore

The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, originally Cincinnati Union Terminal, is a mixed-use complex in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Once a major passenger train station, it went into sharp decline during the postwar decline of railroad travel. Most of the building was converted to other uses, and now houses museums, theaters, and a library, as well as special travelling exhibitions. Since 1991, it has been used as a train station once again.

 

Built in 1933, it is a monumental example of Art Deco architecture, for which it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

 

Cincinnati was a major center of railroad traffic in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially as an interchange point between railroads serving the Northeastern and Midwestern states with railroads serving the South. However, intercity passenger traffic was split among no fewer than five stations in Downtown Cincinnati, requiring the many travelers who changed between railroads to navigate local transit themselves. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which operated through sleepers with other railroads, was forced to split its operations between two stations. Proposals to construct a union station began as early as the 1890s, and a committee of railroad executives formed in 1912 to begin formal studies on the subject, but a final agreement between all seven railroads that served Cincinnati and the city itself would not come until 1928, after intense lobbying and negotiations, led by Philip Carey Company president George Crabbs. The seven railroads: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad; the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway; the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; the Norfolk and Western Railway; the Pennsylvania Railroad; and the Southern Railway selected a site for their new station in the West End, near the Mill Creek.

 

The principal architects of the massive building were Alfred T. Fellheimer and Steward Wagner, with architects Paul Philippe Cret and Roland Wank brought in as design consultants; Cret is often credited as the building's architect, as he was responsible for the building's signature Art Deco style. The Rotunda features the largest semi-dome in the western hemisphere, measuring 180 feet (55 m) wide and 106 feet (32 m) high.

 

The Union Terminal Company was created to build the terminal, railroad lines in and out, and other related transportation improvements. Construction in 1928 with the regrading of the east flood plain of the Mill Creek to a point nearly level with the surrounding city, a massive effort that required 5.5 million cubic yards of landfill. Other improvements included the construction of grade separated viaducts over the Mill Creek and the railroad approaches to Union Terminal. The new viaducts the Union Terminal Company created to cross the Mill Creek valley ranged from the well built, like the Western Hills Viaduct, to the more hastily constructed and shabby, like the Waldvogel Viaduct. Construction on the terminal building itself began in 1931, with Cincinnati mayor Russell Wilson laying the mortar for the cornerstone. Construction was finished ahead of schedule, although the terminal welcomed its first trains even earlier on March 19, 1933 when it was forced into emergency operation due to flooding of the Ohio River. The official opening of the station was on March 31, 1933. The total cost of the project was $41.5 million.

 

During its heyday as a passenger rail facility, Cincinnati Union Terminal had a capacity of 216 trains per day, 108 in and 108 out. Three concentric lanes of traffic were included in the design of the building, underneath the main rotunda of the building: one for taxis, one for buses, and one (although never used) for streetcars. However, the time period in which the terminal was built was one of decline for train travel. By 1939, local newspapers were already describing the station as a white elephant. While it had a brief revival in the 1940s, because of World War II, it declined in use through the 1950s into the 1960s.

 

After the creation of Amtrak in 1971, train service at Cincinnati Union Terminal was reduced to just two trains a day, the George Washington and the James Whitcomb Riley. Amtrak abandoned Cincinnati Union Terminal the next year, opening a smaller station elsewhere in the city on October 29, 1972.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Museum_Center_at_Union_T...

I missed the unsigned, designated trail for Wind Mountain and ended up hiking on an abandoned road which turned into a boot trail which turned into no trail at all. I knew I'd lost my way but wasn't lost per se. I could see the sun and the river and the top of Wind Mountain which was my goal. So I just launched myself up the hill. Uff da!

 

It was far longer and steeper than the trail but I was rewarded with better views of the Gorge and lots of sunshine. I laid down here, on the warm slope of moss covered rocks and got some sunbathing in while catching my breath. Whoa was it steep! I could use all the miles and elevation gain I can get as I entertain notions of climbing mountains.

 

The trail to Wind Mountain is only as wide as a foot path so if you are still on the dirt road and see the wider, abandoned road trail on the right, you've gone too far and missed the trail. Scott Cook's Curious Gorge book is wonderful but is a bit slight on descriptions. Later I saw someone else randomly coming up through the woods as I did so I'm not the only one!

 

I eventually got to the actual trail as I neared the top of Wind Mountain. After eating lunch at the top, I jogged the trail down (easier on the downhill than walking) and was amazed by how fast I got back to my car. It really is a short trail, if you take the trail. My way was prettier but definitely harder!

 

The top of Wind Mountain has long been used (and still is) by Native Americans as a spirit quest site. I think this is part of why there isn't much signage though it is a Forest Service trail. Please be respectful; don't disturb the rock structures and stay on the trail and at the specific viewpoints at the top.

I am designating the cockroach as the #SaniProject2017 official mascot (much to the chagrin of my partners), (I am looking into t-shirts being made :))

 

And herein we come to the crux of the matter.

 

At a glance, I could be mistaken for a cockroach fetishist, or at least a Blattodean sympathizer with all these photos and posts. And of course it's always easy to jest and treat with levity subjects that are either perceived as trivial or unpleasant.

 

However, the cockroach is a subject chosen with care and foresight as one of the first organisms to really be showcased by the #SaniProject2017. They represent beauty through understanding. They represent diversity. They represent what is underfoot, and what passes as invisible but which contributes in manifold and literally, untold ways. They represent the 99% of organisms which make up the rainforest ecosystem, and which are beholden to the 1% of the so-called banner species. And finally, maybe, they will come to represent disgust, confined to our own ignorance and intolerance.

 

So you can celebrate a diversity in all its forms, or else you can champion poverty through ignorance.

 

Ask yourself, "what to you is the cockroach underfoot?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ask. Observe. Question.

Always

The #SaniProject2017 - An exploration into the beauty of biodiversity

Follow us at Destination Ecuador #Paulbertner #Sanilodge

 

Thanks to Gil Wizen for the ID.

The Rootes car showroom and workshops, Mill Street, Maidstone, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * The building is of architectural interest as an example of a Modernist motorcar showroom and workshops which retains a significant proportion of its original fabric. * The building is of architectural interest due to its grand scale, town-centre location and picturesque setting adjacent to the Len mill pond, which distinguishes it from other buildings associated with the motorcar industry during this phase of early motoring. * The building is a prominent manifestation of a hugely successful British car manufacturer, built in a period when the expansion of car ownership was having a the revolutionary impact on the physical and social fabric of the nation.

Details

883/0/10032

 

MAIDSTONE MILL STREET Rootes Maidstone

 

01-OCT-09

 

II Car showroom and workshops, 1938-39, by Howard and Souster.

 

MATERIALS: steel-framed and reinforced concrete structure, walls of brick faced with reconstituted-stone blocks, now painted white. Roof of reinforced concrete and steel frame with metal sheeting. Floors of reinforced concrete with Terrazzo, rubber and grano finishing. Steel casement windows.

 

PLAN: irregular L-shape plan with showroom, offices (now snooker club) and car storage to the west facing onto Mill Street (this block is known as Len House), and workshops and administration block to the east, facing on to Len Pond. The east block is set back from Mill Road creating a courtyard space where an island filling station was originally located.

 

EXTERIOR: Moderne style west block (Len House) is built over two stories with a flat roof and parapet (now capped in folded metal sheet) to the front and a saw-tooth roof with corrugated covering to the rear. Ground floor double height showroom frontage with polished black stone stall-riser and integral fascia band, now covered by modern signage. A horizontal band of windows at first floor is interrupted by a central triangular tower, which rises from a canopy over the main showroom entrance. A string course connects the heads and sills of the windows. To the north, a single bay provides access from the street to the first floor through a pair of panelled timber doors. Over the door on a simple square-edged door surround applied lettering spells the name 'LEN HOUSE' above which is a band of horizontal reeding. At first floor a single window is surrounded by a square-edged architrave with an expressed keystone and reeded sill. The Mill Street elevation curves round into the south elevation of the block which provides a secondary canopied entrance to the showroom and a vehicular access to the car store to the rear of the block. The east block is over two floors but a mezzanine level at the west end results in two rows of upper windows on the west elevation. As with the west block, these horizontal bands of windows have a string course connecting their heads and sills. The west elevation provides access to the administration block with a canopy over the door, and a vehicular access into the workshops behind. The west elevation curves round into the south elevation. At either end the south elevation is punctuated by a projecting bay with raised parapet and pierced balconette in front of the ground floor window. Between the projecting bays are five bays with a continuous string course at the window heads and sills, either side of a central bay with a pronounced architrave and pierced balconette. To the far west of this elevation is an original entrance door into the administration block. The east elevation has been rendered and the fenestration largely blocked or altered and a new central entrance and canopy installed. The north elevation is of untreated brick with concrete banding at first floor and roof level. Most of the original openings remain although there has been some alteration. This elevation is of lesser interest. The roof of the east block is flat to the south, with ridge and furrow covered in corrugated sheeting to the north. The ridges are mounted by extractor units.

 

INTERIOR: the showroom has a modern interior, generally of little architectural interest, although a curved mezzanine viewing gallery (now enclosed) remains in the south-east corner of the showroom. The former offices on the first floor, now snooker hall, have been fitted with a Victorian-style interior, not of special interest. The car storage area to the rear of the showroom is largely open in plan, and fully open to the roof. At ground floor and mezzanine level the administration block is partially open-plan and partially subdivided into small offices with non-structural partitioning. The workshops are largely open plan with the vehicular ramp between ground and first floor being a principal feature. The concrete and steel structure of the building is undisguised; at ground floor concrete cross beams rest on large columns, supporting the first floor above, at first floor the workshops are open to the roof. The far east of the block is separated-off with a modern office interior, not of special interest. A number of original staircases remain throughout the building, mainly characterised by curved steel-strip balusters with wood or metal hand rails.

 

HISTORY: the Rootes motorcar showroom and workshop was built in 1937-38 for Rootes Ltd by Howard and Souster, an architectural firm who specialised in industrial and commercial buildings and who undertook a number of commissions for Rootes. The site, adjacent to a mill pond on the River Len, had formerly been occupied by a tannery. The tannery buildings were acquired by Rootes in 1917 and were later demolished to make way for the new complex of showroom, filling station, workshops and offices. At the time of its opening in April 1938, the showroom was considered the largest and most up to date in Kent; at night 700ft of neon tubing outlined the frontage and spelled out the name 'ROOTES' on the tower above the main entrance.

 

Rootes was started in 1895 by William Rootes Snr who opened a cycle and repair shop in Goudhurst, Kent. The business soon moved into motor cars and its growing success took him to new larger premises in Hawkhurst and then Maidstone, where his son William was placed in charge. In 1917 William was demobilised from the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve to start the first aero engine repair organisation in the country. It was at this point that the old tannery, adjacent to the Len mill pond in Mill Street was obtained by the Rootes firm. Previously operating as a private firm, Rootes became Rootes Ltd, The Len Engineering Works, Maidstone; formed for the purpose of overhauling and repairing aero engines for the government.

 

By the mid 1920s, Rootes had become Britain's largest motor retailer and had moved into coach-building, acquiring in 1925 the firm of Thrupp and Maberly, coach builders for Humber, Daimler and Rolls-Royce. In the late 1920s, Rootes Ltd moved into car manufacture, forming Rootes Securities and making a successful bid for Humber-Hillman-Commer. The Hillman Minx, launched in 1931 became an outstanding success and by the late 1930s was the most popular light car in the world. In the mid 1930s the famous names of Sunbeam, Clement Talbot and Karrier all became part of the Rootes family. By 1937, Rootes controlled eight manufacturing companies, seven distributing companies, and was also controlling one of the largest export businesses in the British motor industry.

 

By the late 1930s manufacturing had moved away from the Maidstone site so the Len Engineering Works was rebuilt as a model super service station. In the preceding years, the motor car had become more accessible to the middle classes; the new showroom on Mill Street prided itself on offering 'models for the masses and millionaires'. The motor industry had embraced modernism in its architecture during the 1930s; the opportunities to exploit new materials and technologies allowed for an architectural expression linked to both the ideals of the motor industry, and the aspirations of their customers. The size of the Rootes showroom floor, uninterrupted by supporting columns, combined with an elegant, streamlined exterior glowing with neon light, would have made an impressive sight. The Rootes complex was referred to as a 'palace of modern motoring'.

 

The post war years saw continued national and international success for Rootes but the 1960s brought change. In financial difficulty, aid came from Chrysler who eventually acquired a majority share and the company became Chrysler United Kingdom. When Chrysler pulled out of Britain, ownership of the Rootes showroom and workshops passed to the Peugeot-Talbot Motor Company. The site is now owned by Robins and Day Ltd and continues to operate as a car showroom and repair garage.

The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Miami Jockey Club or Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Another listing for it was added in 1988. The Hialeah Park Race Track is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Hialeah Station at Palm Avenue and East 21st Street.

 

The Hialeah Park Race Track is one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in southern Florida. Originally opened in 1922 by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner, Missouri cattleman James H. Bright, as part of their development of the town of Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah Park opened as a greyhound racing track operated by the Miami Kennel Club. The Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's Thoroughbred horse racing track on January 25, 1925. The facility was severely damaged by the 1926 hurricane and in 1930 was sold to Philadelphia horseman Joseph E. Widener. With Kentucky horseman Col. Edward R. Bradley as an investor, Widener hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flora and fauna and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with flamingos. Hailed as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened on January 14, 1932. An Australian totalisator for accepting parimutuel betting was the first to be installed in America. The park became so famous for its flamingo flocks that it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American Flamingo by the Audubon Society.

 

In 1987, the horse-racing movie Let It Ride, with Richard Dreyfuss, Terri Garr, and Jennifer Tilly, had most of its principal film photography shot at Hialeah Park. Hialeah Park also made an appearance in Public Enemies but most scenes were shot in the Midwest. The Champ (1979) with Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway and Ricky Schroder filmed scenes on Flamingo Day, 3/4/78.

 

Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1979. On January 12, 1988, the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.

 

In 2001, Hialeah Park stopped hosting racing after a change in state law kept it from having exclusive dates in its competition with Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course. Consequently, owner John Brunetti closed Hialeah Park to the public. The filly Cheeky Miss won the last thoroughbred race run at Hialeah on May 22, 2001. Among the races the track hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby for 3-year-old horses, and the once prestigious Widener Handicap, a major race for horses four years and older that was the East Coast counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap in California. Important annual stakes races that were run annually until 2001 were:

 

Flamingo Stakes

Widener Handicap

Bahamas Stakes

Black Helen Handicap

Bougainvillea Handicap

Everglades Stakes

Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap

Hibiscus Stakes

McLennan Handicap

Royal Palm Handicap

Seminole Handicap

 

n 2004, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering revoked Hialeah's thoroughbred permit because it did not hold races for the previous two years. As of 2013, its facilities remain intact except for the stables, which were demolished in early 2007.[3] In 2006, the abandoned Hialeah Park site was considered to be a possible location for a new Florida Marlins Ballpark.

 

On March 2009, it was announced that track owner John Brunetti was awarded a racing permit. Design firm EwingCole was selected to develop a master plan for renovation and further development, including a new casino. A $40–$90 million restoration project was begun in mid-2009.

 

On May 7, 2009 the Florida legislature agreed to a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that allowed Hialeah Park to operate slot machines and run Quarter Horse races.[6] The historic racetrack reopened on November 28, 2009 but only for quarter horse races. The park installed slot machines in January 2010 as part of a deal to allow for two calendar seasons of racing. The races ran until February 2, 2010. Only a portion of the park has been restored and an additional $30 million will be needed to complete this first phase of the project. The full transformation was expected to cost $1 billion since the plan included a complete redevelopment of the surrounding area including the construction of an entertainment complex to include a hotel, restaurants, casinos, stores and a theater. On June 2010 concerns were raised over the preservation of Hialeah Park's historical status as the planned development threatened to hurt Hialeah Park's potential as a National Historic Landmark.

 

On August 14, 2013, Brunetti opened a new casino at Hialeah Park and continues to host winter Quarter Horse racing meets (using temporary stables)

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hialeah_Park_Race_Track

hialeahparkcasino.com/

 

The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Miami Jockey Club or Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Another listing for it was added in 1988. The Hialeah Park Race Track is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Hialeah Station at Palm Avenue and East 21st Street.

 

The Hialeah Park Race Track is one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in southern Florida. Originally opened in 1922 by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner, Missouri cattleman James H. Bright, as part of their development of the town of Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah Park opened as a greyhound racing track operated by the Miami Kennel Club. The Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's Thoroughbred horse racing track on January 25, 1925. The facility was severely damaged by the 1926 hurricane and in 1930 was sold to Philadelphia horseman Joseph E. Widener. With Kentucky horseman Col. Edward R. Bradley as an investor, Widener hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flora and fauna and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with flamingos. Hailed as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened on January 14, 1932. An Australian totalisator for accepting parimutuel betting was the first to be installed in America. The park became so famous for its flamingo flocks that it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American Flamingo by the Audubon Society.

 

In 1987, the horse-racing movie Let It Ride, with Richard Dreyfuss, Terri Garr, and Jennifer Tilly, had most of its principal film photography shot at Hialeah Park. Hialeah Park also made an appearance in Public Enemies but most scenes were shot in the Midwest. The Champ (1979) with Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway and Ricky Schroder filmed scenes on Flamingo Day, 3/4/78.

 

Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1979. On January 12, 1988, the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.

 

In 2001, Hialeah Park stopped hosting racing after a change in state law kept it from having exclusive dates in its competition with Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course. Consequently, owner John Brunetti closed Hialeah Park to the public. The filly Cheeky Miss won the last thoroughbred race run at Hialeah on May 22, 2001. Among the races the track hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby for 3-year-old horses, and the once prestigious Widener Handicap, a major race for horses four years and older that was the East Coast counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap in California. Important annual stakes races that were run annually until 2001 were:

 

Flamingo Stakes

Widener Handicap

Bahamas Stakes

Black Helen Handicap

Bougainvillea Handicap

Everglades Stakes

Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap

Hibiscus Stakes

McLennan Handicap

Royal Palm Handicap

Seminole Handicap

 

n 2004, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering revoked Hialeah's thoroughbred permit because it did not hold races for the previous two years. As of 2013, its facilities remain intact except for the stables, which were demolished in early 2007.[3] In 2006, the abandoned Hialeah Park site was considered to be a possible location for a new Florida Marlins Ballpark.

 

On March 2009, it was announced that track owner John Brunetti was awarded a racing permit. Design firm EwingCole was selected to develop a master plan for renovation and further development, including a new casino. A $40–$90 million restoration project was begun in mid-2009.

 

On May 7, 2009 the Florida legislature agreed to a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that allowed Hialeah Park to operate slot machines and run Quarter Horse races.[6] The historic racetrack reopened on November 28, 2009 but only for quarter horse races. The park installed slot machines in January 2010 as part of a deal to allow for two calendar seasons of racing. The races ran until February 2, 2010. Only a portion of the park has been restored and an additional $30 million will be needed to complete this first phase of the project. The full transformation was expected to cost $1 billion since the plan included a complete redevelopment of the surrounding area including the construction of an entertainment complex to include a hotel, restaurants, casinos, stores and a theater. On June 2010 concerns were raised over the preservation of Hialeah Park's historical status as the planned development threatened to hurt Hialeah Park's potential as a National Historic Landmark.

 

On August 14, 2013, Brunetti opened a new casino at Hialeah Park and continues to host winter Quarter Horse racing meets (using temporary stables)

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hialeah_Park_Race_Track

hialeahparkcasino.com/

 

The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Miami Jockey Club or Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Another listing for it was added in 1988. The Hialeah Park Race Track is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Hialeah Station at Palm Avenue and East 21st Street.

 

The Hialeah Park Race Track is one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in southern Florida. Originally opened in 1922 by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner, Missouri cattleman James H. Bright, as part of their development of the town of Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah Park opened as a greyhound racing track operated by the Miami Kennel Club. The Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's Thoroughbred horse racing track on January 25, 1925. The facility was severely damaged by the 1926 hurricane and in 1930 was sold to Philadelphia horseman Joseph E. Widener. With Kentucky horseman Col. Edward R. Bradley as an investor, Widener hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flora and fauna and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with flamingos. Hailed as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened on January 14, 1932. An Australian totalisator for accepting parimutuel betting was the first to be installed in America. The park became so famous for its flamingo flocks that it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American Flamingo by the Audubon Society.

 

In 1987, the horse-racing movie Let It Ride, with Richard Dreyfuss, Terri Garr, and Jennifer Tilly, had most of its principal film photography shot at Hialeah Park. Hialeah Park also made an appearance in Public Enemies but most scenes were shot in the Midwest. The Champ (1979) with Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway and Ricky Schroder filmed scenes on Flamingo Day, 3/4/78.

 

Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1979. On January 12, 1988, the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.

 

In 2001, Hialeah Park stopped hosting racing after a change in state law kept it from having exclusive dates in its competition with Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course. Consequently, owner John Brunetti closed Hialeah Park to the public. The filly Cheeky Miss won the last thoroughbred race run at Hialeah on May 22, 2001. Among the races the track hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby for 3-year-old horses, and the once prestigious Widener Handicap, a major race for horses four years and older that was the East Coast counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap in California. Important annual stakes races that were run annually until 2001 were:

 

Flamingo Stakes

Widener Handicap

Bahamas Stakes

Black Helen Handicap

Bougainvillea Handicap

Everglades Stakes

Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap

Hibiscus Stakes

McLennan Handicap

Royal Palm Handicap

Seminole Handicap

 

n 2004, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering revoked Hialeah's thoroughbred permit because it did not hold races for the previous two years. As of 2013, its facilities remain intact except for the stables, which were demolished in early 2007.[3] In 2006, the abandoned Hialeah Park site was considered to be a possible location for a new Florida Marlins Ballpark.

 

On March 2009, it was announced that track owner John Brunetti was awarded a racing permit. Design firm EwingCole was selected to develop a master plan for renovation and further development, including a new casino. A $40–$90 million restoration project was begun in mid-2009.

 

On May 7, 2009 the Florida legislature agreed to a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that allowed Hialeah Park to operate slot machines and run Quarter Horse races.[6] The historic racetrack reopened on November 28, 2009 but only for quarter horse races. The park installed slot machines in January 2010 as part of a deal to allow for two calendar seasons of racing. The races ran until February 2, 2010. Only a portion of the park has been restored and an additional $30 million will be needed to complete this first phase of the project. The full transformation was expected to cost $1 billion since the plan included a complete redevelopment of the surrounding area including the construction of an entertainment complex to include a hotel, restaurants, casinos, stores and a theater. On June 2010 concerns were raised over the preservation of Hialeah Park's historical status as the planned development threatened to hurt Hialeah Park's potential as a National Historic Landmark.

 

On August 14, 2013, Brunetti opened a new casino at Hialeah Park and continues to host winter Quarter Horse racing meets (using temporary stables)

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hialeah_Park_Race_Track

hialeahparkcasino.com/

 

Perspect Aviation Designated Activity AW119 EI-GHU crossing over Shannon.

"Designated as a national historic site in 1982, the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre Centre designed by architect, Thomas W. Lamb is the last “double-decker” or stacked Edwardian theatre facility in the world.Built in 1913 as the flagship of the famous Loews chain of vaudeville theatres" (cited:Toronto.com)

 

The Winter Garden Theatre sits atop the Elgin is just as beautiful which I will try to share as well. Toronto Doors Open is like Toys R' Us for me each spring and I've taken so many photos that requires me to search for them if I want to post them lol.

 

The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres was my first stop and I believe I have spent just over an hour here. Much of that time spent here was because of my 'long exposure junkie' habits. :P

In consequence, I missed out on a few other buildings that I would have liked to explore and visit.

 

Cheers guys :)

 

Facebook Page | 500px I instagram

website : Ernie Kwong Photography

   

The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, originally Cincinnati Union Terminal, is a mixed-use complex in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Once a major passenger train station, it went into sharp decline during the postwar decline of railroad travel. Most of the building was converted to other uses, and now houses museums, theaters, and a library, as well as special travelling exhibitions. Since 1991, it has been used as a train station once again.

 

Built in 1933, it is a monumental example of Art Deco architecture, for which it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

 

Cincinnati was a major center of railroad traffic in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially as an interchange point between railroads serving the Northeastern and Midwestern states with railroads serving the South. However, intercity passenger traffic was split among no fewer than five stations in Downtown Cincinnati, requiring the many travelers who changed between railroads to navigate local transit themselves. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which operated through sleepers with other railroads, was forced to split its operations between two stations. Proposals to construct a union station began as early as the 1890s, and a committee of railroad executives formed in 1912 to begin formal studies on the subject, but a final agreement between all seven railroads that served Cincinnati and the city itself would not come until 1928, after intense lobbying and negotiations, led by Philip Carey Company president George Crabbs. The seven railroads: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad; the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway; the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; the Norfolk and Western Railway; the Pennsylvania Railroad; and the Southern Railway selected a site for their new station in the West End, near the Mill Creek.

 

The principal architects of the massive building were Alfred T. Fellheimer and Steward Wagner, with architects Paul Philippe Cret and Roland Wank brought in as design consultants; Cret is often credited as the building's architect, as he was responsible for the building's signature Art Deco style. The Rotunda features the largest semi-dome in the western hemisphere, measuring 180 feet (55 m) wide and 106 feet (32 m) high.

 

The Union Terminal Company was created to build the terminal, railroad lines in and out, and other related transportation improvements. Construction in 1928 with the regrading of the east flood plain of the Mill Creek to a point nearly level with the surrounding city, a massive effort that required 5.5 million cubic yards of landfill. Other improvements included the construction of grade separated viaducts over the Mill Creek and the railroad approaches to Union Terminal. The new viaducts the Union Terminal Company created to cross the Mill Creek valley ranged from the well built, like the Western Hills Viaduct, to the more hastily constructed and shabby, like the Waldvogel Viaduct. Construction on the terminal building itself began in 1931, with Cincinnati mayor Russell Wilson laying the mortar for the cornerstone. Construction was finished ahead of schedule, although the terminal welcomed its first trains even earlier on March 19, 1933 when it was forced into emergency operation due to flooding of the Ohio River. The official opening of the station was on March 31, 1933. The total cost of the project was $41.5 million.

 

During its heyday as a passenger rail facility, Cincinnati Union Terminal had a capacity of 216 trains per day, 108 in and 108 out. Three concentric lanes of traffic were included in the design of the building, underneath the main rotunda of the building: one for taxis, one for buses, and one (although never used) for streetcars. However, the time period in which the terminal was built was one of decline for train travel. By 1939, local newspapers were already describing the station as a white elephant. While it had a brief revival in the 1940s, because of World War II, it declined in use through the 1950s into the 1960s.

 

After the creation of Amtrak in 1971, train service at Cincinnati Union Terminal was reduced to just two trains a day, the George Washington and the James Whitcomb Riley. Amtrak abandoned Cincinnati Union Terminal the next year, opening a smaller station elsewhere in the city on October 29, 1972.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Museum_Center_at_Union_T...

Officially designated 'MTAPC' (Multi-Terrain Amoured Personnel Carrier), the MTAPC was likened to a Bull due to its thickset and muscular appearance; thus the name stuck. It was designed and built by German manufacturer Strauss Kinetisch in 2016 for the purpose of providing Security Forces a cost-effective, fast, and maneuverable Armoured Personnel Carrier. It is now used globally, notably by UNIST. The model pictured is a MTAPC-16 used by UNIST personnel in Urban combat situations, hence the white paint-scheme.

 

The 'Bull' MTAPC is relatively lightly armed, and can be fitted with either one M2HB Machine Gun or one GMG. It has a capacity of up to ten persons, including a driver and passenger.

 

Was going to be an entry for the Brickarms Tremendous Technical contest, but I literally finished this as the deadline passed. The cabin was an absolute bitch to do. So many techniques at play that I've never used before. Oh, and the rear door opens out into a ramp for embarkation/disembarkation.

Perhaps this hints at some Modern Conflict related stuff in the near future? :3

One of a couple parking lots designated as part of the Tichigan Wildlife Area in Wisconsin.

Footpath waymarkers are indicators that designate the course of public footpaths. In contrast to this owl carving, they are usually small, circular discs affixed to trees, posts, or other structures along the trail. Waymarkers are frequently paired with footpath signs, which provide details about the path, including its number and endpoint.

 

Footpath waymarkers play a crucial role in guiding individuals and ensuring they remain on the correct route. They are particularly beneficial in regions with numerous trails or where the path is unclear. Additionally, waymarkers can assist in discouraging individuals from encroaching on private property.

 

Waymarkers for footpaths can be constructed from different materials such as wood, metal, and plastic. They are usually built to be resistant to weather conditions and long-lasting, allowing them to endure the elements.

 

In England and Wales, with the exception of the 12 Inner London boroughs and the City of London, the right of way is a legally safeguarded privilege that allows the public to walk along designated paths. A public footpath refers to a route where the public has a legally protected right to walk. In certain regions, public footpaths create a closely knit network of short trails. It is likely that many footpaths in rural areas have existed for hundreds of years. Most footpaths are depicted on Ordnance Survey maps at scales of 1:25,000 and 1:50,000.

 

The right of access on a public footpath normally only extends to walking (there may be other unrecorded rights as well), so there is usually no right to cycle or ride a horse on a public footpath. However, it is not a criminal offence to do so unless there is a traffic order or bylaw in place specifically: it is a civil wrong to ride a bicycle or a horse on a public footpath, and action could be taken by the landowner for trespass or nuisance by the user.

 

This waymarker is located in Hartley Wintney, a sizable village and civil parish within the Hart district of Hampshire, England. It is situated approximately 5 kilometres northwest of Fleet and 13 kilometres east of Basingstoke. The parish encompasses the smaller neighbouring village of Phoenix Green, along with the hamlets of Dipley, Elvetham, Hartfordbridge, and West Green.

 

According to the 2011 census, the population of the parish was recorded as 4,999.

 

www.thesignshed.co.uk/collections/waymarker-signs?srsltid...

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_of_way_in_England_and_Wales

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartley_Wintney

 

Self developed 8 second exposure on self redscaled Lomography medium format film loaded into a Kodak Box Brownie.

"The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests and mountains (or fells), and its associations with William Wordsworth and other Lake Poets and also with Beatrix Potter and John Ruskin. The Lake District National Park was established in 1951 and covers an area of 2,362 square kilometres. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.

 

The Lake District is located completely within the county of Cumbria. All the land in England higher than 3,000 feet (914 m) above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and largest natural lakes in England, Wast Water and Windermere respectively." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

Designated a UNESCO site as an Outlier of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

 

From the National Park Foundation:

 

Built and occupied over 900 years ago, Aztec Ruins National Monument is the largest Ancestral Pueblo community in the Animas River Valley. In use for over 200 years, the site contains several multi-story buildings called “great houses,” each with a “great kiva”—a circular ceremonial chamber—as well as many smaller structures. Excavation of the West Ruin in the 1900s uncovered thousands of well-preserved artifacts that provide a glimpse into the life of Ancestral Pueblo people, connecting people of the past with people and traditions of today.

Nelson is a census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The community is in the Pacific Standard Time zone. The location of Nelson is in El Dorado Canyon, Eldorado Mountains. The town is in the southeast region of the Eldorado Valley. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 37. Nelson is located along Nevada State Route 165, about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of its junction with U.S. Route 95. Route 165 continues east 5 miles (8 km) to a dead end at Nelsons Landing on the Colorado River, 18 miles (29 km) by water north of Cottonwood Cove on Lake Mojave. Nelson is about 25 miles (40 km) from Boulder City by road. The area known as Nelson was originally called Eldorado in 1775, by the Spaniards who made the original discoveries of gold in the area that is now Eldorado Canyon. The town was the site of one of the first major gold strikes in Nevada and one of the biggest mining booms in state history. Gold and silver were discovered here around 1859. The rush to the canyon began in 1861, several mining camps were established in the canyon, and a steamboat landing at the mouth of the canyon on the Colorado River, called Colorado City. In its heyday, the area established a reputation for being rough and lawless. During the American Civil War, deserters from both the Union and Confederate armies would wander there, hoping that such an isolated location would be the last place military authorities would look for them. Among the early mines established was the notorious Techatticup Mine in the middle of the canyon. Disagreements over ownership, management and labor disputes resulted in wanton killings so frequent as to be routine and ordinary. Despite the sinister reputation of the mine, it along with others in the town produced several million dollars in gold, silver, copper and lead. The mines in the canyon were active from about 1858 until 1945. The community called Nelson was named for Charles Nelson, a camp leader who was slain in his home, along with four other people, in 1897 by the renegade Indian, Avote. Between, 1901 and 1905 the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad was built across southern Nevada, through Las Vegas, to Daggett, California where it connected to the AT&SF, and the complete Salt Lake–Los Angeles line was opened on May 1, 1905. This nearby railhead ended the need for steamboats at Eldorado Canyon, the landing and the mill there were abandoned. The town of Nelson was born near the head of the canyon nearest the road to the railroad, the post office of Eldorado was closed on August 31, 1907 and moved to Nelson. The mines and the landing are accessible through the town of Nelson off US 95 about 25 miles southwest of Las Vegas. Much of Nelson, which was not impacted by the 1974 flood, remains today and is located near the top of the wash, away from the flood channels. The sparsely populated community consists mainly of privately owned ranch houses, and a river and mining tour business housed in a former Texaco gas station, north of the road from the Techatticup Mine, that has been used as a filming location for several feature films, including 3000 Miles to Graceland. The fate of Nelson's Landing is a warning to visitors to this region who should watch for conditions leading to flash flooding. They should also be cautious of open mines and ventilation shafts.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson,_Nevada

 

El Dorado Canyon is a canyon in southern Clark County, Nevada famed for its rich silver and gold mines. The canyon was named in 1857 by steamboat entrepreneur Captain George Alonzo Johnson when gold and silver was discovered here. It drains into the Colorado River at the former site of Nelson's Landing. The town of Nelson lies in the upper reach of the canyon. Eldorado Canyon Mine Tours operates mid way in the canyon at the Techatticup Mine one of the oldest and most productive mines in the canyon. Prospecting and mining in the El Dorado Canyon had been going on from at least 1857 if not earlier. But in April 1861, as the American Civil War began, word got out that silver and some gold and copper lodes had been discovered by John Moss and others in what became known as El Dorado Canyon, in New Mexico Territory, now Nevada. The canyon was on the west side of the river sixty five miles above Fort Mohave at what was then considered the limit of navigation of the river. George A. Johnson came up river and made a deal to supply the mines with his steamboats at a lower price than that provided overland across the Mohave Desert from Los Angeles. That fall news of the strikes in the Colorado Mining District, (by 1864 also called the Eldorado Canyon District), brought a flood of miners to the canyon. Several mining camps were founded in the canyon over the years. At the beginning San Juan, or Upper Camp were at the top of the canyon miles from the river near the modern town of Nelson. Midway down the canyon near the Techatticup Mine were Alturas and Louisville. At the mouth of the canyon was the boat landing of Colorado City. During the time of the American Civil War, three new mining camps developed in the middle canyon. In 1862, Lucky Jim Camp was formed along Eldorado Canyon above January Wash, south of the Techatticup Mine. Lucky Jim Camp was the home of miners sympathetic to the Confederate cause. A mile up the canyon was a camp with Union sympathies called Buster Falls. In late 1863, Col. John R. Vineyard, at the time a California State Senator for Los Angeles, completed a ten stamp mill the first in the canyon, on its north side just below Lucky Jim Camp, at what soon became El Dorado City. Vineyard's mill, assembled from mill parts salvaged from abandoned works in the Mother Lode country of California, processed the ore of its mines and cut out the cost of shipping the ore out to San Francisco for such processing, cutting costs in half. George Alonzo Johnson's steamboat company losing this downstream ore trade and making fewer trips up to the Canyon responded by raising its freight rates. From 1865 to 1867 as part of Mohave County, Arizona Territory, El Dorado Canyon had its own post office. In 1867, to secure the riverboat traffic and protect miners in the canyon from Paiute attacks the U.S. Army established Camp El Dorado, an outpost at the mouth of El Dorado Canyon that remained until it was abandoned in 1869. From 1870 the mines again were active to the point where from 1879 to 1907 El Dorado Canyon again had a post office, now in Clark County, Nevada. The mines continued to produce ore until World War II.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Dorado_Canyon_(Nevada)

The Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin, Wakefield, is a chantry chapel in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, and is designated a Grade I Listed building by English Heritage. It is located south of the city centre on the medieval bridge over the River Calder. It is the only survivor of four chantries in Wakefield and the oldest and most ornate of the surviving bridge chapels in England. The chapel has had three west fronts, the original medieval façade having been removed to Kettlethorpe Hall in 1832. The medieval bridge is a scheduled ancient monument, and since 2000 has been in the care of Wakefield Cathedral.

 

It sits by Wakefield’s medieval 98 metre long, nine-arched bridge, which was built in stone between 1342 and 1356. It replaced an earlier wooden structure on the site of an ancient ford. The chapel on the bridge was licensed in 1356.

 

The chapel was used for worship until the Reformation and Abolition of Chantries Acts when all Wakefield's four chantry chapels were closed. The bridge chapel survived because it is a structural element of the bridge. After closure it was used as a warehouse, library, office and cheese shop and survived bridge widening in 1758 and 1797. The bridge and its chapel were painted by artists including J.M.W. Turner whose watercolour dates from 1793.

 

The chapel was transferred to the Church of England in 1842 and the Yorkshire Architectural Society, influenced by the Oxford Movement, persuaded to undertake its restoration. The society, keen to restore medieval ecclesiastical remains, adopted designs by George Gilbert Scott. Restoration costing approximately £2,500 (equivalent to £250,000 in 2021), was carried out, resulting in the complete reconstruction of the chapel above pavement level. The new west front differed slightly from its medieval predecessor. Scott is perceived as having made two errors, the first was being persuaded to completely replace the old west front. The second was having the new façade carved from Caen stone, which crumbled in the polluted urban atmosphere and was completely replaced in 1939 in gritstone by ecclesiastical architect Sir Charles Nicholson. The original richly carved medieval façade was moved to Kettlethorpe Hall, where it became the frontage to a folly boathouse.

 

The chapel opened for Anglican worship in 1848 and was used as the parish church of the newly formed ecclesiastical district of St Mary until a church was built in 1854. The bridge chapel became a chapel-of-ease and services were held irregularly. St Mary's merged with St Andrew's, Eastmoor in the 1960s and the impoverished parish struggled with the chapel's upkeep. In the 1980s it seemed likely the chapel would be declared redundant by the Church of England. In January 2000 a parish boundary change brought the chantry into the care of Wakefield Cathedral.

 

This description incorporates text from the English Wikipedia.

The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Miami Jockey Club or Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Another listing for it was added in 1988. The Hialeah Park Race Track is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Hialeah Station at Palm Avenue and East 21st Street.

 

The Hialeah Park Race Track is one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in southern Florida. Originally opened in 1922 by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner, Missouri cattleman James H. Bright, as part of their development of the town of Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah Park opened as a greyhound racing track operated by the Miami Kennel Club. The Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's Thoroughbred horse racing track on January 25, 1925. The facility was severely damaged by the 1926 hurricane and in 1930 was sold to Philadelphia horseman Joseph E. Widener. With Kentucky horseman Col. Edward R. Bradley as an investor, Widener hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flora and fauna and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with flamingos. Hailed as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened on January 14, 1932. An Australian totalisator for accepting parimutuel betting was the first to be installed in America. The park became so famous for its flamingo flocks that it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American Flamingo by the Audubon Society.

 

In 1987, the horse-racing movie Let It Ride, with Richard Dreyfuss, Terri Garr, and Jennifer Tilly, had most of its principal film photography shot at Hialeah Park. Hialeah Park also made an appearance in Public Enemies but most scenes were shot in the Midwest. The Champ (1979) with Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway and Ricky Schroder filmed scenes on Flamingo Day, 3/4/78.

 

Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1979. On January 12, 1988, the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.

 

In 2001, Hialeah Park stopped hosting racing after a change in state law kept it from having exclusive dates in its competition with Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course. Consequently, owner John Brunetti closed Hialeah Park to the public. The filly Cheeky Miss won the last thoroughbred race run at Hialeah on May 22, 2001. Among the races the track hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby for 3-year-old horses, and the once prestigious Widener Handicap, a major race for horses four years and older that was the East Coast counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap in California. Important annual stakes races that were run annually until 2001 were:

 

Flamingo Stakes

Widener Handicap

Bahamas Stakes

Black Helen Handicap

Bougainvillea Handicap

Everglades Stakes

Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap

Hibiscus Stakes

McLennan Handicap

Royal Palm Handicap

Seminole Handicap

 

n 2004, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering revoked Hialeah's thoroughbred permit because it did not hold races for the previous two years. As of 2013, its facilities remain intact except for the stables, which were demolished in early 2007.[3] In 2006, the abandoned Hialeah Park site was considered to be a possible location for a new Florida Marlins Ballpark.

 

On March 2009, it was announced that track owner John Brunetti was awarded a racing permit. Design firm EwingCole was selected to develop a master plan for renovation and further development, including a new casino. A $40–$90 million restoration project was begun in mid-2009.

 

On May 7, 2009 the Florida legislature agreed to a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that allowed Hialeah Park to operate slot machines and run Quarter Horse races.[6] The historic racetrack reopened on November 28, 2009 but only for quarter horse races. The park installed slot machines in January 2010 as part of a deal to allow for two calendar seasons of racing. The races ran until February 2, 2010. Only a portion of the park has been restored and an additional $30 million will be needed to complete this first phase of the project. The full transformation was expected to cost $1 billion since the plan included a complete redevelopment of the surrounding area including the construction of an entertainment complex to include a hotel, restaurants, casinos, stores and a theater. On June 2010 concerns were raised over the preservation of Hialeah Park's historical status as the planned development threatened to hurt Hialeah Park's potential as a National Historic Landmark.

 

On August 14, 2013, Brunetti opened a new casino at Hialeah Park and continues to host winter Quarter Horse racing meets (using temporary stables)

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hialeah_Park_Race_Track

hialeahparkcasino.com/

 

The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, originally Cincinnati Union Terminal, is a mixed-use complex in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Once a major passenger train station, it went into sharp decline during the postwar decline of railroad travel. Most of the building was converted to other uses, and now houses museums, theaters, and a library, as well as special travelling exhibitions. Since 1991, it has been used as a train station once again.

 

Built in 1933, it is a monumental example of Art Deco architecture, for which it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

 

Cincinnati was a major center of railroad traffic in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially as an interchange point between railroads serving the Northeastern and Midwestern states with railroads serving the South. However, intercity passenger traffic was split among no fewer than five stations in Downtown Cincinnati, requiring the many travelers who changed between railroads to navigate local transit themselves. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which operated through sleepers with other railroads, was forced to split its operations between two stations. Proposals to construct a union station began as early as the 1890s, and a committee of railroad executives formed in 1912 to begin formal studies on the subject, but a final agreement between all seven railroads that served Cincinnati and the city itself would not come until 1928, after intense lobbying and negotiations, led by Philip Carey Company president George Crabbs. The seven railroads: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad; the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway; the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; the Norfolk and Western Railway; the Pennsylvania Railroad; and the Southern Railway selected a site for their new station in the West End, near the Mill Creek.

 

The principal architects of the massive building were Alfred T. Fellheimer and Steward Wagner, with architects Paul Philippe Cret and Roland Wank brought in as design consultants; Cret is often credited as the building's architect, as he was responsible for the building's signature Art Deco style. The Rotunda features the largest semi-dome in the western hemisphere, measuring 180 feet (55 m) wide and 106 feet (32 m) high.

 

The Union Terminal Company was created to build the terminal, railroad lines in and out, and other related transportation improvements. Construction in 1928 with the regrading of the east flood plain of the Mill Creek to a point nearly level with the surrounding city, a massive effort that required 5.5 million cubic yards of landfill. Other improvements included the construction of grade separated viaducts over the Mill Creek and the railroad approaches to Union Terminal. The new viaducts the Union Terminal Company created to cross the Mill Creek valley ranged from the well built, like the Western Hills Viaduct, to the more hastily constructed and shabby, like the Waldvogel Viaduct. Construction on the terminal building itself began in 1931, with Cincinnati mayor Russell Wilson laying the mortar for the cornerstone. Construction was finished ahead of schedule, although the terminal welcomed its first trains even earlier on March 19, 1933 when it was forced into emergency operation due to flooding of the Ohio River. The official opening of the station was on March 31, 1933. The total cost of the project was $41.5 million.

 

During its heyday as a passenger rail facility, Cincinnati Union Terminal had a capacity of 216 trains per day, 108 in and 108 out. Three concentric lanes of traffic were included in the design of the building, underneath the main rotunda of the building: one for taxis, one for buses, and one (although never used) for streetcars. However, the time period in which the terminal was built was one of decline for train travel. By 1939, local newspapers were already describing the station as a white elephant. While it had a brief revival in the 1940s, because of World War II, it declined in use through the 1950s into the 1960s.

 

After the creation of Amtrak in 1971, train service at Cincinnati Union Terminal was reduced to just two trains a day, the George Washington and the James Whitcomb Riley. Amtrak abandoned Cincinnati Union Terminal the next year, opening a smaller station elsewhere in the city on October 29, 1972.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Museum_Center_at_Union_T...

Designated a Grade I listed building the church contains much cast iron in its structure, and its citation in the National Heritage List for England states it has "one of the earliest and most thorough uses of industrial materials in a major building".

 

The church was built between 1813 and 1815 as a chapel of ease to St Mary's Church, Walton. The church was built by John Cragg, the owner of the Mersey Iron Foundry, Tithebarn Street, Liverpool. Cragg bought the land from the Earl of Sefton, and built the church at his own expense, its final cost being £7,865 (equivalent to £740,000 in 2023). Cragg was a keen churchman and was always looking for new ways to use cast iron. He had already starting building St George's Church, Everton, using cast iron in its structure and he planned to use more of it in St Michael's. Here it was used in the construction of the walls and for the pinnacles. The cast iron in the walls formed a skeleton, the base of which was filled with slate, and the remainder with brick. The brick was stuccoed. Internally he used it for the columns, for the tracery of the ceiling, and for mouldings.

 

By the late 1860s the structure of the building had deteriorated so much that it was in danger of demolition. However one of the churchwardens, Colonel Thomas Wilson organised a restoration of the church, the architects being W. and G. Audsley.The box pews were removed and replaced with benches providing a centre aisle as well as the two side aisles, the floor was relaid, and a new heating system was installed.

 

The stained glass in the east window is in early Gothic Revival style. The east window in the chapel dates from 1916 and is by Shrigley and Hunt. In the porch is a First World War memorial window with glass by H. Gustave Hiller.

 

Designated as the spare bus of the fleet normally used on the 415 service between York and Selby, Wright Gemini 2DL lowheight integral AY02 MAX (formerly YJ59 BTV) is today working the 197 raceday shuttle service on behalf of York Pullman and is at Station Rise

The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Miami Jockey Club or Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Another listing for it was added in 1988. The Hialeah Park Race Track is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Hialeah Station at Palm Avenue and East 21st Street.

 

The Hialeah Park Race Track is one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in southern Florida. Originally opened in 1922 by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner, Missouri cattleman James H. Bright, as part of their development of the town of Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah Park opened as a greyhound racing track operated by the Miami Kennel Club. The Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's Thoroughbred horse racing track on January 25, 1925. The facility was severely damaged by the 1926 hurricane and in 1930 was sold to Philadelphia horseman Joseph E. Widener. With Kentucky horseman Col. Edward R. Bradley as an investor, Widener hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flora and fauna and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with flamingos. Hailed as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened on January 14, 1932. An Australian totalisator for accepting parimutuel betting was the first to be installed in America. The park became so famous for its flamingo flocks that it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American Flamingo by the Audubon Society.

 

In 1987, the horse-racing movie Let It Ride, with Richard Dreyfuss, Terri Garr, and Jennifer Tilly, had most of its principal film photography shot at Hialeah Park. Hialeah Park also made an appearance in Public Enemies but most scenes were shot in the Midwest. The Champ (1979) with Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway and Ricky Schroder filmed scenes on Flamingo Day, 3/4/78.

 

Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1979. On January 12, 1988, the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.

 

In 2001, Hialeah Park stopped hosting racing after a change in state law kept it from having exclusive dates in its competition with Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course. Consequently, owner John Brunetti closed Hialeah Park to the public. The filly Cheeky Miss won the last thoroughbred race run at Hialeah on May 22, 2001. Among the races the track hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby for 3-year-old horses, and the once prestigious Widener Handicap, a major race for horses four years and older that was the East Coast counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap in California. Important annual stakes races that were run annually until 2001 were:

 

Flamingo Stakes

Widener Handicap

Bahamas Stakes

Black Helen Handicap

Bougainvillea Handicap

Everglades Stakes

Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap

Hibiscus Stakes

McLennan Handicap

Royal Palm Handicap

Seminole Handicap

 

n 2004, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering revoked Hialeah's thoroughbred permit because it did not hold races for the previous two years. As of 2013, its facilities remain intact except for the stables, which were demolished in early 2007.[3] In 2006, the abandoned Hialeah Park site was considered to be a possible location for a new Florida Marlins Ballpark.

 

On March 2009, it was announced that track owner John Brunetti was awarded a racing permit. Design firm EwingCole was selected to develop a master plan for renovation and further development, including a new casino. A $40–$90 million restoration project was begun in mid-2009.

 

On May 7, 2009 the Florida legislature agreed to a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that allowed Hialeah Park to operate slot machines and run Quarter Horse races.[6] The historic racetrack reopened on November 28, 2009 but only for quarter horse races. The park installed slot machines in January 2010 as part of a deal to allow for two calendar seasons of racing. The races ran until February 2, 2010. Only a portion of the park has been restored and an additional $30 million will be needed to complete this first phase of the project. The full transformation was expected to cost $1 billion since the plan included a complete redevelopment of the surrounding area including the construction of an entertainment complex to include a hotel, restaurants, casinos, stores and a theater. On June 2010 concerns were raised over the preservation of Hialeah Park's historical status as the planned development threatened to hurt Hialeah Park's potential as a National Historic Landmark.

 

On August 14, 2013, Brunetti opened a new casino at Hialeah Park and continues to host winter Quarter Horse racing meets (using temporary stables)

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hialeah_Park_Race_Track

hialeahparkcasino.com/

 

" Baldwin County, Alabama"

Officially designated the Harleigh Daveysdaughter GT-85, this compact yet powerful bike was affectionately known to its riders as the "Humbug". The bike was designed to appeal to the market which aspired to own a Davey-Harleyson WD-40 "Whale" but could afford neither the fuel costs nor the court fees for damages inflicted to other road users.

 

The GT-85 came in a distinctive black and white chequered paint scheme as standard, though purchasers could choose the colour of the band and rear structure. This, coupled to its rotund shape led to the bike's popular nickname of the "Humbug". Like its larger cousin, the GT-85 had a full set of road-legal lights and startling performance. Indeed its shorter form and light weight made it sprightly and highly manoeuvrable: a favourite on the street or the amateur race day.

The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Miami Jockey Club or Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Another listing for it was added in 1988. The Hialeah Park Race Track is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Hialeah Station at Palm Avenue and East 21st Street.

 

The Hialeah Park Race Track is one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in southern Florida. Originally opened in 1922 by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner, Missouri cattleman James H. Bright, as part of their development of the town of Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah Park opened as a greyhound racing track operated by the Miami Kennel Club. The Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's Thoroughbred horse racing track on January 25, 1925. The facility was severely damaged by the 1926 hurricane and in 1930 was sold to Philadelphia horseman Joseph E. Widener. With Kentucky horseman Col. Edward R. Bradley as an investor, Widener hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flora and fauna and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with flamingos. Hailed as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened on January 14, 1932. An Australian totalisator for accepting parimutuel betting was the first to be installed in America. The park became so famous for its flamingo flocks that it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American Flamingo by the Audubon Society.

 

In 1987, the horse-racing movie Let It Ride, with Richard Dreyfuss, Terri Garr, and Jennifer Tilly, had most of its principal film photography shot at Hialeah Park. Hialeah Park also made an appearance in Public Enemies but most scenes were shot in the Midwest. The Champ (1979) with Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway and Ricky Schroder filmed scenes on Flamingo Day, 3/4/78.

 

Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1979. On January 12, 1988, the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.

 

In 2001, Hialeah Park stopped hosting racing after a change in state law kept it from having exclusive dates in its competition with Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course. Consequently, owner John Brunetti closed Hialeah Park to the public. The filly Cheeky Miss won the last thoroughbred race run at Hialeah on May 22, 2001. Among the races the track hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby for 3-year-old horses, and the once prestigious Widener Handicap, a major race for horses four years and older that was the East Coast counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap in California. Important annual stakes races that were run annually until 2001 were:

 

Flamingo Stakes

Widener Handicap

Bahamas Stakes

Black Helen Handicap

Bougainvillea Handicap

Everglades Stakes

Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap

Hibiscus Stakes

McLennan Handicap

Royal Palm Handicap

Seminole Handicap

 

n 2004, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering revoked Hialeah's thoroughbred permit because it did not hold races for the previous two years. As of 2013, its facilities remain intact except for the stables, which were demolished in early 2007.[3] In 2006, the abandoned Hialeah Park site was considered to be a possible location for a new Florida Marlins Ballpark.

 

On March 2009, it was announced that track owner John Brunetti was awarded a racing permit. Design firm EwingCole was selected to develop a master plan for renovation and further development, including a new casino. A $40–$90 million restoration project was begun in mid-2009.

 

On May 7, 2009 the Florida legislature agreed to a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that allowed Hialeah Park to operate slot machines and run Quarter Horse races.[6] The historic racetrack reopened on November 28, 2009 but only for quarter horse races. The park installed slot machines in January 2010 as part of a deal to allow for two calendar seasons of racing. The races ran until February 2, 2010. Only a portion of the park has been restored and an additional $30 million will be needed to complete this first phase of the project. The full transformation was expected to cost $1 billion since the plan included a complete redevelopment of the surrounding area including the construction of an entertainment complex to include a hotel, restaurants, casinos, stores and a theater. On June 2010 concerns were raised over the preservation of Hialeah Park's historical status as the planned development threatened to hurt Hialeah Park's potential as a National Historic Landmark.

 

On August 14, 2013, Brunetti opened a new casino at Hialeah Park and continues to host winter Quarter Horse racing meets (using temporary stables)

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hialeah_Park_Race_Track

hialeahparkcasino.com/

 

Boston Common

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Boston Common (disambiguation).

Boston Common

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

U.S. National Historic Landmark District

Boston common 1848.jpg

View of the water celebration on Boston Common on October 25, 1848

Boston Common is located in Boston Boston Common

Show map of Boston

Show map of Massachusetts

Show map of the US

Show all

LocationBoston, Massachusetts

Area50 acres (200,000 m2)[1]

Built1634

ArchitectMultiple, including Augustus St. Gaudens

NRHP Reference #72000144 (original)

87000760 (new)

Significant dates

Added to NRHPJuly 12, 1972 (original, in NRHP also including Boston Public Garden)

February 27, 1987 (new, in NHL of Boston Common alone)[2]

Designated NHLDFebruary 27, 1987[3]

Boston Common (also known as the Common) is a central public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Boston Commons".[4][5] Dating from 1634, it is the oldest city park in the United States.[6] The Boston Common consists of 50 acres (20 ha) of land bounded by Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street, Charles Street, and Boylston Street. The Common is part of the Emerald Necklace of parks and parkways that extend from the Common south to Franklin Park in Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and Dorchester. A visitors' center for all of Boston is located on the Tremont Street side of the park.

  

Aerial view in 2017

The Central Burying Ground is located on the Boylston Street side of Boston Common and contains the burial sites of the artist Gilbert Stuart and the composer William Billings. Also buried there are Samuel Sprague and his son, Charles Sprague, one of America's earliest poets. Samuel Sprague was a participant in the Boston Tea Party and fought in the Revolutionary War. The Common was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 1977.

 

Contents [hide]

1History

2Notable features

2.1Grounds

2.2Structures

2.3Neighboring structures

3Notable recurring events

4See also

5References

6Further reading

7External links

History[edit]

 

African-American artist Edward Mitchell Bannister painted this vivid depiction of the street and Boston Common area in 1898-99.[7]

The Common's purpose has changed over the years. It was once owned by William Blaxton (often given the modernized spelling "Blackstone"), the first European settler of Boston, until it was bought from him by the Puritan founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During the 1630s, it was used by many families as a cow pasture. However, this only lasted for a few years, as affluent families bought additional cows, which led to overgrazing, a real-life example of the Tragedy of the commons.[8] After grazing was limited in 1646 to 70 cows at a time,[9] the Boston Common continued to host cows until they were formally banned from it in 1830 by Mayor Harrison Gray Otis.[10]

  

Execution of Ann Hibbins on Boston Common, on charges of witchcraft, June 19, 1656. Sketch by F.T. Merril, 1886

The Common was used as a camp by the British before the American Revolutionary War, from which they left for the Battle of Lexington and Concord. It was used for public hangings up until 1817, most of which were from a large oak which was replaced with a gallows in 1769. On June 1, 1660, Quaker Mary Dyer was hanged there by the Puritans for repeatedly defying a law that banned Quakers from the Colony.[11] Dyer was one of the four Quakers executed on the Common and known as the Boston martyrs.[12][13]

 

On May 19, 1713, two hundred citizens rioted on the Common in reaction to a food shortage in the city. They later attacked the ships and warehouses of wealthy merchant Andrew Belcher, who was exporting grain to the Caribbean for higher profits. The lieutenant governor was shot during the riot.[14]

  

Central Burying Ground on Boston Common

 

1890 Map of Boston Common and the adjacent Public Garden

True park status seems to have emerged no later than 1830, when the grazing of cows was ended and renaming the Common as Washington Park was proposed. Renaming the bordering Sentry Street to Park Place (later to be called Park Street) in 1804[15] already acknowledged the reality. By 1836, an ornamental iron fence fully enclosed the Common and its five perimeter malls or recreational promenades, the first of which, Tremont Mall, had been in place since 1728, in imitation of St. James's Park in London. Given these improvements dating back to 1728, a case could be made that Boston Common is in fact the world's first public urban park, since these developments precede the establishment of the earliest public urban parks in England—Derby Arboretum (1840), Peel Park, Salford (1846), and Birkenhead Park (1847)—which are often considered the first.

 

Originally, the Charles Street side of Boston Common, along with the adjacent portions of the Public Garden, were used as an unofficial dumping ground, due to being the lowest-lying portions of the two parks; this, along with the Garden's originally having been a salt marsh, resulted in the portions of the two parks being "a moist stew that reeked and that was a mess to walk over", driving visitors away from these areas. Although plans had long been in place to regrade the Charles Street-facing portions of Boston Common and the Public Garden, the cost of moving the amount of soil necessary (approximately 62,000 cu yd (47,000 m3), weighing 93,000 short tons (84,000,000 kg), for the Common, plus an additional 9,000 cu yd (6,900 m3), weighing 14,000 short tons (13,000,000 kg), for the adjoining portions of the Public Garden) prevented the work from being undertaken. This finally changed in the summer of 1895, when the required quantity of soil was made available as a result of the excavation of the Tremont Street Subway, and was used to regrade the Charles Street sides of both Boston Common and the Public Garden.[16]

 

A hundred people gathered on the Common in early 1965 to protest the Vietnam War. A second protest happened on October 15, 1969, this time with 100,000 people protesting.[17]

 

Today, the Common serves as a public park for all to use for formal or informal gatherings. Events such as concerts, protests, softball games, and ice skating (on Frog Pond) often take place in the park. Famous individuals such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Pope John Paul II have made speeches there. Judy Garland gave her largest concert ever (100,000+) on the Common, on August 31, 1967.

 

It was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1987.[1][3] The Boston Common is a public park managed by the Boston Park Department. A private advocacy group, the Friends of the Public Garden, provides additional funding for maintenance and special events.[18]

 

On October 21, 2006, the Common became the site of a new world record, when 30,128 Jack-o'-lanterns were lit simultaneously around the park at the Life is good Pumpkin Festival.[19] The previous record, held by Keene, New Hampshire since 2003, was 28,952.[20]

 

On August 27, 2007, two teenagers were shot on the Common. One of the bullets fired during the shooting struck the Massachusetts State House.[21] A strict curfew has since been enforced, which has been protested by the homeless population of Boston.[22][23]

 

Notable features[edit]

 

Boston Common in the fall of 2016.

Grounds[edit]

The Common forms the southern foot of Beacon Hill.

Boston Common is the southern end of Boston's Freedom Trail.

The softball fields lie in the southwest corner of the Common.

A grassy area forms the western part of the park and is most commonly used for the park's largest events. A parking garage lies under this part of the Common. A granite slab there commemorates Pope John Paul II's October 1979 visit to Boston.

In 1913 and 1986 prehistoric sites were discovered on the Common indicating Native American presence in the area as far back as 8,500 years ago.[24]

Since 1971 the Province of Nova Scotia has donated the annual Christmas Tree to the City of Boston as an enduring thank-you for the relief efforts of the Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee following the Halifax Explosion of 1917. In recent years[when?] the tree has been located[where?] on the Common.

Structures[edit]

A monumental inscription at the corner of Park Street and Tremont Street reads:[citation needed]

In or about the year of our Lord One Thousand Six Hundred thirty and four the then present inhabitants of the Town of Boston of whom the Hon John Winthrop Esq Gov of the Colony was Chiefe did treat and agree with Mr William Blackstone for the purchase of his Estate and any Lands living within said neck of Land called Boston after which purchase the Town laid out a plan for a trayning field for which ever since and now is used for that purpose and for the feeding of cattell.

 

Plaque to the Great Elm tree, which had been adorned with lanterns to represent liberty, used as a point of fortification, and used for hangings.[25] It was destroyed in a storm in 1876.

The Robert Gould Shaw Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Afro-American 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry stands at Beacon and Park Streets, the northeast corner of the Common, opposite the State House.

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a victory column on Flag Staff Hill in the Common, commemorating Civil War dead.

The Boston Massacre Memorial was dedicated November 14, 1888.

The Oneida Football Monument memorializes the Common as the site of the first organized football games in the United States, played by the Oneida Football Club in 1862.[26]

Frog Pond, a public ice-skating rink in winter months, is situated in the northern portion.

Brewer Fountain stands near the corner of Park and Tremont Streets, by Park Street Station. The 22-foot-tall (6.7 m), 15,000-pound (6,800 kg) bronze fountain, cast in Paris, was a gift to the city by Gardner Brewer. It began to function for the first time on June 3, 1868.

Boylston and Park Street stations, the first two subway stations in the Western Hemisphere, lie underneath the southern and eastern corners of the park, respectively; both stations have been in near-continuous operation since the opening of the first portion of the Tremont Street Subway (now part of the MBTA's Green Line) on 1 September 1897.

Parkman Bandstand, in the eastern part of the park, is used in musical and theatrical productions.

 

Beacon St. Mall, 19th century (photo by E.L. Allen)

  

Old Elm tree, 19th century

  

Plaque to the Great Elm tree

  

Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment

  

Soldiers and Sailors Monument

  

Boston Massacre Memorial

  

The Frog Pond

  

Parkman Bandstand

  

Massachusetts State House/Massachusetts Statehouse ("New" State House)

  

Boylston station

  

Boston Common

Neighboring structures[edit]

The Massachusetts State House stands across Beacon Street from the northern edge of the Common.

The Boston Public Garden, a more formal landscaped park, lies to the west of the Common across Charles Street (and was originally considered an extension of the Common).

The Masonic Grand Lodge of Massachusetts headquarters sits across from the southern corner of the Common at the intersection of Boylston and Tremont Streets.

Across from the southern corner of the Common, along Boylston and Tremont Streets, lies the campus of Emerson College.

Across from the Common, to the southeast, Suffolk University has a dormitory on Tremont Street.

Notable recurring events[edit]

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's Shakespeare on the Common

Boston Lyric Opera's Outdoor Opera Series

Ancient Fishweir Project Installation Event

Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition's Freedom Rally

Lighting of the Christmas tree gifted by Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Fireworks display on the evening of December 31 as part of Boston's First Night celebration

See also[edit]

Boston portal

Boston martyrs

Granary Burying Ground

King's Chapel burying ground

Boston Public Garden

List of National Historic Landmarks in Boston

National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Boston, Massachusetts

References[edit]

^ Jump up to: a b James H. Charleton (November 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Boston Common" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2009-06-22. and Accompanying photos: one aerial from 1972 and three from 1985 (1.43 MB)

Jump up ^ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.

^ Jump up to: a b "Boston Common". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-04-16.

Jump up ^ "Boston Common". City of Boston. Retrieved 2011-11-09.

Jump up ^ "Place Names: Boston English". Adam Gaffin and by content posters. Retrieved 2011-11-09.

Jump up ^ "Boston Common". CelebrateBoston.com. 2006. Retrieved 2011-03-26.

Jump up ^ "Boston Street Scene (Boston Common)". The Walters Art Museum.

Jump up ^ Loewen, James (1999). Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong. New York: The New Press. p. 414. ISBN 0-9650031 -7-5.

Jump up ^ Boston Common & Public Gardens - Great Public Spaces | Project for Public Spaces. PPS. Retrieved on 2013-08-21.

Jump up ^ Lowen, James (1994) Planning the City Upon a Hill: Boston Since 1630University of Massachusetts Press (Boston) ISBN 0-87023-923-6, ISBN 978-0-87023-923-6, p. 53

Jump up ^ Rogers, Horatio, 2009. Mary Dyer of Rhode Island: The Quaker Martyr That Was Hanged on Boston pp.1–2. BiblioBazaar, LLC

Jump up ^ J. Besse, A Collection of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers, 1753, Vol. 2, pp. 203-05.

Jump up ^ ODNB article by John C. Shields, ‘Leddra, William (d. 1661)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 [1], accessed 16 Aug 2009

Jump up ^ Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Perennial, 2003. p.51 ISBN 0-06-052837-0

Jump up ^ "A Brief History of the Union Club". The Union Club of Boston. Retrieved 4 October 2012.

Jump up ^ Most, Doug (2014). The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry that Built America's First Subway. St. Martin's Press. pp. 233–234. ISBN 978-1-250-06135-5.

Jump up ^ Zinn, Howard. p.486

Jump up ^ www.friendsofthepublicgarden.org

Jump up ^ "Life is good" site Archived March 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.

Jump up ^ Levenson, Michael; McCabe, Kathy (October 22, 2006). "A love in Common for pumpkins". The Boston Globe.

Jump up ^ Drake, John C. (August 28, 2007). "Shots on Common strike teens, State House". The Boston Globe.

Jump up ^ Abel, David (August 30, 2007). "Curfew targets crime on Common". The Boston Globe.

Jump up ^ "Homeless Protest Boston Common Curfew: Park Closed After 11 P.M.". TheBostonChannel.Com. 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2008-04-16.

Jump up ^ Research at Boston University. Bu.edu (2007-01-10). Retrieved on 2013-08-21.

Jump up ^ www.celebrateboston.com/sites/boston-common-great-elm.htm. Missing or empty |title= (help)

Jump up ^ Winthrop Saltonstall Scudder, An historical sketch of the Oneida football club of Boston, 1862-1865 (Boston, 1926)

 

Bumpass Hell

 

Lassen Volcanic National Park is a United States National Park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southern-most volcano in the Cascade Range. Lassen Volcanic National Park started as two separate national monuments designated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907: Cinder Cone National Monument and Lassen Peak National Monument.

 

The source of heat for volcanism in the Lassen area is subduction off the Northern California coast of the Gorda Plate diving below the North American Plate. The area surrounding Lassen Peak is still active with boiling mud pots, stinking fumaroles, and churning hot springs. Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the few areas in the world where all four types of volcano can be found (plug dome, shield, cinder cone, and strato).

 

The park is accessible via State Routes SR 89 and SR 44. SR 89 passes north-south through the park, beginning at SR 36 to the south and ending at SR 44 to the north. SR 89 passes immediately adjacent the base of Lassen Peak.

 

There are five vehicle entrances to the park: the north and south entrances on SR 89; and, unpaved roads entering at Drakesbad and Juniper Lake in the south, and at Butte Lake in the northeast. The park can also be accessed by trails leading in from Caribou Wilderness to the east, as well as the Pacific Crest Trail, and two smaller trails leading in from Willow Lake and Little Willow Lake to the south.

 

The Lassen Chalet, a large lodge with concession facilities, was located near the southwest entrance, but was demolished in 2005. A new full-service visitor center in the same location opened to the public in 2008. The Lassen Ski Area was located near the lodge; it ceased operation in 1992 and all infrastructure has been removed.

 

Near Little Hot Springs Valley is Bumpass Hell, which is a hydrothermally altered geothermal area that spans 16 acres (65,000 m²) and has hot springs, fumaroles, and boiling mud pots. Never part of Mount Tehama's main vent, Bumpass Hell is the result of fissures that tap the volcanic heat (which is thought to be a cooling mass of andesite, perhaps three miles (5 km) below the surface)

 

It is named after Kendall Vanhook Bumpass, a miner who worked in the Lassen area in the 1860s. K.V. Bumpass discovered the area and was named on a mining claim for the area. In 1865 the editor of the Red Bluff Independent newspaper took a trip with Bumpass to see the locale. During this trip K.V. Bumpass broke though a thin crust above a boiling mud pot, his leg was badly scalded and eventually had to be amputated. The area was named in his honor.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Lassen-Volcanic-Nationalpark liegt im Norden Kaliforniens (USA). Der Park liegt rund um den Lassen Peak, dem südlichsten Vulkan des Kaskadengebirges. Das 429 km² große Gebiet um den Lassen Peak wurde 1916 zum Nationalpark erklärt.

 

In der Gegend rund um den Lassen ist die Erde immer noch vulkanisch aktiv, was sich in kochenden Schlammlöchern, heißen Quellen und Fumarolen zeigt. Lassen ist eines der wenigen Gebiete weltweit, in der alle vier Hauptformen von Vulkanen vorkommen.

 

Die Indianer erzählten in ihren Legenden, dass der Berg voller Feuer und Wasser sei und er sich eines Tages selbst zerreißen werde. Zwischen 1850 und 1851 sichteten Beobachter an dem Berg Rauch und Asche.

 

Die Gegend um den Lassen Peak wurde 1907 von Präsident Theodore Roosevelt zum National Monument erklärt.

 

Zwischen 1914 und 1921 ereigneten sich eine Reihe kleinerer Ausbrüche. Diese schufen neue Krater und Lavaflüsse. In dieser Zeit, am 6. August 1916, wurde der Nationalpark geschaffen.

 

1974 wurde das Besucherzentrum in Manzanita Lake geschlossen. Erkundungen hatten ergeben, dass die Gefahr bestand, dass bei einem Erdbeben Erdrutsche vorkommen können.

 

Die Vulkane im Park gehören zu einer geologischen Formation, die ihre Hitze aus einer Magmablase jenseits der kalifornischen Küste bezieht. Lassen ist einer der größten Lavadome der Welt. Er steht auf den Überresten von Mount Tehama, einem Stratovulkan, der noch 300 Meter höher als der heutige Lassen war. Dieser Stratovulkan maß an seinem Fuß einen Durchmesser von 18 bis 24 Kilometern. Nachdem seine Magmakammer entleert war, kollabierte dieser Vulkan und schuf eine 3 Kilometer große Caldera.

 

Die Überbleibsel dieses alten Vulkans Mount Tehama sind der Brokeoff Mountain, Mount Conrad, Mount Diller und der Pilot Pinnacle.

 

Sulphur Works ist eine Gegend mit geothermaler Aktivität. Es wird angenommen, dass hier der Gipfel des ehemaligen Tehama-Vulkans war. Weitere geothermale Gebiete befinden sich in Little Hot Springs Valley, Diamond Point und Bumpass Hell.

 

Cinder Cone liegt etwa 15 Kilometer nordöstlich des Lassen. Dieser Vulkan ist wahrscheinlich durch zwei Eruptionen um 1650 entstanden. Im Park gibt es vier Schildvulkane: Mount Harkness (im Südwesten des Parks), Red Mountain (an der Südgrenze), Prospect Pead (im Nordwesten) und Raker Peak (nördlich des Lassen Peak). Alle diese Vulkane sind 2100–2500 Meter hoch.

 

Während der Eiszeit wurden die älteren Vulkane des Parks durch Erosion angegriffen. Die Vergletscherung konzentrierte sich auf Lassen Peak, Red Mountain und Raker Peak.

 

(Wikipedia)

The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Miami Jockey Club or Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Another listing for it was added in 1988. The Hialeah Park Race Track is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Hialeah Station at Palm Avenue and East 21st Street.

 

The Hialeah Park Race Track is one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in southern Florida. Originally opened in 1922 by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner, Missouri cattleman James H. Bright, as part of their development of the town of Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah Park opened as a greyhound racing track operated by the Miami Kennel Club. The Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's Thoroughbred horse racing track on January 25, 1925. The facility was severely damaged by the 1926 hurricane and in 1930 was sold to Philadelphia horseman Joseph E. Widener. With Kentucky horseman Col. Edward R. Bradley as an investor, Widener hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flora and fauna and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with flamingos. Hailed as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened on January 14, 1932. An Australian totalisator for accepting parimutuel betting was the first to be installed in America. The park became so famous for its flamingo flocks that it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American Flamingo by the Audubon Society.

 

In 1987, the horse-racing movie Let It Ride, with Richard Dreyfuss, Terri Garr, and Jennifer Tilly, had most of its principal film photography shot at Hialeah Park. Hialeah Park also made an appearance in Public Enemies but most scenes were shot in the Midwest. The Champ (1979) with Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway and Ricky Schroder filmed scenes on Flamingo Day, 3/4/78.

 

Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1979. On January 12, 1988, the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.

 

In 2001, Hialeah Park stopped hosting racing after a change in state law kept it from having exclusive dates in its competition with Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course. Consequently, owner John Brunetti closed Hialeah Park to the public. The filly Cheeky Miss won the last thoroughbred race run at Hialeah on May 22, 2001. Among the races the track hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby for 3-year-old horses, and the once prestigious Widener Handicap, a major race for horses four years and older that was the East Coast counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap in California. Important annual stakes races that were run annually until 2001 were:

 

Flamingo Stakes

Widener Handicap

Bahamas Stakes

Black Helen Handicap

Bougainvillea Handicap

Everglades Stakes

Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap

Hibiscus Stakes

McLennan Handicap

Royal Palm Handicap

Seminole Handicap

 

n 2004, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering revoked Hialeah's thoroughbred permit because it did not hold races for the previous two years. As of 2013, its facilities remain intact except for the stables, which were demolished in early 2007.[3] In 2006, the abandoned Hialeah Park site was considered to be a possible location for a new Florida Marlins Ballpark.

 

On March 2009, it was announced that track owner John Brunetti was awarded a racing permit. Design firm EwingCole was selected to develop a master plan for renovation and further development, including a new casino. A $40–$90 million restoration project was begun in mid-2009.

 

On May 7, 2009 the Florida legislature agreed to a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that allowed Hialeah Park to operate slot machines and run Quarter Horse races.[6] The historic racetrack reopened on November 28, 2009 but only for quarter horse races. The park installed slot machines in January 2010 as part of a deal to allow for two calendar seasons of racing. The races ran until February 2, 2010. Only a portion of the park has been restored and an additional $30 million will be needed to complete this first phase of the project. The full transformation was expected to cost $1 billion since the plan included a complete redevelopment of the surrounding area including the construction of an entertainment complex to include a hotel, restaurants, casinos, stores and a theater. On June 2010 concerns were raised over the preservation of Hialeah Park's historical status as the planned development threatened to hurt Hialeah Park's potential as a National Historic Landmark.

 

On August 14, 2013, Brunetti opened a new casino at Hialeah Park and continues to host winter Quarter Horse racing meets (using temporary stables)

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hialeah_Park_Race_Track

hialeahparkcasino.com/

 

Designated 'Parapet Girder 13' (or maybe 'B'?) this railway bridge at Loders, Dorset, was constructed by Patent Shaft & Axletree Co.Ltd and as far as I know it is the original put in situ between 1855-57 when the railway line opened.

 

The name of the company can be seen below. It is a photo taken on the other side of the bridge. Markings on other bridges along the line helped to piece together the full name of the company 'Patent Shaft & Axletree Co.Ltd; Constructional Engineers, Wednesbury' You can read about that company's history here

 

www.historywebsite.co.uk/articles/Wednesbury/PatentShaft3...

  

As 1954 was designated a "Marian Year" by Pope Pius XII there was a rush to erect shrines/grottoes/statues in each parish in Ireland. This one, probably somewhere in Donegal from the lens of Mr. Tynan is probably one of many in the county. It does not appear to be moving as some at the other end of the country were alleged to have done ;-)

 

The general consensus is that this may not be a statue, but a real female woman (a scarcity at that time in Donegal :) ) partaking in a temporary tableau vivant to mark the opening of an actual Marian grotto and statue nearby. According to our intrepid Flickroonies, this Tynan image was captured relatively close to the centre of Glenties in Donegal….

  

Photographers: Denis Tynan 1923 - 2010

 

Collection: Tynan Photographic Collection

 

Date: 1956

 

NLI Ref: NPA TYN1321

 

You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie