I just found a bunch of pictures from the Orphan Car Show from three years ago that I had not posted on flickr. With our relocation project, I have not posted much new on flickr for about a month.

The Minidoka Relocation Center, 15 miles north of Twin Falls and 150 miles southeast of Boise, was also referred to as the Hunt Camp. Minidoka was considered a model environment because of its relatively peaceful atmosphere and population that got along well with the administration. Because it was not within the Western Defense Command restricted area, security was somewhat lighter than at most other camps. But when the internees first arrived, they were shocked to see the bleak landscape that was to be there home over the next three years.

Located on the Snake River Plain at an elevation of 4000 feet, the land is dotted with sagebrush and thin basaltic lava flows and cinder cones. The internees found the environment to be extremely harsh, with temperatures ranging from 30 degrees below zero to as high as 115 degrees. They also had to contend with blinding dust storms and ankle-deep mud after the rains.

Minidoka was in operation from August 10, 1942 to October 28, 1945. The reserve covered more than 33,000 acres of land in Jerome County. The camp’s peak population reached 9,397 by March 1, 1943, and it became Idaho's third largest city. Five miles of barbed wire fencing and eight watchtowers surrounded the administrative and residential areas, which were located in the west-central portion of the reserve.

Most of the people interned at Minidoka were from the Pacific Northwest: approximately 7,050 from Seattle and Bainbridge Island, Washington, 2,500 from Oregon and 150 from Alaska, including children or grandchildren of Eskimo women and Japanese men. They were temporarily housed at the Puyallup Fairgrounds in Washington, then sent by train to Idaho. In early 1943, all of the Bainbridge Island, Washington, residents interned at the Manzanar Relocation Center were transferred to Minidoka at their own request because of constant conflict with the internees from Terminal Island in Los Angeles.

The central camp consisted of 600 buildings on 950 acres. When the first internees arrived at Minidoka in August 1942, they moved into the crude barracks even though much of the camp was unfinished and there was no running water or sewage system. The Army insisted on having all Japanese removed from the West Coast at once, and they did not halt the evacuation until the camp could hold no more. The last group of 500 evacuees to arrive at the camp had to sleep in mess halls, laundry rooms, or any available bed space. Waiting in line for many daily functions, especially meals, was common.

The camp’s residential area encompassed 36 blocks and was one mile wide and three miles long. Each block included 12 tarpaper barracks, one dining hall, one laundry building with communal showers and toilets and a recreation hall. Immediately after arrival, the internees were instructed to see the camp physician, and then they received an apartment assignment. Apartments were of three sizes, and where possible, family groups or relatives were placed near each other. Efforts were later made to move people near their place of employment.

Photographed whilst exploring Sverresborg Trøndelag Folkemuseum in Trondheim in Norway. On the 'In Search of the Northern Lights' cruise aboard MV Balmoral with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

Loose corals are relocated in a safe area outside the rubble removal site, where the ship and response activities impacted the reef.

 

Background: Emergency coral restoration is underway just outside the entrance to Hawaii’s Kalaeloa Harbor. NOAA and partners are working with the owners of the cargo vessel M/V VogeTrader to repair corals that were injured when the vessel accidentally lodged itself onto the reef one morning in 2010.

 

(Original source and more information: NOAA Office of Response and Restoration Website)

Covering two floors of this office building in Fleet Place, London, Mansfield Monk designed a fresh working environment that consolidated the two businesses who were relocating to the new offices. The design reflects the individuality, creativity and passion of both parts of the business.

 

www.mansfieldmonk.co.uk

Elvis Aaron Presley[a] (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), often referred to mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, led him to both great success and initial controversy.

 

Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on rhythm acoustic guitar, and accompanied by lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage him for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. Within a year, RCA would sell ten million Presley singles. With a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll; though his performative style and promotion of the then-marginalized sound of African Americans[6] led to him being widely considered a threat to the moral well-being of the White American youth.

 

In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He held few concerts, however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. Some of his most famous films included Jailhouse Rock (1957), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Viva Las Vegas (1964). In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii. Years of prescription drug abuse and unhealthy eating habits severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at his Graceland estate at the age of 42.

 

Having sold over 400 million records worldwide, Presley is recognized as the best-selling solo music artist of all time by Guinness World Records. He was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, rhythm & blues, adult contemporary, and gospel. Presley won three Grammy Awards, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. He holds several records, including the most RIAA-certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, and the most number-one singles by any act on the UK Singles Chart. In 2018, Presley was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

 

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Vernon Elvis (April 10, 1916 – June 26, 1979) and Gladys Love (née Smith; April 25, 1912 – August 14, 1958) Presley in a two-room shotgun house that his father built for the occasion. Elvis's identical twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, was delivered 35 minutes before him, stillborn. Presley became close to both parents and formed an especially close bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God church, where he found his initial musical inspiration.

  

A photo of Elvis's parents at the Historic Blue Moon Museum in Verona, Mississippi

Presley's father Vernon was of German, Scottish and English origins. He was a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia through his ancestor Tunis Hood. Presley's mother Gladys was Scots-Irish with some French Norman ancestry. His mother and the rest of the family believed that her great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was Cherokee. This belief was restated by Elvis's granddaughter Riley Keough in 2017. Elaine Dundy, in her biography, supports the belief.

 

Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, showing little ambition. The family often relied on help from neighbors and government food assistance. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of altering a check written by his landowner and sometime-employer. He was jailed for eight months, while Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives.

 

In September 1941, Presley entered first grade at East Tupelo Consolidated, where his teachers regarded him as "average". He was encouraged to enter a singing contest after impressing his schoolteacher with a rendition of Red Foley's country song "Old Shep" during morning prayers. The contest, held at the Mississippi–Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on October 3, 1945, was his first public performance. The ten-year-old Presley stood on a chair to reach the microphone and sang "Old Shep". He recalled placing fifth. A few months later, Presley received his first guitar for his birthday; he had hoped for something else—by different accounts, either a bicycle or a rifle. Over the following year, he received basic guitar lessons from two of his uncles and the new pastor at the family's church. Presley recalled, "I took the guitar, and I watched people, and I learned to play a little bit. But I would never sing in public. I was very shy about it."

 

In September 1946, Presley entered a new school, Milam, for sixth grade; he was regarded as a loner. The following year, he began bringing his guitar to school on a daily basis. He played and sang during lunchtime and was often teased as a "trashy" kid who played hillbilly music. By then, the family was living in a largely black neighborhood. Presley was a devotee of Mississippi Slim's show on the Tupelo radio station WELO. He was described as "crazy about music" by Slim's younger brother, who was one of Presley's classmates and often took him into the station. Slim supplemented Presley's guitar instruction by demonstrating chord techniques. When his protégé was 12 years old, Slim scheduled him for two on-air performances. Presley was overcome by stage fright the first time, but succeeded in performing the following week.

 

In November 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. After residing for nearly a year in rooming houses, they were granted a two-bedroom apartment in the public housing complex known as the Lauderdale Courts. Enrolled at L. C. Humes High School, Presley received only a C in music in eighth grade. When his music teacher told him that he had no aptitude for singing, he brought in his guitar the next day and sang a recent hit, "Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me", to prove otherwise. A classmate later recalled that the teacher "agreed that Elvis was right when he said that she didn't appreciate his kind of singing". He was usually too shy to perform openly and was occasionally bullied by classmates who viewed him as a "mama's boy".

 

In 1950, he began practicing guitar regularly under the tutelage of Lee Denson, a neighbor two and a half years his senior. They and three other boys—including two future rockabilly pioneers, brothers Dorsey and Johnny Burnette—formed a loose musical collective that played frequently around the Courts. That September, he began working as an usher at Loew's State Theater. Other jobs followed at Precision Tool, Loew's again, and MARL Metal Products. Presley also helped Jewish neighbors, the Fruchters, by being their shabbos goy.

 

During his junior year, Presley began to stand out more among his classmates, largely because of his appearance: he grew his sideburns and styled his hair with rose oil and Vaseline. In his free time, he would head down to Beale Street, the heart of Memphis's thriving blues scene, and gaze longingly at the wild, flashy clothes in the windows of Lansky Brothers. By his senior year, he was wearing those clothes. Overcoming his reticence about performing outside the Lauderdale Courts, he competed in Humes' Annual "Minstrel" show in April 1953. Singing and playing guitar, he opened with "Till I Waltz Again with You", a recent hit for Teresa Brewer. Presley recalled that the performance did much for his reputation: "I wasn't popular in school ... I failed music—only thing I ever failed. And then they entered me in this talent show ... when I came onstage I heard people kind of rumbling and whispering and so forth, 'cause nobody knew I even sang. It was amazing how popular I became in school after that."

 

Presley, who received no formal music training and could not read music, studied and played by ear. He also frequented record stores that provided jukeboxes and listening booths to customers. He knew all of Hank Snow's songs, and he loved records by other country singers such as Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Ted Daffan, Jimmie Rodgers, Jimmie Davis, and Bob Wills. The Southern gospel singer Jake Hess, one of his favorite performers, was a significant influence on his ballad-singing style. He was a regular audience member at the monthly All-Night Singings downtown, where many of the white gospel groups that performed reflected the influence of African-American spiritual music. He adored the music of black gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

 

Like some of his peers, he may have attended blues venues—of necessity, in the segregated South—only on nights designated for exclusively white audiences. He certainly listened to the regional radio stations, such as WDIA-AM, that played "race records": spirituals, blues, and the modern, backbeat-heavy sound of rhythm and blues. Many of his future recordings were inspired by local African-American musicians such as Arthur Crudup and Rufus Thomas. B.B. King recalled that he had known Presley before he was popular when they both used to frequent Beale Street. By the time he graduated from high school in June 1953, Presley had already singled out music as his future.

 

Graceland is a mansion on a 13.8-acre (5.6-hectare) estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by the rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Following Lisa Marie Presley's death in 2023, the mansion is to be inherited by her daughters. In addition to being the final resting place of Elvis Presley himself, the property contains the graves of his parents, paternal grandmother and grandson, and contains a memorial to Presley's stillborn twin brother. In addition, Lisa Marie Presley will be buried there.

 

Graceland is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the Whitehaven neighborhood, about nine miles (14 kilometers) south of central Memphis and fewer than four miles (6.4 km) north of the Mississippi border.[5] It was opened to the public as a house museum on June 7, 1982. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991, becoming the first site recognized for significance related to rock music. Graceland was declared a National Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006, also a first for such a site. Graceland attracts more than 650,000 visitors annually.

 

Graceland Farms was originally owned by Stephen C. Toof, founder of S.C. Toof & Co., the oldest commercial printing firm in Memphis. He worked previously as the pressroom foreman of the Memphis newspaper, the Memphis Daily Appeal. The "grounds" (before the mansion was built in 1939) were named after Toof's daughter, Grace. She inherited the farm/property from her father in 1894. After her death, the property was passed to her niece Ruth Moore, a Memphis socialite. Together with her husband, Thomas Moore, Ruth Moore commissioned construction of a 10,266-square-foot (953.7 m2) Colonial Revival style mansion in 1939. The house was designed by architects Furbringer and Ehrman.

 

After Elvis Presley began his musical career, he purchased a $40,000 home for himself and his family at 1034 Audubon Drive in Memphis. As his success and fame grew, especially after his appearances on television, the number of fans who would congregate outside the house multiplied. Presley's neighbors, although happy to have a celebrity living nearby, soon concluded that the constant gathering of fans and journalists was a nuisance.

 

In early 1957, Presley gave his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley, a budget of $100,000 and asked them to find a "farmhouse"-like property to purchase, with buffer space around it. At the time, Graceland was located in southern Shelby County, several miles south of Memphis' main urban area. In later years, Memphis would expand with residential developments, resulting in Graceland being surrounded by other properties. Presley purchased Graceland on March 19, 1957, for the amount of $102,500.

 

Later that year, Presley invited Richard Williams and singer Buzz Cason to the house. Cason said: "We proceeded to clown around on the front porch, striking our best rock 'n' roll poses and snapping pictures with the little camera. We peeked in the not-yet-curtained windows and got a kick out of the pastel colored walls in the front rooms with shades of bright reds and purples that Elvis most certainly had picked out." Presley was fond of claiming that the US government had mooted a visit to Graceland by Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union, "to see how in America a fellow can start out with nothing and, you know, make good."

 

After Gladys died in 1958 aged 46, Presley's father Vernon remarried to Dee Stanley in 1960, and the couple lived at Graceland for a time. There was some discord between Presley and his stepmother Dee at Graceland, however. Elaine Dundy, who wrote about Presley and his mother, said that

 

"Vernon had settled down with Dee where Gladys had once reigned, while Dee herself – when Elvis was away – had taken over the role of mistress of Graceland so thoroughly as to rearrange the furniture and replace the very curtains that Gladys had approved of." This was too much for the singer, who still loved his late mother deeply. One afternoon, "a van arrived ... and all Dee's household's goods, clothes, 'improvements,' and her own menagerie of pets, were loaded on ... while Vernon, Dee and her three children went by car to a nearby house on Hermitage until they finally settled into a house on Dolan Drive which ran alongside Elvis' estate."

 

According to Mark Crispin Miller, Graceland became for Presley "the home of the organization that was himself, was tended by a large vague clan of Presleys and deputy Presleys, each squandering the vast gratuities which Elvis used to keep his whole world smiling." The author adds that Presley's father Vernon "had a swimming pool in his bedroom", that there "was a jukebox next to the swimming pool, containing Elvis' favorite records", and that the singer himself "would spend hours in his bedroom, watching his property on a closed-circuit television." According to the singer's cousin, Billy Smith, Presley spent the night at Graceland with Smith and his wife Jo many times: "we were all three there talking for hours about everything in the world! Sometimes he would have a bad dream and come looking for me to talk to, and he would actually fall asleep in our bed with us."

 

Priscilla Beaulieu lived at Graceland for five years before she and Presley wed in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 1, 1967. Their daughter Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968, and spent the first years of her life on the estate. After her parents divorced in 1972, her mother moved with the girl to California. Every year around Christmas, Lisa Marie Presley and all her family would go to Graceland to celebrate Christmas together. Lisa Marie often returned to Graceland for visits.

 

When Elvis would tour, staying in hotels, "the rooms would be remodeled in advance of his arrival, so as to make the same configurations of space as he had at home – the Graceland mansion. His furniture would arrive, and he could unwind after his performances in surroundings which were completely familiar and comforting." 'The Jungle Room' was described as being "an example of particularly lurid kitsch."[

 

On August 16, 1977, Presley died aged 42 at Graceland. The official cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia, although later toxicology reports strongly suggested that polypharmacy was the primary cause of death; "fourteen drugs were found in Elvis' system, with several drugs such as codeine in significant quantities. Presley lay in repose in a 900-pound (410 kg), copper-lined coffin just inside the foyer; more than 3,500 of his mourning fans passed by to pay their respects. A private funeral with 200 mourners was held on August 18, 1977, in the house, with the casket placed in front of the stained glass doorway of the music room. Graceland continued to be occupied by members of the family until the death of Presley's aunt Delta in 1993, who had moved in at Elvis's invitation after her husband's death. Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited the estate in 1993 when she turned 25.

 

Presley's tombstone, along with those of his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, are installed in the Meditation Garden next to the mansion. They can be visited during the mansion tours or for free before the mansion tours begin. A memorial gravestone for Presley's stillborn twin brother, Jesse Garon, is also at the site.

 

In 2019, the owners of Graceland threatened to leave Memphis unless the city provided tax incentives. The Memphis City Council subsequently voted on a deal to help fund a $100 million expansion of Graceland.

 

Constructed at the top of a hill and surrounded by rolling pastures and a grove of oak trees, Graceland is designed by the Memphis architectural firm, Furbringer and Erhmanis. It's a two-story, five-bay residence in the Colonial Revival style, with a side-facing gabled roof covered in asphalt shingles, a central two-story projecting pedimented portico, and two one-story wings on the north and south sides. Attached to the wing is an additional one-story stuccoed wing, which was originally a garage that houses up to four cars. The mansion has two chimneys; one on the north side's exterior wall, the second rising through the south side's roof ridge. The central block's front and side facades are veneered with tan Tishomingo limestone from Mississippi and its rear wall is stuccoed, as are the one-story wings. The front facade fenestration on the first floor includes 9x9 double-hung windows set in arched openings with wooden panels above, and 6x6 double-hung windows on the second floor.

 

Flanked by two marble lions, four stone steps ascend from the driveway to the two-story central projecting pedimented portico. The pediment has dentils and a small, leaded oval window in the center while the portico contains four Corinthian columns with capitals modeled after architect James Stuart's conjectural porticos for the "Tower of the Winds" in Athens, Greece. The portico's cornered columns are matched by pilasters on the front facade. The doorway has a broken arched pediment, full entablature, and engaged columns while its transom and sidelights contain elaborate and colorful stained glass. And above the main entrance is another rectangular window, completed with a shallow iron balcony.

 

Graceland is 17,552 square feet (1,630.6 m2) and has a total of 23 rooms, including eight bedrooms and bathrooms. To the right of the Entrance Hall, through an elliptical-arched opening with classical details, is the Living Room. The Living Room contains a 15-foot-long (4.6 m) white couch against the wall overlooking the front yard. To the left are two white sofas, a china cabinet and a fireplace with a mirrored wall. The painting that hangs in the room was Elvis' last Christmas present from his father, Vernon, and also displayed are photographs of Elvis' parents Vernon and Gladys, Elvis and Lisa Marie. Behind an adjoined doorway is the Music Room, framed by vivid large peacocks set in stained glass and contains a black baby grand piano and a 1950s style TV. And the third adjacent room is a bedroom that was occupied by Elvis' parents. The walls, carpet, dresser, and queen size bed are bright white with the bed draped in a velvet-looking dark purple bedspread along with an en-suite full bathroom done in pink.

 

To the left of the Entrance Hall, mirroring the Living Room, is the Dining Room, headlined by a massive crystal chandelier. It features six plush chairs in golden metal frames set around a marble table, all of which are placed on black marble flooring in the center with carpet around the perimeter. Connected to the Dining Room is the Kitchen, which was used by Elvis' aunt Delta until her death in 1993 before it was opened to the public two years later.

 

The original one-story wing on the north end of the residence includes a mechanical room, bedroom, and bath. In the mid-1960s, Presley enlarged the house to create a den known as the Jungle Room which features an indoor waterfall of cut field stone on the north wall. The room also contains items both related to and imported from the state of Hawaii because, after starring in the tropical film "Blue Hawaii" (1961), the musician wanted to bring some memorabilia from The Aloha State to his mansion, which gives visitors the same feeling. In 1976, the Jungle Room was converted into a recording studio, where he recorded the bulk of his final two albums, From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (1976) and Moody Blue (1977); these were his final known recordings in a studio setting.[27] During the mid-1960s expansion of the house, Presley constructed a large wing on the south side of the main house that was a sidewalk, between the music room in the original one-story wing and the swimming pool area, that connected to the house by a small enclosed gallery. The new wing initially housed a slot car track and to store his many items of appreciation, but was later remodeled to what is now known as the Trophy Building, which now features an exhibit about the Presley family, and includes Priscilla's wedding dress, Elvis' wedding tuxedo, Lisa Marie's toy chest and baby clothes and more.

 

The Entrance Hall contains a white staircase leading to the house's second floor with a wall of mirrors. However, the second floor is not open to visitors, out of respect for the Presley family, and partially to avoid any improper focus on the bathroom which was the site of his death. Still, it features Elvis' bedroom at the southwest corner that connects to his dressing room and bathroom in the northwest. His daughter Lisa Marie's bedroom is in the northeast corner, and in the southeast is a bedroom that served as a private personal office for the musician. The floor has been untouched since the day Elvis died and is rarely seen by non-family members.

 

Downstairs in the basement is the TV room, where Elvis often watched three television sets at once, and was within close reach of a wet bar. The three TV sets are built into the room's south wall and there's a stereo, and cabinets for Elvis' record collection. And painted on the west wall is The King's 1970s logo of a lightning bolt and cloud with the initials TCB, both of which represent 'taking care of business in a flash'. And the last room in the mansion opposite of the TV room is the billiard room; an avid billiards player, Elvis bought the pool table in 1960 and had the walls and ceiling covered with 350–400 yards of pleated cotton fabric after the two basement rooms were remodeled in 1974. The pool balls are arranged just the way they were in the musician's final days along with a strict warning sign to visitors that says "Please Do Not Touch! Thank You!" in capital letters. And in one corner of the pool table, there's a rip in the green felt, which was caused by one of Elvis' friends in a failed attempt of a trick shot.

 

Critics such as Albert Goldman write: "Though it cost a lot of money to fill up Graceland with the things that appealed to Elvis Presley, nothing in the house is worth a dime." In chapter 1 of his book, Elvis (1981), the author describes Graceland as looking like a brothel: "it appears to have been lifted from some turn-of-the-century bordello down in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Lulu White or the Countess Willie Piazza might have contrived this plushy parlor for the entertainment of Gyp the Blood. The room is a gaudy mélange of red velour and gilded tassels, Louis XV furniture and porcelain bric-a-brac..." And he dismisses the interior as "bizarre," "garish" and "phony," adding that "King Elvis's obsession with royal red reaches an intensity that makes you gag."

 

In similar terms, Greil Marcus writes that people who visited the inside of Graceland—"people who to a real degree shared Elvis Presley’s class background, and whose lives were formed by his music—have returned with one word to describe what they saw: ‘Tacky.’ Tacky, garish, tasteless—words others translated as white trash."

 

According to Karal Ann Marling, Graceland is "a Technicolor illusion. The façade is Gone With the Wind all the way. The den in the back is Mogambo with a hint of Blue Hawaii. Living in Graceland was like living on a Hollywood backlot, where patches of tropical scenery alternated with the blackened ruins of antebellum Atlanta. It was like living in a Memphis movie theater... Diehard fans are sometimes disappointed by the formal rooms along the highway side of Graceland. They’re beautiful, in a chilly blue-and-white way, but remote and overarranged." The Jungle Room's "overt bad taste" lets nonbelievers "recoil in horror and imagine themselves a notch or two higher than Elvis on the class scale."

 

After purchasing the property Presley spent in excess of $500,000 carrying out extensive modifications to suit his needs including a pink Alabama fieldstone wall surrounding the grounds that has several years' worth of graffiti (signatures and messages) from visitors, who simply refer to it as "the wall". Designed and built by Abe Sauer is the wrought-iron front gate shaped like a book of sheet music, along with green colored musical notes and two mirrored silhouettes of Elvis playing his guitar. Sauer also installed a kidney shaped swimming pool and a racquetball court, which is reminiscent of an old country club, furnished in dark leather and a functional bar. There is a sunken sitting area with the ever-present stereo system found throughout Graceland, as well as the dark brown upright piano upon which Elvis played for what were to be his last songs, Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "Unchained Melody".

 

However, reports conflict about which one was the last song. The sitting area has a floor-to-ceiling shatterproof window designed to watch the many racquetball games that took place there when Elvis was alive. In the early hours of the morning on which Elvis died, he played a game of racquetball with his girlfriend Ginger Alden, his first cousin Billy Smith and Billy's wife Jo before ending the game with the song on the piano before walking into the main house to wash his hair and go to bed. Today the two story court has been restored to the way it was when Elvis used the building.

 

Elsewhere on the estate is a small white building that served as an office for Vernon, along with an old smokehouse that housed a shooting range and a fully functional stable of horses.

 

One of Presley's better known modifications was the addition of the Meditation Garden, designed and built by architect Bernard Grenadier. It was used by the musician to reflect on any problems or situations that arose during his life. It is also where his entire family is buried: himself (1935–1977), his parents Gladys (1912–1958) and Vernon (1916–1979), and grandmother Minnie Mae Hood (1890–1980) while a small stone memorializes his twin brother Jesse Garon, who died at birth thirty minutes before Elvis was born on January 8, 1935. In late 2020, Lisa Marie's son Benjamin Keough was laid to rest on the opposite end of the Meditation Garden after his death from suicide in July of that year. Lisa Marie Presley died from sudden cardiac arrest in January 2023 and is buried next to her son.

 

After Elvis Presley's death in 1977, Vernon Presley served as executor of his estate. Upon his death in 1979, he chose Priscilla to serve as the estate executor for Elvis's only child, Lisa Marie, who was only 11. Graceland itself cost $500,000 a year in upkeep, and expenses had dwindled Elvis's and Priscilla's daughter Lisa Marie's inheritance to only $1 million. Taxes were due on the property; those and other expenses due came to over $500,000. Faced with having to sell Graceland, Priscilla examined other famous houses/museums, and hired a CEO, Jack Soden, to turn Graceland into a moneymaker. Graceland was opened to the public on June 7, 1982. Priscilla's gamble paid off; after only a month of opening Graceland's doors the estate made back all the money it had invested. Priscilla Presley became the chairwoman and president of Elvis Presley Enterprises, or EPE, stating at that time she would do so until Lisa Marie reached 21 years of age. The enterprise's fortunes soared and eventually the trust grew to be worth over $100 million.

 

An annual procession through the estate and past Elvis's grave is held on the anniversary of his death. Known as Elvis Week, it includes a full schedule of speakers and events, including the only Elvis Mass at St. Paul's Church, the highlight for many Elvis fans of all faiths. The 20th Anniversary in 1997 had several hundred media groups from around the world that were present resulting in the event gaining its greatest media publicity.

 

One of the largest gatherings assembled on the 25th anniversary in 2002 with one estimate of 40,000 people in attendance, despite the heavy rain. On the 38th anniversary of Elvis's death, an estimated 30,000 people attended the Candlelight Vigil during the night of August 15–16, 2015. On the 40th anniversary of Elvis's death, on August 15–16, 2017, at least 50,000 fans were expected to attend the Candlelight Vigil. No official figure seems to have been released, maybe because, for the first time, attendees had to pay at least the lowest tour fare, $28.75, to cover the extra security costs due to a larger than usual crowd.

 

For many of the hundreds of thousands of people who visit Graceland each year, the visit takes on a quasi-religious perspective. They may plan for years to journey to the home of the 'King' of rock and roll. On site, headphones narrate the salient events of Elvis's life and introduce the relics that adorn the rooms and corridors. The rhetorical mode is hagiographic, celebrating the life of an extraordinary man, emphasizing his generosity, his kindness and good fellowship, how he was at once a poor boy who made good, an extraordinary musical talent, a sinner and substance abuser, and a religious man devoted to the Gospel and its music. At the meditation garden, containing Elvis's grave, some visitors pray, kneel, or quietly sing one of Elvis's favorite hymns. The brick wall that encloses the mansion's grounds is covered with graffiti that express an admiration for Presley as well as petitions for help and thanks for favors granted.

 

The Graceland grounds include a new exhibit complex, Elvis Presley's Memphis, which includes a new car museum, Presley Motors, which houses Elvis's Pink Cadillac. The complex features new exhibits and museums, as well as a studio for Sirius Satellite Radio's all-Elvis Presley channel. The service's subscribers all over North America can hear Presley's music from Graceland around the clock. Not far away on display are his two aircraft including Lisa Marie (a Convair 880 jetliner) and Hound Dog II (a Lockheed JetStar business jet). The jets are owned by Graceland and are on permanent static display.

 

In early August 2005, Lisa Marie Presley sold 85% of the business side of her father's estate. She kept the Graceland property itself, as well as the bulk of the possessions found therein, and she turned over the management of Graceland to CKX, Inc., an entertainment company (on whose board of directors Priscilla Presley sat) that also owns 19 Entertainment, creator of the American Idol TV show.

 

Graceland Holdings LLC, led by managing partner Joel Weinshanker, is the majority owner of EPE. Lisa Marie Presley's estate retains a 15% ownership in the company.

 

In August 2018, Gladys Presley's headstone, which contained the Jewish star of David on one side and a cross on the other and was designed by Elvis himself, which become publicly displayed when it placed in Graceland's Mediation Garden after being stored for many years in the Graceland Archive.

 

Lisa Marie Presley's estate, which is being held in trust for her daughters Riley Keough and Harper and Finley Lockwood, retain 100% sole personal ownership of Graceland Mansion itself and its over 13-acre original grounds as well as Elvis Presley's personal effects – including costumes, wardrobe, awards, furniture, cars, etc. Prior to her death in 2023, Lisa Marie Presley had made the mansion property and her father's personal effects permanently available for tours of Graceland and for use in all of EPE's operations.

 

According to Elvis Presley's Enterprises, staff at Graceland informally kept a list of celebrities who had visited in the first years following Elvis's death. This practice was not formalized for a decade. Muhammad Ali was an early celebrity visitor in 1978, as was singer Paul Simon. He toured Graceland in the early 80s and afterward wrote a song of the same name; it was the title track of his Grammy-winning album Graceland.

 

During the Joshua Tree Tour in 1987, U2 toured Graceland. The footage was filmed for the film Rattle & Hum. During the visit, drummer, Larry Mullen Jr., sat on Elvis Presley's motorcycle -- against the rules for Graceland visitors.

 

On June 30, 2006, then US President George W. Bush hosted Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for a tour of the mansion. It was one of the few private residences on United States soil to have been the site of an official joint-visit by a sitting US president and a serving head of a foreign government. On August 6, 2010, Prince Albert II, Head of State of the Principality of Monaco, and his fiancée (now Princess of Monaco) Charlene Wittstock, toured Graceland while vacationing in the US. On May 26, 2013, Paul McCartney of The Beatles visited Graceland. Prince William and Prince Harry, while in Memphis for a friend's wedding, visited Graceland on May 2, 2014.

 

The home has also been visited by former US President Jimmy Carter; the late Duchess of Devonshire, the sitting ambassadors of India, France, China, Korea and Israel to the United States; as well as several US governors, members of the US Congress, and at least two Nobel Prize winners, namely singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, a Literature Prize laureate, and the former President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, a Peace Prize honoree, who visited it on October 10, 2001.

 

In May 2016, Graceland welcomed a newlywed couple as its 20 millionth visitor.

 

In June 2022, actors Austin Butler and Tom Hanks visited the mansion and were interviewed virtually by the Good Morning America news program from the Jungle Room to talk about their biographical film Elvis.

 

In popular culture

Paul Simon named an album Graceland, as well as its title track. The song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1987.

The song "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn mentions Graceland; in the second verse, he refers to the mansion and the Jungle Room. This song was later covered by Cher and Lonestar, among others.

The film 3000 Miles to Graceland is about a group of criminals who plan to rob a casino during an international Elvis week, disguised as Elvis impersonators. No scenes take place at or near the estate.

The film Finding Graceland stars Harvey Keitel with Johnathon Schaech. Keitel is an impersonator who claims to be the real Elvis after Schaech picks him up as a hitch-hiker.

In the rock music "mockumentary" This Is Spinal Tap, band members gather around Presley's grave at Graceland and attempt to sing a verse of "Heartbreak Hotel".

Pop punk group Groovie Ghoulies have a song called "Graceland" on their 1997 album Re-Animation Festival.

In the movie Zombieland: Double Tap, the protagonists venture to Graceland in hopes of shelter during a zombie apocalypse, but are distressed to find it in a ruined state.

During the credits of Lilo & Stitch, there's a photograph of Lilo, Nani, David and Stitch visiting the front gates of Graceland. Almost 20 years later, the original painting of that shot was put on display as part of the traveling Walt Disney Archives exhibition at Graceland.

In the season three episode of American Dad “The Vacation Goo”, Steve Smith asks Stan Smith if they can go to Graceland for their next vacation and Stan says “Steve, if you want to pay your respects to a fat man who died on the toilet, we can visit your Aunt Mary’s grave.”

Phoebe Bridgers has a song "Graceland Too" on her second studio album Punisher.

In the third episode of National Treasure: Edge of History, "Graceland Gambit," the main protagonist, Jess (portrayed by Lisette Olivera) is on a treasure hunt that leads her and her friends to Graceland.

Florence + The Machine reference Graceland and Elvis in their song "Morning Elvis" on their 2022 album Dance Fever.

Church of St Wendreda, March Cambridgeshire mainly mid 14c, c1400, late 15c & c1528. The dedication to 7c St Wendreda. daughter of King Anna of East Anglia is the only one in the UK. After her parents' and brother's death she relocated to March and ministered to the people of the Fens. Her relics were enshrined in gold in Ely Cathedral until in 1016 when they were carried off to battle in the hope they would bring victory to Edmund Ironside, son of King Ethelred. But at the Battle of Ashingdon King Canute captured them and he later presented them to Canterbury Cathedral. In 1343 her remains were returned to March and it is likely it became a place of pilgrimage. Her final resting place is unknown

1350-1400 Four stage tower, 14c Nave heightened with clerestory windows in late 15c when the south aisle was rebuilt , followed by the north aisle . 1582 South Porch

The wonderful double hammer beam roof www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/tt3nm8 with 120 winged angels, was placed over the nave late 15c- 1527 , which John Betjeman described as "worth cycling 40 miles in a head wind to see" made by the Rollsbury brothers of Bacton, near Stowmarket, Suffolk. They would have hired sub-contractors in the nearby viilages of Drinkstone and Ixworth to fashion the timbers and figures out of oak. Close examination of the angels reveals no trace of paint or gilding, so it seems that we see them today as they were intended to be seen.

It was possibly funded partly by William Dredeman 1501 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/Hh99n4 and Anthony Hansart & wife Katherine Southwell 1507 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/699r5k plus money from pilgrims to the shrine of St Wendreda

Restored in 1874 when the chancel as rebuilt by W. Smith. In 14c style

      

Relocated to a larger and more prominent space at Sunvalley to make way for a significantly larger H&M store.

Wizard of Relocations Hutch

 

I make my miniatures one at a time… from start to finish. There is no assembly line in my workshop. No elves either. For this reason, this is truly a one-of a-kind piece. I keep no written “recipes” for the color or instructions for the items I create to put into/on my cabinets/hutches. Pieces on this cabinet are from nature or created, at the time I was working on it from materials at hand at that time.

 

Exposure: f8/11 @ 600 seconds

Location: I-195 relocation/construction site, Providence, RI

Date: February 3, 2007

Temperature: mid 20's, wind chill at 0 deg F, 5 hours (7:20pm - 12:35am)

Notes: Holga 120N modified for LE, 60mm on Fuji T64

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

We ventured out this evening to our favorite haunts in Providence RI. We returned to the ongoing relocation of RT95/RT95 in the heart of the Providence curves, quite a spectacular undertaking.

 

Although not the coldest outing, the wind chill robbed our warmth and whittled our group of shooters as the night progressed. The wind eventually died down but I'll have to admit I was cold.

 

The group this time out was threshold, Skazama, Rizzolo, Rltm401 and Upsilon_48.

 

You can see a group pool here of all our shots on Flickr from the night or a slick slideshow here. It may take a week or so for all the shots to be posted.

Honoring all of the officers in Front Field, as they relocate, the Krispy Kreme truck has come over for some free donuts for the officers. The new diorama expansion that I haven't mentioned yet, is going to be the home of the new Police station, and many more new buildings. I'm sure the officers are really going to like this 'treat'.

San Francisco, June 2015.

Professional Packers Movers Gurgaon 9810053907

 

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I've seen a number of trees relocated in my life, including a 30 foot tall pine tree... but I've never seen how they move a beautiful old tree with a wide canopy (and root system)... until I saw this.

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A 12-meter antenna being relocated at the Chajnantor Plateau

relocating to toronto!

Had to re-locate some of my girls for a few days, while I get some plastering done in my dolly room. Most of the others will be boxed for safety so I can stack them.

 

Don't trust the workmen with my treasures, plus it gave me a good excuse to take brighter pics of them. LOL

Yangon (Burmese: ရန်ကုန်, MLCTS rankun mrui, pronounced: [jàɴɡòʊɴ mjo̰]; formerly known as Rangoon, literally: "End of Strife") is the capital of the Yangon Region of Myanmar, also known as Burma. Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the capital to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw in central Myanmar. With over 7 million people, Yangon is Myanmar's largest city and is its most important commercial centre.

 

Yangon boasts the largest number of colonial-era buildings in the region, and has a unique colonial-era urban core that is remarkably intact. The colonial-era commercial core is centred around the Sule Pagoda, which reputed to be over 2,000 years old. The city is also home to the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda — Myanmar's most sacred Buddhist pagoda. The mausoleum of the last Mughal Emperor is located in Yangon, where he had been exiled following the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

 

Yangon suffers from deeply inadequate infrastructure, especially compared to other major cities in Southeast Asia. Though many historic residential and commercial buildings have been renovated throughout central Yangon, most satellite towns that ring the city continue to be profoundly impoverished and lack basic infrastructure.

 

ETYMOLOGY

Yangon (ရန်ကုန်) is a combination of the two words yan (ရန်) and koun (ကုန်), which mean "enemies" and "run out of", respectively. It is also translated as "End of Strife". "Rangoon" most likely comes from the British imitation of the pronunciation of "Yangon" in the Arakanese language, which is [rɔ̀ɴɡʊ́ɴ].

 

HISTORY

EARLY HISTORY

Yangon was founded as Dagon in the early 11th century (c. 1028–1043) by the Mon, who dominated Lower Burma at that time. Dagon was a small fishing village centred about the Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755, King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon, renamed it "Yangon", and added settlements around Dagon. The British captured Yangon during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26), but returned it to Burmese administration after the war. The city was destroyed by a fire in 1841.

 

COLONIAL RANGOON

The British seized Yangon and all of Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and subsequently transformed Yangon into the commercial and political hub of British Burma. Yangon is also the place where the British sent Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor, to live after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Based on the design by army engineer Lt. Alexander Fraser, the British constructed a new city on a grid plan on delta land, bounded to the east by the Pazundaung Creek and to the south and west by the Yangon River. Yangon became the capital of all British-ruled Burma after the British had captured Upper Burma in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885. By the 1890s Yangon's increasing population and commerce gave birth to prosperous residential suburbs to the north of Royal Lake (Kandawgyi) and Inya Lake. The British also established hospitals including Rangoon General Hospital and colleges including Rangoon University.

 

Colonial Yangon, with its spacious parks and lakes and mix of modern buildings and traditional wooden architecture, was known as "the garden city of the East." By the early 20th century, Yangon had public services and infrastructure on par with London.

 

Before World War II, about 55% of Yangon's population of 500,000 was Indian or South Asian, and only about a third was Bamar (Burman). Karens, the Chinese, the Anglo-Burmese and others made up the rest.

 

After World War I, Yangon became the epicentre of Burmese independence movement, with leftist Rangoon University students leading the way. Three nationwide strikes against the British Empire in 1920, 1936 and 1938 all began in Yangon. Yangon was under Japanese occupation (1942–45), and incurred heavy damage during World War II. The city was retaken by the Allies in May 1945.

 

Yangon became the capital of Union of Burma on 4 January 1948 when the country regained independence from the British Empire.

 

CONTEMPORARY YANGON

Soon after Burma's independence in 1948, many colonial names of streets and parks were changed to more nationalistic Burmese names. In 1989, the current military junta changed the city's English name to "Yangon", along with many other changes in English transliteration of Burmese names. (The changes have not been accepted by many Burmese who consider the junta unfit to make such changes, nor by many publications, news bureaus including, most notably, the BBC and foreign nations including the United Kingdom and United States.)

 

Since independence, Yangon has expanded outwards. Successive governments have built satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa in the 1950s to Hlaingthaya,

 

Shwepyitha and South Dagon in the 1980s. Today, Greater Yangon encompasses an area covering nearly 600 square kilometres.

 

During Ne Win's isolationist rule (1962–88), Yangon's infrastructure deteriorated through poor maintenance and did not keep up with its increasing population. In the 1990s, the current military government's more open market policies attracted domestic and foreign investment, bringing a modicum of modernity to the city's infrastructure. Some inner city residents were forcibly relocated to new satellite towns. Many colonial-period buildings were demolished to make way for high-rise hotels, office buildings, and shopping malls, leading the city government to place about 200 notable colonial-period buildings under the Yangon City Heritage List in 1996. Major building programs have resulted in six new bridges and five new highways linking the city to its industrial back country. Still, much of Yangon remains without basic municipal services such as 24-hour electricity and regular garbage collection.

 

Yangon has become much more indigenous Burmese in its ethnic make-up since independence. After independence, many South Asians and Anglo-Burmese left. Many more South Asians were forced to leave during the 1960s by Ne Win's xenophobic government. Nevertheless, sizable South Asian and Chinese communities still exist in Yangon. The Anglo-Burmese have effectively disappeared, having left the country or intermarried with other Burmese groups.

 

Yangon was the centre of major anti-government protests in 1974, 1988 and 2007. The 1988 People Power Uprising resulted in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of Burmese civilians, many in Yangoon where hundreds of thousands of people flooded into the streets of the then capital city. The Saffron Revolution saw mass shootings and the use of crematoria in Yangoon by the Burmese government to erase evidence of their crimes against monks, unarmed protesters, journalists and students.

 

The city's streets saw bloodshed each time as protesters were gunned down by the government.

 

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Yangon. While the city had few human casualties, three quarters of Yangon's industrial infrastructure was destroyed or damaged, with losses estimated at US$800 million.

 

In November 2005, the military government designated Naypyidaw, 320 kilometres north of Yangon, as the new administrative capital, and subsequently moved much of the government to the newly developed city. At any rate, Yangon remains the largest city, and the most important commercial centre of Myanmar.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Yangon is located in Lower Burma (Myanmar) at the convergence of the Yangon and Bago Rivers about 30 km away from the Gulf of Martaban at 16°48' North, 96°09' East (16.8, 96.15). Its standard time zone is UTC/GMT +6:30 hours.

 

CLIMATE

Yangon has a tropical monsoon climate under the Köppen climate classification system. The city features a lengthy wet season from May through October where a substantial amount of rainfall is received; and a dry season from November through April, where little rainfall is seen. It is primarily due to the heavy rainfall received during the rainy season that Yangon falls under the tropical monsoon climate category. During the course of the year 1961 to 1990s, average temperatures show little variance, with average highs ranging from 29 to 36 °C and average lows ranging from 18 to 25 °C.

 

CITYSCAPE

Until the mid-1990s, Yangon remained largely constrained to its traditional peninsula setting between the Bago, Yangon and Hlaing rivers. People moved in, but little of the city moved out. Maps from 1944 show little development north of Inya Lake and areas that are now layered in cement and stacked with houses were then virtual backwaters. Since the late 1980s, however, the city began a rapid spread north to where Yangon International airport now stands. But the result is a stretching tail on the city, with the downtown area well removed from its geographic centre. The city's area has steadily increased from 72.52 square kilometres in 1901 to 86.2 square kilometres in 1940 to 208.51 square kilometres in 1974, to 346.13 square kilometres in 1985, and to 598.75 square kilometres in 2008.

 

ARCHITECTURE

Downtown Yangon is known for its leafy avenues and fin-de-siècle architecture. The former British colonial capital has the highest number of colonial period buildings in south-east Asia. Downtown Yangon is still mainly made up of decaying colonial buildings. The former High Court, the former Secretariat buildings, the former St. Paul's English High School and the Strand Hotel are excellent examples of the bygone era. Most downtown buildings from this era are four-story mix-use (residential and commercial) buildings with 4.3 m ceilings, allowing for the construction of mezzanines. Despite their less-than-perfect conditions, the buildings remain highly sought after and most expensive in the city's property market.

 

In 1996, the Yangon City Development Committee created a Yangon City Heritage List of old buildings and structures in the city that cannot be modified or torn down without approval. In 2012, the city of Yangon imposed a 50-year moratorium on demolition of buildings older than 50 years. The Yangon Heritage Trust, an NGO started by Thant Myint-U, aims to create heritage areas in Downtown, and attract investors to renovate buildings for commercial use.

 

A latter day hallmark of Yangon is the eight-story apartment building. (In Yangon parlance, a building with no elevators (lifts) is called an apartment building and one with elevators is called a condominium. Condos which have to invest in a local power generator to ensure 24-hour electricity for the elevators are beyond the reach of most Yangonites.) Found throughout the city in various forms, eight-story apartment buildings provide relatively inexpensive housing for many Yangonites. The apartments are usually eight stories high (including the ground floor) mainly because city regulations, until February 2008, required that all buildings higher than 23 m or eight stories to install lifts. The current code calls for elevators in buildings higher than 19 m or six stories, likely ushering in the era of the six-story apartment building. Although most apartment buildings were built only within the last 20 years, they look much older and rundown due to shoddy construction and lack of proper maintenance.

 

Unlike other major Asian cities, Yangon does not have any skyscrapers. Aside from a few high-rise hotels and office towers, most high-rise buildings (usually 10 stories and up) are "condos" scattered across prosperous neighbourhoods north of downtown such as Bahan, Dagon, Kamayut and Mayangon. The tallest building in Yangon, Pyay Gardens, is a 25-story condo in the city's north.

 

Older satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa are lined mostly with one to two story detached houses with access to the city's electricity grid. Newer satellite towns such as North Dagon and South Dagon are still essentially slums in a grid layout. The satellite towns - old or new - receive little or no municipal services.

 

ROAD LAYOUT

Downtown Yangon's road layout follows a grid pattern, based on four types of roads:

 

Broad 49-m wide roads running west to east

Broad 30-m wide roads running south to north

Two narrow 9.1-m wide streets running south to north

Mid-size 15-m wide streets running south to north

 

The east-west grid of central was laid out by British military engineers Fraser and Montgomerie after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The city was later developed by the Public Works Department and Bengal Corps of Engineers. The pattern of south to north roads is as follows: one broad 30 m wide broad road, two narrow streets, one mid-size street, two more narrow streets, and then another 30 m wide broad road. This order is repeated from west to east. The narrow streets are numbered; the medium and broad roads are named.

 

For example, the 30 m Lanmadaw Road is followed by 9.1 m-wide 17th and 18th streets then the medium 15 m Sint-Oh-Dan Road, the 30-foot 19th and 20th streets, followed by another 30 m wide Latha Road, followed again by the two numbered small roads 21st and 22nd streets, and so on.

 

The roads running parallel west to east were the Strand Road, Merchant Road, Maha Bandula (née Dalhousie) Road, Anawrahta (Fraser) Road, and Bogyoke Aung San (Montgomerie) Road.

 

PARKS AND GARDENS

The largest and best maintained parks in Yangon are located around Shwedagon Pagoda. To the south-east of the gilded stupa is the most popular recreational area in the city – Kandawgyi Lake. The 61-ha lake is surrounded by the 45-ha Kandawgyi Nature Park, and the 28-ha Yangon Zoological Gardens, which consists of a zoo, an aquarium and an amusement park. West of the pagoda towards the former Hluttaw (Parliament) complex is the 53-ha People's Square and Park, (the former parading ground on important national days when Yangon was the capital.) A few miles north of the pagoda lies the 15-ha Inya Lake Park – a favorite hangout place of Yangon University students, and a well-known place of romance in Burmese popular culture.

 

Hlawga National Park and Allied War Memorial at the outskirts of the city are popular day-trip destinations with the well-to-do and tourists.

 

Yangon Book Plaza, the first and biggest book shop in Myanmar was opened on February 26, 2017 on the fifth floor of Than Zay Market in Lanmadaw Township, Yangon.

 

ADMINISTRATION

Yangon is administered by the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). YCDC also coordinates urban planning. The city is divided into four districts. The districts combined have a total of 33 townships. The current mayor of Yangon is Maung Maung Soe. Each township is administered by a committee of township leaders, who make decisions regarding city beautification and infrastructure. Myo-thit (lit. "New Towns", or satellite towns) are not within such jurisdictions.

 

TRANSPORT

Yangon is Burma's main domestic and international hub for air, rail, and ground transportation.

 

AIR

Yangon International Airport, located 19 km from the centre, is the country's main gateway for domestic and international air travel. The airport has three terminals, known as T1, T2 and T3 which is also known as Domestic. It has direct flights to regional cities in Asia – mainly, Doha, Dubai, Dhaka, Kolkata, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Guangzhou, Taipei, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Kunming and Singapore. Although domestic airlines offer service to about twenty domestic locations, most flights are to tourist destinations such as Bagan, Mandalay, Heho and Ngapali, and to the capital Naypyidaw.

 

RAILWAYS

Yangon Central Railway Station is the main terminus of Myanmar Railways' 5,403-kilometre rail network whose reach covers Upper Myanmar (Naypyidaw, Mandalay, Shwebo), upcountry (Myitkyina), Shan hills (Taunggyi, Lashio) and the Taninthayi coast (Mawlamyaing, Dawei).

 

Yangon Circular Railway operates a 45.9-kilometre 39-station commuter rail network that connects Yangon's satellite towns. The system is heavily utilized by the local populace, selling about 150,000 tickets daily. The popularity of the commuter line has jumped since the government reduced petrol subsidies in August 2007.

 

BUSES AND CARS

Yangon has a 4,456-kilometre road network of all types (tar, concrete and dirt) in March 2011. Many of the roads are in poor condition and not wide enough to accommodate an increasing number of cars. The vast majority of Yangon residents cannot afford a car and rely on an extensive network of buses to get around. Over 300 public and private bus lines operate about 6,300 crowded buses around the city, carrying over 4.4 million passengers a day. All buses and 80% of the taxis in Yangon run on compressed natural gas (CNG), following the 2005 government decree to save money on imported petroleum. Highway buses to other cities depart from Dagon Ayeyar Highway Bus Terminal for Irrawaddy delta region and Aung Mingala Highway Bus Terminal for other parts of the country.

 

Motor transportation in Yangon is highly expensive for most of its citizens. As the government allows only a few thousand cars to be imported each year in a country with over 50 million people, car prices in Yangon (and in Burma) are among the highest in the world. In July 2008, the two most popular cars in Yangon, 1986/87 Nissan Sunny Super Saloon and 1988 Toyota Corolla SE Limited, cost the equivalent of about US$20,000 and US$29,000 respectively. A sports utility vehicle, imported for the equivalent of around US$50,000, goes for US$250,000. Illegally imported unregistered cars are cheaper – typically about half the price of registered cars. Nonetheless, car usage in Yangon is on the rise, a sign of rising incomes for some, and already causes much traffic congestion in highway-less Yangon's streets. In 2011, Yangon had about 300,000 registered motor vehicles in addition to an unknown number of unregistered ones.

 

Since 1970, cars have been driven on the right side of the road in Burma, as part of a military decree. However, as the government has not required left hand drive (LHD) cars to accompany the right side road rules, many cars on the road are still right hand drive (RHD) made for driving on the left side. Japanese used cars, which make up most of the country's imports, still arrive with RHD and are never converted to LHD. As a result, Burmese drivers have to rely on their passengers when passing other cars.

 

Within Yangon city limits, it is illegal to drive trishaws, bicycles, and motorcycles. Since February 2010, pickup truck bus lines have been forbidden to run in 6 townships of central Yangon, namely Latha, Lanmadaw, Pabedan, Kyauktada, Botahtaung and Pazundaung Townships. In May 2003, a ban on using car horns was implemented in six townships of Downtown Yangon to reduce noise pollution. In April 2004, the car horn ban was expanded to cover the entire city.

 

RIVER

Yangon's four main passenger jetties, all located on or near downtown waterfront, mainly serve local ferries across the river to Dala and Thanlyin, and regional ferries to the Irrawaddy delta. The 35-km Twante Canal was the quickest route from Yangon to the Irrawaddy delta until the 1990s when roads between Yangon and the Irrawaddy Division became usable year-round. While passenger ferries to the delta are still used, those to Upper Burma via the Irrawaddy river are now limited mostly to tourist river cruises.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

Yangon is the most populous city by far in Burma although estimates of the size of its population vary widely. All population figures are estimates since no official census has been conducted in Burma since 1983. A UN estimate puts the population as 4.35 million in 2010 but a 2009 U.S. State Department estimate puts it at 5.5 million. The U.S. State Department's estimate is probably closer to the real number since the UN number is a straight-line projection, and does not appear to take the expansion of city limits in the past two decades into account. The city's population grew sharply after 1948 as many people (mainly, the indigenous Burmese) from other parts of the country moved into the newly built satellite towns of North Okkalapa, South Okkalapa, and Thaketa in the 1950s and East Dagon, North Dagon and South Dagon in the 1990s. Immigrants have founded their regional associations (such as Mandalay Association, Mawlamyaing Association, etc.) in Yangon for networking purposes. The government's decision to move the nation's administrative capital to Naypyidaw has drained an unknown number of civil servants away from Yangon.

 

Yangon is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. While Indians formed the slight majority prior to World War II, today, the majority of the population is of indigenous Bamar (Burman) descent. Large communities of Indians/South Asian Burmese and the Chinese Burmese exist especially in the traditional downtown neighborhoods. A large number of Rakhine and Karen also live in the city.

 

Burmese is the principal language of the city. English is by far the preferred second language of the educated class. In recent years, however, the prospect of overseas job opportunities has enticed

 

some to study other languages: Mandarin Chinese is most popular, followed by Japanese, and French.

 

RELIGIONS

The primary religions practiced in Yangon are Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. Shwedagon Pagoda is a famous religious landmark in the city.

 

MEDIA

Yangon is the country's hub for the movie, music, advertising, newspaper and book publishing industries. All media is heavily regulated by the military government. Television broadcasting is off limits to the private sector. All media content must first be approved by the government's media censor board, Press Scrutiny and Registration Division.

 

Most television channels in the country are broadcast from Yangon. TV Myanmar and Myawaddy TV are the two main channels, providing Burmese-language programming in news and entertainment. Other special interest channels are MWD-1 and MWD-2, MRTV-3, the English-language channel that targets overseas audiences via satellite and via Internet, MRTV-4 and Channel 7 are with a focus on non-formal education programs and movies, and Movie 5, a pay-TV channel specializing in broadcasting foreign movies.

 

Yangon has three radio stations. Myanmar Radio National Service is the national radio service and broadcasts mostly in Burmese (and in English during specific times.) Pop culture oriented Yangon City FM and Mandalay City FM radio stations specialize in Burmese and English pop music, entertainment programs, live celebrity interviews, etc. New radio channels such as Shwe FM and Pyinsawaddy FM can also be tuned with the city area.

 

Nearly all print media and industries are based out of Yangon. All three national newspapers – two Burmese language dailies Myanma Alin (မြန်မာ့အလင်း) and Kyemon (ကြေးမုံ), and the English language The New Light of Myanmar — are published by the government. Semi-governmental The Myanmar Times weekly, published in Burmese and in English, is mainly geared for Yangon's expatriate community. Over twenty special interest journals and magazines covering sports, fashion, finance, crime, literature (but never politics) vie for the readership of the general populace.

 

Access to foreign media is extremely difficult. Satellite television in Yangon, and in Burma, is very expensive as the government imposes an annual registration fee of one million kyats. Certain foreign newspapers and periodicals such as the International Herald Tribune and the Straits Times can be found only in a few (mostly downtown) bookstores. Internet access in Yangon, which has the best telecommunication infrastructure in the country, is slow and erratic at best, and the Burmese government implements one of the world's most restrictive regimes of Internet control. International text messaging and voice messaging was permitted only in August 2008.

 

COMMUNICATION

Common facilities taken for granted elsewhere are luxury prized items in Yangon and Burma. The price of a GSM mobile phone was about K1.1 million in August 2008. In 2007, the country of 55 million had only 775,000 phone lines (including 275,000 mobile phones), and 400,000 computers. Even in Yangon, which has the best infrastructure, the estimated telephone penetration rate was only 6% at the end of 2004, and the official waiting time for a telephone line was 3.6 years. Most people cannot afford a computer and have to use the city's numerous Internet cafes to access a heavily restricted Internet, and a heavily censored local intranet. According to official statistics, in July 2010, the country had over 400,000 Internet users, with the vast majority hailing from just two cities, Yangon and Mandalay. Although Internet access was available in 42 cities across the country, the number of users outside the two main cities was just over 10,000.

 

LIFESTYLE

Yangon's property market is the most expensive in the country and beyond the reach of most Yangonites. Most rent outside the centre and few can afford to rent such apartments. (In 2008, rents for a typical 60 to 70 m2 apartments in the centre and vicinity range between K70,000 and K150,000 and those for high end condos between K200,000 and K500,000.)

 

Most men of all ages (and some women) spend their time at ubiquitous tea-shops, found in any corner or street of the city. Watching European football (mostly English Premier League with occasional La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga) matches while sipping tea is a popular pastime among many Yangonites. The average person stays close to his or her residential neighbourhood. The well-to-do tend to visit shopping malls and parks on weekends. Some leave the city on weekends for Chaungtha and Ngwesaung beach resorts in Ayeyarwady Division.

 

Yangon is also home to many pagoda festivals (paya pwe), held during dry-season months (November – March). The most famous of all, the Shwedagon Pagoda Festival in March, attracts thousands of pilgrims from around the country.

 

Yangon's museums are the domain of tourists and rarely visited by the locals.

 

Most of Yangon's larger hotels offer some kind of nightlife entertainment, geared towards tourists and the well-to-do Burmese. Some hotels offer traditional Burmese performing arts shows complete with a traditional Burmese orchestra. The pub scene in larger hotels is more or less the same as elsewhere in Asia. Other options include karaoke bars and pub restaurants in Yangon Chinatown.

 

Due to the problems of high inflation, the lack of high denomination notes, and the fact that many of the population do not have access to checks, or credit or debit cards, it is common to see citizens carrying a considerable amount of cash. (The highest denomination of Burmese currency kyat is 10 000 (~US$10.)) Credit cards are only rarely used in the city, chiefly in the more lavish hotels. Credit cards are also accepted in the major supermarket and convenience store chains.

 

SPORTS

As the city has the best sporting facilities in the country, most national-level annual sporting tournaments such as track and field, football, volleyball, tennis and swimming are held in Yangon. The 40,000-seat Aung San Stadium and the 32,000-seat Thuwunna Stadium are the main venues for the highly popular annual State and Division football tournament. Until April 2009, the now defunct Myanmar Premier League, consisted of 16 Yangon-based clubs, played all its matches in Yangon stadiums, and attracted little interest from the general public or commercial success despite the enormous popularity of football in Burma. Most Yangonites prefer watching European football on satellite TV. Teams such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City are among the favorite European teams among the Yangonites. It remains to be seen whether the Myanmar National League, the country's first professional football league, and its Yangon-based club Yangon United FC will attract a sufficient following in the country's most important media market.

 

Yangon is also home to annual the Myanmar Open golf tournament, and the Myanmar Open tennis tournament. The city hosted the 1961 and 1969 South East Asian Games. During colonial times, cricket was played mostly by British officials in the city. First-class cricket was played in the city in January 1927 when the touring Marylebone Cricket Club played Burma and the Rangoon Gymkhana. Two grounds were used to host these matches, the BAA Ground and the Gymkhana Ground. These matches mark the only time Burma and Rangoon Gymkhana have appeared in first-class cricket, and the only time first-class cricket has been played in Burma. After independence cricket all but died out in the country.

 

Yangon has a growing population of skateboarders, as documented in the films Altered Focus: Burma and Youth of Yangon. German non-profit organization Make Life Skate Life has received permission from the Yangon City Development Committee to construct a concrete skatepark at Thakin Mya park in downtown, and plans to complete the park in November 2015.

 

ECONOMY

Yangon is the country's main centre for trade, industry, real estate, media, entertainment and tourism. The city represents about one fifth of the national economy. According to official statistics for FY 2010–2011, the size of the economy of Yangon Region was 8.93 trillion kyats, or 23% of the national GDP.

 

The city is Lower Burma's main trading hub for all kinds of merchandise – from basic food stuffs to used cars although commerce continues to be hampered by the city's severely underdeveloped banking industry and communication infrastructure. Bayinnaung Market is the largest wholesale centre in the country for rice, beans and pulses, and other agricultural commodities. Much of the country's legal imports and exports go through Thilawa Port, the largest and busiest port in Burma. There is also a great deal of informal trade, especially in street markets that exist alongside street platforms of Downtown Yangon's townships. However, on 17 June 2011, the YCDC announced that street vendors, who had previously been allowed to legally open shop at 3 pm, would be prohibited from selling on the streets, and permitted to sell only in their townships of residence, presumably to clean up the city's image. Since 1 December 2009, high-density polyethylene plastic bags have been banned by city authorities.

 

Manufacturing accounts for a sizable share of employment. At least 14 light industrial zones ring Yangon, directly employing over 150,000 workers in 4,300 factories in early 2010. The city is the centre of country's garment industry which exported US$292 million in 2008/9 fiscal year. More than 80 percent of factory workers in Yangon work on a day-to-day basis. Most are young women between 15 and 27 years of age who come from the countryside in search of a better life. The manufacturing sector suffers from both structural problems (e.g. chronic power shortages) and political.

 

problems (e.g. economic sanctions). In 2008, Yangon's 2500 factories alone needed about 120 MW of power; yet, the entire city received only about 250 MW of the 530 MW needed. Chronic power shortages limit the factories' operating hours between 8 am and 6 pm.

 

Construction is a major source of employment. The construction industry has been negatively affected by the move of state apparatus and civil servants to Naypyidaw, new regulations introduced in August 2009 requiring builders to provide at least 12 parking spaces in every new high-rise building, and the general poor business climate. As of January 2010, the number of new high-rise building starts approved in 2009–2010 was only 334, compared to 582 in 2008–2009.

 

Tourism represents a major source of foreign currency for the city although by south-east Asian standards the number of foreign visitors to Yangon has always been quite low - about 250,000 before the Saffron Revolution in September 2007. The number of visitors dipped even further following the Saffron Revolution and Cyclone Nargis. The recent improvement in the country's political climate has attracted an increasing number of businessmen and tourists. Between 300,000 and 400,000 visitors that went through Yangon International in 2011. However, after years of underinvestment, Yangon's modest hotel infrastructure - only 3000 of the total 8000 hotel rooms in Yangon are "suitable for tourists" - is already bursting at seams, and will need to be expanded to handle additional visitors. As part of an urban development strategy, a hotel zone has been planned in Yangon's outskirts, encompassing government- and military-owned land in Mingaladon, Hlegu and Htaukkyant Townships.

 

EDUCATION

Yangon educational facilities has a very high number of qualified teachers but the state spending on education is among the lowest of the world. Around 2007 estimate by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies puts the spending for education at 0.5% of the national budget. The disparity in educational opportunities and achievement between rich and poor schools is quite stark even within the city. With little or no state support forthcoming, schools have to rely on forced "donations" and various fees from parents for nearly everything – school maintenance to teachers' salaries, forcing many poor students to drop out.

 

While many students in poor districts fail to reach high school, a handful of Yangon high schools in wealthier districts such as Dagon 1, Sanchaung 2, Kamayut 2, Bahan 2, Latha 2, and TTC provide the majority of students admitted to the most selective universities in the country, highlighting the extreme shallowness of talent pool in the country. The wealthy bypass the state education system altogether, sending their children to private English language instruction schools such as YIEC or more widely known as ISM, or abroad (typically Singapore or Australia) for university education. In 2014, international schools in Yangon cost at least US$8,000 a year.

 

There are over 20 universities and colleges in the city. While Yangon University remains the best known (its main campus is a part of popular Burmese culture e.g. literature, music, film, etc.), the nation's oldest university is now mostly a graduate school, deprived of undergraduate studies. Following the 1988 nationwide uprising, the military government has repeatedly closed universities, and has dispersed most of undergraduate student population to new universities in the suburbs such as Dagon University, the University of East Yangon and the University of West Yangon. Nonetheless many of the country's most selective universities are still in Yangon. Students from around the country still have to come to study in Yangon as some subjects are offered only at its universities. The University of Medicine 1, University of Medicine 2, Yangon Technological University, University of Computer Studies and Myanmar Maritime University are the most selective in the country.

 

HEALTH CARE

The general state of health care in Yangon is poor. According to a 2007 estimate, the military government spends 0.4% of the national budget on health care, and 40% to 60% on defense. By the government's own figures, it spends 849 kyats (US$0.85) per person. Although health care is nominally free, in reality, patients have to pay for medicine and treatment, even in public clinics and hospitals. Public hospitals including the flagship Yangon General Hospital lack many of the basic facilities and equipment.

 

Wealthier Yangonites still have access to country's best medical facilities and internationally qualified doctors. Only Yangon and Mandalay have any sizable number of doctors left as many Burmese doctors have emigrated. The well-to-do go to private clinics or hospitals like Pun Hlaing International Hospital and Bahosi Medical Clinic. Medical malpractice is widespread, even in private clinics and hospitals that serve the well-to-do. In 2009 and 2010, a spate of high-profile deaths brought out the severity of the problem, even for the relatively well off Yangonites. The wealthy do not rely on domestic hospitals and travel abroad, usually Bangkok or Singapore, for treatment.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The move ran smoothing where we arranged for personal belongings and furniture to be relocated and also prepared the offices for the company with organisation including a searing plan for 100+ staff, welfare facilities, signage and more.

The Minidoka Relocation Center, 15 miles north of Twin Falls and 150 miles southeast of Boise, was also referred to as the Hunt Camp. Minidoka was considered a model environment because of its relatively peaceful atmosphere and population that got along well with the administration. Because it was not within the Western Defense Command restricted area, security was somewhat lighter than at most other camps. But when the internees first arrived, they were shocked to see the bleak landscape that was to be there home over the next three years.

Located on the Snake River Plain at an elevation of 4000 feet, the land is dotted with sagebrush and thin basaltic lava flows and cinder cones. The internees found the environment to be extremely harsh, with temperatures ranging from 30 degrees below zero to as high as 115 degrees. They also had to contend with blinding dust storms and ankle-deep mud after the rains.

Minidoka was in operation from August 10, 1942 to October 28, 1945. The reserve covered more than 33,000 acres of land in Jerome County. The camp’s peak population reached 9,397 by March 1, 1943, and it became Idaho's third largest city. Five miles of barbed wire fencing and eight watchtowers surrounded the administrative and residential areas, which were located in the west-central portion of the reserve.

Most of the people interned at Minidoka were from the Pacific Northwest: approximately 7,050 from Seattle and Bainbridge Island, Washington, 2,500 from Oregon and 150 from Alaska, including children or grandchildren of Eskimo women and Japanese men. They were temporarily housed at the Puyallup Fairgrounds in Washington, then sent by train to Idaho. In early 1943, all of the Bainbridge Island, Washington, residents interned at the Manzanar Relocation Center were transferred to Minidoka at their own request because of constant conflict with the internees from Terminal Island in Los Angeles.

The central camp consisted of 600 buildings on 950 acres. When the first internees arrived at Minidoka in August 1942, they moved into the crude barracks even though much of the camp was unfinished and there was no running water or sewage system. The Army insisted on having all Japanese removed from the West Coast at once, and they did not halt the evacuation until the camp could hold no more. The last group of 500 evacuees to arrive at the camp had to sleep in mess halls, laundry rooms, or any available bed space. Waiting in line for many daily functions, especially meals, was common.

The camp’s residential area encompassed 36 blocks and was one mile wide and three miles long. Each block included 12 tarpaper barracks, one dining hall, one laundry building with communal showers and toilets and a recreation hall. Immediately after arrival, the internees were instructed to see the camp physician, and then they received an apartment assignment. Apartments were of three sizes, and where possible, family groups or relatives were placed near each other. Efforts were later made to move people near their place of employment.

Freightliner

Saturday night

A few more evening and the markets will cease to exist at this location but luckily relocate to a new venue.

Nikon AF3, Ferrania Solaris 400. 27 June 2011.

 

abandoned outside a railroad station.

 

scanned from negative.

Photo by Lee Bennett

Johnson City, NY. May 2024.

 

If you would like to use THIS picture in any sort of media (such as newspaper or article) please send me a Flickr mail or an e-mail at natehenderson6@gmail.com.

Covering two floors of this office building in Fleet Place, London, Mansfield Monk designed a fresh working environment that consolidated the two businesses who were relocating to the new offices. The design reflects the individuality, creativity and passion of both parts of the business.

 

www.mansfieldmonk.co.uk

Yet another Photshopped picture of Hotmaw, this time I moved her to a beach in Playa Del Carmen.

Scratchbuilt depot on Bob Phelps' about-to-be-relocated Green River layout, featuring big Union Pacific steam power.

Title: Washington Park: Rehabilitation and Relocation

Creator: Boston Redevelopment Authority

Date: 1965 October 14

Source: Boston Redevelopment Authority photographs, Collection #4010.001

File name: 4010_001_A274_009

Rights: In Copyright - Non commercial use permitted

Citation: Boston Redevelopment Authority photographs, Collection #4010.001, City of Boston Archives, Boston

The former gas station was relocated to the Lac Qui Parle County History Center in Madison, Minnesota

Relocation of a small prebuilt cottage over the Bower bridge.

SET 8 – Oxford Kroger, Post-Expansion

 

Something that I’m not certain I’ve mentioned yet in this very long-running album, surprisingly, is that the store’s fuel center also grew as part of the overall store expansion project. Not only did it increase in size to accommodate more fuel pumps, the entire island was relocated to the rightmost side of the property, away from its original perch out front facing the street. Because my daytime photo was from across the parking lot, I also included a nighttime close-up as the inset.

 

(c) 2026 Retail Retell

These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)

 

On the 180th birthday anniversary for the City of Chicago founded on March

4, 1837, I remember why Chicago was the choice I made for a destination.

When my parents decided to live in the United States of America, I was

living in the Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba and attending elementary

school in Spanish. One day, my Mother told me that both my parents decided

to leave Santiago de Cuba and settle in another city of the United States

of America. She asked me in which city we should live? There were many

choices of cities based on the family relatives who were already in the

USA. Since Catholic Charities sponsored the Freedom Flights, "Vuelos de

Libertad", the Catholic Church offered help in Connecticut and Chicago to

relocate Cuban families there. My Mother and Father thought that

Connecticut was very, very cold and farther north in the East Coast. While

Chicago was in the Midwest, a city by Lake Michigan, one of the Great

Lakes--Erie, Huron, and Superior. My parents had Cuban friends in

Connecticut and Chicago, as well as in other American cities. However, the

City of Chicago was unanimously our choice for a destination in the United

States of America. My Grandmother had Cuban friends in Chicago and

business connections to the mail-order stores like Montgomery Ward, Sears,

etc. My parents had Cuban-Chinese friends in Rogers Park, on Howard

Street, near Evanston, Illinois. Even now, the far north communities of

Edgewater by Lake Michigan, Rogers Park, Andersonville, and Evanston still

appeal to my family in general. Military friends from the Great Lakes and

visitors from the USA encouraged my Mother and Father to leave Santiago de

Cuba.

 

Chicago Catholic Charities welcomed my family with open arms, kindness,

generosity, and goodwill when we arrived in July 1971. My Father, Mr.

Roberto Hung Juris Doctor and my Mother, Mrs. Gardenia Fong Ramos, myself,

and my youngest brother, Roberto Santiago Hung were referred for relocation

to the Montfield Hotel at the corner of Sheffield and Belmont Avenue in the

Lake View neighborhood, near the Illinois Masonic Medical Center on

Wellington Street. Later, my Father was referred to a Baptist Church

Pastor, Fabio Abreu of Dominican descent and his Canadian-American wife for

relocation to the first floor of a Chicago home owned by Mrs. Marie Palmer,

a Protestant Lutheran American widow, his neighbor across the alley who

needed a responsible and reliable tenant with a family to help her maintain

here Chicago real estate property at 2930 North Albany between Wellington

and George, near Kedzie Avenue where Avondale Elementary School was

located, across from the Grace Lutheran Church.

 

The Baptist Pastor Fabio Abreu from the Dominican Republic and his Lutheran

American-German neighbor Mrs. Marie Palmer were heaven sent during our

relocation from the Montfield Hotel in Lakeview to the Avondale community

near Logan Square, not far from our Cuban-

Chinese friends, Fernando Wong and Yolanda Fen with two children, a

retarded daughter with spinal bifida, Zuling, and a male Fernandito Wong

Fen who wanted to be an architect engineer later in life. Afterwards,

Fernando and Yoli Wong had a daughter named Meiling who lived in the Rogers

Park community, near Evanston and Skokie in Illinois.

 

While I was attending Avondale Grammar School, on Kedzie Avenue, aka

Loganddale Elementary School, I used to participate in an abridged 6th

grade program, instead of the corresponding 8th grade program which I would

later trafer. Since my Mother had my Cuban grammar school transcripts, she

told the Principal in Santiago de Cuba that I had alread passed 6th, 7th,

and 8th grade programs in Santiago de Cubqa in Spanish.

 

The obvious problem for all of us was how to speak English, write in

English, and attend school of course, obviously, my family and I had to

make a transition from spoken Spanish to American English, fluently. There

were Free English courses and classes at the Casa Central in Logan Square,

Chicago, Illinois 60618, USA. My parents and I, used to practice speaking

English in Santiago de Cuba, later on, we, as a family began to speak

English at home in Chicago with the television programs of Sesame Street

and the Electric Company featuring Rita Moreno, among other television

personalities and talent,as well as other TV programs like Perry Mason,

classic western movies with John Wayne, and the musical songs of Doris Day,

Glen Miller's American Jazz band, Lawrence Welk, which we used to watch

before.

 

Soon, we made friends with the neighbors like Ludivinia "Ludi" Villareal,

whose family was Hispanic from Méjico and invited us to her birthday party

for "tostadas", tacos, etc. There were also Cuban-Americans like Armando

and his youngest brother who went to Avondale Elementary School also with

myself and my youngest brother Robert S. Hung. My 6th grade teacher was

Miss Honeywood and my English As A Second Language Teacher was Miss Pantos

who later married and changed her name. Later, I was double transferred to

8th grade with Mr. Herbert Hebel where I graduated with High Honors from

Avondale Elementary School.

 

In Chicago, my Father, Roberto Hung was able to find employment at the

warehouse in Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Company. Later he

worked for Marshall Field's and the Theatrical Dance Supply Company.

Fernando and Yoli Wong Fen recomeded my Father to work for Felt-Products,

on McCormick Boulevard in Skokie, also known today as Federal Mogul, a

corporation in the automotive industry manufacturing "oil gaskets" with a

patented adhesive created and designed by Albert Mecklenburger, a

German-American from Berlin, Germany.

 

My Mother also had to get a job with Goldblatt's on Milwaukee Avenue, right

in the midst of the Polish American neighborhood. Then, she found another

part-time job at Tic-Toc with Mrs. Sherman. Later, my Father recommended

her to work for Felt-Products with him in Skokie, also.

 

I started working at the Offices of Edelstein & Edelstein on Irivng Park

Road who needed to make collection calls on the telephone and paid a

minimum wage of $4 per hour. Afterrwards, I found a job at McDonald's at

the corner of Irving Park Road and Elston Avenue, not far from the Irving

Park Shopping Center, the Y.M.C.A. and Madonna High School.

 

In order to *"Make Ends Meet"*, both my Father and Mother went to work, and

during my 3rd year as a junior at Madonna High School, age 16-years-old,

Sister Rosemarie from Counselling referred me to get a job and follow the

American Dream working hard to make a living. Mrs. Palmer used to say

before she left for work as an Administrator and Office Manager at the

Civic Opera, *"I owe, I owe, so off to work I go."*

 

*Chicago* is also known as the Windy City because of the cross-winds across

Lake Michigan cause whirlwinds and all-changing weather due to the Lake

Effect and the Great Lakes. It is still a beautiful city by the Lake

Michigan, *"the city with the broad shoulders"* as a client and friend from

Helsinki, Finland, calls the City of Chicago. Mrs. Marie Palmer used to

tell me, *"if you don't like the weather in Chicago, wait a minute, it will

change."*

 

I have grown up in Chicago for the last 46 years on the Northwest side of

the Windy City and attended and graduated from Northeastern Illinois

University after graduating from Madonna High School on May 27, 1977 with

High Honors, as a member of the National Honor Society and the French Honor

Society. Later, I pursued Graduate Studies at the University of Illinois

at Chicago with the *Abraham Lincoln Fellowship for Rhetorical Criticism,

Speech Writing, Communications, and Theatre* granted by the UIC Department

of Communications and Theatre managed by Dr. Anthony Graham-White. I have

written my Master's Thesis as an ethnography about *"The Chinese in Cuba:

Assimilation and Acculturation*" presented by Dr. Thomas Kochman, Ph.D.

 

The City of Chicago celebrates today 180 years since its founding fathers

established the settlement by the Chicago River and used the name

familiarly with the *"wild onions"* growing by the river banks. *"Happy

180th Birthday Anniversary, Chicago!"*

 

I have rented and lived in a studio apartment on the Northwest side of

Chicago near my Father, Mr. Roberto Hung Juris Doctor, on Sacramento and

Belle Plaine, near Irving Park Road, in a building owned by Mrs. A.C.

Nylen, a German-American realtor in Chicago and the Midwest.

 

My Mother, Mrs. Gardenia Fong Ramos began to work at Felt-Products Inc. and

attended Loyola University Lewis Towers Campus pursuing a Master's in

Spanish Literature with Dr. Martinez, Dr. Carol Holdsworth, and Dr. Luján.

 

Chicago has always represented the spirit of its community people to

prevail and overcome adversity in the challenges that life brings over

time, place, and physical presence. The people of Chicago have a fighting

spirit to survive and fight for justice, equity, and fairness. Chicago is

today a cosmopolitan metropolis and a credit to its sprawling communities

by Lake Michigan in the state of Illinois, USA. Happy 180th Anniversary,

Chicago!

 

The Chicago River

 

Gardenia C. Hung, M.A., B.A.

Consulting Social Media Arts Communications

 

en.gravatar.com/gardeniahung

www.intranslations.blogspot.com

www.coroflot.com/gardeniahung

www.linkedin.com/in/gardeniahung

www.vimeo.com/consultingmedia

www.vimeo.com/communicatemedia

www.vimeo.com/languagesculture

PPL relocating powerlines for a road widening project in Hazleton, PA

The sun had just come up when we saw the hyena take one of the cubs out of the burrow and start to carry it to a new location; then bring it back again, only to repeat the whole procedure again

Bishops & Sons, established in 1854. Still in business under Bishop's Move.

 

The ghost sign reads:

FURNITURE REMOVING

& WAREHOUSING

 

BISHOP & SONS

 

HUGH St. & EBURY St.

PIMLICO LONDON SW1

 

Over the last 160 years, Bishop & Sons' Depositories have grown from a furniture haulage company based in a small yard in Pimlico operating with horse drawn carts, to an International removals and storage company providing moving house, business relocation, international shipping and storage from its network of branches across the UK, and Europe.

 

In the Beginning:

Joseph James (J.J.) Bishop's original plan had been to join Robert Peel’s newly established police force but he soon left this to open a greengrocers in Elizabeth Street, London SW1. It is from this location the haulage side of the business began to flourish - probably as a sideline at first. He also operated a horse-drawn bus!

 

By 1854, the removals and storage business was growing and J.J. bought premises on Hugh Street, just off Belgrave Road, in SW1. This coincided with the recent opening of Victoria Train Station - ideal for transporting furniture across the country. The pantechnicon wagons were designed so that they could be lifted of the wagon and put directly on to the railway. The colourful yellow vans were affectionately known by the public for their "eggs and bacon" livery.

 

In 1871 the greengrocer side of the business had been completely swallowed up by "Bishops Depository for Warehousing Furniture &c' - which was how the business was described at the time. More warehousing was built in nearby Ebury Street in 1876.

 

J.J. was joined by his sons Samuel William, Alfred and Walter Harry in 1878 and the business was renamed "Joseph James Bishop and Sons". J.J died in 1899 leaving his eldest son in charge. By 1904, the business had grown phenomenally with over 20 acres of warehousing to support the demand for storage.

 

The company had a list of illustrious customers including one Lord Bishop of London who wrote:"Under your care, Sir, I shall not in future have the same dread of a "move" as before."

 

Things soon changed with Alfred leaving the company followed by the death of Walter in 1907. Samuel was subsequently joined by his own 2 sons Albert William and Harry Victor - these 2 family members were still on the Board in 1954 when Bishop's Move celebrated it's Centenary.

 

The Roaring '20s:

The 1920s saw a large expansion in the business with first the acquisition of Rugg and Sons of Clapham and then the purchase of Wright Brothers (Removals) Limited of Richmond and Twickenham. In 1927 the business was formally incorporated as a private company - Bishop & Sons' Depositories Ltd. Two more family members joined the company - Donald William in 1929 and his cousin John Grant in 1935 and worked alongside their fathers.

 

Horses were used by the company until the 1930s when other methods of transport started to take over. On 5th November, 1937 "sanction was given to buy fog lamps for 3 of the vehicles as an experiment".

 

The expansion of the company continued with Bishop's Move moving "north of the border" in 1936 with the acquisition of John H Lunn Limited of Edinburgh (Scotland). AJ Mills, Leatherhead (Surrey) was purchased int he same year, followed buy the acquisition of Oxford firm Stevens Removals Services in 1938. New premises were also acquired in Dorking Road, Epsom and Lupus Street, London in 1939.

 

World War I and II:

Through both World Wars, Bishop's Move were involved in the necessary movement of Government Departments and Services. As well as operating institutional evacuations, we moved many special Museum pieces to their war-time hiding places as well as subsequently returning them! The company also felt the force of enemy fire with all 3 London warehouses being damaged by the Blitz. Both Ebury Street and Lupus Street premises were destroyed in one particular heavy enemy raid.

 

Despite the difficult times, both younger sons were serving overseas with the Armed Forces, the company's expansion continued with the purchase of Fellingham & Co of Brighton in 1943 and William Farr's of Chichester in 1944.

 

Expansion Continues:

In 1949, the last horses were sold and the 1950s saw more rapid growth in the removals industry, especially in Scotland. The North British Coachworks were purchased, as were premises in St Stephens Street, Edinburgh. Whilst the south of England saw G Davies & Sons Limited of Haywards Heath join the Bishop's Move group in 1951 and the purchase of Mousell Bros (Exeter) Limited in 1953.

 

In October, 1953, Bishop's Move proudly undertook the removal of the offices of the British American Tabacco Company from Egham in Surrey to Milbank in London. 23 primrose yellow vans could be seen in convoy on the Kingston-by-Pass (now the A3). Altogether 100 loads of furniture, records, safes and storage units were removed successfully in just one and a half days!

 

Following the company reaching 100 years of business, the Board decided to form Bishop's Move Ltd and officially trademark it's familiar name in June 1955. There was also a small milestone achieved with Mr George Wright, a qualified accountant, becoming the first non-family member to join the Board in 1957.

 

Christopher and Timothy Bishop, sons of Donald, joined the Board in 1969 and 1972 respectively and John's sons, Nigel and Roger also gained their directorships in 1972 and 1976.

 

Throughout this time, the expansion of the company continued with the incorporation of Wright Bros (Birkenhead) Limited 1959, Hooper and Dark (Removals) Limited of Bath 1963 and F Winwood Limited of Worcester 1971. Whilst a brand new branch, Bishop's Move Wokingham, was created in November 1972. 1978 saw the takeover of Brocks of Exeter which amalgamated with Bishop's existing interest Mousell Bro's to form Bishop's Move Exeter.

 

The following years have seen the acquisition of Blatchpack in Exeter, Darvalls Iberia in Woking and the creation of branches in La Linea, Spain as well as in Gibraltar. As well as the UK branches of Thames Gateway and our first self-store, Ease the Squeeze in Brighton.

 

Peter, Grant and Neil followed their 3 fathers into the company business and are currently on the Board of Directors. The 6th generation of Bishops are at work in various departments of the company - including the first 2 women from the family!

 

Bishop's Move is now the largest family-owned removals and storage company in the UK. It undertakes local and national moves, as well as business relocation, storage and international shipping. And whilst the horses have been replaced by a modern fleet of purpose built removal vans - J.J. would still be able to recognise their distinctive yellow and red livery and their high level of customer service.

Peg is off - time to relocate!

Adolphus Hotel / Dallas, Texas

 

*** Adolphus Busch, co-founder of Anheuser-Busch ***

 

Adolphus Busch aimed to grow his Missouri brewing company to Texas and Dallas would be the Texas hub. He and St Louis business partners already owned the Oriental Hotel on the SE corner of Commerce and Akard. For years, The Oriental Hotel was considered the finest hotel in Dallas. It was torn down in 1924 to make way for the Baker Hotel. Dallas Mayor Stephen Hay and other city officials traveled to St. Louis in May 1910 to lobby Adolphus Busch to build a huge additon to the Oriental hotel. Busch agreed, but he desired the site opposite the Oriental Hotel - which was the Dallas City Hall. The committee agreed to the sell the lot on the spot to Busch. City offices were relocated to 411 Commerce Street. Demolition began and the site for the "New Oriental Hotel," as it was first named, was ready by January 1911. The Dallas chamber of commerce telegrahed Busch in March 1911 suggesting that the new hotel be named the Adolphus in his honor. Busch responded "I shall cheerfully acquiesce and be proud of it".

 

The hotel was designed by the St. Louis architect Tom P. Barnett, of the firm Barnett, Haynes, and Barnett. The architects used a strong familiarity with the design of the Astor Hotel in New York City which had elaborately decorated public rooms, a roof garden, an exterior faced with a combination of stone and brick and capped with a Mansard roof. The architects previously designed the 425-room Hotel Jefferson (1904) in St. Louis. Construction began in 1911 on the site by Louis J. Haenni of the Gilsonite Construction Company. Busch would spent $1.8 million (about $45 million today) to build a 20 story hotel befitting Dallas’ aspirations, aiming for world-class status. Adolphus Busch died in 1913, but members of the family, including his son August, continued the hotel operation.

 

The New Oriental's monumental facade is of the Louis XIV period. The buildings architectural ornamentation was unheard of this side of the Mississippi. Its exterior was Parisian Beaux Arts style, with a tapestry of red velvet brick, trimmed with Bedford stone, and gargoyles flanked by the colossal, helmeted heads of Greek gods. The building is topped with a handcrafted Turret in the shape of a beer bottle. The exterior included stone figures of Apollo, Ceres and Mercury. The gargoyles symbolized barley, malt, hops and other brewing motifs. The opulent interior was unlike anything Dallas had ever known — vaulted ceilings, sculptured panels in bas-relief, fixtures of brass, ormolu (gilding with gold paste), alabaster carved ornaments decorated with silk and velvet draperies. Busch commissioned two identical Chandeliers. One hangs in the hotel lobby. It is a gilded chandelier, with eagles hovering wingtip to wingtip. The other hangs at the Clydesdale stables in St. Louis.

 

In 1917, the Busch heirs elected to enlarge the hotel with the West Annex, which brought the total number of rooms to 482 when the new section opened in January 1918. The architects Otto Lang and Frank Witchell designed the West Annex, called the "Junior Aolphus", which added 229 hotel rooms. With a roof top restaurant the Adolphus was a hot spot during the Roaring '20s. A third addition was made in 1926.

 

Otto Schubert was the Adolphus general manager from 1922 to 1946. National Hotel Management, headed by Ralph Hitz, served as the hotel management company. NHM also managed the New Yorker, the Lexington and the Belmont Plaza hotels (New York); the Congress Hotel(Chicago); the Netherland Plaza(Cincinnati) and the Book-Cadillac (Detroit).

 

The Century Room on the 19th floor, was the hotel's popular and classy nightclub. It even went Hawaiian for a brief period in 1938 to help showcase a Hawaiian band that was in town. But the Century Room's big attraction was the ice shows. The Century Room had a retractable 20’ X 24’ ice rink used for touring ice revues. When not in use it was retracted and the area used as a dance floor. In the early ’40s, retired speedskater and Olympic gold medalist Dot Graney brought her Broadway-on-ice show to Dallas for a month. Franey ended up staying at the Adolphus for 14 years, where she directed, produced, and choreographed her own shows in the Century Room. Century Room Entertainment included the likes of Phil Harris and Orchestra, Bill Bardo's Band, Art Jarrett and Orchestra with singer Eleanor Holm, Fiddler Joe Venuti, Andrews Sisters, Rudy Vallee, Ben Berne, Ozzie Nelson and Harriett Hilliard, Jack Benny and Phyllis Diller. During the 1950's Liberace broke all Century Room attendance records. In the 1970's The Century Room went Tiki Hawaiian for awhile with such acts as singer "Meteliko" accompanied by five Hula Girls, and fire/knife drummer named Enoka Fetui with the Johnny Scat Davis Band.

 

The Busch family owned the Adolphus hotel for 37 years until 1949 when Dallas investor Leo F. Corrigan Sr purchased the 825 room property for $2,977,000. Under Corrigan's ownership the facility was again expanded to include an additional hotel tower (the Adolphus Tower), an adjoining office tower, and parking garage. Corrigan claims the 1,350 room Adolphus was the largest totaly air conditioned hotel in the world. Corrigan's hotel portfolio included the Biltmore in Los Angeles and Emerald Beach in Nassau. Corrigan made unsuccesful attempts to buy the Empire State Building in NYC and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. In Dallas Corrigan had previously bought the Stoneleigh Hotel (owned for over 50 years) and Maple Terrace hotel. H.H. Andy Anerson was Managing Director from 1956 to 1967 and again in 1977.

 

In 1980 the Adolphus had its third owner - a California investment group lead by Patrick R. Colee, president of the Westgroup Parnters. With finacning from New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, Colee purchased the commercial block of improved real estate in downtown Dallas which consisted of office buildings and the well-known but poorly maintained hotel known as the Adolphus Hotel. In disrepair and subjected to mismanagement for years, the Adolphus was initially considered a liability to the viability of the purchased block. Colee lead a charge to fully renovate the hotel and create his own hotel ownership and management organization. For the next twenty-five years under the auspices of Colee, the Adolphus thrived in its tradition of elegance, charm and excellence. On February 3, 1980 after 68 years of continuous service, Westgroup closed The Adolphus for restoration and refurnishing.

 

By 1981 the Adolphus re-opened after a $45 million facelift. The hotel was again a showplace, with $25 million in "new" antiques and art. The work on the original structure was confined to restoration of existing elements on the exterior, with a major redecorating campaign on the interior. The room count was reduced from 850 to 437 - creating one guest room from two. The hotel received new plumbing and individually controlled air conditionand heating and an advanced emergency alert system. Rooms and halls have sprinklers and smoke alarms. The stairways have been pressurized to prevent the entrance of smoke. The French Room opened as the finest restaurant in Dallas. In the early 80's Jean Banchet, the owner and chef of Le Francais in Wheeling IL. was rated as the America's best restaurant, was the food consultant for the French Room. Westgroup selected Amfac, the Hawaiian sugar, real estate and resort company, to manage the hotel. John Kirk was Amfac's first general manager at the Adolphus. After the $45 million renovation the once great but greatly deteriorated property staged a comeback as one of the world's finest hotels and in a short time earned the AAA Five Diamond Rating. Amfac's 1981 annual meeting was held at the Adolphus. Westgroup also bought in 1985 the Biltmore in Los Angeles for $45 million and the Newporter Resort for $25 million.

 

In 2012 Adolphus Associates/Met Life sold the Adolphus to a company set up by RockBridge Cabital for $33.5 million. Cresent Hotels was retained as manager. Rockbridge is a Columbus Ohio based private equity firm.

 

Rockbridge and Crescent Hotels & Resorts commenced a multi-million dollar renovation to Dallas’ historic Adolphus Hotel in 2013. The legendary hotel (currently at 407 rooms) will receive a comprehensive, property-wide renovation that will modernize and vitalize the property while preserving its history, elegance and charm. The scope of the renovation includes the complete refurbishment of all guest rooms, public spaces and meeting spaces; the addition of a new 19th floor ballroom; construction of a 7th floor rooftop pool and bar; introduction of a new luxury spa and fitness center; refreshment of the acclaimed French Room Restaurant (restored the ceiling of the storied French Room to its original white, a move that pained fans of the rococo cherub frescoes, a relic of eighties excess); and the development of new dining and retails outlets. Rockbridge President and CEO Jim Merkel said the renovation is led by RB Hotel Development and design firm Duncan Miller Ullmann. Merkel is the co-founder of Rockbridge and helped grow it to over $2.0 billion in managed assets. The Adolphus remained open throughout the project. Other Rockbridge properties include Cliff House in Cape Neddick, ME and The Lay Low, Honolulu (formerly the Coral Reef Hotel). Merkel says "We fix broken hotels. We reinvent them and make them relevant to the market and to today's customers".

 

With renovations completed in 2017, The Adolphus, shed its independence and become part of the Marriott brand's "Autograph Collection" of hotels.

 

Compiled by Dick Johnson / October, 2018

 

- "big or small, every bit of effort and attention counts for the children..."

more anticipation and excitement for our new freedom at any work space along with that wonderful familiar warmth of LEGO for work, play and build experience at the South Beach Tower...

#lego #sg #move #southbeachtower #southbeach #newoffice #relocation #everythingisawesome #awesome

 

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Along Market Street.

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Despite all of the recent 'SHUT THE HELL UP' modding I've done to it the quicksilver is still a bit too loud to keep in my bedroom so have swapped it around with the iMac G3 which is completely silent. got a perky little G3 in my room looking pretty and this ridiculous powerhouse sat in the living room. It's a great party piece with full screen cover flow turned on. Almost finished maxxing the system out too.

 

PowerPC 7448 Dual G4 Processors @ 1.81GHz

1.5GB PC133 MHz SD-RAM

ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB

802.11g Wifi + Bluetooth 2.0 EDR

6 USB 2.0 Ports (2 USB 1.0 ports)

DL DVD/RW Superdrive

 

Harman Kardon Soundstick II - 2.1 Stereo Speakers

Mirai 22" Widescreen TFT Monitor 1680x1050

There are a few more upgrades to do including a better graphics card (hard to get decent mac AGP graphics cards though) and possibly faster wifi... adding more storage (probably external) ... maybe a SATA pci card...