Comments on: Share Your Obscure Historical Landmarks, Win James Loewen’s Book

By: Kristin

Kristin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:27:03 +0000

Oddly enough, I live down the street from where Grover Cleveland lived next (Fayetteville, NY)…but alas, I have never made it inside either!

By: John

John — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:00:11 +0000

OK, I was on vacation, so this comment is a little late…

The weirdest Historical marker I’ve ever seen is on an traffic island in the middle of Rt. 50 in Fairfax, VA. After you scramble across several lanes of traffic to read the marker you get something to the effect of “9 miles west of this spot the Battle of Manassas was fought during the Civil War”.

You would think they could have shifted the marker 50 feet one way or the other so that you would not be required to risk your life to discover this import fact.

By: Paula

Paula — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:48:51 +0000

I live about 65 miles from Rugby, ND, the geographical center of North America.
I’ve been there several times, and the site itself is only a stone monument, but it’s a neat feeling to be right in the middle of the entire continent…

By: Darcy

Darcy — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:36:48 +0000

I live in Raleigh, NC, but my parents grew up in Fayetteville, NC which is about an hour away. Fayetteville is the birth place of Putt-Putt golf. Both my parents remember (and played on) the first ever Putt-Putt course. Sadly, the original course was demolished some time ago, except for the the 1st hole which is now accompanied by a small plaque stating its place in minigolf history.

By: Christina

Christina — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:43:08 +0000

I grew up the quirky town of Alpena, MI. We are home to the only freshwater National Marine Sanctuary in the US. Outside Alpena’s Besser Corporation headquarters is a historical marker proclaiming it the world’s largest cement plant. Mr. Jesse Besser was the inventor of the machine that makes cinder blocks, and our town boasts the Jesse Besser Museum and the World Center for Concrete Technology. In addition, we have a tree in the front yard of the late 99.3 WATZ DJ/newsman Don Parteka. It is home to a family of woolly-worm caterpillars that have been correctly predicting the severity of Alpena’s winters for several decades.

By: April

April — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:28:22 +0000

In Natick, MA there is a small building amidst the shopping plazas that was once the site of the 18th Vice President’s (Henry Wilson) cobbler shop.
Also, I am from the town that Benedict Arnold was born in. It is something we learned in early on in elementary school but all there is to commemorate his birthplace is a small sign that stands in front of a newer house. This is the same town that completely restored a hotel because one night Lincoln had slept there.

By: nikki

nikki — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:18:55 +0000

Oh! One more thing – In 1997 it had it’s first batch of acorns since the poisoning. They were collected, germinated, and planted all over texas.

By: nikki

nikki — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:18:20 +0000

Oh! One more thing – In 1997 it had it’s first batch of acorns since the poisoning. They were collected, germinated, and planted all of texas.

By: nikki

nikki — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:16:27 +0000

I live in Austin and pass the 500 year old Treaty Oak on my way home from work each day. It used to be a grove of 14 oak trees called the Council Oaks that served as a meeting place for the Tonkawa and Comanche tribes. The women used to drink a tea made of honey and acorns from the trees to bring good luck to their warriors went they went off to battle.

In 1830, Stephen F. Austin met with the heads of local tribes in order to negotiate a border treaty after people were killed in raids. The sad part is that less than a hundred years later, only one of the trees remained and wasn’t taken care of very well. Eventually the City of Austin purchased the land and turned it into an official historic landmark.

While none of this is particularly bizarre, it’s the fact that it survived an intentional poisoning in 1989. Yeah. A guy was going to put a spell on the city by killing the Treaty Oak using a powerful hardwood herbicide. Everyone flipped, and fought to save the tree. All of the dirt was dug up and new dirt brought in. They even set up a mister system that would water it with fresh spring water. It lost a large portion of its branches and crown, but it’s still standing there today. Next to a Ben & Jerry’s. And a hair salon. And about two blocks from the Whole Foods mothership.

I love that tree.

By: Meta

Meta — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:34:52 +0000

I live right near the birthplace of Millard Fillmore, America’s most-forgotten president. Only, I just found out this summer that nobody remembers him, because EVERYTHING near me is named after him.