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about your home town.

I was looking for early maps of my hometown, Ft Wayne, and I came across this article.

"Mad Anthony" Wayne at Fallen Timbers - The Early America Review, Fall 1996

This entire city is named after the original Brigadier General who built the fort and defeated the indians claming this area for the US... and he was buried in Erie, PA. I didn't know he'd founded Fort Defiance (in Ohio) on his way here either. History is some interesting stuff, even though it's been out there all these years, I still learn something new.
 
Eatontown History


Eatontown History
Introduction
Eatontown began as most towns do, with commerce.
In 1670, Thomas Eaton came from Shrewsbury to survey the shores of Mill Brook (now called Wampum Brook.) He decided to create water power for a mill that would grind farmers' grain into flour.
By 1796, Eatontown's business district included a tannery opposite Mill Pond; a tavern on the corner of Main and Broad Streets called The Eatontown Inn; and a general store on the east side of Main Street. Today, this section of town is called The Village.
In 1873 the New Jersey State Legislature made the name of Eatontown official.
Getting Around

Some of the local roads follow the trails created by the Lenni Lenape Indians who originally came to Eatontown, NJ from Delaware. One north-south trail became the Eatontown-Red Bank Turnpike. It used to connect Main Street to South Street to Wall Street. In the 1920s it was straightened out when it became a state highway (Highway 35.)

A second north-south trail was the Eatontown-Long Branch Turnpike. Today it is Broad Street where many historical houses are still standing. One of them is the Eatontown Museum that is open the last Sunday of every month.
The Colts Neck-Eatontown Turnpike (today known as Highway 537), located just north of the old Mill Pond, was a main road for farmers to bring in their produce from Colts Neck and Freehold.
The Indian trails are a crossroads for modern commerce. The site of Eaton's Mill anchors the northern end of town. Monmouth Mall, built in 1959 on a former farm, is the center of town. Industrial Way, where a colonial woman once homesteaded, runs along the southern border.
Schools
Eatontown education has a long tradition that began when Quakers opened the first school in 1806. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries there have been a variety of one-room and two-story schoolhouses around town.
The Eatontown Board of Education was organized in 1894. It built its first school -- a six room, two-story brick building -- on Broad Street in 1907.
One famous citizen, Fred G. Steelman, came to teach in 1916. He took a short leave of absence to serve in the military during World War I. He returned to teach, and was principal until 1940. Eatontown Public School No. 1 was renamed in his honor in 1955. The Board of Education has its offices here today. Some of the original classrooms are still used for teaching.
Fort Monmouth

Eatontown has had a long association with Fort Monmouth. Just after the United States entered World War I, the War Department bought most of the original Monmouth Park Race Track, creating the Signal Corps Camp.
The war made it necessary to train large numbers of telegraphers and other communications personnel. The camp was renamed after Alfred Vail in honor of the New Jersey inventor who helped develop the Morse telegraph.
The first method of communicating behind enemy lines was by carrier pigeon; many were trained here. The War Department declared the camp a permanent military post in 1925, and named it after an American Revolutionary battle.
Fort Monmouth was the first to develop many communication methods used today. Innovations begun here include:
  • <LI class=MsoNormal>aircraft radar detection <LI class=MsoNormal>walkie talkies
  • weather tracking devices
 
Hot Springs Arkansas | About Hot Springs | History

Hot Springs is the tenth most populous city in the state of Arkansas in the United States of America, the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 37,847.[1]
Hot Springs is traditionally best known for the natural spring water that gives it its name, flowing out of the ground at a temperature of 147 degrees Fahrenheit (64 degrees Celsius). Hot Springs National Park is the oldest federal reserve in the USA, and the tourist trade that the famous springs bring makes it a very successful spa town.
Hot Springs is also noted as the boyhood home of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and famed American actor Alan Ladd.
Hot Springs is also home to Oaklawn Park, a thoroughbred racetrack which has been in operation since 1904. The meet which is annually held from January through mid April each year is sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Season" and features the "Racing Festival of the South" during the last week of the racing season each April. Many triple crown contenders compete in the Arkansas Derby which is the big finale each year of the meet. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, his brother Roger, and actor Billy Bob Thornton, all Hot Springs natives have been known to frequent Oaklawn Park in the past.
Along with its Bathhouse Row, one of downtown Hot Springs' most noted landmarks is the Arlington Hotel, a favored retreat for Al Capone.
Prior to the late 1960s, Hot Springs was a mecca for illegal gambling. Two Republican officeholders, Governor Winthrop Rockefeller and Circuit Judge Henry M. Britt, took action to stop the gambling.
Hot Springs was the home of prominent Democratic attorney Q. Byrum Hurst, a member of the Arkansas State Senate from 1950-1972 and the Garland County administrative judge from 1947-1950.
The Hot Springs newspaper is the Sentinel-Record, originally part of the Clyde E. Palmer chain, since renamed WEHCO.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_County%2C_Oregon

my home county ^

things we're famous for, huh?

KKK headquarters for the west coast until 35-40 years ago. They even used to have a recreational league baseball team.
Our county no longer has libraries as of 2006.
Sundown law: Stating african americans must be inside after nightfall. (no longer enforced, but still...)
Some of the best weed on the west coast :)
more coffee stands per person in the city of Grants Pass than anywhere in america
over half the population is over 65.
Grants Pass was voted the number 2 retirement town in america several years ago.
In 2000 the per capita income for the county was $17,234. (it cant be much higher now)
Kevin Bacon filmed Deliverance on the Rogue River, and my parents even met him.
The Rogue River contains many world-class rapids that people come from all over the world to raft.
The historic theater in Grants Pass still runs The original 3 Star Wars in the theater on the big screen. Usually three days a month have showings (the first day being Episode IV, the second day being Episode V, and the third being Episdoe VI.)

and i think thats about it
 
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