Fountain Rock

"Crows..,will have to carry their provender with them"

(Preface): The Federal offensive in the Shenandoah Valley begun in May 1864 faltered in the summer with Confederate victories and Gen. Jubal A. Early's Washington Raid in July. Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan ...

River Commerce

Known to Native Americans as "Messipi" ("Big River") or "Mee-zee-see-bee" ("Father of Waters"), the Mississippi River originates in Minnesota and terminates 2,348 miles later at the Gulf of Mexico.

The river played an integral part in the establishment and growth of ...

Cape Girardeau River Crossings

In the 1790s, the Spanish governor granted Louis Lorimier permission to operate a ferry service at Cape Girardeau.

Thereafter, ferry operators continued to shuttle people and products across the Mississippi River until 1928 when a new, privately built bridge ended the ...

Champion Beech Tree

This stately Beech is one of the largest and oldest trees in the State of Missouri. A registered "champion" tree, it is approximately 200 years old. Quite possibly it was alive at the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

The ...

Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company

Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company

One of the most unusual WWI Mississippi River transportation stories concerns the Manitowoc [Wisconsin] Shipbuilding Co., the nation's only inland builder of submarines.

In December 1940, the U.S. Navy contracted with the company to construct 10 Gato class submarines.

Subsequently, ...

St Vincent's Seminary and Southeast Missouri State University

Terrace Park is located on the site where Father Odin of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentian Fathers) established St. Vincent's Male Academy in 1838, which was followed shortly thereafter by St. Vincent's Seminary.

Often affectionately called "The Cape", St. Vincent's ...

President James Buchanan

“The incorruptible statesman whose walk was upon the mountain ranges of the law.”

Life long friend Jermiah S. Black

U.S. Attorney General 1857-1860, U.S. Secretary of State 1860-1861

This park commemorates the birthplace of James Buchanan, the 15th President of the ...

Hampshire County Courthouse

Secession and Occupation

On May 23, 1861, Virginians voted in a statewide referendum to approve or disapprove the Ordinance of Secession that the convention in Richmond had passed on April 17. Here at the Hampshire County Courthouse, 1,188 out of 2,635 ...

Stony Batter       Birthplace of a President

Imagine stepping back in time to April 23, 1791. Packhorses and wagons were pulling into a bustling trading post owned by Scotch-Irish immigrant James Buchanan. There was probably a spring chill to the air. Perhaps the sun shone brightly overhead, ...

Romney In The Civil War

Strategic Location on the Turnpike

Romney experienced many troop movements and skirmishes during the course of the war because of its location on the vitally important North Western Turnpike The road linked Winchester, near the northern end of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, ...