# What's the coolest historical thing about your hometown or where you live now? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 11, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438 "2002-08-11T22:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/41 "2002-08-12T17:58:46Z")
I’d guess Prescott, AZ, **Squish**. ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/42 "2002-08-12T18:58:52Z")
Gold star for you, **Ringo**. 🙂 This is an interesting thread–the Roger Williams Root, the kings buried in Winchester, all the other stories. I was actually born in Muncy Valley, Pennsylvania, which is a wide spot on an insignificant road, but the closest hospital to my parents’ farm. I spent most of my life in Phoenix, sadly famous mostly for emulating modern Los Angeles. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/43 "2002-08-12T19:24:54Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Kinsey_\*\* > The only known monument to William Wallace (Braveheart) is in Druid Hill Park in downtown Baltimore.\*\* Uh, I think we might have a bit of one in [Stirling, Scotland](http://www.stirling.co.uk/attractions/wallace.htm) too… Unless I’ve somehow been wooshed… My hometown- Lake Jackson, Texas. When it was founded, the city planners decided to design it in such a way that as few trees as possible would be cut down. For this reason, and because the town grew around a road following the border of a lake, we have very twisty, confusing roads. We also have sidewalks that curve to avoid trees. The talented and tragically deceased singer Selena is from there. We’re also known for having streets named This Way, That Way, and Any Way. The city planners obviously had a sense of humor I can appreciate. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/44 "2002-08-12T19:39:27Z")
Here are two stupid little pieces of trivia: I live on the dry lake where they filmed “The Misfits” (a thoroughly horrible film). I grew up riding the schoolbus everyday past the meadow that was seen in the opening of the show “Bonanza” (the one with the lake in the background and the landslide scar on the mountain) **Squish** , here is a weird Prescott story: I went to college in LA and a buddy went to Riddle. I drove out to visit him unannounce, figureing the town couldn’t be that big and figured I would find him somehow. Drove into town, and went straight to Wisky Row (he was a drinker 😉 ) and pulled the car into the first spot I could find. It was right in front of “Matt’s Bar”. I went into the bar, and sitting on the stool closet to the door was my buddy. Drive time, 3-4 hours (dont really remember), search time 2 seconds. Great little town, Prescott. I returned many times on my motorcycle to ride highway 49 ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/45 "2002-08-12T19:56:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Loopus \* > \*\* > > Uh, I think we might have a bit of one in [Stirling, Scotland](http://www.stirling.co.uk/attractions/wallace.htm) too… Unless I’ve somehow been wooshed… > \*\* Okay, maybe it’s the only [statue](http://www.btco.net/ghosts/oddsends/druidhill/DruidHillpf.html) of him, not just monument. My mistake. Scroll down about two-thirds of the way. Front and back views. Doesn’t look a thing like Mel Gibson… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/46 "2002-08-12T20:16:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kinsey \* > \*\*Okay, maybe it’s the only [statue](http://www.btco.net/ghosts/oddsends/druidhill/DruidHillpf.html) of him, not just monument. My mistake. > Scroll down about two-thirds of the way. Front and back views. > > Doesn’t look a thing like Mel Gibson… 😉 \*\* There is a staue of “Wallace” at the base of Stirling’s Wallace Monument’s hill that looks _exactly_ like Mel Gibson. I thought it was hilarious. I have only the word of our tour guide, but she said that the statue was vandalized so much when it was first put there that they had to start putting it in a cage every night to keep it safe. It apparently offends a lot of people, but the sculptor watched _Braveheart_ while recovering from open-heart surgery, and was inspired to sculpt it. How could anyone tell him it stank? 🙂 Quote from our tour guide: “Unfortunately he’s not dead yet, so they can’t take it away.” 😉 Y’all’s statue looks much better. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/47 "2002-08-12T21:00:24Z")
We have the only former royal palace on US soil. ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/48 "2002-08-12T22:14:11Z")
Probably the Lost Dutchman Mine in the Superstitions. We get lots of people who are still convinced they will be the ones to find it. More power to them if they can, of course. Oh, the legend is pretty varied according to the teller, but the basic story is this. Jacob Waltz, the Dutchman, found the Peralta mine along with a friend of his, Jacob Weiser. They hid the gold somewhere. Weiser died (some say killed by Waltz) and Waltz moved to Phoenix where he died in 1891. Most people believe the gold is hidden somewhere near Weaver’s Needle, but it’s very dangerous to try going up there for any length of time and seriously search without proper training or equipment. Naturally, the deaths just add to the mystery and allure. ---
**Author:** ![\_Uigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e9a140/32.png) [@\_Uigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Uigi)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/49 "2002-08-12T22:30:52Z")
Downtown Charleston (south of Broad St.) is a little bit of a pig path entitled “Longitude Lane”. Its orientation is (almost perfectly) east/west; no wonder these “genteel folk” can’t find their way out of the state boundaries. ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/50 "2002-08-12T23:11:10Z")
Matt’s Bar is still there, **gatopescado** –and if you hadn’t have found him there, all you would have had to do is walk the Row. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/51 "2002-08-12T23:16:01Z")
Well, I grew up until age 13 in Andrews AFB, MD. Presidents fly through there all the time, as well as the occasional pope, but not too much of historical note happened there, AFAIK. Then I lived in Reston, VA, which was also pretty boring, and didn’t even exist until 1969 anyway… One really interesting and creepy historical tidbit about Portland, where I live now: [The Shanghai Tunnels](http://members.tripod.com/cgs-mthood/shanghai_tunnels.htm). The “Portland Underground”, tunnels under the city through which a lively trade in involuntary human labor was conducted in the late 19th and early 20th century. Pass out in a bar, get whisked underground, and wake to find yourself sold to a sea captain headed for China. You can visit the tunnels, although I haven’t yet. I hear there are still piles of old shoes that they took away from the victims to make it harder to run away. ---
**Author:** ![Osbie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cdc98d/32.png) [@Osbie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osbie)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/52 "2002-08-13T03:37:57Z")
Abraham Lincoln and most of his family is buried in my home town. (I always thought it was surreal that I drove by his tomb every time I went into town). The only home he ever owned is there too - as well as his law office. Ironically, there were race riots in 1908 that led to the founding of the NAACP. The poet Vachel Lindsay was born and died there. I believe the Bunn-O-Matic coffee machines were invented there too. There’s a public golf course named after Bunn. Lincoln…NAACP…Lindsay…Bunn-O-Matic… I’ll let you decide which is coolest. ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/53 "2002-08-13T04:38:11Z")
Now living outside Philadelphia, so Liberty Bell, Declaration, Constitution, all of that. Born/raised in Welch, WV. If you’ve ever seen the John Sayles movie **Matewan** , the person played by David Strathairn, Sid “Two Guns” Hatfield, was assassinated on the front steps of the courthouse in my home town. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/54 "2002-08-13T05:50:27Z")
I’m originally from Owensboro, Ky, the site of the last public hanging in the state of Kentucky. Not the greatest thing to be known for, but it had to happen somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/55 "2002-08-13T07:10:22Z")
Where I live now we’ve got Pearl Harbor where the Arizona still lies and now the Missouri is just a little ways away. We’ve also got the only royal palace in the USA. Oh, From my window I can see the world’s first rotating restaurant. In fact I can see it’s red lights as I type. Not that important but I think it’s cool. Where I was born had Kilauea, you know the volcano that was in the news a few weeks ago. We lived so close to it I could watch one of it’s rift eruptions from my bedroom window, quite a sight at night. We were uphill so we were fairly safe. ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/56 "2002-08-13T08:26:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrazyCatLady \* > **I’m originally from Owensboro, Ky, the site of the last public hanging in the state of Kentucky.** Oh, I’ve read about that; very interesting story. ---
**Author:** ![Osakadave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@Osakadave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osakadave)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/57 "2002-08-13T10:57:08Z")
Osaka is rich with history. Osaka was twice the capital Japan - during the 7th century (it was Naniwanomiya at the time) and during the reign of Hideyoshi. Sakai, the suburb where I live has (suposedly) the largest burial mound tomb in the world (Emperor Nintoku). Also Sen-no-Rikyu, who founded the art of the tea ceremony was from Sakai. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/58 "2002-08-13T11:48:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m originally from Owensboro, Ky, the site of the last public hanging in the state of Kentucky. Not the greatest thing to be known for, but it had to happen somewhere. I’ve heard that Owensboro also has one of the highest bowling alley to people ratios in the country. No joke – I was offered a job in O., and this came up. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/59 "2002-08-13T12:54:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kinsey \* > \*\*The only known monument to William Wallace (Braveheart) is in Druid Hill Park in downtown Baltimore. > \*\* What??? Does the [Wallace Monument](http://www.stirling.co.uk/attractions/wallace.htm) in Stirling not exist? What’s that all about? ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/60 "2002-08-13T12:59:02Z")
Charlottesville Virginia- the “Fort Sensible” of the Civil War. When the Union Army showed up in town, did the locals rise up and fight-- heck no, the University professors went out to the army and _begged_ them not to burn the town down! This is according to the town’s own records I believe (talk about something I would have fudged a bit. . . ). So whenever I see one of those “rebel” pickup trucks in town with the rebel flag and appropriate bumper stickers I have to snicker a bit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438.md?page=4)