# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/61 "2002-08-13T14:30:24Z")
**Squish** , my son just returned Saturday from Prescott. Visiting Grandma. She was smart this year - she put him in daycamp for the week. 😃 Fires earlier get ya? Hope you didn’t lose anything - she got evacuated for a short time… SORRY - END HIJAK ---
**Author:** ![Winnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e480ec/32.png) [@Winnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnie)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/62 "2002-08-13T15:00:36Z")
Washington D.C. is my birthplace but the town where I’ve spent my life is **Centreville, VA** , a small suburb of DC about 20 miles west of the city. During the Civil War, Centreville was a nationally known focal point due to its relation to turnpike and railroad systems. Both Confederate and Union soldiers passed through during the battle of Bull Run. The Union Army used the Stone Church and the hotel as a hospital. A few years ago while digging up some ground to build a new McDonalds, they unearthed an old Civil War graveyard, complete with intact skeletons wearing their uniforms, guns, badges, jewelry, etc. It truly was an example of the history of the ground we step on every day here. Here’s a link to the site for those who are interested: [http://www.espd.com/salute/](http://www.espd.com/salute/) They continued to build McDonalds and the parking lot covers the area where they unearthed the graveyard. And suburban sprawl marches on ☹ ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/63 "2002-08-13T15:14:08Z")
Dublin has lots of stuff but I was originally from a street in Dublin called Emmet Street in Harolds Cross which had a BIG house just around the corner owned by Robert Emmet. Emmet led a failed revolution against the British in the late 1800’s and was hung drawn and quartered at Stephens Green where a statue of him now stands. > [@](#): > > , Robert had been arrested at Harolds Cross, to whose dangerous neighborhood he had been drawn by an overpowering desire to see once more his ‘bright love’ the exquisite Sarah Curran. [http://www.ireland.org/irl\_hist/hist38.htm](http://www.ireland.org/irl_hist/hist38.htm) In looking for a picture of the statue I’ve found out that four where made and they stand in [Stephens Green, Dublin](http://www.robertemmet.org/Dublin/default.htm) [Emmetsburg, USA](http://www.emmetsburgstpats.org/archives/history.htm) [Washington DC](http://thatman.homestead.com/emmet2.html) [San Francisco](http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist10/devalera.html) mad ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/64 "2002-08-13T15:32:10Z")
IIRC, Houston didn’t have a city morgue until the 1950’s, and when then the chief coroner was an ex-Nazi. For years afterwards Houston was a prime scene for the body part smuggling underground. That’s not really cool, but it surely is interesting. ---
**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, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/65 "2002-08-13T17:51:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Missy2U \* > **Fires earlier get ya? Hope you didn’t lose anything - she got evacuated for a short time…** No, we live downtown–although for a few days it did smell as if we were sitting around a campfire. A week or two later some friends from California drove in and asked us upon their arrival, “What did you do? Try and torch the place when you heard we were coming?” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/66 "2002-08-13T18:14:08Z")
I was born in **Palacios, Texas** , near where La Salle’s expedition landed (1685), and the closest town to where his ships were recently recovered in Matagorda Bay. Read all about it: [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/LL/upl1.html](http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/LL/upl1.html) And everything you need to know about Texas’ #1 shrimping town: [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/PP/hfp1.html](http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/PP/hfp1.html) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/67 "2002-08-13T19:31:47Z")
My city, Waco, is the Home of Dr. Pepper. It also has a suspension bridge over the Brazos that was the model for and the the precussor to the Brooklyn Bridge. ---
**Author:** ![VanLandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/eb9ed0/32.png) [@VanLandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanLandry)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/68 "2002-08-13T19:49:07Z")
Hmmmmm… Boston… nope. Not much ever happened here. No historical moments or people of importance. Well, except for Bill Buckner, but we wont go into that. ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/69 "2002-08-13T21:34:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*My city, Waco, is the Home of Dr. Pepper. > \*\* Oh, yeah… I’ve lived there, too, but it’s neither my hometown nor where I live now. Waco also has a special place in history for a little unpleasantness that went down a decade or so ago, eh? (Even though that wasn’t actually in Waco, and only barely in McClennan Co.) ---
**Author:** ![brandiwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@brandiwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brandiwine)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/70 "2002-08-13T22:00:53Z")
Hometown, Salem Mass: Coolest historical thing… well, i guess if you consider the persecution & execution of innocent young women & children “cool” … I guess that would be it. Though I think the whole town in general, the people, the parks, and especially Halloween night in the Commons is quite cool on its own. Where I currently live: I dont think there’s anything historically cool about this place, other than The Monkee’s made a song about it. :shrug: That train station is still here too. And they’ve done a fine job of restoring it (Right smack in the middle of a freaking ghetto) ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/71 "2002-08-14T12:52:07Z")
Vienna, VA. Well, a Civil War skirmish was fought here on 17 June 1861, and . . . umm . . . the town’s population grew from 2,000 to 11,000 from 1950 to 1960 . . . Dull as ditchwater, really. We don’t even have a movie theater anymore, just plenty of antique stores and carpet shops. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/72 "2002-08-15T02:01:38Z")
Napoleon III is buried a couple of miles away. It used to be an Abbey, but now it is a private school for girls. You can still see the tomb by appointment. A mile beyond that is (supposedly) the tree to which Sam Cody used to tie his airplane when he introduced heavier-than-air flight to the UK. ---
**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 15, 2002, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/73 "2002-08-15T11:36:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Hometown, Salem Mass: Coolest historical thing… well, i guess if you consider the persecution & execution of innocent young women & children “cool” … I guess that would be it. Though I think the whole town in general, the people, the parks, and especially Halloween night in the Commons is quite cool on its own. I live near there now. Salem wasn’t onlt the witch trials, though. You had Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven Gables, a whole host of unusual and eccentric folks, and the China Trade (Until the shallow depth of the harbor became an issue, Salem was a serious competitor with Boston for the most active trade in Massachusetts, if not New England). The Peabody-Essex Institute still houses the results of that trade. Salem also used to be the home of Parker Brothers games, until just a few years ago… ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/74 "2002-08-15T11:51:55Z")
I live in Stockholm, Sweden but I don’t really know much about the history. No doubt there’s lots of great stuff, there usually is when European capitals get involved! I’m from Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England which is just full of great historical things. Amongst them is the place where Simon DeMontford is reputed to have held the first English Parliament session in 1264. Also, at the end of the road where I grew up is thought to be where Walter Raleigh first planted potatoes brought back from the “New World”. As a lover of chips, this is important to me. ---
**Author:** ![VanLandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/eb9ed0/32.png) [@VanLandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanLandry)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/75 "2002-08-15T12:39:51Z")
I forgot to mention my hometown. Gardner, MA. Mrs. Liberman is from there. We used be in the Guiness Book of Records for having the worlds largest chair(Our nickname is “The Chair City”). Oh, and remember a few weeks ago that guy who flew his cessna over Washington and was escorted down by a couple F-16’s? He took off from my hometown. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/76 "2002-08-15T16:36:48Z")
The Suffolk Resolves (precursor to A of F) were signed in my hometown. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/77 "2002-08-15T16:36:53Z")
The Suffolk Resolves (precursor to A of C) were signed in my hometown. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/78 "2002-08-15T16:38:12Z")
please ignore 1st post. My bad! ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/79 "2002-08-15T23:03:02Z")
Well, let’s see…Albia Ia, A cousin of Davy Crockett is buried there, and it was an answer in the NY Times crossword puzzle once, and…James Stevens, author of the book Mattock and several Paul Bunyan stories was born there, and artist Ellsworth Young who created a somewhat well known recruitment poster during WW I, and an artist named Delia Shull who studied with Robert Henri, and…okay, not really famous, but kind of cool to me. I live in Chicago now, so no need to go into that. Nobody famous EVER came from here. ---
**Author:** ![BGo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@BGo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BGo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438/80 "2002-08-15T23:10:58Z")
I live in the town where Kool-Aid was invented. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-coolest-historical-thing-about-your-hometown-or-where-you-live-now/123438.md?page=5)