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Most Recent Articles
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- Dauphin Island And The History Of North America’s Colonization In Miniature
Dauphin Island, Alabama is a barrier island at the Mouth of Mobile Bay. It is a tourist attraction, the home of around 1,200 people, the site of the Estuarium marine sciences laboratory and a164-acre Audubon Bird Sanctuary. It’s a pleasant, pretty and useful place that receives most of its income from tourism. On the face of it one could hardly guess that Dauphin Island bore the name “Massacre Island” for 8 years, or that it was occupied by every major European power in American history at one time or another.
The earliest records of human activity on Dauphin Island are the burial sites of the Native Americans known as the Mound Builders. The Serpentine shell middens on Dauphin’s northern shore suggest that this culture had been using the island for 1,000 years before the 1st Europeans arrived in the Americas, possibly occupying it on a seasonal basis, and definitely using it as sacred ground for the honored dead. - Indian Legends And Victorian Bath Houses: The History Of Eureka Springs
Today the Arkansas resort town of Eureka Springs is a quaint, faux-Victorian tourist trap with an abundance of Bible-themed attractions. But the knickknack shops and family-friendly dinner theaters are really a natural outgrowth of a long history as a “vacation” destination reaching back to the Native Americans.
Eureka Springs has, unsurprisingly, several naturally occurring, mineral-rich springs, which have long been thought to be possessed of healing powers. In 1856 European settler called Dr. Alvah Jackson took the Indian legends at their word at used some of the water from Eureka’s springs to “treat” an unspecified eye ailment suffered by his son. The ailment healed and his son’s recovery was duly attributed to the spring-water. This led to the founding of Dr. Jackson’s Cave Hospital, where many young men were “treated” with Eureka’s spring water during the American Civil War, and the subsequent Dr. Jackson’s Eye Water business post-bellum. - Did Colorado Kill Doc Holliday
Springs, Colorado, were “this is funny”. We’ll never know, of course, exactly what the Wild West legend meant by this. Perhaps he found it ironic that after a life spent tempting death in the gambling dens of the American frontier, it was at last his 15-year long battle with tuberculosis that had killed him. But while it is certainly true that TB was the ultimate cause of his death, it may have had an accomplice…the state of Colorado itself.
Doc was born in Georgia in 1851. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was only 15, and it is likely that he contracted the disease from her. It lay dormant long enough for him to complete his classical education and graduate from Dentistry school before symptoms began to appear. After his diagnosis he was told he had a few months, perhaps a year, to live. He was 20 years old. - New-gate In New England: Hard Time Connecticut Style
The very 1st state prison in the United States was founded before there were states at all, let alone united ones. Connecticut’s New-Gate Prison, originally a copper mine, was began it’s role as a detention center in the fall of 1773 as the colony’s public “gaol” and workhouse. It was called New-Gate after the fearsome prison of the same name in England. During the early years of the American Revolutionary War it held captured loyalists and torries. It was also a Prisoner of War facility in the American Civil War.
The people of Connecticut were no less concerned with budget over-run in the late 18th century than we are today, so the supposed “self-sufficiency” of New-Gate was very appealing. Copper could still be mined from the dank tunnels that made up the prison, allowing prisoners to pay for their own upkeep. In addition, the structure of the prison, i.e. two shafts, a couple of iron trap-doors and a veritable dungeon of mine tunnels, meant that a minimal staff would be needed. This included the warden or “Keeper” three guards or “overseers” and a few skilled miners, paid from the prisoners salaries, to instruct the prisoner on the finer points of copper mining. - The Fountain Of Hooey: Ponce De Leon In Florida
It probably won’t come as a surprise to too many people nowadays that the Spanish Conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon was not, in fact, really looking for a genuine fountain of youth on his explorations in Florida. This myth was most likely born in the 1560’s after Ponce’s death. The grain of truth that supposedly sits at the center of every tall tail may have to do with his metaphorical search for rebirth in finding new glories in the New World in the form of resources and wealth. These would certainly be the next best thing to a new leash on life to the world-weary chancer that took up the task of conquering the “Island” of Florida. Even without the mystical McGuffin embodied by the Fountain of Youth, Ponce de Leon’s exploits, explorations and adventures in Florida are worth remembering.
Ponce de Leon was a veteran sailor and soldier of many years experience when he accompanied Christopher Columbus on his 2nd journey to the New World. He had fought the moors in Granada as a young man, and as such would prove a valuable asset to Spain’s conquest of the America’s in the violent years to come. - Thomas Garrett And Delaware’s Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad’s last stop in the slave-holding state of Delaware was located on Shipley Street in Wilmington at the home of a Quaker merchant named Thomas Garrett. Over 2,700 runaway slaves were given safe harbor there before making their way to the free states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Garrett’s passionate commitment to the abolition of slavery would cost him a great deal over the course of his life. Maryland authorities went so far as to offer $10,000.00 for his arrest. In 1848 federal court fines bankrupted him, forcing him accept the charity of his abolitionist friends to stay in business. During the Civil War his life was in constant danger so that he had to be guarded by African-American volunteers. But throughout his trials, Garrett never wavered from his principled stand again the evils of slavery. - Cashing In On Coca-cola Memorabilia: New Ideas For Old Art
Coca-Cola collectors have been cashing in on the company’s advertising memorabilia for years. But finding rare items has always been a challenge. Now, collectors have access to over a century of Coca-Cola’s famous art work, slogans and logos. Thanks to an inexpensive line of Coca-Cola tins and signs, Coke connoisseurs now have an easy and affordable way to add collectible replicas and showpieces to their colorful and highly valued collections.
An original 1943 tin advertisement showing an overseas sailor savoring the tastes of home could cost thousands of dollars in mint condition. This is over budget for most collectors, so they opt for a 12” x 13” replica that costs less than twenty dollars online. One hope of course is that this commemorative piece will be just as valuable as the original someday.
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