I just now found out about this.
Chattanooga TN
The tow truck was invented in 1916 by Ernest Holmes, Sr., of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was a garage worker who was inspired to create the invention after he was forced to pull a car out of a creek using blocks, ropes, and six men. An improved design led him to manufacture wreckers.
Anyone want to share some odd history from your town?
Speculators from Holland were going to drain Lake Mattamuskeet, build a town, and farm on what used to be the lake bottom. The town on this 1916 map never got built.
http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/ncmaps&CISOPTR=1010
The pumping plant was converted into a hunting lodge by the CCC during the Great Depression..it still stands. http://www.mattamuskeetlodge.com/photo_gallery.htm
As kids, we used to find relics from the attempt on the southern side of the canal system. There was old pieces of narrow-gauge railroad cars, and depressions in the ground where the tracks used to be. The canals still existed, I still recall the day my dad's gov't issue (he was manager at the National Wildlife Refuge there) AMC Matador wagon shifted itself into reverse one morning and ended up in the canal. Thank goodness he had come back into the house for another cup of coffee..
Was there ever a recall for those things? I still remember that they had big VHF radios with the big antennas. Once the car was in the drink, all you could see was the last 12in of the antenna sticking out of the water. 
mrhappy wrote: Chattanooga TN The tow truck was invented in 1916 by Ernest Holmes, Sr., of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was a garage worker who was inspired to create the invention after he was forced to pull a car out of a creek using blocks, ropes, and six men. An improved design led him to manufacture wreckers.
I knew that ! We went to the Tow Truck museum there a few years ago.
Kind of cool. The first train with a regularly scheduled service was started in Charleston, SC in the 1830s. Called the Best Friend of Charleston, it's first trip was described by the local newspaper.
"The one hundred and forty-one persons flew on the wings of wind at the speed of fifteen to twenty-five miles per hour, annihilating time and space...leaving all the world behind. On the return we reached Sans-Souci in quick and double quick time, stopped to take up a recruiting party-darted forth like a live rocket, scattering sparks and flames on either side-passed over three salt creeks hop, step and jump, and landed us all safe at the Lines before any of us had time to determine whether or not it was prudent to be scared."
The Museum in downtown is an interesting visit if you are ever in town.
http://bestfriendofcharleston.org/
My hometown hung an Elephant, is one of two locations in the US that processes Uranium for Nuclear Fuel for the military, and has the Appalachian Trail run at one end. (Incidentally on the road I grew up on about 1 mile from my house.)
Harman Blennerhasset who left Ireland after he married his niece, settled near my hometown of Parkersburg, WV on an island in the Ohio River, now known as Blennerhasset Island. While there he met Aaron Burr, most famous for dueling (and killing) Alexander Hamilton, who had some conspiracy planned with Spain to create a separate country in the middle of the US. Blennerhasset was to provide money and a place for Burr's farmer army to assemble in their efforts to rebel and create a new country. Blennerhasset's island was seized by the militia, and now is a historical site as some of the building have been rebuilt.
Wow, I've seen the play Elephant's Graveyard but didn't realized it was based on a true story. Groovy.
My hometown, Glen Burnie, MD, was home to the first enclosed shopping mall east of the Mississippi (Harundale Mall). JFK, then a senator, was present for opening day.
My hometown is Connellsville Pa. 45 min. from Ohiopyle(whitewater rafting) Frank Loyde Wright's "Fallingwater" and about an hour from Shankville. Around 1974 about half the police force was arrested for a burglary ring. Several officers were convicted! I was 15 at the time. I live near Cleveland Oh now.
Notable residents of Bay Shore, NY. I knew about Harvey milk but did not know about LL Cool J.
First Lady Julia Gardiner Tyler: Raised in East Hampton, New York and Bay Shore. Gardiner's Park, Gardiner Lane, and Gardiner Manor Elementary School are all named in her honor.
Thomas Adams: 19th century founder of the Adams Chewing Gum Company, now part of Cadbury plc, built one of the finest houses on Awixa Avenue.
Patti Austin: Singer graduated from Bay Shore High School 1968.
Frank Boulton: Bay Shore High School alumni, President of Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, owner and president of the Long Island Ducks.
Charlie Chaplin: Owned home in Bay Shore. Cut ribbon for the opening of Southside Hospital.
Aristotle Dreher: Musician. Co-founder of band Vaeda, was born in Bay Shore. Graduated from Bay Shore High School 1996.
The Entenmann family: The Entenmann's baked goods founders lived in Bay Shore. Alumni of Bay Shore High School.
Zsa Zsa Gabor: Stayed in a house in Bay Shore on historic Awixa Avenue.
Amy Goodman: news broadcaster, columnist and author, grew up in Bay Shore.[12][13]
Juanita Hall (née Long): Acclaimed African American Actress best known as Bloody Mary in the stage and screen versions of South Pacific lived and died in Bay Shore.
Henry Osborne Havemeyer: The 19th century sugar baron and art collector summered there through the 1900s and was an active member of the Bay Shore Yacht Club.
Edward Francis Hutton: The founder of the E.F. Hutton & Co. brokerage company summered in Bay Shore in the early 20th century.
Gustav Kobbé: Opera expert and art critic, who summered in Bay Shore, killed by hydroplane while sailing on Great South Bay.
Saul Kripke: Philosopher and logician born in Bay Shore.[14]
James Todd Smith (LL Cool J): Born in Bay Shore 1968.[15]
Harvey Milk: Former San Francisco Supervisor, gay rights pioneer, 2009 posthumous recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom graduated from Bay Shore High School in 1947.[16][17][18]
Joe Namath: 1970s NFL quarterback had a summer home in Bay Shore during early 1970s.
Mabel Normand: Had a house in Bay Shore.
Mario Puzo: Author of The Godfather lived and raised his family in Bay Shore.[19][20]
Judith Regan: Publisher graduated from Bay Shore High School in 1971.
Lilia Skala: Actress lived in Bay Shore during her later years.
Erick Sermon: Musician born in Bay Shore.
Spurgeon Tucker: 20th century painter.
John E. Thomas Sr.: First African-American Police Officer of Suffolk County.
FlightService wrote: My hometown hung an Elephant, is one of two locations in the US that processes Uranium for Nuclear Fuel for the military, and has the Appalachian Trail run at one end. (Incidentally on the road I grew up on about 1 mile from my house.) Erwin, Tennessee Mary the Elephant
Now that's sick!
Waymart, PA.
Nothing. Next town over (South Canaan) is where Patty Hearst and the SLA hid out at the farmhouse.
Now I'm in Moosic, PA.
Again, nothing. But next town is Scranton. Home of "The Office". I actually used to work for the company the US version is based off - Paper Magic Group. Also where the actor Jason Miller lived and died. When anybody comes and visits Scranton and asks for a restaurant recommendation, I ask, "Would you like to eat in the same booth that Father Karras from "The Exorcist" passed out and died in a drunken stupor?"
Oh, forgot about this:
Lynbrook NY was also the home town of Captain Kangaroo
Lansing, Mi was going to be called El Dorado... splains all the Messycans.
I don't know if this is completely true or not, but a friend of mine told me he read an interview with George Clinton years ago in which they asked him about P-Funk's craziest shows. He said they were playing the Evansville Coliseum in the late '70s, and a full on orgy broke out in the crowd.
Also, during WWII we were the largest producer of LST war ships, and also made P-47s. I've heard rumor that we were considered one of the top ten military targets by our foes because of this.
Our fall festival is a HUGE street festival that Paul Harvey once said on his radio show was second largest street festival in the US. The first being Mardi Gras.
We're the hometown of Matt Williams, the producer of the Cosby Show, Rosanne, and Home Improvement. All of the stills from Rosanne are from Evansville.
We've also produced a lot of pro athletes. Don Mattingly, Andy and Benes, Bob Griese, and a bunch of lesser known pros.
Oh, and Ron Glass, the dude on Barney Miller, is also from Evansville.
My town was designed by Sir William Johnson circa 1761-1762. He was the head of indian affairs in all of North America. In 1755 he led his provincials and I roquois indians in a defeat of the french in the French and Indian war at Lake George. In 1772 he buit a court house which is the only colonial court house still in use. His mansion still stands and is a NYS park. Elizibeth Cady Stanton was born here and did a lot of her suffarage work wirh Susan B. Anthony one summer here. A lot of notable poloticians grew up here. Many of the historic buildings are still standing. Oh, we hung a woman for poisioning her husband. Where is this, you may ask. Johnstown, NY Can't believe I forgot. In the late 1800's and early 1900's we were the leather and glove center of the world. We even had a millionaires club.
My hometown is essentially a giant shopping mall and suburbia hell, but some good has come out of it. CRC Industries is based there (every time you use a can of Brakleen, you experience how truly terrible Warminster is!). My high school was named after William Tennent, and the middle school I went to is named after the school he founded, the Log College, which was one of the first religious schools in the country. The school originally stood where there's now a 4-lane surface road, go figure. John Fitch lived in Warminster while he developed the steam-powered boat, which Robert Fulton later made profitable. We had the NAWC (Naval Air Warfare Center) which was a huge military base, and also a Superfund site. And lastly, Hurst Performance was based in Warminster for a time in the '50s and '60s.
In reply to carguy123:
As strange as us hanging the elephant was, think about how stupid it was for Kingsport to put it on trial!
Mine is kinda boring. It started as a train depot and grew into a big dairy farm. Now its the 5th fastest growing suburb.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forsyth_County,_Georgia
Way too long to post but we've had a very interesting history for worse and better..
The Allen Bradley Clocktower is one of Milwaukee’s most recognizable landmarks. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the Allen Bradley Clock as the largest four-faced clock in the world. It is actually four separate clocks, each with an octagonal face nearly twice the size of the clocks on London’s Big Ben Tower. The clock serves as an official navigation aid and is so designated on the maps of the United States Coast Guard.Plans to install chimes were canceled to allow Big Ben in London, England to remain the largest CHIMING four-faced clock in the world.
• Milwaukee’s first larger brewery opened in 1841. By 1856, the city boasted 26 local breweries.
• The typewriter was invented in Milwaukee in 1867 by Christopher Latham Sholes.
• The skywalk over the Milwaukee River is the only skywalk in the U.S. that spans a river used by boats.
• The Milwaukee Art Museum’s Burke Brise Soleil (the “wings”) wingspans spreads 217 feet at its widest point, wider then a Boeing 747.
• The Milwaukee Public Museum is home to the world’s largest dinosaur skull.
Nottingham, Pa is just a blip on the map, but a short ride up the road is Oxford, Pa. Never knew the gamblers part.
The area was first settled by wandering gamblers. Oxford was first called The Hood, after the local Hood's Tavern. The borough was later called Oxford Crossing and Oxford Village. Oxford was located near the half-way point on the main road from Philadelphia to Baltimore. The owner of the stage between the two cities purchased Hood's Tavern and re-named it Oxford Hotel. It became the stopping point on the two-day trip between the two cities.
Slightly further away, and way more recognizable to people not from the area is Kennet Square, Pa. The mushroom capital of the world. Yes, it smells horrible.
I have no strange local history, just local history, and I know too much of it.
Let's see...
If I have this right, Grand Junction was the only town in the continental US to get shelled during WWII. A train carrying munitions caught fire.
Also, it's a very radioactive area. Lots of uranium, and the tailings from the old uranium mill were used as fill for a lot of construction. More than most people realize, including backfilling the water mains. In some cases, when "reclaiming" old mines, the clean dirt used to cover the radioactive leftovers was hotter than the tailings.
Our prairie dogs carry the bubonic plague.
Even better, we have Fruita just down the road. Home of Mike the Headless Chicken.
Keith wrote: Also, it's a very radioactive area. Lots of uranium, and the tailings from the old uranium mill were used as fill for a lot of construction. More than most people realize, including backfilling the water mains. In some cases, when "reclaiming" old mines, the clean dirt used to cover the radioactive leftovers was hotter than the tailings. .... Even better, we have Fruita just down the road. Home of Mike the Headless Chicken.
I believe these are related
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