Tarryall Diggings, Jefferson, Colorado Historical Marker

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Tarryall Diggings Historical Marker in Colorado

Near Jefferson, located in Park County, Colorado, is the ghost town of Tarryall. It was once known as Tarryall City and was a town created by the gold rush. The town was founded in 1859 and was in existence for four years.

Apparently, the name came from when a group of miners that included William J. Holman and Earl Hamilton stumbled across a stream in South Park looking for gold. The group was exhausted and wanted to “tarry here”. Another member responded, “Yes, we’ll tarry all.” And the name was born. Soon, it also became clear that the stream was filled with gold.

The belief that there was abundant gold in the area encouraged miners to head out to this area of South Park. The town of Tarryall City was created on one side of the stream, and Hamilton was built on the other. The town at its height had approximately 6,000 people. Around $2 million in gold value at the time was collected from the Tarryall Diggings. Even today, visitors can find well over 11,000 mines that were once active in the area.

However, by the end of 1861, Tarryall City and its neighbor Hamilton had quickly declined. By 1867, they were virtually ghost towns.

Historical Marker Description

This memorial is the property of the State of Colorado

Extending up the creek to the mountains were the
Tarryall Diggings
Discovered in July, 1859. Towns of Hamilton and Tarryall (2 miles west) thrived in 1860s. A newspaper and numerous business houses flourished. The towns have long since disappeared. Large trees now grow in the sluice tailings on the bluff ½ mile west. The diggings have produced $2,000,000 in gold.

Erected by by The State Historical Society of Colorado.
From The Mrs. J.N. Hall Foundation and by Foster Cline
1933

Location

39° 19.971′ N, 105° 52.035′ W
Jefferson, Colorado

McCroskey Park Historical Marker, Tensed, ID

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McCroskey Park Historical Marker, Tensed, ID

McCroskey State Park was developed by Virgil Talmadge McCroskey. McCroskey was a successful pharmacist and lived from 1876 to 1970. Compared to John Muir, he would buy properties and put efforts into their conservation. These were eventually converted into two parks: Steptoe Butte State Park (Washington) and Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park (Idaho).

The McCroskey State Park, also known as Skyline Drive, includes 32 miles of trails as well as an 18-mile Skyline Drive.

Historical Marker Inscription

Dedicated in memory of pioneer women, Mary Minerva McCroskey State Park has a forested skyline drive that offers spectacular views of forest, farms and distant mountains.

Virgil T. McCroskey devoted his life to preserving trees and scenery. Purchasing and donating 4,500 acres of cedar, pine and fir, he developed and endowed a magnificent state park by 1954. Surviving until he was 95 years old, he maintained and enlarged it for 16 more years.

Location

47° 8’ 57.080” N, 116° 54’ 39.060” W

381600–381690 US-95, Tensed, ID  83870, United States

Sierra Grande Historical Marker, Des Moines, New Mexico

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Sierra Grande Historical Marker, New Mexico

An extinct andesite-shield volcano, Sierra Grande sits over 2,200 feet above the rest of the terrain. It has an elevation of 8,720 feet. The volcano erupted between 2.41 to 2.88 million years ago. It is part of the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field, and it is the tallest volcano in the range.

The volcano is 10 miles southeast of Capulin Volcano, and it is surrounded by lava flows.

New Mexico Points of Interest, Des Moines, NMHistorical Marker Inscriptions

Over Left Shoulder

Sierra Grande

Largest extinct volcano in northeastern New Mexico, Sierra Grande rises to an elevation of 8,720 feet, one of many volcanos, cinder cones, and flows that cover more than 1,000 square miles of area in northeastern New Mexico and southeastern Colorado eastward to the Oklahoma state line.

Location

36° 41’ 3.732” N, 103° 47’ 10.740” W
3831 US-87 W, Des Moines, NM  88418, United States

World’s Largest Mill, Potlatch, Idaho

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World's Largest Mill Historical Marker Potlatch, ID

The Potlatch Lumber Company was founded in 1903. In 1900, Frederick Weyerhaeuser and other investors bought white pine forestland in North Central Idaho. In 1906, the company created its first sawmill along the Potlatch River. The area around the mill became a company town. The mill grew to become the largest white pine mill in the world. It would hold this title for 20 years.

In 1926, the Clearwater Timber Company, which was also founded by Weyerhaeuser, would create the Clearwater Mill in Lewiston, ID. It would take over the title of the world’s largest white pine mill from Potlatch.

Historical Marker Inscription

Potlatch Lumber Company’s Sawmill Built Here in 1906, Was One of the Largest in the World.

Expanding operations to the West, Weyerhaeuser timber barons invested in Idaho’s prime white pine stands. By 1920, their mill was cutting 175 million board feet each year. Logs and lumber were moved by the Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway through stations uniquely named for eastern colleges: Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Cornell, Purdue.

Text prepared by the Potlatch Historical Committee and the Idaho State Historical Society
Marker Made and Installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Location

46° 55’ 30.480” N, 116° 54’ 10.170” W
125 Sixth St, Potlatch, ID  83855, United States

Company Town, Potlatch, Idaho Historical Marker

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Company Town, Potlatch, Idaho Historical Marker

Started as a company town for Potlatch Forest, Inc., it was founded by Frederick Weyerhaeuser and several other investors in 1900. By 1906, the town had the world’s largest White Pine sawmill. The sawmill was located on the Potlatch River.

During World War II, the company helped with the war efforts. After the war, with a booming housing market, Potlatch Forest, Inc. built a plywood plant in Lewiston, Idaho. It continued to grow throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

By the 1980s, however, the company began to struggle with the fluctuations in the housing market. It attempted to modernize during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2018, however, it merged with Deltic Timber with the consolidation’s new name being PotlatchDeltic Corporation.

With the closure of the sawmill, the town has seen a dramatic drop in population.

Historical Marker Inscription

Built as a model town, Potlatch was owned by Weyerhaueser’s Potlatch Lumber Company.

Spokane architect C. Ferris White designed the new community in 1905. Workers’ housing stood close to the mill. Managers’ homes were built away from the plant’s noise and smoke. The railroad depot separated town from industry. All company owned, Potlatch was complete with churches, school, gym, hospital, opera house, and company store.

Location

46° 55’ 30.492” N, 116° 54’ 10.170” W
125 Sixth St, Potlatch, ID  83855, United States

Gunnison Historical Marker, Utah

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Gunnison Utah Historical Marker

Named after Captain John W. Gunnison, an explorer responsible for finding a railroad route through the Rocky Mountains, the town was settled in the spring of 1859 by a group of Mormons. They were led by Bishop Jacob Hutchinson and directed to name the town by Brigham Young.

The original site of the town was located in a swampy area that was extremely muddy. When Brigham Young came to the area for a second visit in 1862, he recommended moving the town to its present location. The new location didn’t have a water source so the first task was to dig a ditch from the river to the town.

The early settlers came into conflict with the local Native Americans during the Black Hawk War. Some settlers died during the conflict, but the majority stayed and thrived.

Agricultural activities have been the main staple of the area since its inception. Sugar beets, which can be turned into sugar, were a main export. By 1900, due to the construction of the railroad, the population had doubled. Gunnison officially became a town in 1893.

In present times, cattle, dairy, small grains and alfalfa provide the main sources of income for the valley.

Historical Marker Inscription

Gunnison was settled in 1859. As a precinct it was granted weekly U.S. Mail service in 1862. The Black Hawk War began in 1865. In 1867 a bastion was erected 362 feet southeast of here. It was used by Colonel Byron Pace and 1500 militia men to protect the people and property of Gunnison and surrounding settlements from warring Indians. The old fort surrounded a four block square running west and south from the Gunnison Ward Chapel and Washington School block.

San Pete County, Utah

Location

39° 9’ 32.170” N, 111° 49’ 6.642” W
Gunnison City Park, 285 N Main St, Gunnison, UT  84634, United States

Canadian Northern Railway Station, Vancouver, British Columbia

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Canadian Northern Railway Station Historical Marker, Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver’s Pacific Central Station is made from granite, andesite and brick. The station was opened in November 1919 from land that had previously been tidal mudflats. It was the western terminus of the Canadian Northern Pacific Railway. According to reports of the time, the cost of the station was estimated to have been as high as 1 million dollars.

In 1993, the station began offering intercity bus services as well. It is also the terminus for Amtrak and VIA Rail.

Historical Marker Inscription

Canadian Northern Railway Station, Vancouver, British Columbia

City of Vancouver Heritage Building

Canadian Northern Railway Station

Architect: Pratt and Ross

Erected between 1917-1919, this station was built as the western terminus for the Canadian Northern Railway. It is an excellent example of Neoclassical Revival Style design which was popular for train stations. The monumental central archway with an original steel frame canopy separates the symmetrical wings ornamented with engaged columns and pilasters and a bracketed cornice. The station was built on reclaimed land that was originally part of False Creek. In 1993, the building was converted to a multi-modal transportation facility to accommodate both passenger railway and intercity bus travel. In addition a new bus concourse was built to the east of the station.

Location

49° 16’ 25.350” N, 123° 5’ 57.500” W

Thornton Park, 1166 Main St, Vancouver BC V6A 4B6, Canada

Victory Square Historical Marker, Seattle, Washington

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Victory Square Historical Marker, Seattle, WA

Victory Square was dedicated on May 2, 1942, as a place for citizens to gather and rally behind the World War II efforts. It featured a monument that listed the names of Washington citizens who had died during the war.  The square also had a speaker’s stand made in the shape of Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello.

During the war, many famous people visited Victory Square as part of the war effort. These included Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Betty Grable, Lana Turner, and more. Many big bands also played for free here.

After the war, the speaker’s stage was torn down, and the monument was removed in 1949.

Historical Marker Inscription

Victory Square was created during World War II as a place for citizens to rally behind the war effort and to raise community morale. This plaque marks the site, which included a speaker’s stand and a replica of the Washington Monument inscribed with the names of Washington State citizens who lost their lives during the war. Patriotic rallies, war bond drives, and performances by Hollywood’s famous stars all took place at Victory Square. People flooded the streets to attend performances by Duke Ellington, Lana Turner, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Betty Grable. After the war, the stage was torn down and the monument was eventually removed in 1949.

Location

47° 36’ 31.440” N, 122° 20’ 3.168” W
412 University St, Seattle, WA  98101, United States

 

Jennie Wade Historical Marker, Gettysburg, PA

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Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania

Jennie Wade was born in Gettysburg on May 21, 1843. She lived on Breckenridge Street. While historical records aren’t clear, her nickname was either “Ginnie” or “Gin”. She and her mother worked as seamstresses.

Before the war, her sister, Georgia McClellan, married and moved to the house on Baltimore Street in 1862. This house would later be known as the Jennie Wade House.

Since the war was causing bullet holes to blow through houses and others were being confiscated for use as field hospitals, the mother and daughter fled from their home to Georgia’s house. This was both for their safety as well as to assist Georgia, who gave birth an hour before the Confederate Army came to Gettysburg.

To assist the troops, both the Wades and McClellands did their part by baking and serving bread and providing water to Union soldiers. On the morning of July 3rd, Jennie was kneading bread to create more for the soldiers.

It was also during this time that Confederate soldiers began firing on Union soldiers in the area. The McClellan house was hit by over 150 bullets, and one struck Jennie through the soldier, which passed into her heart. At about 8:30 a.m., she died from her wounds.

Jennie is buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Jennie Wade House Historical Marker, Gettysburg, PA
Copyright Civil War Ghosts – https://gettysburgghosts.com/

Historical Marker Inscription

Jennie Wade, aged 20 years 2 months
Killed here—July 3, 1863
While making bread for the Union soldiers

Location

548 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325

39.82350373110324, -77.23069091876555

Drayton Hall Historical Marker, Charleston, South Carolina

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Drayton Hall, Charleston, South Carolina

Drayton Hall was built in 1738 and is one of the earliest examples of Palladian architecture. It is also the oldest unrestored plantation house in the United States that is still open to the public. It required 360,000 hand-made bricks to build the house. The Draytons leveraged both slave labor and white craftsmen to construct the property. Drayton Hall was owned by seven generations of the Drayton Family before it became a historic site.

While not a working plantation, it was the commercial hub of John Drayton’s empire. The Drayton family’s wealth was founded upon cattle, rice and indigo.

Drayton Hall is an active archaeological site with an on-premise preservation department.

Historical Marker Inscription

Drayton Hall Historical Marker, Charleston, SC

Seat of the Drayton family for seven generations, this land was acquired in 1738 by John Drayton (c. 1759~1779) as the center of his extensive indigo and rice planting ventures. One of the finest examples of Georgian Palladian architecture in America, this is the only surviving colonial plantation house on the Ashley River.

Location

32° 51’ 54.720” N, 80° 4’ 57.840” W
3380 Ashley River Rd, Charleston, SC  29414, United States