Share some hometown history - Page 2

Florence Alabama:

From wiki:
Florence is a city in in Lauderdale County in extreme northwestern Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 36,264. The seat of Lauderdale County, Florence is the largest city in the metropolitan conurbation known as the Shoals (which also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia) and is the economic center of northwestern Alabama.

Florence is the birthplace of W.C. Handy, the "Father of the Blues," as well as pioneering record producer Sam Phillips, discoverer of Elvis Presley. T.S. Stribling, a 20th century author and Florence resident, wrote a prose trilogy about the city consisting of The Forge, The Store (which won the Pulitzer Prize), and Unfinished Cathedral.


This is from Muscle Shoals' entry, which is much more interesting:

The city is one of four cities known as the Quad Cities, the others being Florence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia. Muscle Shoals is known for recording many hit songs in the 1960s and 70s by artists such as Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, The Osmonds, Etta James, Clarence Carter, Otis Redding, Duane Allman, Mac Davis, Paul Anka, Ronnie Milsap, Jerry Reed, John Michael Montgomery, Reba McEntire, Blackhawk, and Shenandoah. Bo Bice, of American Idol fame, even recorded there before his fame on the popular television show. Although Muscle Shoals has receeded somewhat from its 1960s and 1970s status as "Hit Recording Capital of the World," as a sign near the airport says, it remains an important and enduring landmark location for the American recording industry.



And um, Helen Keller was born and raised in Tuscumbia.

Hmmmmmm....let's see...

My parents live in Nashville, North Carolina, and I grew up there, so it's basically my hometown. It's 10 minutes from Rocky Mount, NC, which is where Thelonious Monk was from. He's a jazz musician, for those who don't know. That's all I got.

Oh, and it's also the halfway point between New York City and Orlando on I-95, but that's not really historical.

I'll have the Hamburger Helper on the grill, and my hand in the Kool-Aid.

From wikipedia:

Fort Myers, Florida
Population: 48,208

-- Established in 1886, Fort Myers is the historical and governmental hub of Lee County

-- A popular place to live for retirees (which made growing up there as a teen quite boring)

-- The winter homes of Thomas Edison (Seminole Lodge) and Henry Ford (The Mangoes) are both primary tourist attractions in the region

--The first known resident of Fort Myers was Manuel Gonzalez, a Cuban immigrant who settled there in the 19th century.

--Fort Myers High School, an International Baccalaureate school, was ranked as one of the best schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine. (I got bussed across town due to integration laws, so I did not attend Ft. Myers HS. My mom eventually pulled me and my brother out of public school so we could attend a private school.)

--The racial makeup of the city is 56.35% White, 33.39% African American, 0.38% Native American, 0.98% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 5.69% from other races, and 3.11% from two or more races. 14.49% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

--On August 13, 2004, Fort Myers was hit hard by Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall north of the area.

I hail from the sunny metropolis of Albuquerque, New Mexico--home of the Frontier Restaurant, the source of the best damn breakfast/middle-of-the-night cannabis binge food on earth.

The Sandia Mountains which include Sandia Peak are situated to the East of the city. The Sandia Peak Tramway runs from the base of the mountain to the peak, and is the longest aerial tramway in the world.

"Sandia" comes from the Spanish for "watermelon". The name is a reference to the mountain's reddish color during sunsets.

The Rio Grande (Spanish for "great river") flows North to South through the city and supports a riparian forest habitat called a "bosque."

Interestingly enough, Albuquerque has one of the highest altitudes of any major city in the United States. The elevation of the city ranges from 4900 feet (1490 m) above sea level near the Rio Grande (in the Valley) to 6500 feet (1980 m) in the Northeast Heights. At the airport, the elevation is 5352 feet (1631 m) above sea level.



Some more interesting facts from Wikipedia:

When Bill Gates and Paul Allen were hammering out a BASIC operating system for the MITS Altair 8800, they lived at the Sundowner Motel, at 6101 Central Avenue N.E. The building has since been converted into a veterans' rehabilitation home. Their success at this venture led to the founding of Microsoft in Albuquerque in 1975. Microsoft's first official address was the One Park Central Tower on the northeast corner of San Mateo and Central Avenue (across the parking lot from the First Security Bank building), where the company shared office space.

In February, 1992, Stella Liebeck, a 79 year old woman from Albuquerque, New Mexico, ordered coffee from the drive-thru of a local McDonald's restaurant on Central Avenue across from UNM, which she then spilled on her lap while the car was parked. This caused third-degree burns, eight days in the hospital, skin grafts, and $11,000 in medical expenses. The famous McDonald's coffee case was fought in court, 2.9 million dollars was awarded by the jury, but only $640,000 was required by the judge.

Ottawa, Ontario

-Capital of Canada, decied based on a map that Queen Victoria saw of Canada.
-I would guess the only world capital where you can play freezbe on the lawn of the Capital
-Home to the Only Federal Assination in Canadian History
-Modern Wheat was created and the Central Expermential Farm here in Ottawa

Something I learned in Elementary School:

A section of my town in CT named Byram got it's name because during Colonial times, the British placed a heavey tax on rum, much to the dismay of the general population. In order to "get their fix," folks would take to the Long Island Sound in boats and covertly buy rum from bootleggers who would anchor a few miles off-shore. The area of town where this would take place became known as "Buy-rum" which, over time, became Byram.

Northampton, England.

Hometown of Bauhaus (seminal goth band) and Alan Moore.

Constituancy of Athiest non-conformist MP Charles Bradlaugh during the 19th Century. Refused to swear an oath by God at his induction at the House of Commons, so was not allowed to take his place and was imprisoned. When a by-election took place to replace him, the town voted him back in four times, despite government attempts to dissuade this and rig the vote. They eventually allowed him to take his place without the oath.

During the Middle Ages, the town had a university to rival Oxford and Cambridge. This ended when the students rioted, leading the king to close the university down. To this date, we still have no 'proper' university.

Site of a famous and important battle during the War of the Roses in 1460.

Site of an very important royal castle. Was one of the residences of the king whilst travelling, parliament met here during this time, and was where Thomas a Becket was held. Unfortunately it was torn down by Charles II after the Civil War after the town sided with the Parliamentarians.

Was a famous shoe producing town, until it became more cost efficient to make them oversees.

We have a 'lighthouse' although the town is landlocked and in the middle of the country (it was actually a lift-testing centre, but it's always been called the Northampton Lighthouse).

Home to thousands upon thousands of Chavs (or 'townies' in the local parlance), they breed at amazing rates. (Non-UK readers will have no clue what I'm on about!!)