U.S. Heritage Posts

    Hot air ballooning is a great way to celebrate Independence Day and see delightful vistas from on high.   This hot-air balloon floated over our small town and was enjoyable to follow as it hung seemingly suspended over rooftops, gracefully gliding until finally vanishing from view.   Independence Day can be sun a fun-filled family celebration….picnics, parades, p...

    Louisiana, Missouri is one of the state’s oldest and most treasured towns.  The heavy steamboat traffic on the Mississippi was a common sight at the riverfront landings and the grain and lumber mills, early industries, still exist today.  In a previous post, Turn-of-the-Century Homes I, we shared two of the charming homes of ‘yesterday’ found in this wonderful picturesq...

      On a trip last summer to the northeast section of Missouri, we stopped at Louisiana, another picturesque river town along the Mississippi River.  Early French explorers called the area the ‘Land of the Golden Hills’.  Descendents of Louisiana’s original settlers are said to still live in the area.  Strategically located on the Mississippi River, Louisi...

  America’s first worldwide celebrity, Mark Twain, was born in 1835 in a two-room cabin in the small town of Florida, Missouri.  The cabin is now preserved inside a museum at Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site which stands as a tribute to the author-humorist. The following images were taken inside the museum which features first editions of Mark Twain’s works, a handwritten ma...

                                           Before the month of April so quickly  slips into May, we’d like to share information and photos on Appomattox Court House National Histori...

This year marks the 175th anniversary of Mark Twain’s birth, the 125th anniversary of the publication of ‘Tom Sawyer’, and 100 years since the death of this internationally acclaimed author.  With all these important anniversaries, Missouri’s governor issued a proclamation stating that 2010 will be the ‘Year of Mark Twain’. Mark Twain is the pen name of Samuel Clemens.   His boyhoo...

Let’s reverse gears and begin with the ‘reaping’ since we have photos to present along with the information.  Agricultural enthusiast or not, you would have to appreciate seeing and reading about the working farm of Cyrus McCormick, well-known inventor of the mechanical reaper.  Farming inventions  certainly gave the impetus in advancing the course of  agriculture and the mec...

Let’s use a diversionary tactic to ‘escape’ from this cold and snow and set off to some wistful vistas in America’s countryside.  Perhaps for you they’ll be humdrum, but for us, they invoke only pleasant memories.  There’s something about the ‘good’ old days and pastoral scenes that charm and captivate the soul.  May this brief journey touch something in your heart, too! (...

This week we'll post some intervening episodes between our last one on the 'City that Water Built' and the conclusion of touring Eureka Springs, Arkansas, lest we weary our traveler guests.    In late October, in celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary, and in company with my husband's brother and two sisters visiting from the East Coast, we took a trolley tour...

Pea Ridge National Military Park is uncommon among Civil War parks in the National Park System because it encompasses such a large portion of the original battlefield. The park’s jurisdiction includes the Elkhorn Tavern used by both Confederate and Union forces and a segment of the Cherokee Trail of Tears (refer to preceding post).  The Pea Ridge Campaign was about the battle that saved M...