Tell Me 10 Random Facts About Your City or Town

[Kathy in Cambridge]

I'll go first.

1. The Unofficial Nickname of my city is the People's Republic of Cambridge

2. It is the home of two world-class universities (Harvard and MIT)

3. There are 100,000 people located in a 6.5 square mile area-makes for a traffic nightmare!

4. The architecture is beautiful but the housing prices are second to Manhattan

5. Cambridge is home to one of the oldest African American communities in the nation: you can follow th African American Heritage trail to places where W.E.B. DuBois and William H. Lewis lived as well as many other prominent 19th and 20th century abolitionists, writers and artists.

6. William Lloyd Harrison, e e cummings, Robert Frost, William Dean Howells and Winslow Homer all lived in Cambridge

7. I can get delivery from a Moroccan, Tibetan, Portuguese, Creole, Italian, Korean, Chinese, El Salvadoran, Brazilian, Mexican, Indian, or many other ethnic and gourmet restaurants at any given time

8. Cambridge natives bestowed the nickname "Barnies" on Harvard students, who still can't navigate the city streets if their lives depended on it. They should not be allowed to have cars.

9. Despite my townie disdain for Harvard and MIT, they contribute a lot culturally to my city; there are always lectures, movies and art exhibits happening.

10. Cambridge had the first African-American gay mayor in the country (Ken Reeves).

On Edit: #11: Ralph Nader got a larger percentage of the vote than George Bush in the 2000 (s)election.

[Gloria]

1. Las Cruces, NM

1. Has the Organ Mountains which are beautiful
2. Home of NMSU, which I never knew until I got here, is one of the top recipients of research bucks
3. Has great weather...not has hot as Phoenix or Tuscon in the summer
4. Only about and 1 1/2-2 hours away, they're skiing right now, but we can sit out in the sun in our flannel shirts and sip our coffee
5. There's a fiesta of some sort about every two weeks, or so it seems
6. Close to the border, so it's easy to go to Juarez or Palomas, Mexico for drugs
7. An extremely lively art and music scene
8. Air quality is dry and good enough that this former New Jerseyan, who was on a nebulizer and could hardly breath with winter bronchitis that was nearly becoming all year round, can now use medication only rarely!!
9. Everything is no more than 20 minutes away
10. Chile and pecans growing down in the valley, flowers of some sort all the time growing in my pots on the porch.

and bonus # 11. Sunsets, clouds, night skies that you wouldn't believe!
First snow on the tops of the Organs this morning!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

2. Sounds cool...how are the politics down there?

[Gloria]

5. Politics a mixed bag....tends Democratic, but we have Pearce the

drilling Repug as rep. The community isn't as redneck as I feared. Lots of churches, etc. but the University balances things out. The military influence is over the Organs as White Sands and down at Ft. Bliss. They live here and there are loads of retired vets. Astronaut Frank Borman has his name on a car dealership, and Pete Conrad lived here, too (he died a few years ago). NASA has a big facility nearby.

It's no more oppressive than other places in the US, probably less so in many ways. Native Americans, Mexicans, gringos, etc. all seem to get along just fine. A pretty friendly place. A real nice change from NJ.

[Heyo]

6. okay let's see

1. Name's translation actually means "Mouth of the Rat"
2. Nicknamed "Home of the newleyweds and nearly deads"
3. Snowed once here, in 1979 I think
4. Steve-O's parents live here.
5. Is actually a few feet below sea level.
6. A lot of wealthy older people retire here. (Im sure everybody has it just on this one)
7. The real person whom the character from the movie Casino named Nikki Santoro was based on, lives here.
8. The very first of the anthrax attacks hapened here. (half a block from my work actually)
9. Right in the path of hurricaines but they never quite seem to get here
10. A lot of celbrities live here, but I can't think of any right now.

Heyo

[Kathy in Cambridge]

7. My Aunt and Uncle winter in Boca

We call their condo complex "Del Boca Vista" a la Seinfeld

[laura888]

134. that sounds SO NICE

any IT jobs down there?

[RobertSeattle]

3. Seattle

I've included 3 bonus ones.

1. West Seattle is south.
2. There's no bell in Belltown.
3. The trees on Magnolia Bluff are madronas.
4. Green Lake is green only in algae season.
5. There's no beacon on Beacon Hill.
6. Sand Point is grassy.
7. Capitol Hill has no capitol.
8. There are no royalty on King Street, Queen Anne Hill or Crown Hill.
9. There are no pioneers in Pioneer Square.
10. There's neither a lake nor a mount in Mountlake.
11. Skid row is non-skid.
12. There are no pikes on Pike Street, olives on Olive Street, unions on Union Street, universities on University Street or pines on Pine Street, or cherry trees on Cherry Street.
13. Main Street is off the beaten path.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

4. "Green Lake is green only in algae season"-YUCK!

Funny post, Robert!

[SOteric]

15. You left out the part about how locals pronounce Green Lake

as though it were all one word. :shrug:

Oop! And you're wrong about University street. Sure, there isn't one now, but there used to be. The Four Seasons Olympic used to be the dormitory for the University of Washington. The school was across the road where Rainier Square (hey, -everyone I know still calls it 'Rainier Square') is now.

[HEyHEY]

8. Anti aircraft guns all around

Just kiddin

1: It is where the railroad across Canada first officially ended
2: We went from the nice slogn "Blessed by nature, endowed by man" to the blah "City of the arts."
3: I worked for the city for three summers
4: ALthough it is 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver (in rush hour) it still seems and looks like a small town because of geography
5: It is 10 minutes away from the Pickton farm
6: The Pacific ocen is part of it
7: We have bears all over the place
8: The remote Submarine "Jason" used to explore the Titanitc was designed and built here
9: We are the only city in the world to have banned pestisides and herbicides (which pisses me off)
10: We have an ex-world class lawnbowling green

[Screaming Lord Byron]

12. Port Moody? n/t

[HEyHEY]

16. Yup

Did I tell you or did you figure it out?

I assume the railway thing gave it away

[Screaming Lord Byron]

18. Figured it out. The Railway's a giveaway, as is the 30 mins from downtown

With the Pickton farm being in Port Coquitlam, all signs point to PoMo.

[Caution]

9. Salem, MA

1.) Home of the famous Salem Witch Trials

2.) Home of Nathaniel Hawthorne

3.) Every year tens of thousands of people visit the city for it's annual "Haunted Happenings" Halloween festival

4.) Home to the 3rd best museum in Massachusetts (The Peabody Essex Museum, which is only just behind the Museum of Fine Arts and the Gardener Museum in Boston)

5.) The city recently constructed a full sized replica of an East India Trading Company vessel named the Friendship. On Halloween you can go on board the ship and hear chilling tales of terror (according the "Haunted Happenings Guide"

6.) The "Official Witch" of Salem is name Laurie Cabot and she looks just like Ozzy Ozbourne. She only wears black in public but when i worked retail she routinely visited the store and often bought bright pink sweatsuits

7.) Not a single witch was burned at the stake in Salem. Most of those killed in this travesty were hanged (nineteen), one was pressed to death and four died in prison.

8.) Many TV shows have had episodes set is Salem, they include "Bewitched" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch"

9.) Birthplace of Nathaniel Bowditch, an esteemed navigator and astronomer of the 18th century. He authored: The New American Practical Navigator.

10.)Alexander Graham Bell's first public demonstration of the telephone on February 12, 1877 at the Lyceum Hall in Salem. There is now a rather good though over-priced restaurant at this location.

http://www.salemweb.com/">SalemWeb

[alexwcovington]

34. nice!

nt

[EmmaP]

62. I loved Salem

Visited there on my Tour de Mass vacation. Loved it!!

[DS1]

10. Framingham, MA. The largest town in the country.

Hell, it's probably bigger than Council Bluffs, or even Minneapolis for that matter :7

[Kathy in Cambridge]

14. Shopping mall nirvana

Large Brazilian population

Horrific traffic

Those are the only other things I know about Framingham...

[no name no slogan]

88. WATCH IT, TOUGH GUY

Minneapolis proper still has over 300,000 people-- although we're losing them to the 'burbs each day. :(

The entire metro area (including Minneapolis, St. Paul, and all the surrounding 'burbs) now has a population of approx. 2.5 million, and is growing fairly rapidly, giving us a commuting nightmare since we have some of the worst sprawl in the nation and a Republican governor who thinks that building more freeways is the solution. :eyes:

[DS1]

114. wow, way to stick up for your area

(paraphrasing)

Hey, we got a lot of people, but it sure does suck!

[Rowdyboy]

11. Canton,, Mississippi

1. "O' Brother, Where Art Thou", "A Time to Kill", and "My Dog Skip" were all filmed here.

2. A 5,000 employee Nissan plant opened in my town last summer (5 miles from my house)

3. We have approximately 80-85% black population in a town of 15,000.

4. Our town square is very little changed in appearance from the 1930's-looks VERY period

5. Our main street is Peace Street (beautiful name)

6. No one knows why the town was named Canton

7. We have an ENORMOUS light display on the Square every Christmas-it's magical

8. We once had a mayoral election that ended with a two vote difference between the candidates. It took months to settle.

9. We have an arena that attracts some of the hottest soul and hip-hop entertainers in the country.

10. The official town flower is the Crepe Myrtle

[SOteric]

13. Seattle

1. Is an incorrect pronunciation of the name of an American Indian chief, Sealth, leader of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes.

2. Before adopting the name of the chief as the city's own, the settlement which has grown into the city of Seattle was called "Duwamps."

3. Seattle is a city built on 7 hills.

4. Most cities preserve their hills and consider them prime real estate. Seattle actually leveled one of its most desireable hills and dumped the dirt into Elliot Bay.

5. The city experienced a population explosion of men in the mid-1800's so an interprising man named Asa Mercer brought in a group of teachers from Lowell, Massachusetts. They were called 'The Mercer Brides.' With Asa Mercer, they were the originating inspiration behind the terratorial university which is now the University of Washington. Their original dormitory is the downtown Olympic Four Seasons Hotel.

6. One of our hills, Queen Anne, is still called "the counterbalance" by some locals. The hill is so steep that in the days of cable cars, a counter-balance had to be hung from the cabling on the other side of the hill in order for the cars to make it to the top.

7. The first Boeing test flight was based out of a little shack on Lake Union.

8. The streets of downtown Seattle are:

Jefferson
James
Cherry
Columbia
Marion
Madison
Spring
Seneca
Union
University
Pike, and
Pine

JJCCMMSSUUPP Or as Seattlites say: "Jesus Christ Made Seattle Under Protest."

9. For Christmas, the city sends a choir around to various beaches by boat. The folks gathered on the beaches light a bonfire and are serenaded by the choirboat and a hodgepodge flotilla of brightly decorated ships and boats. This breathtakingly beautiful ritual is called "Christmas Ships."

10. Seattle and it's surrounding area is home to 5 active military bases, 2 inactive bases, a naval weather station, and the mothball fleet. It's still predominantly liberal.

[SOteric]

42. 5 More Facts, - and a photo:

1. The repeated vote for best espresso in Seattle is a small establishment in lower Queen Anne not owned, operated or supplied by any large, national mega-store.

2. Seattle is home to 2 gold-medal winning chocolatiers; Dilettente and Fran’s.

3. The first shopping mall was built in Seattle in 1947.

4. Present day Seattle was built right over the top of the original Seattle. Many of it’s storefronts are still intact and can be visited in tours of “The Underground City.”

5. For more than a decade, Seattle’s Smith Tower was the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

[GOPisEvil]

49. Seattle is such a pretty city. I need to get back there someday.

But, for your viewing pleasure, here's Austin in pictures:



This is a picture of the bats coming out to munch on bugs.



The view up Congress Ave., toward the Capitol.



The Austin Skyline (a little outdated - a new building just went up.)

[NightTrain]

73. Seattle's "Underground City" was featured in a made-for-TV...

...movie called "The Night Strangler." It was made in 1972 and starred Darren McGavin as journalist Carl Kolchak, who is investigating a series of bizarre murders in Seattle.

Carl Kolchak's forays into the occult later became a short-lived (but well-remembered) TV series called "The Night Stalker."

[SOteric]

74. NightTrain, you're a veritable fountain of miscellaneous trivia.

I tremble at the thought of ever playing Trivial Pursuit against your team. :pals:

[NightTrain]

84. Yes, I'm just full of it, aren't I?

:evilgrin:

[wryter2000]

17. Oakland

1. Nickname Oaktown
2. First wildlife refuge in the US sits not more than yards away from the inspiration for Disneyland (Children's Fairyland at Lake Merritt).
3. Originally part of the Spanish land grant to the Peralta family.
4. The real terminus of the transcontinental railroad (rail cars were ferried from Oakland to San Francisco).
5. Home of the Hell's Angels, Isadora Duncan, Gertrude Stein, and Jack LaLane
6. Inspiration for the greatest band in the world, Tower of Power.
7. First city to have an African American conductor of a major symphony orchestra (Calvin Simmons, rest in peace)
8. Mayor Moonbeam -- Jerry Brown
9. There is no majority race in Oakland. Everyone is in a minority. Second most integrated city in the US
10. Original home of the University of California

I could go on and on and on...:)

[GOPisEvil]

19. 10 facts about Austin

1. Austin was officially founded on December 27, 1839, bbut did not become the capital of the state of Texas until Feb. 19, 1846. The capital of the Republic of Texas was first in Houston, then at Washington-on-the-Brazos.

2. Austin was once known as The City of the Violet Crown, from a story by O. Henry.

3. The French Legation, which housed France's representative to the Republic of Texas is the oldest documented structure on it's original site in the city. Construction began in December 1840. Today, it's a museum.

4. Austin has the oldest operating public school in the state. Pease Elementary was established in 1876, and is named for Gov. Elisha Pease who founded the state's public school system.

5. In downtown Austin, North-South streets are named for Texas Rivers. East-West streets are numbered, but were originally named for trees native to TX.

6. Austin is home to the largest bat population in North America, with upwards of 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats.

7. Highest point is Mt. Bonnell at 875 feet.

8. Austin is known as the "Live Music Capital of the World", with over 100 live music venues.

9. Austin has 11,800 acres of greenbelt for recreation.

10. Austin is home to Spamarama. www.spamarama.com

[Kathy in Cambridge]

21. My friends told me about Spamarama-they were the same ones who took me

to WurstFest in New Braunfels!

[GOPisEvil]

26. Dangit! I missed Wurstfest this year.

Some of the best German food ever is at Wurstfest.

[SOteric]

23. Heh! I actually own an "Austin Lounge Lizards" cd!

[GOPisEvil]

31. The Lizards are cool!

:thumbsup: Their new cd is supposedly pretty good.

[Richardo]

165. Me too! "Small Minds" with a cartoon of Limbaugh on the cover...

...includes my favorite A.L.L. song: "Ol' Blevins".

[Noon_Blue_Apples]

29. 11. (was) home to Bill Hicks

Bill

[the_boxer_]

59. And Reverend Horton Heat....

Although he may have been from Dallas. I'm not sure.

[LosinIt]

133. B-b-b-Big Little Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and, of course, the immortal Love Whip. My ex-boyfriend's band used to do those. When my daughter was about 7 her favorite song was Love Whip.

[VelmaD]

53. Austin also has...

a really cool statue of Stevie Ray Vaughn and some of the best barbq joints in the whole wide world. :-) Love my adoted hometown.

[rbnyc]

149. Eeyore's Birthday Party!

http://www.sexton.com/eeyores/

[THUNDER HANDS]

20. 10 Facts About Long Island....

1. The first suburbs in America were here.

2. We have a larger population than 40 other states.

3. We have the most segregated communities in America.

4. We have the highest tax rate in America.

5. Our hockey team, which has only been around since 1972 - has won as many Stanley Cups as the Rangers (4) who've been around since hockey began.

6. The most exciting basketball player, pre-Jordan, played professionally here - Dr. J

7. We're home to the largest town in America - Hempstead.

8. Jerry Seinfeld, The Baldwins Bros., Steve Gutenberg and many more celebrities are from here.

9. We were the heart of the Northeast GOP for 60 years.

10. We have a pizza place on nearly every corner.

[HEyHEY]

22. What is Long Island like?

Never been, is it one big sprawl or is it treed with little towns? I know the South tip is all city.....

[THUNDER HANDS]

55. depends

The North Shore is beautiful all the way across the island. The East end is more rural and Suffolk as a whole has more open space than Nassau.

The South Shore is the more urban part, until you get to about the Shirley/Mastic area.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

28. Correction: Hempstead NY Pop. 56,554; Framingham, MA pop. 66,910

http://www.city-data.com/city/Framingham-Massachusetts.html

[yankeedem]

122. No, it's Hempstead (727k)

I'm no expert, but New York has a weird layout for towns where they can span 20 or 40 miles even and include several hundred communities. Any part of the "town" that isn't incorporated as a village or city (and that is most of Nassau) is governed by the town.

Therefore the town of Hempstead has several hundred thousand residents.

"Within Nassau County, the Town of Hempstead is estimated to have added the most residents during 1998, gaining 1,419 to increase its total population to 727,997. Household population growth within the Village of Hempstead and the hamlet of East Meadow contributed to the overall increase in Hempstead Town's growth. Following the Town of Hempstead is the Town of Oyster Bay with a net increase of 687, bringing this town's population to 292,244. North Hempstead, the smallest of Nassau's three towns grew by 362 persons bringing North Hempstead's population to 213,209. Nassau's two cities Long Beach (population 35,299 and Glen Cove (population 24,783), registered gains of 269 and 237 persons respectively."

http://www.lipower.org/newscenter/pr/1999/dec14_99.htm

The figure of 60,000 residents is for the VILLAGE of Hempstead.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

124. it's a county or a township then, not a town

[yankeedem]

125. No, it's a town

Hey, look, I didn't decide this, go complain to the State of New York if you want. I grew up in Massachusetts so I wouldn't consider it a "town" either, but if you're going to talk about BS governmental bodies, Hempstead is the biggest town.

[alexwcovington]

24. Minot, ND

1. Minot is the Magic City
2. Our town is named after one of the great robber baron Jim Hill's investor pals.
3. Minot exists because of a culvert west of town; a trestle had to be built across it and it ran into delays. The railroad had expected to be at present day Burlington by the end of 1886.
4. Minot, with 36567 people, is scantly bigger than DU.
5. Not two but THREE US Highways intersect here, US 2, 52, and 83.
6. Minot wants at least one of those highways to become an interstate, and there's an organized group pulling for the "Central North American Land Bridge Corridor."
7. Minot has a very cosmopolitan makeup for North Dakota cities - we actually have non-Norweigians!
8. Minot State University is the largest University in western North Dakota.
9. The college brings NOTHING culturally to the city.
10. Our mayor, Curt Zimbelman, while alderman, voted on at least two separate occasions to approve economic development packages that included interest buy-downs on loans from his bank.

[Noon_Blue_Apples]

25. Beeton, Ontario

1. Just moved here
2. was named 'Bee Town' for honey production back in the day
3. butcher is called 'beeton meats' - you can't make shit like that up.


Thats all I've got

[HEyHEY]

33. Didn't know another Canadian was here

hello!

[Stuckinthebush]

27. Birmingham, AL

1 - It can suck

2 - It has a very high number of Republicans in the surrounding suburbs, but is actually quite Democratic

3 - It has the largest cast iron statue in the world sitting on a mountain overlooking the city.

4 - It has one of the most liberal zip codes in all of Alabama

5 - It has the poorest zip code in all of America

6 - It smells funny in the Summer

7 - Did I mention that it can suck

8 - In the 1960s, the city leaders (who were all steel barrons) decided against building an international airport here because they didn't want the influx of new people. The airport was built in a small town in Georgia instead. Atlanta is now one of the most successful cities in the South. Birmingham....well....

9 - It is at the absolute base of the Appalachian mountains

10 - It is the home of the University of Alabama at Birmingham which is the largest employer in the State.

[trof]

82. It was named after Birmingham, England,

another steel town at the time.
It's called (or used to be) The Magic City.
The baseball team is the Birmingham Barons.

"Vulcan" is the name of the statue. Roman god of fire and the forge. He is a smith. Cast for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. He was (and still is) the world's largest cast metal statue and the largest statue ever made in the U.S.

The uppah clahsses live "over-the-mountain", in the many suburbs on the other side of Red Mountain from downtown, so they could escape the stench and pollution of the steel mills.

Red Mountain is so named because it is (or was, mined out now) literally a mountain of red iron ore.

Ollie's Barbecue (now sadly closed) billed itself as "The World'sBest Barbecue" and took a segregation case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ollie McClung was NOT in favor of integration.

Birmingham was the site of the infamous 1963 "race riots".

There is a place on the south side called "Gravity Hill" where a car in neutral appears to roll uphill. The legend is that the hill is a giant magnetic lodestone. It's actually an optical illusion.

It is the inspiration for the country/blugrass musical lament
"Send me a letter.
Send it by mail.
Send it in care of...
the Birmingham jail.

That's my 10.

[Stuckinthebush]

92. Gravity Hill

Quite interesting, actually. Come on up, Trof, and we'll take a ride up gravity hill!

About Red Mountain...our UU church just finished building a new church on the mountain. We went through all kinds of engineering hell because there were mines all underneath the site. We spent $70,000 alone in engineering to ensure that the church would not fall through to the mines below. There are old shafts on our property (closed, of course). It's pretty cool stuff. When we go to gravity hill, I'll show you the new church and then take you to eat some BBQ (not Ollie's, but much better!)

What about Foley? I know it has some interesting history! It is much older than B'ham.

[trof]

136. I could see Vulcan from my back yard

as a kid. Red Mountain was our Dodge City, Sherwood Forest, German battleground, African jungle, or whatever scenario popped into somebody's head that day.

In spite of mom's warnings and dire threats, I played Tom & Huck, cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, all through those abandoned mines. We gave ourselves away by coming home red from head to toe.

We'd climb the old stone tower that was Vulcan's pedestal and throw pennies down into the reflecting pools in front. I still wonder how many goldfish met untimely deaths due to coin concussion.;-)

I'd like to plan a nostalgia trip through Montgomery, Tuscaloosa and B'ham in the spring.. I'll give you a shout when/if plans firm up.

on edit: Gravity Hill was near the public golf course on Clairmont Ave.

[maxanne]

30. Jackson, NH

1. Our population at the last census was 835.

2. A bi-partisan group meets every morning for a breakfast discussion at the local bistro. They call themselves "The Algonquin Round Table." I walked in one morning and they were all screaming at each other about Cuba.

3. We have a 2 room schoolhouse for grades 1-8.

4. Jackson has a covered bridge.

5. We had a 77% voter turnout in 2002.

6. The town clerk calls to remind you to about when it's time to register your car.

7. Almost all Jackson kids go to college.

8. Black Mountain Ski Area is in Jackson - one of the last of the independantly owned ski areas in NH.

9. The late artist David Baker lived in Jackson. He created the vitreous-flux method of water color painting.

10. We are home to an international snow sculpture contest - which will happen at the end of January.

[quispquake]

32. Waterville Maine

a) Home of the Maine Int'l Film Festival
b) Home of Colby College & Thomas College
c) Subset of B--Has GREAT college radio station (WMHB)
d) All Maine schools just banned all junk food from schools
e) Railroad Square Cinema--an indy cinema that has operated for more than 20 years
f) Record Connection--Great indy record store, one of the only 3 or 4 good ones left in Maine
g) Nationally ranked Boys & Girls Club financed by heavy donations by local millionaires
h) Downtown with a lot of character (even has it's own head shop!)
i) The best place for yard sales (in season!)
j) More outdoor activities than can be listed here...

Moved away for a long time, and I'm really happy to be back!
pp23

[XNASA]

35. Homewood IL

1. It is a main train stop on the Illinois Central Railroad.

2. We share our Park and School District with Flossmoor IL.

3. The main north/south thoroughfare through downtown Homewood is Dixie Highway, which is part of an old buffalo trail down to the salt licks in western Kentucky.

4. The main east/west road is called Ridge and was once the southern boundry of Lake Michigan, thousands of years ago.

5. The inventer of the roller coaster is from Homewood.

6. From the late 70's through the mid 80's, the Homewood Theater was the only theater in Cook County south of the Chicago Loop, to host the Rocky Horror Picture Show on a weekly basis.

7. There are about a dozen world class golf courses within a 10 minute drive of downtown Homewood.

8. The original name of Homewood was Thornton Station.

9. There are 11 Italian Restaurant/Pizza Parlors in Homewood, but no Thai or Indian restaurants for 20 miles.

10. The police hand out tickets to minors caught smoking on a regular basis.

[UrbScotty]

153. They hand out TICKETS?

No arrests?

:wtf:

[ronnykmarshall]

36. West Hollywood, CA

1. Was not a seprate city until 1984.

2. Has a large Russian population.

3. On some streets to the north and south, you can walk for several block and be in LA for one block, WeHo the next, back to LA and then Beverly Hills.

4. The famous Sunset Strip is part of the city.

5. Janis Joplin had her last meal in a resturant in WeHo.

6. We elect our city concil memembers direct and they rotate the roll of mayor yearly.

7. We have a large gay population ........ duh?

8. There really is a street called "Melrose Place".

9. When Sheryl Crow sings about when "the sun comes up over Santa Monica Blvd", she's talking about West Hollywood. (maybe)

10. Cat de-clawing is illegal in West Hollywood. But you can go a couple of blocks to Beverly Hills or Los Angeles and it's not.

[GOPisEvil]

38. Melrose Place is like a block long, right?

I took a picture of the old-style street sign just for grins. But I lost the camera with the film inside. When I went back the next year, the sign had been replaced with a newer style. I guess some asshole stole the original one. :-(

[ronnykmarshall]

46. When was this?

The street signs were changed by the city several years ago to look different from the ones in Los Angeles.

[GOPisEvil]

50. Oh goodness...probably 1994 or 95. It's been a while...

It was while the show was still airing, IIRC.

[CO Liberal]

37. My Adopted Home Town - Pueblo, Colorado

1 - It was started as a fort along the Arkansas River, which at that time was the border between the US and Mexico.

2 - It's called the Steel City because of the steel mill that was started here to make rails for the railroads.

3 - In 1921, a flood nearly wiped out the downtown area. A plaque on the side of the train station indicates the high water mark - about ten feet off the ground!

4 - Damon Runyan (the playwrite) was born here.

5 - Four men from Pueblo were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, earning Pueblo the new nickname "Home of Heroes".

6 - President Woodrow Wilson made his last public appearance in Pueblo. He was traveling the country, trying to drum up support for the League of Nations. He gave a speech at Memorial Hall - that night, on a train headed to his next stop, he sufferred a stroke.

7 - President Kennedy came to Pueblo in 1962 to sign the legislation to creat the dam a few miles of Pueblo that created Lake Pueblo - one of the largest bodies of water in Colorado.

8 - The Colorado State Fair is held in Pueblo.

9 - Pueblo Memorial Airport was an Army Air Base during World War II, where airmen were trained to fly B24s. Clark Gable was stationed here for a time.

10 - Pueblo is home of the distribution center for the Governmet Printing Office - write to "Catalog, Pueblo, CO 81009".

[kayleybeth]

132. I lived in Pueblo

actually Pueblo West, for several months many years ago. Our house had a beautiful view of the Rockies on one side, and the Sangre de Cristos (? I think that was the name of the range) on the opposite side. The thing I remember most about Pueblo proper was the steel mill. It dominated the Pueblo skyline. The neighborhood surrounding the mill was called "BeauJean town" (sp?) Not sure what that meant, but it was a slum at the time, and it was an insult to call someone a "BeauJean". They were just starting to fix up that area of town when I left. Colorado is beautiful. I love CO. Springs, and Phantom Canyon, and Cripple Creek, and Boulder and Denver. Pueblo is kind of flat, but still beautiful with the awesome views of the surrounding mountains.

[elfwitch]

39. My Hometown: San Antonio, TX

1. Was almost the site for "Hollywood". In the 20's and 30's the major studios were eyeing San Antonio as a good place to build all their studios.

2. San Antonio, the third-largest city in Texas, the 9th largest in the United States and the 223rd largest in the world.

3.Christopher Cross, Carol Burnett, Joan Crawford, and Tommy Lee Jones were born there.

4. The city was established in 1691. Only 60 years after Boston, MA (1630)

5. The famous San Antonio Rverwalk stretches for 2 1/2 miles.

6. The San Antonio Spurs franchise regularly qualified for the postseason in its first 20 years, both as a member of the now-defunct American Basketball Association (ABA) and after the team joined the NBA following the 1975-76 season. It was established as the Dallas Chaparrals in 1967, the team was one of the original 11 ABA teams.

7. The San Antonio Zoo, established in 1929, is one of the largest zoos in the country with 3,500 animals of 750 species.

8. The Menger Hotel is Haunted. In 1876, a maid named Sallie White was attacked by her jealous husband in the hotel. She was badly injured, and died a couple of days later. Guests still report seeing her walk the halls in the oldest wing of the hotel, still in her maid's uniform.

9. San Antonio Urban Legend: The protective ghosts of little children killed at a railway crossing push stalled cars off the tracks.

10. Fiesta® San Antonio is a 10-day celebration held every April to honor the memory of the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto and to celebrate San Antonio’s rich and diverse cultures. This year marks the 112th celebration!

[the_boxer_]

67. We have that same urban legend in Dallas!

Edit: You supposedly can see there finger prints on your bumper.

[UrbScotty]

154. Learn how to subtract!

1691-1630=61 years!

Duh!

Jost kidding. ;-)

[Screaming Lord Byron]

40. Used to live in Glasgow, so I'll do that over Calgary.

1. Became massively wealthy through pre-American Revolution tobacco
trade.

2. Belle and Sebastian formed and used to play in the pub below my
old flat.

3. Glasgow has the oldest underground railway in the world.

4. Glasgow has the world's only trapeze / swimming pool.

5. Glasgow has three stadiums with a capacity of over 50,000

6. Glasgow was founded by a Christian missionary called St Mungo

7. Glasgow was home to the very first long-distance TV broadcast, and
was home to it's inventor, John Logie Baird

8. Glaswegian Charles MacIntosh invented the Waterproof Jacket in 1821

9. Glasgow University was founded before Columbus reached America

10. At one point 25% of the world's shipping was built on the River
Clyde

[Kathy in Cambridge]

41. More Cambridge Facts/Trivia

1. My little city has excellent restaurants. Prominent restauranteurs include three James Beard Foundation award chefs (Chris Schlesinger of East Coast Grill, Jasper White of Summer Shack, and Jody Adams of Rialto).

2. Cambridge is also nicknamed "Boston's Left Bank"

3. "Good Will Hunting" and the 1973 movie, "The Paper Chase" were filmed here.

4. Fifth most crowded city in the U.S., with 15,836 people per square mile

5. Well-known residents have included:
Matt Damon, actor
Ben Affleck, actor
Oliver Wendell Holmes, physician and writer
Jane Curtin, comedian and actress
Sam Waterston, actor

6. Among U.S. communities of at least 100,000 people, ranked No. 10 in monthly mortgage costs. The median here is $1,896.

7. After the Revolution, became known as the "home of the Literati"

8. Part of Cambridge near the Charles River is built on land filled in by one of the former Boston hills. It lies at or below sea level.

[dolgoruky]

44. Liverpool

1. Both Adolf Hitler and Charles de Gaulle lived there.

2. First iron framed building in the world.

3. Titanic was registered in Liverpool.

4. Home of "The Beatles"

5. The Battle of the Atlantic was directed from Liverpool.

6. Nathanial Hawthorne was ambassador to Liverpool

7. Mike Myers parents are from Liverpool

8. First passenger railway in the world began in Liverpool.

9. 3rd largest cathederal in Europe

10. Our rapier like wit.

[beyurslf]

43. Wichita, KS

1. Largest city in the state with nearly a quarter of the state's population in the metro area
2. One of the best zoos in the country, even if people who live here don't realize it
3. One of the most affordable urban areas in the country (new homes can still bought for under 100,000 in some areas)
4. Named after a Native American tribe
5. Native American cultural center in the heart of the city
6. "Air capitol of the world" because so many planes (used to be) built here and so many people (used to be) employed in the industry here.
7. We don't drive horse and buggys. We do have running water. We do have electricty.
8. I have never in my life seen or been in a tornado and many people who live here can say the same thing. I have, however, been in an earthquake just from visiting CA.
9. Not one, not two, but 3 universities in the city with large campuses. (We also have a couple smaller private ones with satellites here but main campuses somewhere else in the state.)
10. Award winning gay and lesbian newspaper that has been nationally recognized. (Liberty Press) I personally think it is the best one I have ever read in any city.

Bonus: I always heard that Wichita was the first city in the country to adopt non discrimation policy against sexual orientation. They did it back in the early 1970's or late 1960's. It was repealed in the Anita Bryant days and has never been passed again. Don't know that this is true though.

[pstokely]

75. Wichita, abortion capital of the world

according to Operation Save America

www.osawichita.com

[beyurslf]

78. yes thanks for reminding me.

They actually bought the house across the street from Dr. Tiller's offices so they have a presence there all the time.

[OneTwentyoNine]

111. Plus...

11.Billy the Kid was born and raised in Wichita
12.In the 1870's/80's you checked your guns in when you entered Wichita,got em back when you left.
13.Pizza Hut started in Wichita
14.Godfathers Pizza started in Wichita
15.Actor Don Johnson,Wichita Native
16.Joe Walsh is from Wichita,his parents still live here and he comes back pretty often.
17.Actress Kirsti Alley,who I met one day about 8 years ago is from Wichita.
18.Dennis the Menace while a fictional cartoon had the family living in Wichita.
19.Most aircraft are still either built here or assembled in Wichita. That would include: Boeing,Beechcraft,Cessna,Bombardier,LearJet.Airbus has an office here and does some design/engineer work.
20.We have two rivers that run through the city and a River Festival that attracts 200,000-300,000 people when it runs for ten days in May.
21.It started snowing late this afternoon and is still snowing.

[Tredge]

45. San Francisco, CA

10 Random Facts about San Francisco:

1. San Francisco is named for St. Francis of Assisi. Previously it was called Yerba Buena, and before that Nova Albion.

2. The only Emperor the United States has ever had hailed from San Francisco – Emperor Norton I. Among his more notable works were his Imperial Decrees calling for the arrest of Andrew Jackson, the sacking of Abraham Lincoln, and the outlawing of the term “Frisco”:

"Whoever after due and proper warning shall be heard to utter the abominable word "Frisco," which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a High Misdemeanor, and shall pay into the Imperial Treasury as penalty the sum of twenty-five dollars."

Segue to...

3. Only tourists call it “Frisco” (perhaps because Emperor Norton I outlawed the term?) Locals abbreviate San Francisco as “S.F.” or “San Fran.” If someone calls it “Frisco” they are mocked.

4. Before the Civil War William T. Sherman worked in a bank on the corner of Montgomery and Jackson. In 1954 Ulysses S. Grant lived six blocks away, drying out in a hotel for alcoholics trying to kick the habit. He never did.

5. Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon takes place mostly in the neighborhood of Nob Hill. He knew the neighborhood so well because he used to crawl the bars there getting blind drunk. A street was renamed Dashiell Hammet St. – it was the street in the book where Spade’s partner Miles is shot – and at the end of it is the building where Spade’s office was.

6. The scenic Marina area is build mostly on landfill that was created from the rubble of ruined buildings from the 1906 Earthquake and fire. In the 1989 Earthquake all the rubble, bricks and mortar shifted and many homes in the Marina were damaged or destroyed.

7. San Francisco is often called “The City of Seven Hills.” Those hills are Nob, Russian, Twin Peaks, Rincon, Telegraph, Mount Davidson, and Lone Mountain. Rome is also known as “The City of Seven Hills.”

8. San Francisco is also known as “Fog City.” The fog is caused by warm air in the Central Valley rising – it creates low pressure closer to the ground in the valley, and it draws moist air from over the Pacific Ocean to fill the “vacuum.” This air is moist and becomes fog. Because the Central Valley can get to over 100 degrees F. in the summer, it’s summer that are the foggiest months in SF, hence the phrase, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” (footnote: there’s no proof it was Mark Twain who coined this phrase)

9. On November 27, 1978 Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot to death in City Hall by former supervisor Dan White, who used the “Twinkie Defense” to get just 5 years for the double-murder. President of the Board of Supervisors Dianne Feinstein was just down the hall. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected to major public office.

10. San Francisco was originally inhabited by the Ohlone (or Costanoan) Indian tribes. Like many other tribes across the Continent their populations were ravaged during “Manifest Destiny” by foreign diseases and forced assimilation.

I'm sure I could write about a thousand more, but here at least are ten random things.

[elfwitch]

51. inspired by your thread...

NOBODY from San Antonio calls the city "San Antone".
It's just dumb.

[radfringe]

47. Small town - small facts

Lehman PA

1. Sign in center of town says "Welcome to Lehman"...on both sides and the sign is about 3" thick

2. Population 427

3. there are more cows than people

4. lake Lehman highschool band has 30 members and has won Battle of the Band competitions for the last 8 years

5. To get mail delivery to the house we have to use an address for the next town over. We do have a local post office, but they don't deliver.

6. we have two voting booths and vote in the snack room of the volunteer amblulance/fire department building

7. We have 1 fulltime chief of police and 4 part-time cops, 1 police vehicle

8. If schools are closed because of snow, the plow doesn't come by until 3-4 in the afternoon

9. majority of people in Lehman are related to each other

10. If you don't know where you are going in Lehman - you won't know where you are when you get there

[JohnKleeb]

48. ok here goes

1. Named after President Arthur's father in law who was a navy captain.
2. Middle school was once high school and is 70 years old, the building.
3. The movie contact was filmed here
4. Theres a scene in Remember the Titans at the high school stadium
5. There was a small skirmish in the middle of town between John Mosby's raiders and union soldiers
6. The new Mexican fast food place is great :)
7. About 10,000 people live here
8. A graveyard lies across the school
9. Schools nickname is Hornets
10. I miss Chayote :(

[Xithras]

52. Modesto, CA

1. In 1912 the city held a contest to determine a city motto which would be placed on the new lighted archway. It went to a vote of the people and the winner was "Nobodies got Modesto's goat!" The city leaders decided that this was the stupidest motto they'd ever heard, and changed it to "Water, Wealth, Contentment, Health"...arguably the second stupidest.

2. We are roughly 100 miles from the Pacific ocean and a short mountain range lies between us, and yet the average city elevation is only 19 feet above sea level.

3. George Lucas is from Modesto, and his first big movie ("American Graffitti") was about growing up in Modesto in the 1950's.

4. The Gallo winery, the biggest in the world, is located in Modesto. The winery started out as an illegal distillery on the cities south side during Prohibition.

5. When a housing development in north Modesto is completed next year, we will have more roundabouts than any other city in America.

6. Gary Condit was really from Ceres. So was Chandra Levy.

7. Modesto is the most densely built urban area in California, with a population of 200,000 people in

8. Modesto is known worldwide as one of the inventors of the concept of "urban forestry". Since passing a tree ordinance in the 1950's(?) that required at least one tree per home lot along the street frontage, and one every 50 feet for long lots, Modesto has become the "city in the forest", and has been named Tree City USA 23 years running. The trees outnumber the people here 3 to 1, and a ratio of 4 trees to every house is common in some areas of the city. Not bad for an area that was originally dry scrublands most of the year.

9. Modesto was originally supposed to be named "Ralstonville", after William Ralston, a San Francisco banker and railroad owner. Mr. Ralston was informed of this while visiting the future city site and the surrounding railroad installation, and remarked "I wouldn't curse any city with a name as dumb as that". A Mexican engineer on the project commented "Senor Ralston est muy modesto". Ralston remarked "Modesto, that's a good sounding word. Call it Modesto"...despite the fact that he apparently had no idea what the word meant. And that is how Modesto (the spanish word for modesty) got its name.

10. We are one of the top 5 auto theft cities in the nation.

[cmf]

81. My husband is from Modesto

I have to know - what is the ending to number 7?

"7. Modesto is the most densely built urban area in California, with a population of 200,000 people in ...."

[NightTrain]

54. You're in Cambridge?

I'm heading up there tomorrow night for a big-ass rockabilly show at T.T. the Bear's! :bounce:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

87. I Love Rockabilly!

who's playing?

[NightTrain]

94. Here's the line-up

Here's the line-up for the 12/23 show at T.T. the Bear's:

8:15 p.m. Brenda Vee
8:55 p.m. King Memphis
9:45 p.m. Dana Stewart and the Old Howards
10:35 p.m. Jittery Jack
11:25 p.m. The Sean Mencher Combo
12:15 a.m. The Raging Teens

Doors open at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $10.

Rose, if you do decide to go, look for a chubby guy with gold-rimmed glasses, a black Sun Studios baseball cap, and a black sweatshirt that says, "WHUS, 91.7-FM." That'll be me!

[VelmaD]

56. Since GOPisEvil already took Austin...

I'll do my original hometown...Greenville, TX

1. Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of World War II, was born just outside Greenville.

2. The place kicker on our football team when I was in high school was the son of Bill Snyder - the coach at Kansas State. He set the Texas schoolboy record for the longest field goal.

3. Another Texas schoolboy record - Henry Neal, a sprinter from Greenville, used to hold the record in the 100 yard dash.

4. My hometown is infamous for a sign that used to hang over main street that said "Greenville - the blackest land, the whitest people". They replaced it with one that said "The greatest people" and then took it down altogether. It's the most embarassing bit of Greenville's past. We seem to have gotten over it though - half the city council is black now including the person who represents my parents. :-)

5. My high school was the first one in the country to ban Spuds McKenzie t-shirts. We made it onto the MTV news for it.

6. The Raytheon in Greenville (that used to be E-Systems) is one of the few places set up to do maintenance on Air Force One. There were occasions during my childhood where you could drive by and see it parked there.

7. Greenville still holds the Guinness record for the most bales of hay pressed in one day at an inland cotton press. Cotton was king in my hometown.

8. A fairly well-known major league pitcher, Monty Stratton, is from Greenville. They made a movie about his life. It's kind of inspirational - he lost a foot and still managed to play. He lived near my parents before I was born. My momma says he was a really nice man.

9. In the mid-1970s they relocated a good number of Vietnamese refugees to Greenville. It still has a thriving Vietnamese community. Including the best donut shop in the whole world.

10. Greenville may be the only city in the entire state of Texas that does not have a Dairy Queen.

[Kellanved]

57. Berlin

1. One of the very few German cities actually growing.

2. So few parts of the wall are left that declaring them UNESCO heritage is being considered.

3. There is no legal closing time for bars (very unusual in Europe).

4. More than 130000 students are enrolled at the three major Universities, four Universities of Arts and seven practical colleges.

5. It has three opera houses, eight symphony orchestras, two concert halls, over 170 museums and more than 150 theatres.

6. The Lord Mayor Wowereit is the first German gay politician who won an election by advertising that fact.

7. Berlin covers an area of 891 km² - that's larger than NYC.

8. Contrary to popular belief "Ich bin ein Berliner" is a perfectly correct way to say "I'm a citizen of Berlin." . "I'm a jelly donut" would go "Ich bin ein Pfannkuchen.".

9. No Pooper Scooper law - so one has to watch his/her step.

10. Air Force One had to take off with nearly empty fuel tanks, as none of Berlin's three airports is big enough for a 747.

[Tredge]

61. I always wondered...

8. Contrary to popular belief "Ich bin ein Berliner" is a perfectly correct way to say "I'm a citizen of Berlin." . "I'm a jelly donut" would go "Ich bin ein Pfannkuchen."

I always wondered about that. I mean, he had a German to teach him the phrase, so why wouldn't it be correct? Didn't make sense.

Could one also say "Ich bin Berliner?"

[Kellanved]

64. yep

Both are OK.

[carolinayellowdog]

58. My birthplace: Norfolk, VA

1. First test tube baby conceived there, 1978.
2. Almost surrounded by water, with many miles of Chesapeake Bay beaches on the north and the Elizabeth River on the west and south.
3. Monitor and Merrimac battle was fought off Sewell's Point.
4. Has an excellent art museum (the Chrysler) and a thriving arts scene.
5. A Democratic island (Hampton Roads area) in a sea of Republicans (Virginia.)
6. One of the least segregated metro areas in the US (along with 3 in California and Tampa/St. Pete.)
7. One of the first and most extreme cases of "urban renewal" aka slum clearance-- wiping out many 19th century houses and leaving empty nothingness for years after.
8. Downtown is finally bouncing back with retail and residential vitality after decades of decline.
9. The west side (Ghent especially) is charming, the eastern and southern parts mostly bleak, and the north (Ocean View) a mixture of the two.
10. Population has declined 20% since 1960 while neighboring Virginia Beach and Chesapeake have more than quadrupled-- meaning the suburbs are congested while Norfolk has become much less so.

[5thGenDemocrat]

60. Saginaw, Michigan

1. The Saginaw River flows north. It is the shortest river in Michigan (about 15 miles), but it drains the largest area.
2. Saginaw is home to the world's largest pink neon jack rabbit.
3. Actors from Saginaw include Marie Dressler (Tugboat Annie, Min and Bill), Robert Armstrong (King Kong), Tim McCoy (one of the first great cowboy actors -- his dad was police chief) and S Epatha Merkerson (Law and Order).
4. Athletes from Saginaw include Kenyon Martin, Serena Williams, Charles Rogers, Jason Richardson, Darvin Ham (whose mom is the mayor), Bob Buhl (Milwaukee Braves, '57 and '58 World Series, but best known for batting 0-for-80 in 1962 -- STILL the major league record), Curt Young (just named the Oakland A's pitching coach) and Dick Rifenberg (better known to Buffalonians as a long-time sportscaster).
All-star goaltender Eddie Belfour began his professional career here and still lives just outside of town. Interestingly enough, most of the hockey players who made it big from Saginaw are goaltenders: Mario Lessard, Bob Froese, Darren Pang and Mike Palmateer all started here, too. Now that we are a proud member of the Ontario Hockey League (the Spirit), that should change soon. Paul Bissonnette (defenseman, Penguins), Adam Sturgeon (defenseman, Lightning) and Mike Brown (goalie, Bruins) all spent time in NHL camps this fall.
5. Saginaw was also home to Theodore Roethke, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (1954) and one of the most influential American poets of the 20th Century.
6. Musicians include Stevie Wonder, Isham Jones, Tin Pan Alley composer Danny Russo, Sonny Stitt and Question Mark and the Mysterians. Meat Loaf made his first recording and Elvis Presley made his last one here. Bruce Springsteen's bootleg "Killers in the Sun" was also recorded here.
Saginaw is also one of the only cities in America with a city band (the Eddy Band), financed in perpetuity to provide summer concerts for the residents. It has performed for over 80 years.
7. The bean soup served in the cafeteria of the US Capitol is always made with beans from the Saginaw Valley and has been since our representive and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Joseph "Sugar Beet Joe" Fordney, so dicated way back in, like, 1910.
8. Saginaw was once the Lumber Capital of the World, shipping out over one billion board feet of lumber in a single year (1888).
We produce more steering components (for all American automakers, plus Toyota, Peugeot and probably a few others) than any other city in the world. If you drive a GM car, the wiring harnesses and engine block were probably made here.
9. POLITICS: In 1958, two members of Eisenhower's cabinet -- George Humphrey (Treasury) and Wilbur Brucker (Army) were Saginawians. And we were the second city in America (after Gary, Indiana) to have a black mayor (Henry G. Marsh, still hale and hearty in his 80s and beloved by all of us here). We were also one of the first to adopt a council-manager form of government in 1936.
10. And, until they were consolidated here in 1962, Saginaw and New York City were the only two American cities with two main post offices (a vestige of Saginaw having been consolidated from East Saginaw and Saginaw City in 1890. We had two school systems until the 1930s, too).
John
Ten entries just aren't enough. I know I'm missing lots of stuff about my hometown. It is, after all, The Center of the Universe and I wouldn't live anywhere else.

[Blade]

63. My town:

1. Is covered on all sides by farmlands.
2. Is so tight that you could shove a lump of coal up the leaders' asses and get a diamond. (thank God for this public liberal arts college!) - The leaders are Mennanites (sp???)
3. Has a population of about 3,200.
4. Is literally in the middle of nowhere.
5. Reeks daily of the ethanol plant located in town.
6. Only has one delivery joint: Pizza Hut.
7. Has two competing grocery stores at the SAME side of town! (sucks when you have to walk 8 blocks to get groceries in the middle of summer..I had to.)
8. The main businesses are the three local bars. (collectively)
9. Has more fast food places and banks than any other business. (McD's, DQ, Subway, Pizza Hut, 4 banks)
10. Doesn't like the thought of gaining more business.

[CO Liberal]

65. My Original Hometown - Morristown, New Jersey

1 - When first founded, it was called "West Hanover".

2 - George Washington made Morristown the military capital of the colonies for two winters during the American Revolution.

3 - One of the winters that Washington's soldiers stayed in Jockey Hollow (south of Moristown) was more harsh than the more famous winter they stayed at Valley Forge.

4 - The Ford Mansion that served as Washington's Headquarters, Jockey Hollow where the soldiers stayed and Fort Nonsense (built on a hilltop to oversee British troop movements) were combined to form Morristown National Historic Park in 1934, one of the first National Historic Parks.

5 - The Seeing Eye is headquartered just outside Morristown, and trains its guide dogs and blind student on teh streets of Morristown. (Walt Disney did a show for "The Wonderful World of Color" once about the Seeing Eye - it was called "Atta Girl Kelly" and is still shown from time to time on The Disney Channel).

6 - Samuel F. B. Morse (with the financial backing of local businessman Steven Vail and assisted by Vail's son Alfred) invented the telegraph in a barn just north of Morristown.

7 - Movie critic Gene Shalit grew up in Morristown.

8 - Morristown is completely surrounded by Morris Township, one of the few instances in the Unites States where one community completely surrounds another.

9 - After the Erie Lackawanna Railroad was built through Morristown, many millionaires built mansions in Morristown. Madison Avenue (State Highway 24) became known as "Millionaire's Row".

10 - Several years ago, Nancy Kerrigan was guest host on "Saturday Night Live" on St. Patrick's Day. One sketch had her appearing in a St. Patrick's Day parade. The parade shown in the background was the parade held in Morristown that afternoon.

[hel]

66. Alright, Istanbul, Turkey it is.

1. The city I'm living in is located on two continents, Europe and Asia. So geographically, I'm travelling to Europe every morning for work and coming back to Asia to home.

2. There are more than 12 million living here.

3. Istanbul was the capital of Byzantium Empire and later also the capital of Ottoman Empire. But it is not Turkey's capital city.

4. There will be Formula 1 races in Istanbul in 2005.

5. Istanbul doesn't have a subway system. It is being built since decades, but every few months or so, the construction workers discover yet another hidden Byzantium tunnel or remains, and all work stops.

6. There are many urban legends about treasures found in these tunnels. Oh and if you ask people around "old Istanbul" area, they will show you a few tunnels going down in five minutes.

7. There used to be beaches in Istanbul until 1990s, but now the Marmara sea -it connects Mediterranean to Black Sea- is so polluted no one dares to swim in it. It is sad.

8. There are more than 10 palaces in Istanbul.

9. Galata Tower in Istanbul was built by Genovese traders in 1352, to guide their ships to land. In the early 17th-century Ahmet Celebi, a Turkish daredevil, launched his hang-glider from the top of the tower and flew across the Bosphorus, "becoming the first man to fly since the mythical Icarus" they say.

10. Hagia Sophia, considered to be one of the marvels of the world, is in Istanbul. It was built as a cathedral, became a mosque during Ottoman Empire, and restored as a museum by Ataturk's order. Centuries of plaster and whitewash were removed by that time.

Istanbul is not only a city, it's a passion. There are a great number of poems and songs written for it since centuries, I don't think any other city in the world is so beloved.

[the_boxer_]

72. It's Istanbul not Constantinople, It's Istanbul not Constantinople...

Why the changed it, I can't say..
People just liked it better that way...

Courtesy of They Might Be Giants

;-)

[CO Liberal]

79. Originally Done By The Four Preps

Back in the '50s.

[the_boxer_]

83. Didn't know that...cool..thanks for the info!

[Violet_Crumble]

156. I knew it but...

I'll stick with listening to the TMBG version :)

Violet...

p.s. I'd do the ten bits of trivia about my hometown, but typing 'It's boring and you really don't want to visit such a boring place' ten times would get about as boring as Canberra can be...

[the_boxer_]

158. LOL...

...;-)

[NightTrain]

85. It was the Four Lads, not the Four Preps

Recorded for Columbia in 1953. I have an original 45 of "Istanbul" somewhere in my collection.

The Four Preps came along later in the '50s and had such hits as "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)" and "Big Man." ("I was a big man yesterday, but boy, you oughta see me now.")

[NightTrain]

68. Hartford, CT

1. Its nickname is the Insurance City because it is the homebase of such companies as the Hartford (of course!), Phoenix Home Life, Travelers, and Aetna.

2. Its original, native American, name was Suckiaug. Its Anglo name comes from the British town of Hertford.

3. The city's oldest graveyard, which is still located downtown, dates back to 1620.

4. Hartford is an anomaly among metropolitan areas in that its top-rated radio station, WTIC, is an AM, not an FM.

5. WTIC-AM's morning man, Bob Steele, worked at the station from 1935 until his death last year at 91. For the final decade or so of his life, however, Steele did just one Saturday a month. Slacker!

6. Black Eyed Sally's Bar-B-Q and Blues, on Pearl Street, opened in the summer of 1995. In less than a year, it had developed a reputation as one of the finest blues venues in the world. The food ain't bad, either!

7. Hartford is the home oF such internationally acclaimed cultural venues as Real Art Ways (gallery/movie house), the Hartford Stage Company (playhouse), and Cinestudio (the movie theater at Trinity College).

8. Along with New Haven, Hartford is one of two Connecticut cities whose town council has a member of the Green Party on it.

9. Litchfield County, in rural northwestern Connecticut, is home to such celebrities as Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Dave Brubeck, Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, and (until his recent death) Art Carney.

10. Norman Lear--the creator of such classic sitcoms as "All in the Family," "Maude," "The Jeffersons," "Sanford and Son," and "Good Times"--was born and raised in Hartford.

[tishaLA]

106. And Hartford also was home to

the greatest American poet, Wallace Stevens, who was an insurance guy. More importantly, he wrote such great poems as "Sunday Morning," "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," "The Monacle of Mon Uncle," "The Emporer of Ice Cream," "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction," etc.

[mobuto]

152. Samuel Langhorne Clemens

a writer of some note, also lived in Hartford, Connecticut.

[EmmaP]

69. Erie, PA

1. Located half way between Cleveland, OH and Buffalo, NY
2. Ann B. Davis (Alice from "The Brady Bunch") and Pat Monahan (lead singer of Train) are Erie natives.
3. Tom Ridge (former Governor of PA and now Secretary of Homeland Security) is an Erie native. (oooh, I can hear all the hissing.)
4. Bob Hope claimed to have married his wife, Dolores, here in Erie on February 19, 1934. However, the marriage license on file for him (under his real name of Leslie T. Hope) says he married Grace L. Troxell on January 25, 1933. There is no record of his marriage to Dolores in Erie. (Very popular Erie story.)
5. Yes, you can safely swim in the lake.
6. On a clear day, from the right location, you can see Canada.
7. George Washington slept at a hotel in Fort LeBoeuf (Erie County).
8. We used to be the third biggest city in PA, now we're fourth - I think Allentown beat us out.
9. The City of Erie is comprised mostly democrats, while the outlying County of Erie is mostly republicans.
10. I never realized there was so little to say about my hometown - it took me a long time to come up with this!

[Screaming Lord Byron]

70. Featured in 'That Thing You Do' n'est pas? n/t

[EmmaP]

71. Yeah!

Thanks. Forgot all about that!!

Just thought of another one, too. Two of the crew members who served on the U.S. Brig Niagara (homeport Erie, PA) were extras in the movie "Master and Commander." One of them even had a line, but I can't remember their names.

[Bombero1956]

89. Springfield Massachusetts

1. The home of Smith & Wesson

2. The home of Milton Bradley Games

3. Timothy Leary,Dr Suess and performers Taj Mahal, Paige Turco, John Shea, June Foray, and Eleanor Powell,Kurt Russell,Travis Best are also natives of Springfield.

4. Home of the Basketball Hall of Fame

5. Home of Indian Motocycles ( the original bike, not the imitation) they were called motocycles without the r.

6. The first Federal Armory was commissioned in 1797 by George Washington and was the manufacturing site of the famous Springfield Rifle.

7. Springfield was the only site in the United States where Rolls Royce had an assembly plant

8. Springfield is the home of dictionary publishers Merriam-Webster

9. The first successful American gasoline automobile was manufactured in Springfield by J. Frank Duryea in 1895.

10. Springfield was settled 367 years ago this year and has the second oldest organized fire department in the US at 209 years.


Among other facts about Springfield:

Horace A. Moses founds Junior Achievement Program in Springfield

Charlotte Gulick founds Campfire Girls in Springfield

Springfield has the world's first motorized fire department, with the first motorized fire wagon manufactured by Knox Manufacturing Company

Good Housekeeping Magazine founded in Springfield by Clark Whitman Bryan

Bemis & Call manufactures the first adjustable wrench in Springfield

Charles Goodyear develops vulcanizing process to manufacture pliable rubber

first successfully operated automobile (powered by a wood-burning steam engine) manufactured by Thomas Blanchard.

First American-built planetarium installed at the Springfield Science Museum

[the_boxer_]

76. Dallas:

The Dallas/Fort Worth Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (DFW) reported 5.2 million residents in the 2000 Census, making it the largest metropolitan area in Texas, the ninth largest metro in the country and larger than 31 U.S. states. (Census 2000)

Only the great urban regions of Los Angeles and New York, with base populations approaching 15 to 20 million people, added more residents than DFW in the 1990s. (Census 2000)

DFW ranked first in the nation for employment growth in the 1990s, adding a total of 760,600 net new jobs. Second ranked Atlanta was nearly 100,000 jobs behind with growth of 671,700 and the widely reported San Francisco Bay area, including San Jose, did not even break the 600,000 mark. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Total GDP for the DFW metro surpassed $250 billion in 2001, placing the area in 14th position among all states and 19th among the world's nations in total output. (Economy.com)

DFW's central U.S. location is equally close to North America's five largest business centers: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City and Toronto.

Dallas is one of the few areas in the nation with seven major league sports teams including Cowboys football, Mavericks basketball, Rangers baseball, Stars hockey, Burn soccer, Sidekicks indoor soccer and Dragoons polo. (Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau)

Courtesy: http://www.dallaschamber.org/statsnfacts.html







Some facts from memory:

DFW Airport is larger than Manhattan.

Deep Ellum is a great place to party!

I want to go back!

Some items invented in Dallas (from The Dallas Morning News: 5/6/99)

The nation's first convenience stores, the vast 7-Eleven chain, now in 18 countries, started here in 1922.
Henry Garrett invented the first car radio in the early 1920s and possibly the first automatic electric traffic light.
In 1931, Highland Park Village opened, the first shopping center with stores surrounding a central parking area.
In 1938, Hillcrest State Bank opened the first drive-up bank window.
The first integrated circuit, which became the microchip, was invented by Jack Kilby in 1958 at Texas Instruments.
The idea for the ubiquitous ATM machine came from Don Wetzel in the 1960s.
The frozen margarita was invented by Dallas restauranteur Mariano Martinez in 1971.
Inspired by his daughter's Super Ball, Dallas' Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, coined "Super Bowl."
Barney, the lovable purple dinosaur of Public Broadcasting, comes from Dallas area, as does the smart, history-loving dog, Wishbone.

Courtesy: http://www.afterimagegallery.com/dallas.htm

[DemoTex]

95. Snyder Plaza near SMU is still my favorite "shopping center." Anywhere.

I ate breakfast at Kuby's in Snyder Plaza this morning. Highland Park Village is too rich for my blood.

Don't forget the wonderful restaurants of "Lower" Greenville Ave. (especially "The Grape" and "Doty's") and the Katy Trail bike path (passes within a half block of my house).

[the_boxer_]

97. I dig Lower Greenville too...

I'm not sure I've ever been to Snyders. Is that in one of the Park cities?

[DemoTex]

99. Snyder Plaza is near the northwest corner of the SMU campus.

It is technically in University Park. The north end of Snyder Plaza is bordered by Lovers Lane and Hillcrest. It is an old shopping center built, basically, on each side of a boulevard that provides access and parking (Ha! Try to find a parking place after 10 am) to the shops that line the sidewalks. There are a number of good restaurants at Snyder Plaza, including Peggy Sue's Bar-B-Que and Kuby's German meat market/deli and restaurant.

[the_boxer_]

101. Ok..I know where Hillcrest and Lovers is...

...can't picture the area...


It's been too long! I want to come back!!!!!!!!

[NightTrain]

98. I once changed planes at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport

And I fully believe that it's bigger than Manhattan!

[the_boxer_]

102. Everything's big in Texas!

:evilgrin:

[Interrobang]

109. Wow -- neat clipping! From 660 000 to 3 million++ in 20 years!

Toronto, that is, NOT my hometown, which is London, ON.

London ON:

1) Home to Sir Frederick Grant Banting, discoverer of insulin. His original house/practice office is located 2 doors from my house.

2) Home to Guy Lombardo and Kittie, which is about both ends of the musical spectrum.

3) Home to the corporate headquarters of Labatt's breweries, London Life insurance, and the Canadian McCormick's and Kellogg's plants.

4) Located halfway between Detroit and Toronto, which metaphorically makes London either Earth or Purgatory, depending on your paracosmology.

5) The London Museum is a 3/4 scale replica of the art gallery in Houston, TX, because the city councillor who contacted the architect for the project said that it would be nice to have "something like it," which the architect interpreted as "exactly like." I imagine that the one in Houston doesn't have a riveted stainless steel rhinoceros on the front lawn, though.

6) There is one university (The University of Western Ontario) and one college (Fanshawe College) in London, for an approximate total of 40 000 students.

7) London is nicknamed "The Forest City," although it's been suffering from deforestation lately. Failing that, they could call it "City of Small Towns," since it encompasses at least Byron Village, Woodfield, Wortley Village, Blackfriars, and The Coves, which used to be actual towns, and Westmount, White Oaks, and Medway, which never were independent, but might as well be...

8) Home to famous black squirrels, some of whom were transported to Ohio and now serve as the KSU logo. A town nearby (Exeter) is known for its *white* squirrels, which are actually white and not albino.

9) There are reputed to be more auto-erotic strangulations per capita in London than anywhere else in Canada, but I can't confirm that rumour.

10) There are at least three "haunted houses" of legend that I know of in London, one at 123 Princess Avenue, one on Grosvenor Street near Adelaide, and one at 510 Oxford Street. There also used to be an abbey overlooking the ravine in Blackfriars which had a very sinister reputation, but it's long since demolished, although nothing has been built on the site since...

[trof]

141. "Banting's Miracle"

A friend of mine, kind of a third "grandfather" wrote a biography of Banting called "Banting's Miracle".
Dr. Seale Harris, M.D., was fairly well known in medical circles and had a clinic in Birmingham, AL.
I used to have anautographed copy, first edition, but ,sadly it was lost in a move.

[aQuArius]

113. yeah... what he said

that goes for me too .... lol

[Capn Sunshine]

77. My town was developed by the American-Hawaiian Steamship company

One of Ludwigs brainstorms
This is man made lake


ther may be nine more but I'll get back to you.

[SmileyBoy]

80. Fargo, ND:

1) Home of popular musician Johnny Lang
2) Boyhood home of Roger Maris
3) Only the first scene of the movie "Fargo" was filmed here; the rest was filmed in Brainerd, Minneapolis and Alexandria
4) The metro area population is bigger than you think: 201,602 people.
5) The 2nd-largest Microsoft office complex in the world outside of Redmond, Washington are in Fargo.
6) Fargo is home of the largest mall in the Upper Midwest outside the Twin Cities; West Acres Shopping Center (1,000,000 square feet, 140 stores).
7) Fargo is the city in the world with the most chain restaurants per-capita (about one for every 900 people).
8) Fargo is the second-largest US city without a Starbucks (Lincoln, Nebraska is the largest).
9) While the Red River is prone to flooding, including instances like the devastating 1997 flood, Fargo's flood-risk areas are in the outskirts of the city, because we're located at the high point (elevation-wise) on the Red River. Even the 1997 flood that destroyed Grand Forks couldn't get to Fargo.
10)We don't say "Ya sure, you betcha" as much as you think.;-)

[trof]

142. Ever heard of Mid-America Aviation?

A guy in my AF pilot training class owns it.

[SmileyBoy]

151. Really?? Sweet!!!

Does he live in Fargo anymore???

[trof]

157. In or near

Out in the burbs or the country I gather.
His company overhauls various aircraft parts and engines.

[cmf]

86. My hometown - Lake Charles, LA

1. Legend has it that the pirate Jean Lafitte buried treasure somewhere around Lake Chuck. We have a festival celebrating pirates every year called "Contraband Days".
2. Tony Kushner, the playwright of Angels in America, grew up there. His father conducts the Lake Charles Symphony Orchestra.
3. Lake Charles has a long and thriving Lebanese American culture. Dr. Michael DeBakey, renowned heart surgeon, grew up in it.
4. As you can tell, most interesting folks from Lake Charles move away and do great things.
5. In the 1980's Lake Charles was on the short list for a new Naval Station. There was a big campaign to lure the Navy and every once in a while you will see an old beater with a "Sailors Make Good Neighbors" bumpersticker on it.
6. The original name when it was incorporated was Charleston, Louisiana, but the name was changed 6 years later.
7. The city is nearly 50% Black, but has only had a Black mayor once - an interim mayor that was appointed when the sitting mayor was elected to another statewide office.
8. Before the casinos moved in, the biggest game in town was the petrochemical plants. Now if you ask any outsider what they know about LC, they'll always say, "Oh, that place on Interstate-10 with all of the casinos and chemical plants?'
9. This is a Louisiana fact, not Lake Charles, but Louisiana's state song is "You Are My Sunshine".
10. Lake Charles is a really boring place to grow up. The End.

[trof]

143. state song was written by former governor

I'm too lazy to google it now.
Miz t.'s mama's side of the family was from Bell City, just southeast of LC. Named after the Bell Lumber Co.

[Padraig18]

90. Arcola, IL.

1.) Has more green space per sq. mile than any incorporated community in illinois.

2.) Has the highest concentration of Amish outside of Pennsylvania.

3.) Has the highest percentage of Hispanics in IL, outside of Cook Co.

4.) Is home to the last broom-corn broom factory in America.

5.) Is the only Democratic township in 'the most Republican (%-wise) county in Illinois.

6.) Has not one, but THREE blacksmiths, including one who is a woman.

7.) Has hitching rails all along Main Street, and in front of every public building.

8.) Virtually all the streets are brick.

9.) Has 2 home that were part of the 'Underground Railroad'.

10.) Has a French restaurant in a bowling alley.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

91. Minneapolis

1. is a coined name made up of "minne," the Lakota word for "water," and "polis," the Greek word for "city."
2. It has the worst mosquito problem of any large city in the U.S.
3. There are 11 lakes within the city limits, and most of them are surrounded by parks and scenic drives.
4. When I was growing up, nearly everyone was either German or Scandinavian, with a few other types of Europeans thrown in just to make things exotic, but now there are significant Hmong, Vietnamese, African-American, African-African (especially Somali and Ethiopian), and Latino communities.
5. The forecast high for tomorrow is 12 degrees, but that's nothing. I remember a day back in the 1960s when the high (yes, the high) was -(that's minus) 36F.
6. Having returned from 18 years out West, I particularly notice the city's characteristic style of houses: lots of stucco with wooden trim or stonework, lots of big screen porches (presumably because of the mosquitos), lots of squarely built duplexes.
7. Minneapolis and St. Paul used to be two separate worlds, but that changed when I-94 was built.
8. A light rail line is being built from downtown to the airport and the Mall of America, but all in all, the transit system is still pathetic.
9. The Andrews Sisters grew up here, and my grandfather was one of their high school teachers.
10. There's more live theater in this town than one person can possibly attend, and lots of great classical music as well.

[trof]

144. And you didn't mention Garrison Keillor or PHC?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

145. Garrison Keillor is

headquartered in St. Paul, not in Minneapolis.

[HuckleB]

93. Portland, Oregon

1. Portland's nicknames include Munich on the Willamette, the Rose City, and Little Beirut.

2. Portland was almost named Boston. The name was derived via a coin flip made by Amos Lovejoy from Massachusetts and Francis Pettygrove from Maine.

3. Amos Lovejoy has a street named after him. Matt Groenig named a certain cartoon Reverend after the name of that street.

4. A little something about rain: Portland gets less of it than Atlanta, Houston, Baltimore, Indianapolis or Seattle - and without the humidity.

5. Dr. Demento and Wolfman Jack went to Reed college here in Portland.

6. You can hit Cafe Lena every December 10 for the Emily Dickinson sing along. Every poem goes to the tune of "The Yellow Rose of Texas."

7. The official bird of Portland is the Blue Heron, many of which will fly along with you as you ride your bike along the Columbia River.

8. No, I'm not going to mention Tanya Harding.

9. Porland boasts the largest continuously operating open air crafts market in the U.S., the world's largest independent bookstore, the largest children's parade in America, and the oldest international rose test garden in the U.S.

10. Portland is home to both the world’s smallest dedicated park, Mill Ends Park (24 inches in size), and the nation’s largest forestedcity wilderness – the 5,000-acre Forest Park.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

129. Matt Groening

Not only Reverend Lovejoy, but also Ned Flanders and Mayor Quimby are named after streets in the "alphabetical" section of northwest Portland.

Ankeny-Burnside-Couch-Davis-Everett-Flanders-Glisan-Hoyt-Irving-Johnson-Kearney-Lovejoy-Marshall-Northrup-Overton-Pettygrove-Quimby-Russell-Savier-Thurman-Upshur-Vaughan-?-?-Yeon and I don't think there's a "Z."

[HuckleB]

162. You forgot a certain character named Terwilliger.

Not in the alphabeticals, but nonetheless.

:)

The W is WIlson. And the Y isn't Yeon. York is two blocks north of Wilson, but the street in between is Roosevelt, so the alphabet technically ends at W.

Cheers!

[mlawson]

96. Asheville, NC.

--- One of the very highest per capita Lesbian populations in the US.

--- All city precincts are majority Democratic.

--- If snow flurries are even predicted, ALL schools close immediately!

--- Has been called one of the most "Art Deco" cities in the US, because of the architecture that survives from the 1920s.

--- Had one of the first city regulations against discrimination because of sexual orientation, in the city government.

--- Housing prices: you can't touch a shotgun shack for under 100K.

--- O'Henry, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe lived and wrote here at times.

--- Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands stayed here for a time, during their exile in WWII, in the Grove Park Inn, as did Pres Manuel Quezon of the Philippines.

--- Because the city is surrounded by steep escarpments, railroads were not built into here until 1880.

--- We are a city of 75,000 (permanent) residents, but yet we have FOUR microbreweries here!!! :beer:

[nuxvomica]

128. I read once that Asheville actually has the largest per capita

gay population in the U.S., period. It's also home to the largest private residence in the U.S., the Biltmore Estate, where the movie "Being There" was filmed.

[mlawson]

146. Hmm. Don't think so, but it's hard to know.

There are certainly a lot of gay guys here (including me), but I don't know if what you ask is so. Polling and censuses do not mean a whole lot here, because we get so many transient residents. I am a native, BTW.

We do have a huge number of 'metrosexuals' here, as well, and that only confuses the picture further. But Asheville would have to be one of the most gay friendly places anywhere! Why that is, I do not know.

[RetroLounge]

100. Niles, Illinois

I live in Milwaukee, but I grew up in Niles, Illinois, so I will give you 10 about Niles.

1) Early or first settlement on the Milwaukee trail heading northwest out of Chicago, now called Milwaukee Avenue. Milwaukee avenue gets as far as Gurnee, but not Milwaukee.

2) Has a replica of the leaning Tower of Pisa.

3) First Ambulance was a 1946 Ford. Free ambulance service was provided to the community, predating all other Illinois communities. It was one of the first in the nation. The ambulance later became the villages first bookmobile, which was eventually sold for $1.00 to Boy Scout Troop 45, and it spent lots of time in my driveway being repaired.

4) Mayor Nick Blase has been mayor for like 40 years now.

5) Golf Mill was one of the earliest outdoor Shopping malls, complete with a mill pond and water wheel, and a freestanding Theatre in the round.

6) Slingerland Drums were made there.

7) The police department had a cement platform at Milwaukee and Touhy Avenue that they placed vehicles that had been in bad accidents, I guess as a warning to others, but usually just caused gawkers in traffic.

8) I do not believe a railroad ever ran thru Niles.

9) They were a pioneer of free public transportation. They bought 2 Mercedes buses in the 70's and ran them throughout the city FOR FREE. with designated stops all over town.

10) I moved away like over 23 years ago, when I was 19, I do not think anyone even noticed.

[KamaAina]

103. Honolulu, HI: Queen City of the Pacific

if only for lack of much in the way of competition...

1. Charlie Chan was based on an actual Honolulu police detective named Chang Apana.

2. The City and County of Honolulu includes not only the whole island of O'ahu (600 sq. mi.) but also the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a chain of coral atolls stretching from beyond Kaua'i all the way out to Midway Island -- some 1800 miles.

3. 'Iolani Palace is the only royal palace on U.S. soil. It is perhaps better known as the fictitious headquarters of "Hawaii Five-O".

4. The Hawaiian monarchy disdained Honolulu, preferring to keep its capital at Lahaina, Maui, and only relocated here because all the foreign embassies were here, due to the excellent (by island standards) harbor.

5. The color that contrasts with silver on the uniforms of the Detroit Lions is called "Honolulu Blue". No one, not even 5thGenDem who is a Michigan sportswriter, knows why.

6. We are one of the few cities outside Saginaw with a municipal band, the Royal Hawaiian Band. It does, in fact, date back to the days of the monarchy.

7. Dozens of local civilians were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, along with the thousands of sailors and soldiers. The Territorial Governor was yanked off the air in the middle of a radio address by military authorities who feared the Japanese would home in on the signal for a second wave of bombings.

8. If you see a sign reading "No Picking", it most probably refers not to your nose but to a fruit tree such as a mango, with branches overhanging the sidewalk.

9. By law, all new streets laid out must be named in the Hawaiian language. Thus, if you see a street name in English such as King, Richards, McCully, or Harding, it is certainly in an older, more historic area.

10. Tantalus volcano directly above the city is officially considered to be extinct. It last erupted about 6,000 years ago.

[5thGenDemocrat]

130. Apparently, even the Lions don't know why it's called "Honolulu Blue"

I just spent some time flipping through my old Lions media guides and there's not a single word about it. But "Honolulu Blue" it is and forevermore shall be. I think it just sounds nice -- and it is a beautiful blue.
John
"Saginaw" is supposed to mean "Land of the Sauk" or, perhaps, "Land Where the Sauk Once Lived," but there have never been any Sauk within 300 miles of here, according to archaeologists and the really, really old people I've talked to.
Inscrutable stuff.

[TankLV]

159. One small point from a Makiki boy now living in Las Vegas:

There is no such thing as an "extinct" volcano in Hawaii at least - after Mt. St. Helen's, they were all reclassified as "dormant".

Make it a LOT mo' interesting, huh?!

[thehonesttruth]

104. charlotte nc

1 nicknamed the queen city, i call it the city that never wakes
2 randolph scott is buried here
3 eats more spam per capital than anywhere else
4 high percent of nascar teams base here
5 very large u.s. banking center
6 after spam fact gets kinda thin
7 needs pro baseball
8 best cheeseburger at the penguin, thomas ave and commonwealth
9 has one of the largest pipe organs in america
10 did i mention the spam fact??

[mlawson]

105. So, not many vegetarian restaurants there?

It's been 3 years since I've been there. Don't remember seeing any.

Spam?? Why Charlotte??

[thehonesttruth]

107. no idea

..but goofing on a friday night, we do have a few killer veggie places, i just tend to run on heavy fuel. actually i'm killing time before seeing a show at the world famous Double Door Inn, home of the blues, where everyone from eric clapton to bb king has played. but, i really don't know why about the spam, it is the south. and people are strange everywhere. maybe, somebody has got to be it.

[thehonesttruth]

108. no idea

..but goofing on a friday night, we do have a few killer veggie places, i just tend to run on heavy fuel. actually i'm killing time before seeing a show at the world famous Double Door Inn, home of the blues, where everyone from eric clapton to bb king has played. but, i really don't know why about the spam, it is the south. and people are strange everywhere. maybe, somebody has got to be it.

[never cry wolf]

110. Lake Zurich, Illinois

I grew up in Mt. Prospect but moved out to what was once the boonies of Lake Zurich when I got married almost 20 yrears ago where I am the senior member of the Plan commission.

1. The Lake of Lake Zurich is the largest privately owned lake in Illinois. The Lions Clubs is the majority owner and has donated many acres for parkland.

2. The lake is also one of the cleanest in Illinois.

3. Lake Zurich Golf Club is one of the oldest 100 clubs in the country and 4th oldest in the state, established in 1896.

4. The golf club is private and only 9 holes but has TINS of history and tradition. Members have included Daniel Burnham, Jr. - designer of the 1933 World's Fair and Chester Gould - creator of Dick Tracy.

5. The golf club at one point was designated for eminent domain for a railroad right of way in the early 1900's. Before the paperwork went through one of the members died and requested to be buried on the grounds thus making the course a cemetary and not eligible for the railroad anymore.

(As an aside, I am not a member nor have I ever played there, just found an old dusty book in the library.)

6. The town was founded in 1836 and incorporated in 1896.

7. During most of it's life from the late 1800's until mid 1900's it was a resort community, an easy train ride from chicago.

8. During those years in the winter the main source of income was cutting and selling ice from the lake.

9. Lake Zurich has the largest bus fleet owned by the school district.

10. I live there, my kids have liver there since my 18 year old son was 8 months old and I love the community.

c'est tout!!

[RetroLounge]

115. "an easy train ride from chicago."

yes, but do you know the name of the railroad that used to run thru the middle of Lake Zurich?

[never cry wolf]

116. Damn, I used to know it

It ran alongside where Old Rand Road is now. I know the present EJ & E was like the Palatine-Wauconda railroad or something.

Slipping my mind now, what was it??

On edit, I was kinda right. The original railroad was the Palatine-Lake Zurich-Wauconda railroad. Totally separate from the EJ & E.

Of course no one else cares but I had to google.

[RetroLounge]

118. PLZ&W = The Palatine Lake Zurich & Wauconda

It left the Chicago and North Western at Palatine and ran (alongside where Old Rand Road is now) thru Lake Zurich and ended in Wauconda. It was planned to go on to Waukegan, but they never had enough money. They had a depot in Lake Zurich and one in Wauconda. They shared the one in Palatine with the C&NW. The Wauconda Depot was moved and is part of someone's house now.

The PLZ&W crossed over and interchanged cars with the EJ&E just before it got to Lake Zurich.

It went belly-up in the early 30's. There is a very good book on it called "Old Maud", the name of their locomotive. Great pictures in it.

My Dad's family used to live in Wauconda (and a bunch of them are still there in the Cemetary on rt. 59).

[never cry wolf]

121. Thanks RL

I found a review of the book on line. You still in the area?? I used to play softball in Wauconda, the bowling alley was our sponsor. Also used to haunt Honey Hill beach as a teen, 2 guys in the car and 3 in the trunk. Turns out the place was owned by the family of a structural engineer I ended up doing some work with.

[RetroLounge]

137. No, I never actually lived in that area.

Born in Chicago, grew up in Niles, live in Milwaukee now.

I do have relatives still living in Wauconda.

and I'm still (for better or worse) a Bears fan!

p.s. The book is pretty hard to come by, as the author has been dead for years and it's out of print. I just bought one recently at a train show.

[trof]

140. I have swum in Lake Zurich

and got leeches.
Used to live up the road in Crystal Lake.
Lakewood, actually.

[solinvictus]

112. Chattanooga, TN

1) It's on the Tennessee River
2) It has a large pedestrian bridge going across the river.
3) The average income here is $18,500, thanks to union manufacturing jobs evaporating and employers hiring illegal immigrants.
4) We have blue laws, so don't run out of groceries between 12AM and 12PM Sunday.
5) We're in a valley surrounded by Lookout, Signal, and Racoon Mountains, all with panoramic views and pristine woods.
6) We're on TVA electricity, so power is cheap.
7) We're have several international corporations headquartered here, including UnumProvident, Chattam, McKee Baking (Little Debbie cakes), and Double Cola.
8) The city is completing a walking/jogging/hiking path to run ten miles parallel to the river. Soon, we're going to have a dog park.
10) The place was damn near leveled in the Civil War and the subsequent yankee occupation, so really old construction is a rarity.

[kodi]

117. 'round these parts they call 32 women "a full set of teeth"

local organ transplants are never rejected for lack of genetic match, either

and lots a' 6 fingered banjo players.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

119. LMAO-but you're perpetuating stereotypes

I'm sure another DUer will flame ya for that comment.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

120. Dupe

[northofdenali]

123. It's illegal to get a moose drunk in my town.

We have the farthest north Denny's restaurant.

We have the (as far as I know) only outdoor hot springs pool open year round (yes, even at 45 below).

Our population, small as it is, is as diverse as San Francisco or San Diego.

We are, officially, the Golden Heart City.

Our university (University of Alaska) is the premier center for studies of the Aurora Borealis in the world.

The record cabbage grown in the area last year was over 80 pounds.

Moose cruise downtown and in the suburbs enough to be a nuisance at times.

We have the highest per-capita use of motorcycles in the US! (Even though it gets a LITTLE chilly in spring and fall............)

The record high in Interior Alaska and in Hawaii are the same........100 degrees fahrenheit!

We call you folks who don't live here...........cheechakos!

[kayleybeth]

126. Here's 11

1. We are mentioned by name in John Kennedy O'Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces.

2. The town was founded by a famous Frenchman as a place to keep his many mistresses.

3. We are on the immediate north end of the longest bridge in the world.

4. We have the purest, sweetest artesian well water in the world.

5. A woman named Gertrude M. Jones lived and died here and her obituary recently made national news.

6. We have drive-through daiquiri shops.

7. You can eat breakfast or lunch here at a restaurant owned by the drummer for The Radiators.

8. We are home to one of the oldest and most famous oak trees in the world.

9. There is a combination doughnut shop/liquor store on the main drag, AND they are open on Sundays.

10. Repukes ALWAYS win elections here.

11. (BONUS FACT) David Duke lived in a gated community here before he went to prison for mail fraud and tax evasion (we're not real proud of that one).

[K8-EEE]

127. North Hollywood, CA

1. Much cheaper rents than my friend up there in West Hollywood

2. We have the best video store in the world, Eddie Brandt's Saturday Matinee, where you can get anything from 50's and 60's TV commercials, the most obscure cult classics, silents...anything! And the rent through the mail too.

3. We have a sushi place where the chefs dress in drag

4. This is he #1 place for 70's sitcom stars who have lost their money.

5. My house was built in 1920 and is probably the oldest in town. When it was built, NoHo was a rural suburb of Hollywood. Now it is totally urban with hardly any open space left.

6. There is an 85 cent taco place three blocks from me that is open 24 hours. Try finding THAT in Beverly Hills

7. The Television Academy of Arts and Sciences is here. There is a big Johnny Carson statue in front.

8. The Clown liquor store where Cher in "Clueless" gets dropped off on her horrible night in the Valley is by my house.

9. I live by the end of the new Red Line, our beautiful new subway, so I can zoom to Downtown L.A. in 18 minutes, no traffic or polution. Another government project that WORKS, tell Rush...!

10. We have a resale store called Reel Clothes that sells clothes leftover from movie and TV shoots -- you can find great bargains there.

[codebled]

131. Owensboro Ky.

1. Originally named Yellowbanks although the reasons are not clear.
2. self professed Barbecue capital of the world...over 300,000 people come to the barbecue festival every May.
3. The largest sasafrass tree in the world is right in the middle of town.
4. Its the 3rd largest city in Kentucky.
5. Johnny Depp was born here
6. SO was Florence Henderson
7. More Nascar drivers come from the Owensboro area than any other aread of the nation
8. Moonlight Barbecue Restaraunt is nationally famous. Whenever a presidential candidate comes here they always eat at Moonlight. W did, gore did, Clinton did, Bush senior did on back to the 50s.
9. Built on a marsh so any time it rains it floods.
10. Last public execution in the United States occured here. Bethea Rainey was hanged on 2nd street for the rape and murder of a white woman (he was black).

other interesting things about the state.
The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continuously held horse race in the country. It is held at Churchill Downs in Louisville on the first Saturday in May
Cheeseburgers were first served in 1934 at Kaolin's restaurant in Louisville.
Chevrolet Corvettes are manufactured in Bowling Green
Mammoth Cave is the world's longest cave and was first promoted in 1816, making it the second oldest tourist attraction in the United States. Niagara Falls, New York is first.
Kentucky is the state where both Abraham Lincoln, President of the Union, and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, were born. They were born less than one hundred miles and one year apart.
Cumberland is the only waterfall in the world to regularly display a Moonbow. It is located just southwest of Corbin.
Christian County is wet while Bourbon County is dry. Barren County has the most fertile land in the state.
More than 100 native Kentuckians have been elected governors of other states.
The song "Happy Birthday to You" was the creation of two Louisville sisters in 1893
Pikeville annually leads the nation in per capita consumption of Pepsi-Cola
Post-It Notes are manufactured exclusively in Cynthiana. The exact number made annually of these popular notes is a trade secret.
Bluegrass is not really blue--its green--but in the spring bluegrass produces bluish purple buds that when seen in large fields give a blue cast to the grass. Today Kentucky is known as the Bluegrass State.
The radio was invented by a Kentuckian named Nathan B. Stubblefield of Murray in 1892. It was three years before Marconi made his claim to the invention.
In the War of 1812 more than half of all Americans killed in action were Kentuckians.
Middlesboro is the only city in the United States built within a meteor crater
More than $6 billion worth of gold is held in the underground vaults of Fort Knox. This is the largest amount of gold stored anywhere in the world.

[UrbScotty]

155. Welcome to DU!

It's interesting that Henderson and Depp were born there! Cool!

[Throckmorton]

135. My ten,

1. My towns official seal in the Niantic Bay Scallop.

2. We have the most public beachfront in Connecticut.

3. We have the only womens prisons in Connecticut.

4. Our per pupil spending is 116th out of 139 districts in the sate, but our student test scores are in the top 10.

5. The oldest house in Connecticut, the Thomas Lee House, is located here.

6. We have 190 miles of snow plow routes.

7. We have more civil war sailors then civil war soldiers burried in town (128 vrs 51).

8. Our Famious light parade is scheduled for tomorrow night at 5:00 PM.

9. The second oldest railroad drawbridge in the USA is located here, and is where the scene in Silver Streak where they jump into the water was filmed.

10. We have the best view of the Millstone Nuclear Power Station, but get none of the taxes from it.

[trof]

138. Foley, Alabama

Every time I say that out loud I want to go into the "Gary, Indiana" song from "The Music Man".

Foley, Alabama, as Shakespeare would say,
Trips along softly on the tongue this way--

Foley, Alabama-Foley, Alabama-Foley, Alabama
Not Louisiana, Paris, France, New York, or Rome, but...
Ah well.

1. Founded pre-civil war (1840s?) by John D. Foley, a Chicago businessman who bought thousands of acres for pennies/per. Mostly a turpentine plantation.
2.Outlet Shopping at the Riviera Center features 150 name brand outlet stores. Shoppers come in by chartered busses from all over the southeast. It's a terrific property and sales tax generator.
3. Stacy's Rexall Drugstore is a trip back to the 40s. You can still get a nickel cup of coffee. Not a very large cup, granted, but a nickel nonetheless.
4. Let It Snow : Dec. 31, 2003. Foley Heritage Park, free to the public. An alcohol free, family event with lots of SNOW, games, prizes, music food and other entertainment. The "snow" (finely crushed ice) is trucked in.
5. Foley is a center for antique stores and malls.
6. We have a train, but no tracks. It's a visitors center.
7. The rather elaborate restrooms in the park are labeled "Comfort Station".
8. Our population is 90% white, and we have a black police chief.
9. We have large commercial pecan groves, but the business is in decline.
10. Established in 1987, Sweet Home Farm maintains the only farmstead cow cheese operation in the state. They (husband and wife, no employees) produce, manufacture, and sell 16 varieties of all natural raw milk cheese from a herd of Guernsey cows.

Y'all come awn back, now. Ya heah?
;-)

[randr]

139. Crawford, CO

1. Very small ranch community.
2. You know who all your neighbors are.
3. Smack dab between Aspen, Telluride, and Moab.
4. Borders the West Elk Wilderness.
5. 10 miles to Black Canyon National Park
6. Almost everyone has a dog, cat, and a horse.
7. Most dogs roam free without tags.
8. Elk and deer are pests.
9. The closest Wall Mart is 60 miles away.
10. Joe Cocker lives here and has a foundation that helps local kids in a very big way.

[rbnyc]

147. NYC

1. Studio Apartments start at around $1100.00 per month.
2. The MTA shuts down service on the L train about 4 days a month.
3. You can get 2 huge pieces of stuffed cabbage, 4 scoops of mashed potatoes, gravy, a salad, a vegetable and a glass of fruit juice in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for $4.50.
4. NYC is the birthplace of Circus Amok.
5. The second largest LGBT community center is in NYC.
6. Our mayor has an approval rating that ranges from about 13-33%.
7. We produce 26,400,000 pounds of garbage per day.
8. NYC had the first commercially manufactured toilet paper. (1857)
9. Columbia University is the second largest landowner in New York City, after the Catholic Church. (So says some random website. I would have thought NYU would be in the top 2.)
10. I met my soul mate here.

[UrbScotty]

148. Kentwood, Michigan, USA!

1. Our city has nearly 50,000 people and is a suburb of Grand Rapids.
2. I’ve met our mayor, Richard Root. I think he is of Dutch ancestry. West Michigan has a lot of people of Dutch heritage: Many area buildings are named after area businessmen and philanthropists Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos. (The state Republican chair, Betsy DeVos, is Rich’s daughter-in-law, I believe). Rep. Peter Hoekstra, who represents the Lakeshore, was born in The Netherlands, while Vern Ehlers, who represents Grand Rapids, Kentwood, and such, is also Dutch. (Note: I myself am not Dutch.)
3. The Kentwood Public Schools and teachers are in disagreement over renewing the teachers’ contracts (which expired on August 31). Paying for health insurance is the key sticking point.
4. Four of the last 120 state Blue Ribbon Awards have gone to district schools. (The district has fifteen schools – I guess 4 out of 15 ain’t bad)
5. Our high school won one of those Blue Ribbon Awards in 2002 AND had a day (February 27, 2002, I believe) named after it (East Kentwood Day) in Kentwood. Its Principal was named as the 2003 Michigan School Principal of the Year. Did I mention they have the largest marching band in the state, at 340-plus members? (more than the University of Michigan or Michigan State University!) Their football team was runner-up in Division 1 a year ago.
6. We are home to the highest-ranking black Republican in Michigan: State Senator Bill Hardiman, a former mayor.
7. Kentwood was named after Kent County, which was named after jurist James Kent.
8. We are right near the Grand Rapids’s airport, the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (named after the longtime Congressman who represented the Grand Rapids area for nearly 25 years before moving to higher office). It is Michigan’s second-largest airport.
9. Each year we have a Fourth of July celebration that includes a pancake breakfast, parade (of course), and what are called some of the best fireworks in the area.
10. We are the home of former NBAer Loy Vaught, Boston Bruins goals leader Mike Knuble, and former Grand Valley State University star quarterback Curt Anes.

[RedEarth]

150. Oklahoma City

1. Metro OKC has a population of 1.1 million

2. State capital of Oklahoma

3. OKC became a city on April 22, 1889, the day of the Oklahoma Land Run. On that day, 10,000 people settled in what was then known as Oklahoma Station. As you can see I learned my Oklahoma history.

4. Oklahoma means Land of the Red People in the Choctaw language.

5. OKC metro is home to University of Oklahoma, University of Central Oklahoma and numerous other smaller 2 and 4 year colleges. One of which is Oklahoma City University which has had 3 Miss Americas graduate from there over the last 25 years.

6. OKC is the home town of Garth Brooks, Toby Kieth, Vince Gill and the Flaming Lips. And numerous athletes such as Shannon Miller, Joe Carter, Bobby Murcer and Dr. Gil Morgan.

7. Home of one of the most well known western museums the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum which includes the famous "End of the Trail" sculpture.

8. Is known as the Horse Show Capital of the world since due to the number of horse shows hosted here.

9. Is one of the lowest cost of living areas in the country.

10. Civic leaders from all over the country come to OKC to see how our city planned and implemented a downtown redevelopment project called MAPS. It short approximately 2 billion dollars has, or will be, spent in public and private development in OKC downtown.

Link to information on MAPS and Bricktown

http://www.bricktownokc.com/


Picture of the canal in the downtown area called bricktown

[nemo137]

160. Rockford, IL

1.) We are not a suburb of Chicago.
2.)We were once the screw capital of the world. we made (and still make) tons and tons of fastners.
3.)One of out high schools had the highest public, non-college affiliated ACT scores a few years ago (incidentally, i go to that school)
4.)No good all-ages clubs.
5.)Cheap Trick is from here.
6.)We have a sizable lithuanian-american population.
7.)We exist only because of we were midway between Galena and Chicago.
8.)We have an Indian bakery.
9.)Jane Addams went to college here.
10.)We have two spectacular old downtown theatres.

[OldEurope]

161. Munich, Germany

1. Munich was founded in 1158.
2. We have 1.260.597 inhabitants, 278.107 of which are not German.
3. Every September we have the Oktoberfest.
4. In 1972 we had the Olympic games, and in that year the spirit of Olympia got lost. Palestine terrorists killed sportsmen from Israel.
5. Munich is the capital of Bavaria.
6. We have a wonderful Museum for the technical development of mankind from the first canoe to the moon landing. (Deutsches Museum)
7. The water supply of Munich is the best in Europe: all fresh spring water from the mountains.
8. We have 11 Universities with 81.000 students, 127 public libraries, 45 museums, 57 theatres, 2 operas, 76 cinemas and numerous beer gardens
9. At the moment the highest building is the television tower with 260 meters, but under construction is the first really high building which will have 480 meters when ready.
10. Today it finally started snowing in Munich, so we can hope to have a white christmas.

[OldSoldier]

163. Fayetteville, NC (part 1)

1. Was the first city in the United States to be named for the Marquis de Lafayette.

2. Fayetteville was formed from two communities, Campbellton and Cross Creek.

3. Was where the North Carolina legislature voted to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

4. Was the original home of the University of North Carolina, the oldest public university in the United States.

5. Was capital of North Carolina four times.

6. The exact halfway point between New York City and Orlando, Florida, is a welding supply shop in Fayetteville.

7. Fayetteville was a major trading center in colonial times because it is the highest point on the Cape Fear River that is navigable by ocean-going ships.

8. General Sherman completely decimated the town.

9. The African-American poet Charles W. Chesnutt lived in Fayetteville for many years.

10. First golf ball ever hit on this continent was hit in what is now Fayetteville.

[OldSoldier]

164. Fayetteville, NC (part 2)

1. DuPont makes Teflon and Butacite (a membrane used in fuel cells) in Fayetteville.

2. Fort Bragg is on the city limits.

3. The world's largest tire plant (which belongs to Kelly-Springfield) is in Fayetteville.

4. North Carolina's oldest newspaper to be continually published is the Fayetteville Observer.

5. Fayetteville's worst disaster of the post-Sherman era happened on Pope Air Force Base when an F-16 clipped the wing of a C-130, hit the runway, crashed and slid into a C-141 which was loading troops for a night jump.

6. We have three institutions of higher learning: Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville Technical Community College, and Methodist College.

7. All Green Berets are trained in Fayetteville.

8. The first National Basketball Development League team was the Fayetteville Patriots.

9. Babe Ruth got his first hit as a professional ballplayer in Fayetteville.

10. The M-1 Carbine was developed in Fayetteville.

[Richardo]

166. Houston, we have a list...

1) The first word uttered on the moon was "Houston".

2) The Port of Houston is 50 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico.

3) The Houston Rockets won the NBA championship the two years Michael Jordan was playing baseball.

4) As GOPisEvil said, Houston was the original capital of Texas.

5) The Battle of San Jacinto won Texas' independence from Mexico. The losing commander of the Mexican army? The same Santa Anna that overwhelmed the Alamo.

6) Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States.

7) Howard Hughes is buried in Houston. He has Kleenex boxes on his feet. (OK I made up the part about the Kleenex boxes)

8) Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs at the Houston Astrodome.

9) Texas is the only state that allows residents to vote while in space. Former Houston mayor Lee Brown was the recipient of the first such vote when astronaut David Wolf cast a vote from the Mir space station.

10) Galveston was the site of the deadliest natural disaster in US history when a hurricane killed 6,000-10,000 in 1900. The storm surge completely inundated the entire island.

And just added:
11) Houston just elected the former State Democratic Chair, Bill White, as mayor. With 67% of the vote. :D :kick: Take THAT, Bushes!

[GOPisEvil]

167. Re: #2

Tomball, TX is named for Congressman Tom Ball, who was instrumental in the dredging of Buffalo Bayou in order to create the Houston Ship Channel.

[Richardo]

168. I did not know that. That's *weird*...

....wild, weird stuff.

(OK enough of the Dana Carvey/Johnny Carson.) :D

[cmf]

169. Re #9: I thought Lee Brown was still the mayor

For now, at least. That's cool about people getting to vote from space.

[Richardo]

170. Just had our runoff: Bill White (former state DEM chair!) is mayor 1/1/04.

Get that? DEMOCRATIC STATE CHAIR! Yeah, baby! Won with 67% of the vote. (That should be my #11)