Historical Marker Ahead
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historicalmarker.bsky.social
Historical Marker Ahead
@historicalmarker.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.5K following 4.2K posts
Yes, I’m pulling the car over to look at plaques. I’ll be just a minute. Not a historian, but did minor in history at Indiana University. Formerly notgoingpro on other socials.
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historicalmarker.bsky.social
The Tucson airport is ready for you
Welcome to Tucson home of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop
December 7, 2025 at 8:07 PM
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Views on the way up Mount Lemmon (peak elevation 9,200 ft), or as the Tohano O’odham call it, Babad Do’ag (Frog Mountain). Located near Tucson, Arizona, the climate goes from desert to snowy pines. Near the top, there’s a small resort town called Summerhaven, as well as a ski hill.
Frog Mountain marker at the Babad Do’ag overlook, at about 3,500 feet of elevation. An excerpt: The name "Baba Do’ag" is Tohono O'odham for "Frog mountain." From the Tucson valley the Santa Catalinas look like a giant sleeping frog. Tohono O'odham pronounce the word “bah-bahd-do-ahg.” The word Tucson also came from the Tohono O'odham language: it roughly translates to “at the foot of the black hill.” View of the Santa Catalina Mountains in Arizona from Windy Point, elevation 6,700 feet. A rock popular with climber near Windy Point in Arizona’s Santa Catalina Mountains. Snow on the ski hill on Mount Lemmon, Arizona
December 6, 2025 at 6:24 PM
historicalmarker.bsky.social
The Lake Superior live shot below and the city’s early 20th century mining boom explains a lot about Houghton, Michigan’s claim to birthing pro hockey, but here’s more if you need it: www.visitkeweenaw.com/blog/post/a-...
Sign on US 41 in Houghton, Michigan, that says “Welxome to Houghton, established 1861, birthplace of professional hockey”
December 6, 2025 at 5:25 PM
historicalmarker.bsky.social
When you’re committed to the bit
My most-used words on BlueSky. Of course, historical and marker are the top two
December 5, 2025 at 6:36 PM
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Sports and religion don’t mix except when a Presbyterian minister invents the game of basketball at a Young Men’s Christian Association gym and is then spread across the U.S. at other YMCA gyms
“13 original rules of basketball” display attached to Allen Fieldhouse, University of Kansas. James Naismith, inventor of basketball, served as Kansas’ basketball coach. Intersection of Naismith and Allen Fieldhouse drives on the University of Kansas campus Cradle of Basketball historical marker on the former site of the Crawfordsville, Indiana, YMCA. It reads: In 1892 the game of basketball was brought to Crawfordsville from its birthplace in Massachusetts by Rev. Nicholas McCay, General Secretary of the Crawfordsville YMCA that was located on this site in what would become known as the Terminal Building. Teams from Crawfordsville and Montgomery County schools and Wabash College first played the game here. Over the years, the game of basketball evolved into “Hoosier Hysteria” culminating every year with the Indiana High School Basketball State Tournament Finals and the NCAA National Finals. Crawfordsville won the first IHSAA State Basketball Championship in 1911. Wingate won the State Championship in 1913 and 1914. The first eight IHSAA State Basketball Championships were won by schools located within 30 miles of Crawfordsville making this region the “Cradle of Basketball” in Indiana and contributing significantly to the development of the game nationally. Wabash College was instrumental in promoting basketball on the college level. Erected 2011 by The Basketball Heritage Project, Inc., The Montgomery County Basketball Hall of Fame, Inc., and Friends of BHP and MCBHF.
December 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
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“Rainbow Man” Rollen Stewart, who showed up to major sporting events in the 1980s wearing a rainbow wig and pushing Christian messages. He’s now doing four consecutive life terms for kidnapping.
December 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM
historicalmarker.bsky.social
It doesn’t get more pioneers-to-the-Plains-branding than the Conestoga wagon-themed historical marker sign by the plaque for the Broken Bow, Neb., town square, describing a town founded to attract white folks to make it the seat of Custer County (yup, that one). Bonus: Old West playground motif
Historical marker sign in Broken Bow, Nebraska. It includes an image of a Conestoga wagon. Broken Bow (Nebraska) Town Square historical marker. It reads: Broken Bow was platted 1882 by Jesse Gandy. He donated lots to people who would build a house or establish a business. He did this to influence voters to make the new town the Custer County seat, which they did in an election that fall. The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad reached Broken Bow in 1886. Anticipating new commerce, the Lincoln Land Company purchased large tracts of land. The town flourished with the arrival of the railroad. The region’s rich agricultural territory was now open to distant markets, and Broken Bow became a regional trade center. Gandy’s plat reserved one block as a public square surrounded by business lots. The square has served as the commercial district’s focal point, landscaped with trees, walkways, and a bandstand. The town square centers on buildings dating to the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century, representing the town’s periods of development. The Broken Bow commercial historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. Erected 2017 by City of Broken Bow; and Nebraska State Historical Society. Broken Bow Town Square historical marker by an old-timey clock in the town square of Broken Bow, Nebraska. Old West facade on the playground in the Broken Bow, Nebraska, town square
December 3, 2025 at 6:01 AM
historicalmarker.bsky.social
Found the Jay Huff fan companion to the Ben Sheppard mustache kid @tonyreast.bsky.social
Fans at an Indiana Pacers game. A fan looks like Pacers center Jay Huff
December 2, 2025 at 1:29 AM
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Quinn Buckner has got to stop calling Jay Huff “The Huffer”
Paint huffing guy mugshot
December 2, 2025 at 1:02 AM
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Richard Pryor statue in his hometown of Peoria, Illinois.
Richard Pryor statue in Peoria, Illinois. Preston Jackson, sculptor
December 1, 2025 at 2:38 PM
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The Loup City, Neb., Riot of 1934 was really a shoving match. It broke out when leftist leaders organized a strike against farm and food employers. A 1966 article, with no doubt whose side they’re on, tells why “outside agitators” failed. Town’s proudly Polish. history.nebraska.gov/wp-content/u...
The Loup City Riot, 1934 historical marker. It reads: During the Depression low farm prices, accompanied by dust storms and drought, created unrest among farmers and workers in Sherman County and across Nebraska. The Farm Holiday movement, which encouraged farmers to withhold agricultural products from the market, was active. Representatives of left-wing political groups arrived to promote their own programs for economic recovery. In Loup City the People’s Standard, edited by A. E. Brunsdon, endorsed local farmer and worker complaints. Violence erupted in Loup City on June 14, 1934, after rumors spread that women poultry workers at the Fairmont Creamery plant might strike for higher wages. Ella Reeve “Mother” Bloor of the American Communist Party, and a group of associates then in Nebraska, organized a demonstration of support on the courthouse lawn. A march from there to the creamery and back culminated in a clash with local residents. The resulting jail sentences and fines levied upon Mother Bloor and others in her group marked the end of the attempt by the far left to organize farmers and workers in Nebraska. Erected by Sherman County Historical Society; and Nebraska State Historical Society. Sherman County Courthouse and grounds in Loup City, Neb., site of the 1934 rally that became a “riot.” Sign that says: Welcome to Loup City, Polish Capital of Nebraska Polish Eagle and “Loup City, Polish Capital” circle painted in intersection in central Loup City, Nebraska.
December 1, 2025 at 2:40 AM
historicalmarker.bsky.social
Where are the flying cars? In the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. (It only originally went 3 feet high and was damaged upon landing, though another pilot claimed to get it up to 100 feet.)
1959 Trautmann Road Air Flying Automobile, on display in the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona 1959 Trautmann Roadair Flying Automobile Description of 1959 Trautmann Roadair Flying Automobile in the Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona. It reads: TRAUTMANN ROADAIR FLYING AUTOMOBILE The RoadAir flying car was designed and built by Herbert L. Trautmann. In 1955, Trautmann was granted U.S. Design Patent # D177445 for his flying automobile, named RoadAir. Trautmann envisioned a vehicle that could seamlessly transition from driving on roads to flying in the air. With the help from a wind tunnel test model, Trautmann worked on the project near his home in Santa Maria, CA until the project was completed in 1959. After completing the RoadAir Troutman began taxi testing the vehicle at Ryan Field near Hemet, CA. During one test, with the wings deployed, the RoadAir lifted off the ground, reaching an altitude of about 3 feet. Unfortunately, the aircraft was difficult to control and received damage to the front fuselage during landing. In 2016, unaware if the RoadAir had flown, the Trautmann family located a retired pilot that stated he had flown the RoadAir to an altitude of about 100 feet. The flight occurred in the early 1960s near San Bernardino, CA. This was the only evidence that the RoadAir had ever flown. The RoadAir was displayed at the John Wayne airport, Orange County, California. In the mid-1980s, the vehicle was donated to the Fantasy Flight Museum in Florida. In 2014, The flying automobile was returned to California and was displayed at the Museum of Flight in Santa Monica, CA. A decade later, the Trautmann family loaned the RoadAir to Pima Air & Space Museum to be displayed.
November 30, 2025 at 7:34 PM
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College bowl season: soon
Sign at Sir Veza’s restaurant at the Tucson airport: Welcome to Tucson! Home of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop
November 30, 2025 at 5:55 PM
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In Tucson while the world’s longest-running college football trophy game is in Tempe. I’m not at Gentle Ben’s by the Arizona campus, that was earlier today. Seems like we won’t make it back to Chicago as scheduled tomorrow. Bear down.
Wood carving of a bear outside Gentle Ben’s bar near the University of Arizona campus. Embedded in its leg is a historical marker. Historical marker embedded in the leg of a wooden bear. It reads: Dedicated to the memory of John Byrd "Bufton" Salmon Student body president, football quarterback, and catcher-captain of the baseball team. Critically injured In an auto accident on October 3, 1926, while diving from Phoenix to Tucson. Football Coach "Pop" McKale visited Salmon Saturday morning. October 16th, before the Big Game with Arizona State (Tempe Normal). Salmon was asked by "Pop" if he had any words for his teammates. On his apparent deathbed (he died October 18th) Salmon replied, "Tell them to bear down." This spirit of dedication possessed by John Salmon is unsurpassed in the history of intercollegiate sports and the University of Arizona will continue Its commitment to excellence-always prepared to Bear Down!
November 29, 2025 at 3:10 AM
historicalmarker.bsky.social
Here’s to you, Eagle Scouts who make historical markers their project. For example, an Eagle Scout was behind a marker for the namesake of a Gladstone, Mich., park where I spent a lot of time as a kid. It was by my Grandma’s house, near a Lake Michigan bay in the Upper Peninsula.
Stone with marker for Frank H. Van Cleve in Gladstone, Michigan. It reads: This memorial stone is dedicated to the memory of Frank H. Van Cleve, one of the men of influence in Gladstone’s early beginnings, who gave to the community this storefront area named after him. Frank H. Van Cleve was born June 12, 1848 in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he attended public schools followed by Yale College for two years, culminating at the University of Michigan with a major in civil engineering. He was employed by the Chicago and North Western Railroad in 1871 as a civil engineer on its line from Green Bay to Escanaba where he is credited with the building of the first ore dock. In 1876 he was appointed land agent stationed in this area permanently. In 1885 Van Cleve and Richard P. Mason entered into a partnership in the Sault Ste. Marie land and improvement company. For the sum of $50.00 they acquired a tract of land called Saunder’s Point and named it Minnewasca (later named Gladstone). In 1887 Van Cleve and Mason gave 160 acres to the Soo Line Railroad for its yards, lines and docks. After the completion of this project, the remaining tract was given to the railroad’s promoters, in exchange for the establishment of the port on Saunder’s Point. Van Cleve’s name appeared time and time again in the unfolding of the early history of the city of Gladstone. In 1892 Van Cleve along with Fred Merriam and James A.W. Sears agreed to go into the manufacture of the washboard, thus establishing the Gladstone Washboard Factory. In 1898 Webster L. Marble secured a patent on a safety axe. A few months later Van Cleve intrigued by this idea, became a partner and co-owner in the Marble Arms Manufacturing Company. … As a man of business and great ability, he was an acknowledged leader. Man of business and great ability, he was an acknowledged leader. Frank H. Van Cleve, “a man of highest character and principal.” Erected 2009 by Boy Scout Eagle Project Troop 466, Alex Pickard. Sign for Van Cleve Park in Gladstone, Michigan Old lighthouse in Van Cleve Park in Gladstone, Michigan, along Lake Michigan’s Little Bay de Noc Lagoon at Van Cleve Park in Gladstone, Michigan. The lagoon has hosted log-rolling competitions.
November 26, 2025 at 6:01 PM
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There were plenty of doomed white people who died trying to go west in the 1800s, so your priority for memorials go to those famous for resorting to cannibalism.
Historical marker in Springfield, Illinois. It reads: Lincoln Square marks the departure point of The Donner Party on April 15, 1846, for their ill-fated trip to California. Placed by W Bose Society Children of the American Revolution April 15, 1957
November 25, 2025 at 10:37 PM
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In a Stevens Point, Wisc., antique store I found “Battle of Hymn of Lt. Calley,” a 1971 single, the most popular of 91 My Lai songs. It got to No. 37, which means Casey Kasem would’ve played it on his AT40 show. The artist was an Alabama DJ whose band was stolen glory www.pbs.org/wgbh/america...
Battle Hymn of Lt Calley record I found in 2024 at Call It New Call It Antique in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. It was available for $12.50. I declined to buy it.
November 25, 2025 at 8:56 PM
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One of my kids just got me this bumper magnet for my birthday, which isn’t for a few days yet. I’m still coming to terms with a couple of steel firms before I head into a hurricane west wind, knowing in this life we can’t put enough miles behind us to make Whitefish Bay.
Magnet with a picture of Gordon Lightfoot and a doomed ore boat that says: Stop Honking! I’m crying to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot
November 25, 2025 at 5:23 PM
historicalmarker.bsky.social
You can walk the bottom of the I-244 for the Tulsa Race Massacre Pathway to Hope, a photo essay along the way to the Dr. John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park, with its Healing Walkway, Tower of Reconciliation, plaques with quotes about Greenwood, and statues of Humiliation, Hostility and Hope
Start of the Pathway to Hope in Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood. The plaque says: Pathway to Hope Dedicated on May 28, 2021 The Pathway to Hope was constructed to observe the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre to provide a direct pedestrian pathway to John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park within the Historic Greenwood District. The path symbolically reconnects the district and represents a reclamation of lost lives, lost stories and lost history. Funding for this project was provided by Oklahoma Department of Transportation Sanford and Irene Bernstein Foundation Tulsa Stadium Trust Helmerich Trust 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission Healing Walkway entrance and exit at John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park, Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma. The quote is from Buck Colbert Franklin, attorney for survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, and father of historian John Hope Franklin, who was 6 at the time of the massacre. The quote reads: “Lifting as we climb — the eternal verities shall prevail.” One of the many plaques about Greenwood in John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park in Tulsa. It reads: We have been here for more than four hundred years. We have been called many things; Africans called Natives, Citizens of the Five Civilized Tribes, and Slaves. In the sixteenth century we walked alongside the Spanish as they searched for the lost cities of gold. In 1719, we accompanied the French up the Arkansas River, bringing trade goods to the Osage and the Wichita. When the Americans came, we were among them. We rode with Thomas Nuttall in 1819, and with Major Long in 1820. When Washington Irving visited in 1832, we were already here to meet him. We were scouts and interpreters, explorers and runaways, women and men, infants and children, slave and free. We sat down beside the campfires of the Caddo and the Pawnee, drank the pure waters of the creeks and rivers, and felt the prairie wind in our faces. With Africa in our blood, we built new lives in the land of the blackjack and the tallgrass, the eagle and the buffalo, of Wah'Kon-Tah and the skies that never end. We have been here for centuries. We were Oklahomans before there was an Oklahoma. One of the statues in John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park. It’s titled Humiliation
November 25, 2025 at 4:47 AM
historicalmarker.bsky.social
Found an honest coffee truck in Corona del Tucson, Arizona, that is hip to the kids (moves slightly bent arms up and down with palms up)
Coffee truck in Corona del Tucson, Arizona, called Caffeine Dealer Names of drinks on the Specialty menu at the Caffeine Dealer in Camino del Tucson, Arizona: Six Seven Cran Rizz Bussin’ No Cap Vibe Check
November 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
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As a reminder to tourists traveling through Michigan’s Harbor Country, the venerable restaurant Redamak’s in New Buffalo has completed its 50th season and will reopen in Spring 2026
Interior of Redamak’s in New Buffalo, Michigan Two markers inside Redamak’s in New Buffalo, Michigan. The top has a photo of original owners Angie and Jim Maroney and reads: Angie and Jim Maroney SUCCESS MAY BE DEFINED AND MEASURED IN MANY WAYS... YOUR DETERMINATION, DREAMS AND VISION HAVE BEEN THE FOUNDATION FOR YOUR MONUMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THE REALITY 25 YEARS IN BUSINESS. 50 YEARS OF MARRIAGE, THIS IS TRULY ONE OF LIFE'S MOST VALUABLE LESSONS... The marker below in memoriam of Angie Maroney that reads: AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS "DA-BOSS" A LOVING WIFE AND NURTURING MOTHER HER QUIET DEMEANOR, TIRELESS WORK ETHIC AND DEVOTION TO HER FAMILY, WILL FOREVER BE REMEMBERED AND HONORED IN HER LOVING MEMORY. ANGELINE MARONEY MARCH 3, 1928 • FEBRUARY 1, 2014 Two markers dedicated to the Maroney family, owners of Redamak’s in New Buffalo. The top one reads: TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO... JAMES AND ANGIE MARONEY EMBARKED ON A JOURNEY... THRU YOUR DETERMINATION ALONG WITH THE: ENCOURAGEMENT OF NUMEROUS FRIENDS, DEVOTED EMPLOYEES AND LOYAL CUSTOMERS YOU WERE DESTINED TO REALIZE YOUR DREAM. MAKING SUCCESS A REALITY. CONGRATULATIONS MOM AND DAD ON YOUR TWO MILESTONES, 25 YEARS IN BUSINESS AND S0 YEARS OF MARRIAGE. WE ADMIRE YOUR COURAGE, RESPECT YOUR HARD WORK AND TRULY BELIEVE EFFORT IS CONTAGIOUS... "The Tradition Continues" All Our Love Jimmy, Chuck, Linda, Charle, Katte and Nicole The marker below has a bronzed hat on a bench and reads, in memoriam for former Redamak’s co-owner Jim Maroney: Here sat a strong and humble man, a leader by example. A father and husband whose wisdom was surpassed only by his kindness and generosity. James P. Maroney Feb. 27, 1926-Aug. 27, 2013 A plaque on the wall at Redamak’s to a long-time waitress, Mae J. Sheil, who worked from the restaurant’s opening in 1964 until 2000. It reads: A living tribute WORDS CANNOT BEGIN TO EXPRESS OUR LOVE, GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION FOR YOUR YEARS OF LOYAL AND FAITHFUL SERVICE. OUR MEMORIES ARE UNIQUE, CHERISHED AND WILL LAST FOREVER EMBRACE LIFE WHILE ENJOYING YOUR WELL DESERVED RETIREMENT. WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THOSE FAMOUS WORDS.... IN A MINUTE!! THE MARONEY FAMILY
November 23, 2025 at 8:25 PM
historicalmarker.bsky.social
After review, while Mathurin did have a wind-up he made a play on the ball and did not follow through with his right arm. Therefore, the call of flagrant 1 is overturned in favor of a common foul. Indiana wins the challenge and retains its time out. Cunningham will be at the line for two shots.
The Pope announces what Secaucus told him after a replay review
November 23, 2025 at 5:48 AM
historicalmarker.bsky.social
Not pictured above: the mobile tea party that stopped at the JFK Memorial Plaza and was departing as I arrived
Bus for a mobile yea party in Dallas Participants from a mobile tea party who stopped the JFK Memorial Plaza in Dallas
November 22, 2025 at 5:23 PM
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To help you visualize Nov. 22, 1963: Across the street are the Book Depository and to your left. the Zapruder film site, now blocked by a tree, along the route JFK took. His parade was moving more slowly. By the time they got to where the 30/35E sign now stands, they were speeding to the hospital.
November 22, 2025 at 5:15 PM
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The memorial for JFK at Dealey Plaza. The language of the memorial has a nod to conspiracy theorists, saying not that Oswald shot Kennedy but that “the Warren Commission found” Kennedy was shot by Oswald.
JFK Memorial at Dealey Plaza Memorial to JFK at Dealey Plaza. It reads: ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963, JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY, THIRTY-FIFTH PRESIDENT THE UNITED STATES, VISITED DALLAS. A PRESIDENTIAL PARADE TRAVELED NORTH ON HOUSTON STREET TO ELM STREET AND WEST ON ELM STREET. AS THE PARADE CONTINUED ON ELM STREET AT 12:30 P.M, RIFLE SHOTS WOUNDED THE PRESIDENT AND TEXAS GOVERNOR JOHN CONNALLY. FINDINGS OF THE WARREN COMMISSION INDICATED THAT THE RIFLE SHOTS WERE FIRED FROM A SIXTH FLOOR WINDOW NEAR THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY BUILDING ELM AND HOUSTON A BLOCK NORTH OF THIS MARKER. PRESIDENT KENNEDY EXPIRED AT PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL AT 1:00 P.M. THE JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY MEMORIAL PLAZA IS NEARBY BOUNDED BY MAIN, RECORD, MARKET AND COMMERCE STREETS. Map of the area of the JFK assassination, on his memorial.
November 22, 2025 at 5:02 PM