Via Flickr:
From the Natchez Trace Parkway, the bridge at Birdsong Hollow gives those willing to take a short walk, a stunning view of Highway 96; this is looking north.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Down & North
UP2002
Via Flickr:
Here is the 2002 Winter Olympics heritage unit from Union Pacific, again. I just isolated the colors on UP2002 and desaturated the rest of the photo.
UP2002
Via Flickr:
Here is the 2002 Winter Olympics heritage unit from Union Pacific, again. I just isolated the colors on UP2002 and desaturated the rest of the photo.
The Red
Via Flickr:
This photo was taken along Laurel Hill Lake, which is just off the Natchez Trace Parkway. There seems to be some ambiguity as to whether or not it lies on NPS land with the Parkway.
Winter Olympics in Motion
Via Flickr:
Here is Union Pacific's heritage locomotive #2002 with the Winter Olympics paint scheme as it came through Bells, TN on 11-17-2013.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Friday, November 8, 2013
Meriwether Lewis Site
Via Flickr:
"The Corps of Discovery
When Thomas Jefferson was looking for a strong, bold leader to explore the northwest in search of an all-water connection between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean, he found an eager volunteer in his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis. Jefferson agreed that Lewis was the man for the job, and on May 14, 1804, the Corps of Discovery left St. Louis.
The 2.3 year tour failed to find a continuous waterway to the Pacific, but it succeeded spectacularly in accumulating massive amounts of geographical, cultural, and biological information. This information, though familiar to the resident American Indians and the French and British trappers in the northwest, was previously unknown to scientists.
After the Expedition
After the expedition returned home, Jefferson rewarded Lewis with the governorship of the Louisiana Territory. As the presidency changed, so did politics. Several of the bills that Lewis submitted to the Department of War for payment were questioned, and Lewis set out from St. Louis (the capital of the Louisiana Territory) toward Washington to defend them.
Part of Lewis's route took him along a portion of the Natchez Trace. During the early morning of October 11th, while staying in Grinder's Stand, Lewis died of gunshot wounds. Did he commit suicide, or was he murdered? The debate still goes on today.
The Memorial
Meriwether Lewis was buried near Grinder's Stand, and, in 1848, the State of Tennessee erected a memorial to honor him. A simple erect, broken shaft reaches above the stone base, symbolizing a life cut short. The memorial includes several inscriptions, one in Latin. "Immaturus obi; sed tu felicior annos vive meos: Bona Republica! vive tuos." "I died before my time, but thou O great and good Republic, live out my years while you live out your own." To see the Lewis Monument, visit the Meriwether Lewis Site at milepost 385.9 on the Natchez Trace Parkway.
There is currently interest by a private organization to exhume the body of Meriwether Lewis. No decision has been made, or will be made, by the National Park Service until compliance documents are completed according to the National Environmental Policy Act."
Taken from www.nps.gov/natr/historyculture/meriwether-lewis.htm as it appeared on 11/08/2013.
Jackson Falls
Via Flickr:
I really don't have a good description of the waterfall. Just take your time and walk the trail to see it and it's a rewarding view.
Watch for snakes!
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Insta-success!
Please help me win the Best of October 2013 Challenge on @twenty20app so I can get my work featured! Click the link in my bio to vote for me - I have until tomorrow so every little bit helps. :) Thank you everybody!
http://twenty20.com/challenges/best-of-october-2013?user=kevin33040
Monday, November 4, 2013
Old Tobacco Farm
Via Flickr:
"Tobacco Farm - You see here a typical early 1900s tobacco farm. A 10 minute loop walk takes you through a field to the barn where you see tobacco hanging to dry.
Old Trace Drive - From here you may drive north on a narrow two-mile section of the old original Natchez Trace and meet the parkway on the other end. Your slower pace may take you back in time and let you enjoy views of the valley below."
Taken from ow.ly/qtoKs as it appeared on 11/04/2013.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Golden Tribute
Via Flickr:
During the bicentennial celebration, "[o]ver 2000 visitors and volunteers honored the contributions of soldiers from the War of 1812 over Memorial Day weekend at the Gordon House Historic Site on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Volunteers and representatives from 15 living history associations gathered to commemorate a historic troop "muster" for the War of 1812. In the years leading up to the war, both militia volunteers and Army regulars would gather during "muster days" for military training. The Natchez Trace was a major travel corridor during the War of 1812 as troops under the command of Andrew Jackson marched to and from conflicts along the southern coast."
The above was taken from www.nps.gov/natr/parknews/successful-muster-to-kick-off-w... as it appeared on November 3, 2013. Edits are so noted.
Double Arches
Via Flickr:
"The last segment of the Natchez Trace Parkway's Double Arch Bridge [was] put into place on October 6, 1993. The $11 million, 1,572-foot–long bridge carries the parkway over Route 96 near Franklin, Tennessee. It was the first precast segmental concrete arch bridge to be built in the United States. (These bridges are more cost-efficient than traditional ones, because workers at the bridge site simply need to assemble concrete pieces that have already been cast.)
The Natchez Trace Parkway is not just famous for its sleek, modern bridge; on the contrary, the road has been around and in use for thousands of years. It was a well-worn trail through Choctaw and Chickasaw territory (along with a handful of prehistoric Native American mounds) that connected the southern Mississippi River with the salt licks of central Tennessee. Starting at the end of the 18th century, the Trace became the primary route north for the famous "Kaintucks," farmers and boatmen who floated produce, coal and livestock from the Ohio Valley down the Mississippi to markets in Natchez and New Orleans. Once they got there, they sold their boats for lumber and trudged back home. (The 500-mile trip from Natchez to Nashville took about 35 days on foot; on a horse, it only took about 20 to 25 days.) In 1800, the Natchez Trace became a national mail road. It became obsolete, however, once steamboats made it possible for people and goods to travel up the Mississippi River as well as down.
Since 1938, the National Park Service has been paving the Natchez Trace a little bit at a time, turning it into a scenic modern highway. At the Franklin crossing, engineers had to figure out how to elevate the bridge over Route 96 and the densely wooded valley below while preserving the natural beauty of the site. Engineer Eugene Figg settled on an open, double-arched bridge that supports its deck without spandrel columns, preserving most of the view across the valley. The first arch is symmetrical and has a span of 582 feet and a rise of 145 feet. (That is, the bridge is 145 feet above the highway beneath it.) The second arch, thanks to the elevated topography at the bridge's southern end, is not symmetrical: It has a span of 462 feet and a rise of 102 feet. The arches are made of 122 hollow boxes, each precast nearby in Franklin. They were assembled in what engineers call "progressive cantilever," with steel cables holding them together until each one was finished. The foundation and vertical piers were put together more traditionally: They were cast on-site as they were built.
The bridge officially opened on March 22, 1994 and the Natchez Trace Parkway was finally complete."
The above was taken from www.history.com/this-day-in-history/natchez-trace-parkway... as it appeared on November 3, 2013. Edits are so noted.
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