We'd like to introduce "Here Is Where," the latest column on the Intelligent Travel blog. In conjunction with his upcoming book, "Here Is Where: In Search of America's Great Forgotten History" we're going to follow historian and Legacy Project founder Andrew Carroll as he drives, flies, walks, boats, buses, bikes, and hikes to seek out little-known historic sites in all 50 states. And here is where he introduces himself and the project. Find all of his posts here.
Although today marks the official launch of my 50-state trip to find forgotten history sites throughout the U.S., I've been seeking out these unmarked spots for 15 years now. This began essentially as a hobby. Whenever I traveled to a new city I tried, time permitting, to hunt down unmarked places associated with little-known events and people.
Sometimes I was successful; during a recent trip to Los Angeles I found the baseball fields in Encino where U.S. military officer Gary Powers died after his KNBC helicopter crashed in August 1977. (Ironically, Powers had survived being shot down over the Soviet Union seventeen years earlier--an incident with enormous historical implications--when he was flying U-2 spy planes for the CIA.) Other times I was less so; while in Missouri last year I tried to locate any site related to George Eyser, a one-legged gymnast who won three gold medals in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. No luck. But regardless of what I do or don't find, the search is what's exhilarating, and these mini-adventures have prompted me to explore neighborhoods and parts of towns I might otherwise not have visited.
Although today marks the official launch of my 50-state trip to find forgotten history sites throughout the U.S., I've been seeking out these unmarked spots for 15 years now. This began essentially as a hobby. Whenever I traveled to a new city I tried, time permitting, to hunt down unmarked places associated with little-known events and people. Sometimes I was successful; during a recent trip to Los Angeles I found the baseball fields in Encino where U.S. military officer Gary Powers died after his KNBC helicopter crashed in August 1977. (Ironically, Powers had survived being shot down over the Soviet Union seventeen years earlier--an incident with enormous historical implications--when he was flying U-2 spy planes for the CIA.) Other times I was less so; while in Missouri last year I tried to locate any site related to George Eyser, a one-legged gymnast who won three gold medals in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. No luck. But regardless of what I do or don't find, the search is what's exhilarating, and these mini-adventures have prompted me to explore neighborhoods and parts of towns I might otherwise not have visited.
Continue reading Introducing: Here Is Where.
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