I have always love nature. I love camping and hiking and being out there getting dirty. Years ago I discover Letterboxing and got hooked on it. It's like hiking with a purpose, I feel like a treasure hunter when I'm out there reading and deciphering the clues we have to follow. The amount of letterboxes in the area I live blew my mind, and I visited places I would have never known existed..
About a year ago, I heard about the Passport to the National Parks Program. I was already visiting the parks and historic places, so why not collect the stamps? I bought my passport book and started collecting stamps. Then I stumbled into Parkstamps.org, the website for the National Parks Travelers Club. Those who know me well know that I am as geeky as they come, so of course I had to join. That is how I discovered that there are stamps that you won't get unless you ask for them.
About a month ago, while reading posts in the forums of the club's website, I read about the Capitol Collection, a passport program for the capitol buildings of all 50 states. And in case you're wondering, of course i bought the passport book! I didn't know that there are tours in most of the them, and that they are open to the public.
Today, after messaging with a member of the club, I discovered that there are other passport collecting programs. The United States Lighthouse Society sponsors the Lighthouse Passport Program. The National Wildlife Refuge Systems also has a passport stamp program, called Blue Goose Passport.
The passports are not expensive and it is a great way to discover and learn about the places around us. Also a great way to keep the kids entertained during vacation. I want to note here that the National Parks have a Junior Ranger Program for the kids. There are activities at each park that they have to finish and they earn a certificate and a patch. Through the activities they have to complete, kids learn about the parks history, and also how to conserve and preserve the parks for the enjoyment of generations to come. Some of the parks offer the program to adults too.
As we cuddle up in warm blankets, we can start dreaming and planning trips to the different parks Explore what's around you and learn about the history of our country, keeping in mind that the goal is to preserve this places so that future generations can also learn and enjoy them.
I can't wait for spring!
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Springfield Armory National Historical Site
I read about the armory and its history during the American Revolution while reading the novel series Outlander (with which I may or may not be obsessed). I looked it up and started reading about its history and role, not only during the American Revolution but also after, during the Industrial Revolution.
It began its life as an arsenal, commanded by Gen. George Washington and Col. Henry Knox in the early days of the Revolutionary War. The Continental Army needed a place to stockpile weapons. Springfield was chosen due to it being centrally positioned for the armies on the north, and its location at the intersection of colonial highways and closeness to the Connecticut River. During these years, the arsenal stored muskets, cannons, and other weapons
and produced paper cartridges, but no arms were manufactured.
After the war, the newly formed Federal Government decided to manufacture its own arms so as not to depend on foreign countries to supply the army. President Washington chose Springfield as the place for one of the armories, the other was located in Harpers Ferry. New buildings were added. The West Armory, completed in 1808, is the oldest surviving building to this date. A landscaped green was surrounded by storage buildings, blacksmith shops, and administrative offices. Soon fine residential neighborhoods developed in the surrounding areas. Within decades, Springfield Armory had perfected pioneering manufacturing methods that were critical to American industrialization.
At first, each musket was made by one person, who skillfully made each piece to fit that specific musket. This made them hard to fix in the field since the parts were not interchangeable. Then Thomas Blanchard entered the picture. Born on June24th, 1788 in Sutton, MA, he was a very talented inventor. He was working at Asa Waters, a major contractor in nearby Millbury, producing flintlock muskets supplementing those made at Springfield Armory. There he invented his first replicating machine, a lathe, for cutting the exterior surface of musket barrels.
By 1818 Springfield Armory was operating this machine. Later on Blanchard realized that he could produce a turning replicating machine to cut irregular forms, and in 1819 he patented his wood-turning lathe. Called the Blanchard lathe, it works similar to a key-cutting machine, with a stock blank in place of the key blank, and an iron master form in the shape of a musket stock. In the early 1820’s, it was adopted at both national armories and, with a dozen more specialized Blanchard shaping and inletting machines, mechanized much of the traditional handwork of gunstock production. This innovations lead the way into the Industrial Revolution, with techniques applied to other manufacturing processes and products.
In 1968 Springfield Armory closed its doors and workers said good bye as the flag was lowered for the last time. In 1978 it reopened its door as the Springfield Armory National Historic Site. The original 1840's arsenal houses the world's largest collection of historic American military firearms
My stepson (18) was really interested in the lathes and manufacturing implements, while my nephew (6) was more interested in the puzzles and other kid activities they had available. Close by are the museums, including the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, really fun place for the kiddos. little further north, in S. Deerfield, you can visit the Yankee Candle Village and Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens
Trivia Facts:
It began its life as an arsenal, commanded by Gen. George Washington and Col. Henry Knox in the early days of the Revolutionary War. The Continental Army needed a place to stockpile weapons. Springfield was chosen due to it being centrally positioned for the armies on the north, and its location at the intersection of colonial highways and closeness to the Connecticut River. During these years, the arsenal stored muskets, cannons, and other weapons
and produced paper cartridges, but no arms were manufactured. After the war, the newly formed Federal Government decided to manufacture its own arms so as not to depend on foreign countries to supply the army. President Washington chose Springfield as the place for one of the armories, the other was located in Harpers Ferry. New buildings were added. The West Armory, completed in 1808, is the oldest surviving building to this date. A landscaped green was surrounded by storage buildings, blacksmith shops, and administrative offices. Soon fine residential neighborhoods developed in the surrounding areas. Within decades, Springfield Armory had perfected pioneering manufacturing methods that were critical to American industrialization.
At first, each musket was made by one person, who skillfully made each piece to fit that specific musket. This made them hard to fix in the field since the parts were not interchangeable. Then Thomas Blanchard entered the picture. Born on June24th, 1788 in Sutton, MA, he was a very talented inventor. He was working at Asa Waters, a major contractor in nearby Millbury, producing flintlock muskets supplementing those made at Springfield Armory. There he invented his first replicating machine, a lathe, for cutting the exterior surface of musket barrels.
By 1818 Springfield Armory was operating this machine. Later on Blanchard realized that he could produce a turning replicating machine to cut irregular forms, and in 1819 he patented his wood-turning lathe. Called the Blanchard lathe, it works similar to a key-cutting machine, with a stock blank in place of the key blank, and an iron master form in the shape of a musket stock. In the early 1820’s, it was adopted at both national armories and, with a dozen more specialized Blanchard shaping and inletting machines, mechanized much of the traditional handwork of gunstock production. This innovations lead the way into the Industrial Revolution, with techniques applied to other manufacturing processes and products.In 1968 Springfield Armory closed its doors and workers said good bye as the flag was lowered for the last time. In 1978 it reopened its door as the Springfield Armory National Historic Site. The original 1840's arsenal houses the world's largest collection of historic American military firearms
My stepson (18) was really interested in the lathes and manufacturing implements, while my nephew (6) was more interested in the puzzles and other kid activities they had available. Close by are the museums, including the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, really fun place for the kiddos. little further north, in S. Deerfield, you can visit the Yankee Candle Village and Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens
Trivia Facts:
- After visiting Springfield Armory during his honeymoon, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published a poem in 1845 entitled "The Arsenal at Springfield," which used the racks of muskets stored there as an anti-war metaphor.
- Springfield Armory functioned in tandem with its sister armory in Harpers Ferry, (West) Virginia, providing arms for the nation from 1795 until Harpers Ferry Armory was burned down during the Civil War. Today, both sites are units of the National Park Service.
- While blasting for new construction at Springfield Armory in the 1850s, a number of dinosaur bones were unearthed. The fossils turned out to be an undiscovered species of dinosaur, named later Anchisaurus Polyzelus. The dinosaur lived during the Jurassic Period.
- During the Civil War, Springfield Armory produced about 300,000 muskets for the Union. In 1864, production reached 1,000 muskets per day.
- Springfield Armory National Historic Site is the only National Park unit in Western Massachusetts.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
New Bedford Whaling NHP
Located in New Bedford, MA, the park takes you back to a time when New Bedford was one of the most important whaling ports in the whole world. In his novel "Moby Dick", H. Melville described the beautiful city as "the dearest place to live in," and I have to agree. He goes on to say that "...nowhere in all America will you find more patrician-like
houses, parks and gardens more opulent, than in New Bedford…all these
brave houses and flowery gardens came from the Atlantic, Pacific, and
Indian oceans. One and all, they were harpooned and dragged up hither
from the bottom of the sea."The Visitor Center on Williams Street is the best place to start your time travel adventure.Here you will find very friendly park ranges and volunteers that can help you sign up for one of the free tours or with any question you have about the park. There are also several artifacts in display. They have several brochures and one of them talks about the Underground Railroad and New Bedford's role in the liberation of slaves, which I didn't know about. You can also inquire about the Passport to the National Parks Program and you can get your passport stamped.
They also talk about the underground railroad and the most prominent characters of the movement in New Bedford. People like Frederick Douglass, a distinguished man of the nineteenth century, whose escape route took him to New Bedford and was helped by Nathan and Poly Johnson, and William Rotch Jr., "one of the earliest and staunchest abolitionists in the city, and a charter member of the Providence Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery (1789) and the first president of the New Bedford Anti-Slavery Society (1834)".
There are several residences and gardens that work in cooperation with the park but are private institutions. These charge an admissions fee so do your research before you venture out. There is also Fort Taber Park, important site in military history of the region, especially during the Civil War. The New Bedford Whaling Museum has the world's largest collection of global whaling and maritime history. The Buttonwood Zoo boasts more than 150 animals native to the region.
On the weekends, if you are lucky, you may cross roads with one the ladies, that discover "time travel" and visit the downtown area regularly every weekend. I had a very interesting conversation with the one pictured here.
You can also visit the waterfront and observed an active commercial fishing port. It always makes me remember a neighbor I had when I first moved to the area in 2000. He was a fisherman, and after every trip he would bring me a gallon zip-lock bag full of the fresh delicious scallops.
Even though New Bedford was part of the Underground Railroad and many blacks lived free of slavery, society was still divided by class. A perfect example of this is the Double Bank building, which for 61 years housed the Merchants Bank for the prosperous whaling elite on the right and the Mechanics Bank for shopkeepers and skilled tradespeople on the left. Completely off topic, if you are in the downtown area and like Mexican food, you have to visit No Problemo. The have the best burritos hands down, big and freshly made to order.
Trivia Facts
- The first whaling vessel launched from New Bedford in 1767, the "Dartmouth," was one of the ships later involved in the Boston Tea Party.
- Today, New Bedford is home to the number one fishing port in the United States in terms of the dollar value of its catch.
- Abraham Lincoln spoke in New Bedford on September 14, 1848, in Liberty Hall on William Street. At the time, he was a little-known congressman from Illinois plugging the election of Zachary Taylor.
- In 1857, at the height of whaling, there were a total of 329 whaling vessels in New Bedford's fleet, which employed roughly 10,000 men.
- By the 1840s, black sailors constituted about one-sixth of the labor force; and by 1900, West Indians, Azoreans, and Cape Verdeans had become a majority.
- Between 1840 and 1860 some 300-700 escaped slaves were living in New Bedford. Frederick Douglass was among those who found freedom in New Bedford. He arrived in 1838 after escaping from Baltimore carrying another sailor's protection papers.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Who, What, Why
My name is Maria and I live in Massachusetts, but I am a transplant from the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. I have always loved nature, and I camp and hike as often as time and my health allows me. I moved here in 2000 and I still love the snow. I mean,where is the fun in freezing my buns off without snow to play in?
About a year ago I discover the Passport to the National Parks Program and I fell in love, since I enjoy visiting new places and learning about their history and interesting facts. Now that I have visited a few of the parks, I find myself trying to remember specific things about my experiences and realizing I was getting the places confused. I decided to start a blog to not only share my experiences but also as a way to journal some of the history of the places and preserve my personal observations.
I will start writing about the places I already went to, which include the New Bedford Whaling NHP, the Roger Williams NM, Cape Cod NS, Boston NHP, and Boston African American NHS in the Northeast, and the San Juan NHS in Puerto Rico. I will also share some of the pictures I took on said trips.
Feel free to drop by and share your comments and your own observations about the different places. Let us take a trip to discover history.
About a year ago I discover the Passport to the National Parks Program and I fell in love, since I enjoy visiting new places and learning about their history and interesting facts. Now that I have visited a few of the parks, I find myself trying to remember specific things about my experiences and realizing I was getting the places confused. I decided to start a blog to not only share my experiences but also as a way to journal some of the history of the places and preserve my personal observations.
I will start writing about the places I already went to, which include the New Bedford Whaling NHP, the Roger Williams NM, Cape Cod NS, Boston NHP, and Boston African American NHS in the Northeast, and the San Juan NHS in Puerto Rico. I will also share some of the pictures I took on said trips.
Feel free to drop by and share your comments and your own observations about the different places. Let us take a trip to discover history.
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