Icon of your city

[NaturesPixel]

.. meaning something that makes your town/city stand apart from every other town??

get out and about..maybe even combine the last assignment of getting down low tho you dont have too

i would like to know something about the Icon/landmark tho.. so maybe a mini story ??

[NaturesPixel]

was an African elephant, born in 1861 in the French Sudan from where he was imported to France and kept in the old Zoo Jardin des Plantes close to the railway station Gare d'Austerlitz in Paris. In 1865 he was transferred to the London Zoo, where he became famous for giving rides to visitors. The London zoo-keepers gave Jumbo his name; it is likely an afflicted version of one of two Swahili words: jambo, which means "hello," or jumbe, which means "chief."

Jumbo was sold in 1882 to P. T. Barnum, owner of "The Greatest Show on Earth", the Barnum & Bailey Circus for $10,000 US. Estimated to be 3.25 metres high in the London Zoo, it was claimed that Jumbo was approximately 4 metres tall by the time of his death. Jumbo died September 15, 1885 at a train station in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, where he was crushed by a locomotive. Many believe that he was killed trying to save a young elephant known as Tom Thumb, but this is likely a myth. A life-size statue of the elephant in St. Thomas commemorates the tragedy. Many metallic objects were found in the elephant's stomach, including pennies, keys, and rivets.


As a result of Barnum's publicity the word "jumbo" is now synonymous with "large" or "huge": a large hot dog sausage may be called a "jumbo hot dog"; the Boeing 747 is known as the "Jumbo Jet".

[loosestring]

That's a lovely photo. I love the blue shades in the sky.

[Gunsotsu]

In 1945, at the end of WWII, the brother of Werner von Braun approached American soldiers and surrendered himself and his brother. The US government quickly seized the opportunity to get their hands on the father of German rocketry and moved him and his entire team to White Sands, New Mexico.

Funny thing about White Sands, there's sand. Sand is not very conducive to the workings of rockets, so in the 1950s after an exhaustive search of the country, the von Braun team was moved to a "sleepy mill town, way down in Dixie." The rest as they say is history.

Huntsville has been at the forefront of the US space program since the start. Without the contributions of the von Braun team and the subsequent engineers that have worked in their shadow, America would not have a space program. When locations like Kennedy and Johnson Space Center heap all the glory, Huntsville and the Marshall Space Flight Center soldiers on, working diligently to ensure that mankind always has a reason to look to the stars and dream.



The above Saturn V replica is visible for miles away from the grounds of the US Space & Rocket Center where it calls home. The grounds immediately west of the replica is being prepared to house the real Saturn V that sits in the back of Rocket Park. Once completed, the building will house the only original example of a Saturn V in the world that has been used. The construction project to house the Saturn V will face I-565 and will feature an all glass front to allow the rocket to be viewed from the interstate.

[NaturesPixel]

Excellent this is what i like.. learning something new i didn't know this I lived white sands Alamo for 12mths b4 coming to Canada Excellent image thanks

[dixie~jen]

Hey Gunsotsu!

I'm from Athens & have passed this many a times! In fact, I lived across from it for 3 years while attending UAH! Great job....it is the icon of Huntsville! Take care!

Jen

[Nicole]

Wellington has any number of iconic places, from the Beehive Parliament to the Embassy Theatre, to Red Rocks, or to any of the places that Peter Jackson has shot his movies. But the one thing that stands out to me as the icon of Wellington is it's Cable Car.

The cable car has been a part of Wellington since it started running in 1902 when it connected the lower part of the city to the farm lands that used to exist where the upper suburbs now are. There are 2 cable cars that run every 10 minutes. They are connected, so as one goes up the hill, the other goes down. They now provide transportation to the various people who live, work, and study in Wellington as well as those who visit and want to ride on an iconic part of Wellington's history. The cable car's actual car has changed several times during it's history, but it still remains a lovely reminder of simpler days

[sagelike31]

Well as most can see, I'm from NY so I can post something that you've seen a thousand times on a thousand postcards. All that being the case I'll post something that isn't seen all the time.

This building is called 5 pointz. It is located in Queens, NY and here is a description of it:

5 Pointz is a living collage of graffiti art covering a converted warehouse full of artist studios. The art of famous and novice graffiti artists covers the building's facade, all done with the encouragement of the building's owner.

[Saralonde]

Really interesting building, Sage, never seen it before. I've always kind of liked graffiti as an art form, as long as it's not defacing anything. When we visited Pompeii a few years ago, I remember seeing some ancient exampless of it on the walls there.

[loosestring]

Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge (Dames Point Bridge)

"At a length of two miles, the Dames Point Bridge (also known as the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge) is the longest cable-stayed bridge in America. Its crowning feature is a cable design featuring 168 steel cables built in the harp (or parallel) stay arrangement. While meant primarily to support the Dames Point Bridge, the unique cabling turns the bridge into an eye-catching landmark for those crossing the St. Johns River." ~ from roadway.com

As I drove across it this morning.

"The Dames Point Bridge (also known as the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge or Dame Point Bridge) spans the St. Johns River northeast of downtown Jacksonville, Florida. Two miles long, and 175 feet above the main channel of the river, the Dames Point Bridge connects northern Jacksonville with the Arlington and Beaches area of east Jacksonville via Florida Highway 9A. Opened to traffic in 1989, it is a premier example of the beautiful simplicity of the cable-stayed bridge." ~ from bridgepros.com"

Napoleon Bonaparte Broward (April 19, 1857–October 1, 1910) was the nineteenth governor of the U.S. state of Florida from January 3, 1905 to January 5, 1909. He also served as the sheriff of Duval County, Florida, and in the Florida State House of Representatives."

Other photos from my drive to work this morning


It may also be worthwhile to note the St. Johns River as an icon of Jacksonville as well being the longest river in Florida and having a northward flow which sets it apart from most rivers which flow southward. There are also areas of the river around Jacksonville that are 3 or 4 miles in width. This makes for some nice long bridges including the one above.