Ritzville, Washington, USA

Defining Main Street: The Public Library. Although the public library had been well established in American life by the 1880s, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie added jet fuel to the building trends. If a local community would support a public library, he would built it. Yes, architectural standards were in force. [2019]

Columbus, Ohio, USA

"Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities. . . we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them." President Biden, 2021. [2017]

Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

Dr. Seuss and his most famous creation have been made a permanent part of the cultural landscape in Springfield, the town where he was born and grew up. “Now! Now! Have no fear. Have no fear!” said the cat. “My tricks are not bad,” said the Cat in the Hat. [2022]

Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

Covid Behaviors: Wear your mask. . . or this could be you! Let's hope the mask era is over permanently, but these skeletons remind us that over a million Americans lost their lives to Covid. That's more than any other country in the world, including the two countries that have a larger population than we do. What did we do wrong? [2021]

Providence, Rhode Island, USA

What happens to a working class neighborhood when a job-creating employer pulls out? Decline and, then, revitalization, often accompanied by a revolution in the arts. Here, an old US Rubber building is used by its new occupant, the Waterfire Arts Center, to personify a new generation of Rhode Islanders. Yes, he lives in the neighborhood. [2021]

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

February is all about the number two, and 2/22 is a palindrome too! "The one victory we can ever call complete will be that one which proclaims that there is not a slave on the face of God's green earth." So wrote Mr. Lincoln in 1842, long before he was President. Here he is signing the Emancipation Proclamation. Be sure to see yesterday's post. [2016]

Charleston, Illinois, USA

February is all about the number two, and 2/22 is a palindrome too! Here is what a chain-saw artist created to help Charlestonians celebrate Lincoln's birthday. Locals call him "Tiny Head Abe." But why did the city have to put him behind a chain-link fence? Be sure to see tomorrow's post. [2017]

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Who can turn the world on with her smile? The answer awaits on Minneapolis's Nicollet Mall: Mary Tyler Moore, of course. Her ground-breaking TV show in the 1970s was set in Minneapolis, and each episode ended with a hat toss, filmed on this very spot. With the statue, the fictional history of Minneapolis lives on, often eclipsing the city's real history. [2021]

Rhyolite, Nevada, USA

Imaginary friends:

   Treat us so nice,

   Give us advice,

   Keep wise words concise.

   Require no sacrifice.

Imaginary friends:

   In our minds must they stay,

   Or, at least far away.

   Lest our real friends do say

   "Don't be cray-cray!"

[2016]

Glenns Ferry, Idaho, USA

Odds and Evens, Ones and Twos, Singles and Doubles, Which one be You? Here is one way the mating of the Pillsbury Dough Boy and the Michelin Man works out. Actually, it's just better to think about him as Stay-Puft, here serving as a ghostly harbinger of Halloween. [2020]

Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

Odds and Evens, Ones and Twos, Singles and Doubles, Which one be You? Here is what remains of a marshmallow toaster who loved to roast the fluffy treats but not eat them. He's nothing but skin and bones, without the skin. The setting: a residential front yard leading up to Halloween. [2020]

Hamilton, New Jersey, USA

Odds and Evens, Ones and Twos, Singles and Doubles, Which one be You? Here's a couple coupling (sort of!). The setting: the Grounds for Sculpture at the entrance to the Hamilton Transit Station, right where thousands can see and enjoy them daily. [2018]

Millsboro, Delaware, USA

It's the second time around for most of the parts used to create these whimsical sculptures, all of which are sure to delight easily-entertained tourists and to vex the safety-conscious highway patrol. 2nd Time Designs is actually the name of the workshop where these eye-catchers were fabricated. [2013]

Washington, DC, USA

Respected President + Prestigous Architect = Worst memorial on or off the National Mall. It was dedicated less than a year ago but seems anchored in the design ideas of the last century with some contemporary elements that just don't work. You'll have to visit to experience the full negative effect. Too bad for Ike (whose full name should be under the quote)! [2021]

Henderson, Nevada, USA

"I love you this much," he says to summer, which he may see as Big Gulp season. Yes, summer begins this week end. Pay no attention to that June 20 date the astronomers call the first day of summer! Everybody knows that the three months of high sun (at least in the United States) begins on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day. [2019]

South Boston, Virginia, USA

Loveworks Connect: Opposites attract. That is why you have placid, participatory canoe races next to fast, spectator-packed drag races. On this date in 1990, Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract" surged to number one rank on the pop charts and remained there for three weeks. Now, apply the opposites-attract concept to the name South Boston! [2020]

Cruz Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Hope you didn't take down your crèche the day after Christmas. The wise men did not arrive until January 6, which we call Three Kings' Day or Epiphany. Seems like today should really be the day of gift giving. Christmastide ended last evening, so it is now permissible to send the magi back to your attic for another year. [2014]

New Paltz, New York, USA

Five years and counting.

Make the most of the next twelve.

Then starts adulthood.

[1995]

Hyde Park, New York, USA

More than three decades ago the eyes of the world were on the city of Berlin as the central symbol of the Cold War began to crumble. It is amazing how fragments of that wall made their way around the world as permanent memorials to the evils of division. The two colorful silhouettes that stand in back of the FDR Library were born of the Berlin Wall. [2019]

Wellington, Colorado, USA

It is far too late to hand those ballots to your letter carrier now, especially if you live in Colorado which ranks as one of the worst states for on-time mail delivery. Did you know, though, that 40 million ballots have been cast by mail already this election year? [2019]