Treblinka, Poland

Janusz Korczak and his orphaned children met their deaths in the gas chambers at Treblinka in 1942. From the Warsaw ghetto, they were herded into boxcars and taken east by train to the extermination camp where they (and almost a million other Jews) succumbed to genocide. The memorial at Treblinka II today includes this symbolic headstone. [2003]

Warsaw, Poland

Pediatrician and children's author Janusz Korczak ran an orphanage in Warsaw's Jewish ghetto during World War II. In 1942, he refused to let his children be deported without him, so he went along, with them in tow. Little did they know the fate that awaited. [2003]

Greenup, Illinois, USA

"Historic Bridge Re-Created": That's the headline in the picture frame. However, the last covered bridge to stand here was washed out in 1865! No one remembers what that bridge looked like, but the town folk didn't let bother them. They built a new bridge: The Jackson Truss Covered Bridge, perhaps the most solidly built of any new-generation span. [2017]

Hurricane, West Virginia, USA

Want to add some nostalgia to your hillside McMansion? Build a wooden bridge over the ditch (creek?) that leads your driveway to your house. Do not think the Smith Bridge is an authentic covered bridge, however. Two I-beams, rather than wooden trusses, carry the weight of the bridge. In fact, it is more like a shed with two open ends. [2015]

Talladega, Alabama, USA

The Waldo Covered Bridge has not been given a new lease on life. It sits on two piers with no road access, no maintenance, and no escape from the march of time. Won't somebody please adopt this orphan? And, perhaps move it to a place where it can be taken care of? [2018]

Richmond, Virginia, USA

The year 2019 marks the 400th anniversary of representative government in the "New World." In 1619, the House of Burgesses met for the first time in Jamestown. Today, its successor meets here in Richmond. Thanks TJ: It took you to design an appropriate capitol for the young country's most populous state. Happy 231st birthday, Virginia. [2019]

El Dorado, Arkansas, USA

The classic red telephone box belongs in Britain, but here it is in Arkansas. Since no one uses pay phones anymore, El Dorado has turned it into a "Downtown Book Exchange." Even re-purposed, however, it makes this small town feel more like a world city. [2018]