Did You Know? The movie, “Cider House Rules” (1999), was filmed at Ventfort Hall, the Museum of the Gilded Age, in Lenox. Folk singer Arlo Guthrie wrote “Alice’s Restaurant” based on a true incident that occurred in Stockbridge (1965). Crane and Company in Dalton makes the cotton-based paper used in
Did You Know? Lake Mead is America’s largest manmade lake based on water volume. Lake Powell has 1,960 miles of shoreline, more than the West Coast of the continental U.S. On Jan. 7, 1971, Hawley Lake reported Arizona’s lowest-recorded temperature — minus 40F. Robert McCulloch, buyer of London Bridge, diverted
Did You Know? The Hopi village of Oraibi is America’s oldest Native American settlement, dating to 1100. The 290-foot-tall Rainbow Bridge, on the Navajo Nation reservation, is the world’s largest known natural bridge. Canals built by the Hohokam people, adopted by white men in the 1860s, led to the founding
Did You Know? Petrified wood in Petrified Forest National Park is quartz, weighing 168 pounds per cubic foot. A saguaro cactus may weigh six tons, grow to 50 feet and live 150 to 175 years. Rattlesnakes bite about 1,000 people a year in the U.S., but death from lightning is
Did You Know? About two-thirds (63%) of North America’s Amish live in Ohio, Pennsylvania or Indiana. Lancaster was capital of the American colonies for one day in 1777 and of Pennsylvania 1799-1812. The still-occupied Benjamin Mishler house in Lancaster was built in 10 hours. Overall, the Amish population doubles about
Did You Know? Although Indiana’s Amish reject telephones at home, they often have current model cellphones. Alka-Seltzer was created at Miles Laboratories in Elkhart (1931). Amish-owned Bender Camel Farm in Shipshewana sells camels’ milk for $80 a gallon. Half of all RVs on America’s roads were made in Elkhart County.
Did You Know? Eight national (or quasi national) flags have flown over Amelia Island, more than at any other U.S. site. The area once harbored the largest concentration of pirates in America. The Patriot Flag of the Republic of Florida flew over Amelia Island for one day. Whalers gave right
Did You Know? Residents of the Amana Colonies conducted their first English-language church services in 1961. George C. Foerstner founded Amana Refrigeration in Middle Amana (1934). Amana introduced the side-by-side refrigerator (1949) and was first to patent a self-defrost unit (1954). Population in the Amana Colonies topped out at 1,813
Did You Know? More bald eagles are found in Alaska than in all the lower 48 states combined. Humpback whales require up to a ton of food daily. Kodiak brown bears can catch salmon at a rate of about two per hour. At peak times, there are up to a
Did You Know? In Gold Rush days, prospectors sifted $3 million in gold from Nome’s beaches. Lake Hood is the world’s busiest floatplane base, averaging 800 takeoffs and landings on a peak summer day. The world’s largest sport-caught king salmon (97 lbs. 4 oz.) was pulled from the Kenai River.
