Did You Know? The world’s largest almond plant, Sacramento’s Blue Diamond, processes 12 million pounds of nuts daily in peak season. The Sacramento-St. Joseph, Mo., Pony Express required 200 relay stations, 500 horses and 80 riders for the 10-day service. The Mexican government literally gave away a goldmine in an
Did You Know? President Thomas Jefferson designed the Virginia State Capitol building. One-quarter of the battles but 60% of Civil War casualties occurred within 75 miles of Richmond. Richmond was the first test market for canned beer (1935). Several Richmond sites were film locations for the 2012 movie, “Lincoln.” The
Did You Know...? Comstock produced $400 million worth of silver; today, there are 31 Comstock cemeteries. Reno is slightly west of Los Angeles. Lake Tahoe is 1,685 feet deep but between 6,220 and 6,230 feet above sea level. Reno originated as a railroad station and was named for a general
Did You Know? Raleigh was founded in 1792 specifically to be North Carolina's state capital. President Andrew Johnson, successor to Abraham Lincoln, was born in Raleigh (1808). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the nation's oldest state university (chartered 1789). Estey Hall at Raleigh’s Shaw University was
Did You Know? Rockingham, a house in nearby Kingston, was George Washington’s final wartime headquarters. The Indiana Jones life story names Princeton as the fictional character’s birthplace. Nassau Hall in Princeton was the first U.S. Capitol (six months in 1783). Princeton and Rutgers played the first American intercollegiate football game
Did You Know? Portsmouth was first named Strawbery Banke for the wild strawberries on the riverbank. Paul Revere rode to Portsmouth to warn of British intentions there, months before his famous 1775 ride. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is in Maine. New Hampshire was the first colony to declare its independence
Did you know...? Portland got its name based on a coin toss. The name that lost? Boston. Powell’s City of Books is the world’s largest independent bookstore. Mill Ends Park is the world’s smallest dedicated park, a circle 24 inches across. In Portland, the visitor is never more than 15
Did You Know ... ? Portland Head Light was commissioned by President Washington and is Maine’s oldest lighthouse (1791). Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow grew up in Portland; his family home is the oldest structure in the downtown. When Maine became a state in 1820, Portland was its first capital. Portland
Did You Know? The first U.S. public TV station was Pittsburgh’s WQED (1954). Heinz ketchup is no longer made at the firm’s Pittsburgh plant. Dr. Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine at the University of Pittsburgh (1954). The Nickelodeon in Pittsburgh was the first movie theater in the U.S. (1905).
Did you know ... ? The Phoenix 320-acre town site cost $550 in 1874; downtown lots sold for $7 to $11. The now-defunct Ingleside Inn, this area’s first resort for winter visitors, opened in 1910. Residents of Phoenix are known as Phoenicians. Early Arizona resorts offered free room and board
