Thank you all for the incredibly interesting things about the place you are from! I’ve got a list now, of some I knew nothing about and want to learn more of! America’s history is so rich, I adore all of it. That’s why I write historical. I love history.
I have a winner for my ebook copy of Elizabeth, a historical romance set in the Shenandoah National Park, here in Virginia. I’m going to share the winner below, Alice, and please email me at: sarahlambwriting@gmail.com so that I have your email address to send it to!
I grew up between Saratoga and Lake George, New York, about 50 miles north of Albany. So much early American history in that area. There is a reconstructed fort that was important in the French and Indian War at Lake George. Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain has some of the original stone walls as well as some reconstructed parts. It played an important part in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. Both of these forts are wonderful museums and Ft Ti is in a beautiful location on Lake Champlain. My grandparents’ farm was near the Saratoga Battlefield National Historic Park where one of the crucial battles of the Revolutionary War took place. When we were kids it was still a state park where we would have family picnics. There are houses in the town where I went to school that were part of the Underground Railroad in the 1850’s and 60’s. One has become a local museum, and you can see the pit where people would hide below the floorboards. They have letters and journals describing the experience.
Where I live now in Central Washington State has played an important part in more recent history. As a result of the Reclamation Act of 1902 and the continued development of Bureau of Reclamation projects the Columbia Basin with water from Grand Coulee Dam is the largest irrigation project in the US. The Manhattan Project on what is referred to now as the Department of Energy Hanford Site developed the nuclear material for atomic bombs in WWII. It is now a research facility and still a restricted area although the B reactor is a National Historic Site. I have toured it but it was a scary experience in some ways in spite of the assurances that it is decontaminated.
The trucks you described are a wonderful way to bring history to so many people who aren’t always able to travel. Thank you for sharing.
Sarah is wife to an amazing teacher and mom to two boys who are growing up just a little too fast. She spends her days working and writing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Looking forward to reading Elizabeth. I visited Shenandoah Park when my middle daughter worked in DC. It was a foggy, rainy day so I did not see the beautiful vistas people talk about.