Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
March 11, 2010 A major milestone for Stinson Municipal Airport, which is located seven miles (11.3 kilometers) south of downtown San Antonio in the south-central region of Texas, took place with the opening of a newly renovated runway. Runway 9-27, which previously had a length of 4,835 feet (1,473.7 meters), was extended to 5,002 feet... Continue Reading →
March 7, 2003 The U.S. Coast Guard cutter (USCGC) Oak (WLB 211) was officially commissioned as a seagoing buoy tender. This type of Coast Guard vessel is primarily used to maintain navigational floating aids. USCGC Oak made history as the first Coast Guard vessel to be commissioned after this federal uniformed service was incorporated into... Continue Reading →
March 4, 1928 On the southwest coast of Washington State, voters in the southern third of Pacific County approved 324 to 87 a measure to form the Port of Ilwaco. The approval of this measure made the port, which is located on Baker Bay near the mouth of the Columbia River, the first of four port... Continue Reading →
February 27, 1850 In central Ohio, a key transportation milestone took place in Columbus when regular railroad service was introduced to that city. The Columbus & Xenia Railroad (C&X), which measured 54.7 miles (88 kilometers) in length and connected Columbus with the town of Xenia in the southwestern part of the state, became the first... Continue Reading →
February 21, 1894 A pilot boat constructed by shipbuilder Moses Adams (1837-1894) in Essex, Massachusetts, was launched. Moses, who died less than five months after this launch, built the vessel for a company of Sandy Hook pilots. These pilots are transported via such boats to ships bound for or already within the region encompassing of... Continue Reading →
February 20, 1943 With World War II very much underway across the globe, the ship SS Cape Johnson was launched at 11:00 a.m. at Consolidated Steel Corporation’s shipyard in the Los Angeles neighborhood. This ship, which was named after a cape off the coast of Washington state, was the 26th combination cargo-passenger vessel to be... Continue Reading →
February 11, 1933 In Allegheny County, a suspension bridge built in Pittsburgh’s South Side was opened to traffic without any formality or notable amount of fanfare. This bridge’s low-key debut was reported in the next day’s edition of the Pittsburgh Press. “Undedicated and without ceremony, the county’s new bridge across Monongahela River at Tenth Street... Continue Reading →
February 7, 1908 A newly established electric streetcar line connecting Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Annapolis was formally launched. The first trip of the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway (WB&A) began in Baltimore at 11 o’clock that morning. “The cars are handsome, and of the newest design,” noted the next day’s edition of the Washington... Continue Reading →
February 6, 1995 While not yet completed, an Amtrak train station in San Diego County’s city of Solana Beach in southern California first went into service. Solana Beach Transit Center was built to take the place of a longtime station in the nearby city of Del Mar. In reporting on the Monday debut of Solana... Continue Reading →
February 4, 1825 The Ohio state legislature voted to approve construction of the Ohio & Erie Canal, a waterway that would ultimately span 308 miles (496 kilometers) and connect Lake Erie at what was originally the village of Cleveland with the Ohio River at Portsmouth in the south-central region of the Buckeye State. The legislature actually... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 