Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
January 5, 1892 A notable milestone for Undine, a sternwheel-driven steamboat operating on rivers in Oregon, took place when she played a pivotal role in rescuing people who had been on board a vessel that sank in the Willamette River. (A major tributary of the Columbia River, the Willamette River is located entirely within the... Continue Reading →
January 3, 2006 A light rail transit station in Edmonton, the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta, was officially opened. This station, which is part of the light rail system serving Edmonton (nicknamed “Festival City” for the various festivals that it hosts each year), is located at 114th Street at 83rd Avenue on... Continue Reading →
December 27, 2008 In central Arizona, the light rail line known as Valley Metro Rail was officially opened to the public. This line, which is part of the Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority, serves the cities of Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa. The Saturday morning inauguration of Valley Metro Rail was marked by plenty of... Continue Reading →
December 26, 1860 A lighthouse built on one of the islands of Race Rocks, which are located just off the southern point of Vancouver Island, was first illuminated. At the time of that lighthouse’s debut, Vancouver Island was a British Crown colony. This colony was merged with the Crown colony of mainland British Columbia in... Continue Reading →
December 22, 2012 A single-track tramway line in Oranjestad, the capital city of the Caribbean island country of Aruba, was officially dedicated. Aruba is a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and -- along with the Netherlands’ special municipalities and other constituent countries in the Caribbean Sea -- it is part of those... Continue Reading →
December 21, 2022 In southeastern Florida’s Palm Beach County, a rail station in the city of Boca Raton first went into regular service. Boca Raton station is part of Brightline, a rail route that runs between Miami and Orlando in the Sunshine State. Brightline, which was formally launched in 2018, is the only privately owned... Continue Reading →
December 10, 1910 The Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Oregon, was officially opened to traffic. This bridge had been designed by Waddell & Harrington and, as part of the inaugural festivities, C.K. Allen from that engineering firm formally recommended acceptance of the new structure to the city. Portland Mayor Joseph Simon responded by declaring, “Let it open!” This... Continue Reading →
December 15, 2003 An intermodal transit hub in the town of Secaucus in northeastern New Jersey was officially opened. This 321,000-square foot (29,800-square-meter) railway station, which is operated by New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit), is five miles (8.1 kilometers) east of Newark Penn Station and five miles (8.1 kilometers) west of New York Penn Station.... Continue Reading →
December 13, 1881 A 207-foot (63-meter)-tall electric light tower built at the intersection of Santa Clara and Market Streets in downtown San Jose, California, was officially dedicated. The major force who proposed the installation of this tower in the first place was James Jerome Owen (1827-1895), publisher of the San Jose Mercury (precursor of the... Continue Reading →
December 8, 1984 A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit station was opened in the city of Cambridge in the Greater Boston metropolitan area. This station is located at the intersection of of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenues in Cambridge’s Porter Square neighborhood. Porter station serves the Red Line, one of MBTA’s rapid transit lines; the... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 