Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
July 24, 1991 Work began on the current Vermilion Lighthouse on the shores of Lake Erie in Ohio. The 34-foot (10.4-meter) structure is specifically located at the Inland Seas Maritime Museum in the city of Vermilion and in the vicinity of where the Vermilion River empties into Lake Erie. This version of the Vermilion Lighthouse... Continue Reading →
July 23, 1890 The Maine-based Kennebec Central Railroad began operations on a 5-mile (8-kilometer) stretch in the southeastern part of the state between the community of Randolph and a home for disabled U.S. Army veterans in the town of Chelsea. The company responsible for building this railroad had been incorporated during the fall of the previous... Continue Reading →
July 22, 1997 Nearly six decades after the inauguration of the original Blue Water Bridge between Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario, an additional span for this structure was opened to motor vehicles. The construction of this new span, which is also known as the Second Blue Water Bridge, was a joint project of... Continue Reading →
July 21, 1946 An aviation milestone took place with the first official U.S. assessment of the adaptability of an all-jet aircraft to shipboard operations. For that assessment, U.S. Navy (USN) Lieutenant Commander James J. Davidson piloted a McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom fighter jet as it made a series of successful catapult-free takeoffs from and landings on... Continue Reading →
July 20, 1934 In California, construction began on a new bridge that would cross the Sacramento River and connect the state capital of Sacramento in Sacramento County with the city of West Sacramento in Yolo County. This vertical lift bridge was built to replace the M Street Bridge, which was owned by the Sacramento Northern Railway.... Continue Reading →
July 16, 1927 Defense Highway -- coursing through Maryland from the Washington, D.C., area in Prince George’s County to the state capital of Annapolis in Anne Arundel County -- was formally opened to great fanfare. This route was built between Bladensburg and Annapolis, and followed the trajectory of a narrow, unpaved road that had been in... Continue Reading →
July 15, 1975 In Virginia, the first segment of Interstate 195 (I-195) in the state capital of Richmond was opened. I-195 has also become known as the Beltline Expressway. This 3.5-mile (5.6-kilometer) highway is a spur route of Interstate 95. Within the Interstate Highway System, a spur route is a short highway serving as a... Continue Reading →
July 14, 1922 Less than two years after being established, the pioneering Aeromarine Airways launched passenger flight services between Detroit and Cleveland in the Great Lakes region. Several local prominent citizens and public officials formally initiated this service by boarding flights at Detroit on the Aeromarine Airways hydroplanes Santa Maria and Wolverine. The Santa Maria... Continue Reading →
July 13, 1825 Construction on the Delaware and Hudson (D&H) Canal officially began. The groundbreaking for the canal took place near Kingston, New York, located about 90 miles (144.8 kilometers) north of New York City. The new waterway was built as a key transportation link between the coal fields of northeastern Pennsylvania and the ports of New... Continue Reading →
July 9, 1942 U.S. Navy Secretary Frank Knox approved the establishment of a training center for pilots at a 1,400-acre (566.6-hectare) tract of land a few miles (kilometers) north of the city of Ottumwa, Iowa. About eight months after that authorization, the Ottumwa Naval Air Station (officially known as NAS Ottumwa) welcomed its first group... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 