Tag: Matt Vermeulen

The City’s Pneumatic Mail Delivery System

“Nobody writes letters anymore,” or so the saying goes. But for over one hundred years our city was home to thousands of letter writers and the nation’s fifth largest post office branch (after New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit, Michigan).…

The City’s Whale-Oil Pipeline

During the city’s post-Civil War boom, a panel of eminent politicians, including the governor, mayor and state surgeon general, met to plan the future growth of the city. Several advances were made. In an effort to provide more room for…

Friday Facts: I Have Two Orange Triangles

:: The 33rd Gourd Festival this weekend will include gourd carving, a gourd/squash bake off, gourd costume contest and prize for largest gourd (last year’s winner, with a 4lb, 3oz gourd received $25 TGI Friday’s gift card). :: The first…

“Famous Trees In Our City”

With this Friday being Arbor Day, let us take a moment to examine some of this city’s famous foliage. Independence Elm (1781) During colonial times the city was just two muddy streets– a small collection of homes surrounding the church…

When the Moving Pictures Came to Town

In the first part of the 20th century, before making the cross-country trek to Hollywood, the motion picture industry settled briefly in our fair city. During the early years of cinema, film companies were based on the east coast, centered…