Great Americana

26/10/2020

GA010

Verona
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New York
Oneida Quadrangle
1902

Verona is a town located in the state of New York in Oneida County. The municipality was settled in 1792 by European Americans after the American Revolutionary War, in the territory of the Iroquois, a historical Native American confederacy. The urban structure of the town is still similar to the one of the map, with a visible development along main streets.

21/10/2020

GA008⁣⁣
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Royal Oak⁣⁣
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Michigan⁣⁣
Detroit Quadrangle⁣⁣
1905⁣⁣
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Royal Oak is a city located about 3 miles north of the city of Detroit: it developed as a suburb in the early 20th century, following Detroit's booming growth as a result of industrialization. The city expanded on the side of the railway and it consists today of low rise buildings, with a few exceptions. ⁣⁣
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19/10/2020

GA007⁣⁣
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West Sister Island⁣⁣
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Ohio⁣⁣
Oak Harbor Quadrangle⁣⁣
1900⁣⁣
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West Sister Island is located in the Western Basin of Lake Erie, on the border between the US and Canada. The 33 ha island is Ohio's only designated Wilderness Area, the West Sister Island National Wildlife Refuge. The lighthouse, established in 1848, is still an active aid to navigation, and is one of the oldest lighthouses to survive on the Great Lakes.⁣⁣
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Photo credits Caitlin Verdu⁣⁣
– via There and Beak Again

16/10/2020

GA006⁣
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Little Bethel Church⁣
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Virginia ⁣
Hampton Quadrangle⁣
1907⁣
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Little Bethel Church is located on the outskirts of Hampton, in the state of Virginia. The small locality is known to have been an outpost during the Civil War (the church was burned by the New York infantry so that the secessionists could not barricade it). Today the area is incorporated into the urban structure of north-east Hampton, which in turn forms with Norfolk an extensive large metropolitan area at the mouth of the Chesapeake bay.⁣
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14/10/2020

GA005⁣⁣
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Great Point⁣⁣
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Massachusetts (Nantucket County)⁣⁣
Nantucket Quadrangle⁣⁣
1901⁣⁣
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Great Point is the northernmost extremity of Nantucket island, where the currents of the Atlantic Ocean from Nantucket Sound meet.⁣⁣
This narrow strip of land located south from Cape Cod in the state of Massachusetts is a peaceful remote environment known for its stone lighthouse and naturalistic features. Its beaches and dunes hasn’t seen drastic changes since the times of the map. ⁣⁣
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Photo credits ⁣⁣
Doug Bomeisler – via Google Maps

12/10/2020

Pleasant Lake
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Michigan (Oakland County)
Pontiac Quadrangle
1907

Another example of an highly developed area around natural points of interest. Pleasant Lake is located on the outskirts of Detroit, just outside Pontiac in an area of central Michigan full of many small lakes that has been incorporated into the urban structure generated by the conurbation of these two cities.

07/10/2020

GA003⁣⁣
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Penikese Island⁣⁣
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Massachusetts⁣⁣
Gay Head Sheet⁣⁣
1912⁣⁣
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Penikese Island is a 75 acre island off the coast of Massachusetts, located in the west end of Elizabeth Island chain. Over the years it hosted a school for natural history and a leprosy hospital. The island has now no permanent population and is mostly used for biological research.⁣⁣
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06/10/2020

GA002⁣
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Sharon⁣
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Wisconsin ⁣
Delavan Sheet⁣
1893⁣
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Sharon is little town located just outside Chicago on the border between Illinois and Wisconsin. ⁣
It is classifiable as one of those small conurbations born beacause of the railway, at the intersection between the train tracks and one of the main roads, in this case a north-south route.⁣
Despite the 120 years that have passed from the date of the map, there are no notable changes: see the two properties along main roads (just a small square on the map) that are still isolated.⁣
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01/10/2020

GA001⁣⁣
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Point Brown⁣⁣
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Washington (Grays Harbor County)⁣⁣
Ocosta quadrangle⁣⁣
1915⁣⁣
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Located in the State of Washington, Point Brown is the tip of a peninsula overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the Chehalis River bay.⁣⁣
Although some natural elements have been preserved, the comparison with present-day landscape shows great transformations both from a settlement and geographical point of view.⁣
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01/10/2020

01/10/2020