Welcome to part three of our in-depth foray into the swamp called Washington, District of Columbia. I need to start with an apology and correction. I previously promised to report on the number of bathrooms in the White House. Somehow, I neglected this in the last installment. So, for those of you who have been…
States Well Stated
States Well Stated – Washington D.C. : The White House
by Betsey Ellis •
Washington, D.C. just has too many oddities (and, no, I am not referring to Congress) to fit into one column. This month I am focusing on one of the most recognized addressed in the country: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. So let’s get started with country’s most impressive government housing: The President’s Palace The Gilded Prison, That…
States Well Stated
Non-State Well Stated
by Betsey Ellis •
STATES WELL STATED IS TAKING A VACATION THIS MONTH Instead of my usual quirky (and somewhat snarky) facts about one our United States (in alphabetical order, so if you want to know about Wyoming, you’ve got a long wait ahead of you) – I am going where no Tanglewood-ian should go – politics. No, really, it’s…
States Well Stated
Delaware – The Highest Toll per Mile State
by Betsey Ellis •
So, yes, in honour of Delaware being one of the smallest States, I was compelled to give you much more than you ever needed to know. Try not to blink or you’ll miss it entirely. The first European settlement in Delaware was New Sweden in 1638. It was established by Peter Minute – more famous…
States Well Stated
Connecticut
by Betsey Ellis •
The Insurance and White Bread Capitol of the WorldConnecticut is home and birthplace of so many things that you would not think of. Connecticut is so much more than a series of affluent suburbs of New York City and Rhode Island wannabees. I could tell you when Connecticut became a State, but as one of…
States Well Stated
Sorry, I couldn’t come up with a clever title for Colorado
by Betsey Ellis •
Rocky Mountain High?The earliest inhabitants of the area now know as Colorado were the Ancestral Pueblo people. Sometime between 600 and 1300 A.D. they left, without a forwarding address. Speaking of Pueblo, it is the only city that can boast that it has four living recipients of Medal of Honor residing there. Colorado is called…
States Well Stated
California – It’s Not Quite What You Think It Is….
by Betsey Ellis •
I know I usually start these with when the State joined the Union and other facts you have forgotten from grade school, but I decided to switch things up a little. You thought Sebring was a bit of a backwater? Try Alpine County, California, the State’s smallest county. There is no High School there, no…
States Well Stated
Arkansas
by Betsey Ellis •
Things You Probably Never Cared to Know About Arkansas The first European settlement was established in 1686. “Arkansas” is a French interpretation of a Sioux word “acansa”, meaning “downstream place”. Which means the name has nothing to do with either Kansas, or Noah. Arkansas became the 25th state on June 15, 1836. Arkansas gave the…
States Well Stated
States Well Stated – ALASKA
by Betsey Ellis •
The Origins of Russian Collusion, a.k.a. Alaska Alaska was “discovered” by non-natives, when a Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia in 1741. Not too surprisingly, the Bering Straits were named thus in his honor. The first non-native settlement was started by Russian fur trappers in 1784. Alaska’s name is…