From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

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Willard Library's Special Collection Display...

is at the top of the stairway landing to the 2nd. floor Special Collections Department for Genealogy & History. Each month there is a new display and they generally try to make a display for special events like "Midnight Madness" that Vannetta McDowell put together.
When you visit Willard, take a look at the display case and let the librarians know you liked the display.

- Photo taken & submitted by JGWest

Marker/Plaque/Monument Monday

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The Evansville Museum's Transportation Center...

is full of special surprises! This plaque commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the completion of connecting railroads across the United States in Utah on 10 May 1869. This golden stake was pinned on 10 May 1969 right here in Evansville.
Click on photos for larger images. Below is a closer look at the spike.

The plaque is right in front of this Engine 1416 at the museum. If trains interest you, Evansville Museum is a place to visit!

- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest

History of a Monkey Ship

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Mesker Park Zoo...

has a neat ship that is known as the Monkey Ship that is well known by zoo visitors!

Click on photos to enlarge images... the sign is easy to read when enlarged.
History of the Mesker Park Zoo's Monkey Ship is written on this sign posted near the ship.

- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

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Don Counts sent me this very neat tombstone artwork:

See the buffalo? Made using the letters of the surname of this Native American of the Cherokee Nation.

Bartholomew "Bart" Gipson was born in Cherokee County, Oklahoma 25 July 1951. He died in Vanderburgh County, Indiana 26 March 2009 (burial in Evansville Lutheran Cemetery). Living in Evansville for 30 years, working as a Social Worker (according to his obituary, as posted in the Browning Database).

[Note: in his obituary some of the family members last name was spelled "Gibson" instead of "Gipson." - JGW]

- Photos taken & submitted by Donald Counts

Whirlpool Is Closing Its Doors Today!

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This blog is being posted kind of late today. I did not much feel like posting one at all, since Whirlpool has decided to close its plant here, that has been in town for over 50 years and heading to Mexico for cheap labor! 1,100 people lost their jobs! This will affect many families besides the ones that were left without a job.

There will be divorces, bankruptcies, people losing their cars or even their homes. Some will move to an area where they can get work and start over in their lives. As genealogists, we have wondered why families moved from one place to another. Sometimes, it was because they could get land. There were times when tragedy struck due to the weather storms or floods (earthquakes, etc.). Sometimes fire destroyed everything they had. Diseases would wipe out the majority of a family and cause the survivors to want to move on to help them grieve. The land may have become barren due to the crops taking the nutrients from the soil and the farmers did not replenish it. Sometimes there were large numbers of people leaving at the same time to go to a new place... these migrations usually were caused by a tragedy or land speculation.

My point is just, as some will move from Evansville due to loss of their job at Whirlpool, our ancestors had a reason to move from where they were born to live in another state sometimes a long way off. An important aspect of our ancestor's story is learning why they moved.

Compiled by JGWest

Tombstone Thursday - Nicholson

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Alexander Memorial Park Cemetery

Evansville, Indiana

Clarence L. Nicholson

1906-1979

Valada A. Nicholson

1911-1966

This marker has always caught my eye, when I drive through this cemetery where my parents and some other family members are buried (Becky & I have lots here, too). This one is one of my favorites!

- Photo taken & submitted by JGWest

[Tombstone Thursday is dedicated in memory of Donald G. West 1952-2000]

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

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U.S. Post Office ~

New Harmony, Indiana...

This post office was established in 1816 (the same year that Indiana became a state!).
One hundred fifty years later, a new post office building was built with this commemorative stone marker in 1966.

- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest