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Other Topics => Off Topic Discussion => Topic started by: Psycho Circus on June 15, 2009, 01:16:15 PM



Title: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Psycho Circus on June 15, 2009, 01:16:15 PM
Reading Trevor's "name of your town/city" thread gave me this idea. We've all discussed where we are from but don't know that much about each of our particular parts of the world.


I'm from Manchester, England:

It is the third-most visited city in the UK by foreign visitors.
Manchester was the world's first industrialised city.
The Atom was split in Manchester.
Is home to football teams, Manchester City (my club) and Manchester United.
The city was bombed during WWII in the "blitz", then again in 1996 by the IRA.
The Manchester Arndale is the UK's largest shopping mall.
The M.E.N. Arena is the largest indoor sports/entertainment venue in Europe.

Famous musicians from the city include; Joy Division/New Order, The Smiths, Oasis, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, The Buzzcocks, The Hollies, Herman's Hermits, Simply Red, Take That and The Bee Gees.


What's your hometown/city known for? Anyone famous from where you dwell? Landmarks? Music scene?



Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Doggett on June 15, 2009, 01:19:50 PM
I'm in Harrow.
It's a London borough. There are 32 of them ! Take that NY !

It's famous for...seriously...erm...Buckingham Palace ?
History Museum
Houses of Parliament
The Tate Modern
Westminster Abbey
Madame Tussuad's
The London Eye. Biggest ferris wheel in the world apparently. I think it should be further down the river. It looks kinda out of place by all the old victorian buildings.

It's the biggest city in Europe
Highest population density in the UK
More than 12 percent of the UK population lives here. Can't blame 'em.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: BeyondTheGrave on June 15, 2009, 01:34:26 PM
Queens has a lot of pioneers in music scene and other legends especially rap/hip-hop and punk/hardcore. Run-DMC, Ramones, Gorilla Biscuits, Nas, Mob Deep, Token Entry, Reagan Youth and many more have come from here.

We also have the two major airports and only airports in NYC, JFK and La Guardia.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Ed, Ego and Superego on June 15, 2009, 01:38:30 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Indian_Runner
This was filmed there. 

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/john_joubert/photo.html
And this happened. 

-Ed


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Raffine on June 15, 2009, 01:39:55 PM
From the Wikipedias:
Sylacauga is the site of the only documented case of an object from outer space hitting a person. On November 30, 1954, a 4 kg piece of what became known as the Hodges Meteorite crashed through the roof of an Oak Grove house, bounced off a radio, and badly bruised Mrs. Ann Hodges, who was taking an afternoon nap.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: asimpson2006 on June 15, 2009, 01:55:12 PM
Here is what Mechanicsburg, PA is known for:

-The lead singer and drummer from Poison grew up here.

-Jon Ritchie a former NFL player, we graduated from the same HS, albeit different years (For him I think he graduated in 92 or 93, and me in 04.)

- Jubilee Day (This Thrusday) the single largest block party on the East Coast.  Usually brings in around 60,000 for the day, which includes people from all over the world who visit.

- Williams Grove Speedway, a 1/2 mile dirt track that a lot of famous drivers in American auto racing have won at.  Everybody and anybody wants to win here.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: WingedSerpent on June 15, 2009, 02:34:18 PM
I live in Parma, a suburb or Cleveland.
Famous for: The Blue Light of Parma. (MonsterQuest did an episode that mentioned it.)
Being mentioned in the original opening song to the Drew Carey Show

Cleveland:
LeBron James
The Browns and their "Amazing" winning record
The Cleveland Indians: and thus the Major Leauge movies.

The Cleveland Zoo reportely has one of the largest collections of bears and primates of any Zoo in the USA.

Marvel's Howard the Duck calls it home.

Movies filmed hear include Double Dragon, and some scenes from Air Force One, and Spider-Man 3.

oh, our river once caught on fire


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Hammock Rider on June 15, 2009, 03:31:14 PM
Cicero IL has quite a sterling reputation:

Al Capone built his criminal empire in Chicago before moving to Cicero to escape the reach of Chicago police.

Town President Betty Loren-Maltese was sent to federal prison for misappropriating funds . She was well-liked by retired, long-term Cicero residents, but was continually challenged by younger Hispanic opponents before her indictment.

Cicero was taken up and abandoned several times as site for a civil rights march in the mid-1960s. The American Friends Service Committee, the Rev. Martin Luther King, and many affiliated organizations, were conducting marches against housing and segregation and inequality in Chicago and several suburbs, but the leaders feared too violent a response in Chicago Lawn and Cicero. Eventually, a substantial march (met by catcalls, flying bottles and bricks) was conducted in Chicago Lawn, but only a splinter group marched in Cicero.

St. Mary of Czestochowa, a Neogothic church built in the so-called 'Polish Cathedral' style along with the sculpture of Christ the King by famed sculptor Professor Czesław Dźwigaj, who also cast the monumental bronze doors at St. Hyacinth's Basilica in Chicago. The church's other claim to fame is as the site of Al Capone's sister Mafalda's wedding in 1930.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: LilCerberus on June 15, 2009, 03:59:57 PM
Capital of the Confederacy
Home of the late Aurther Ashe
The iBook Riot


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Jack on June 15, 2009, 04:40:24 PM
Winona Ryder was supposedly born here, though actually I think she was born in the next county over.  Ummm...uhhh...there's a Famous Footwear store in town.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Javakoala on June 15, 2009, 06:05:43 PM
Locust Grove, Oklahoma:

Three Girl Scouts Murdered at Camp Garland just south of town.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Girl_Scout_Murders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Girl_Scout_Murders)

This makes Gene Leroy Hart out to be a bad, bad man. The truth that no one wants to listen to is that he was living with the two pregnant women and when he wouldn't supply them with drugs and booze because they were pregnant and he wouldn't leave because he was paying most of the rent, they cried, "Rape".

His "daring escape" consisted of walking a half block away while he was mowing the county courthouse grounds and sitting in a cafe for over three hours before finally deciding to ask someone if they were headed to Locust Grove, a mere 25 miles away.

The items he stole from the sheriff's office during his escape were actually locked away where he could not find them and he did not go back inside to get this stuff. He just walked away, but these items were proof of his daring daylight escape.

Next door to the Scout property lived a family who had a son known for many attempted molestations of young children. But they kept everything hushed up and their son out of jail. When these murders happened, he was mentioned as a possible attacker of the girl scouts, but our noble sheriff, Pete Weaver, denied it and stated the family's son had not even been in the state the whole week the murders took place. Yet he was picked out of videos of the crowd trying to look at the crime scene.

The highly trained tracking dogs brought in to find Hart didn't fair too well. Supposedly, Hart was behind what happened to them. Truth is, one jumped out of the back of a pickup truck at highway speeds and another died of heatstroke.

God, I love small town BS.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Newt on June 15, 2009, 09:06:47 PM
The town I grew up in was known years ago as "The Turkey Capital of Canada".  Proud times.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Rev. Powell on June 15, 2009, 09:11:00 PM
The home of the Kentucky Derby.

Claims to have invented the cheeseburger (though slapping a piece of cheese on a hamburger doesn't seem like a great innovation to me)

Most famous citizen, by far: Muhammad Ali

Second most famous citizen: Tom Cruise

Other famous citizens: Ned Beatty, Hunter S. Thompson, Col. Sanders

Best director: Tod Browning or D.W. Griffith

Worst director: William Girdler

Best musician: Lionel Hampton


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: meQal on June 15, 2009, 09:37:14 PM
Can't say anything famous ever happen in Brookwood,AL. We are between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama. Only thing to ever happen here that people might of heard of was a couple of mining accidents which sadly claimed the lives of some coal miners.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: RCMerchant on June 16, 2009, 06:19:32 AM
I was born in NYC,which is famous for lotsa stuff,but lived most of my life in Lawton,MI. which is famous for absoulutly nada. It has the same name of Lawton ,Oklahoma. There have been 5 murders in Lawton in the past 10 years. I knew 5 of the victums,and 2 of the killers. For a while about 5 years ago,it seemed a meth lab was exploding every other day. Panthers (yes,panthers),have been spotted in the woods and fields. Moe Moyteka dressed up in a gorrilla mask and fur coat waaaaaay back in the 60's and terrorized some farmers. He was drunk.People still think it was Bigfoot. A dead mexican was found in a brine vat at the old pickle factory back in 1970.I found a dead cow out in a field when I was a kid,It was wintertime.I kicked it-a possum ran out his a$$!  :buggedout:


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Rev. Powell on June 16, 2009, 11:30:06 AM
Moe Moyteka dressed up in a gorrilla mask and fur coat waaaaaay back in the 60's and terrorized some farmers. He was drunk.People still think it was Bigfoot. A dead mexican was found in a brine vat at the old pickle factory back in 1970.I found a dead cow out in a field when I was a kid,It was wintertime.I kicked it-a possum ran out his a$$!  :buggedout:

Man, that is some classic small-town Americana.  Especially the possum story.   :bouncegiggle: 


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Trevor on June 17, 2009, 01:27:45 AM
Bulawayo, Rhodesia (what is left of it is now called Zimbabwe  :bluesad:) is famous for many things, not the least of which is spawning the pure hell that is me.  :twirl:

It was the first city colonised by the British north of the Limpopo River
It was King Lobengula's capital.
The word means "place of the killing" or something like that.

Thou canst judgeth for thyselves......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulawayo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulawayo)


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: flackbait on June 17, 2009, 03:34:44 AM
Bulawayo, Rhodesia (what is left of it is now called Zimbabwe  :bluesad:) is famous for many things, not the least of which is spawning the pure hell that is me.  :twirl:

It was the first city colonised by the British north of the Limpopo River
It was King Lobengula's capital.
The word means "place of the killing" or something like that.

Thou canst judgeth for thyselves......

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulawayo[/url] ([url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulawayo[/url])

Former Rhodesian? Where you still around when the Bush Wars happened or did your parents move to South Africa before it happened?

As for me my hometown is Holland,MI its only famous for two things, Tulip Time and our beaches. Tulip Time is supposed to be a celebration of the towns dutch history, to me it just an excuse to hold a festival and take tourists money.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Trevor on June 17, 2009, 04:17:38 AM
My folks were originally from SA and settled in what was then Rhodesia in the early 1960's where they were presented on one fine day with the strange child from Rosemary's Baby.  :wink:

My Dad served in the war from the late 60's to 1979 ~ he never talked about what he did in those years and I never asked him ~ but he did tell me that he still had nightmares and possibly quite a lot of post-traumatic stress disorder long after the war.

One thing he did tell me was once, on a patrol, they caught and killed someone from the other side (freedom fighter or terrorist, depending on your viewpoint). As a warning to others not to do the same, they chopped his body in half and hung the top half on the barbed wire fence.  :buggedout: :buggedout: :buggedout:


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Trevor on June 17, 2009, 04:19:27 AM
to me it just an excuse to hold a festival and take tourists money.

 :bouncegiggle: :teddyr:


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: flackbait on June 17, 2009, 04:58:53 AM
My folks were originally from SA and settled in what was then Rhodesia in the early 1960's where they were presented on one fine day with the strange child from Rosemary's Baby.  :wink:

My Dad served in the war from the late 60's to 1979 ~ he never talked about what he did in those years and I never asked him ~ but he did tell me that he still had nightmares and possibly quite a lot of post-traumatic stress disorder long after the war.

One thing he did tell me was once, on a patrol, they caught and killed someone from the other side (freedom fighter or terrorist, depending on your viewpoint). As a warning to others not to do the same, they chopped his body in half and hung the top half on the barbed wire fence.  :buggedout: :buggedout: :buggedout:
I can't really say I have a viewpoint. But I sure as hell know I don't like Mugabe or Nkomo though.
Thats a pretty brutal story from your dad Trevor! No wonder you dad didn't talk about the war much. He must have been one tough guy to make it through in one piece.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Trevor on June 17, 2009, 05:17:12 AM
He was a tough guy, right to the end of his life, stubborn, cranky, but also a loving husband and father ~ it's him that I have to blame for taking me to a weird place called The Cinema when I was seven.  :wink:

He was so damn stubborn that he even denied that he was very sick and defied the doctor's orders to have his dangerous medical condition attended to.  He actually told the doctor that "if I die, then I die." Dunno if I have even a quarter of his guts. One other thing ~ he insisted on no funerals for him: he wanted a party as his farewell and we had a party on him.  :smile:

The one memory I have of the war is Dad unloading his 9mm Uzi and handing it to me, saying: "Here son, go scare the sh*t out of the neighbours."  :teddyr:


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Mr. DS on June 17, 2009, 11:10:10 AM
Nothing really, I'm from Western MA originally.  My home town was primarily know for it's mills during the early part of the 1900s.  My home town is more or less a place where people get off the highway to urniate or buy fast food.   :teddyr:


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: InformationGeek on June 17, 2009, 12:58:40 PM
I'm not going to say the name of my hometown, but I will say that part of The Giant Spider Invasion and Public Enemies was filmed in my area.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: RCMerchant on June 17, 2009, 01:52:30 PM
I'm not going to say the name of my hometown, but I will say that part of The Giant Spider Invasion and Public Enemies was filmed in my area.

Wisconson? I love the local feel of that movie.The GIANT SPIDER INVASION,that is.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: indianasmith on June 17, 2009, 01:59:51 PM
Greenville, TX, my birthplace, was the home of WWII Hero and film star Audie Murphy, and has a museum in his honor . . . . also, being located on the Northern Blackland Prairie, used to feature a sign at the west end of Main Street that said:
 
"Greenville, Texas - The Blackest Land, the Whitest People"

Old timers will still insist that there was nothing racist about it.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: LilCerberus on June 17, 2009, 02:43:03 PM
Pardon the shameless plug...

"The largest all volunteer low powered fm station in America."


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: lester1/2jr on June 17, 2009, 02:54:03 PM
darksider are you from lowell?


my hometown and the next town over have the longest football rivalry in the country,  every thanksgiving for like 130 years or something the two terrible teams go at it


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: InformationGeek on June 17, 2009, 03:05:19 PM
I'm not going to say the name of my hometown, but I will say that part of The Giant Spider Invasion and Public Enemies was filmed in my area.

Wisconson? I love the local feel of that movie.The GIANT SPIDER INVASION,that is.

That's my state, but I will not tell you my town.  As a member of that state, I can certianly say we are not like the people in The Giant Spider Invasion... as far as I know.  I don't live in one of those areas.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Mr. DS on June 17, 2009, 04:50:51 PM
Quote
darksider are you from lowell?
A fine guess but no.   I lived in a small town outside of Springfield. 


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: flackbait on June 17, 2009, 04:53:07 PM
He was a tough guy, right to the end of his life, stubborn, cranky, but also a loving husband and father ~ it's him that I have to blame for taking me to a weird place called The Cinema when I was seven.  :wink:

He was so damn stubborn that he even denied that he was very sick and defied the doctor's orders to have his dangerous medical condition attended to.  He actually told the doctor that "if I die, then I die." Dunno if I have even a quarter of his guts. One other thing ~ he insisted on no funerals for him: he wanted a party as his farewell and we had a party on him.  :smile:

The one memory I have of the war is Dad unloading his 9mm Uzi and handing it to me, saying: "Here son, go scare the sh*t out of the neighbours."  :teddyr:
He sounds like one hell of a good guy. Even if he frightned the bejeezus out of the neigbhors! :teddyr: My condolences for your loss. But at least hes in a better place now.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: LilCerberus on June 17, 2009, 05:18:49 PM
"The South's first television station"

Philip Morris

Gwar, Cracker, The Dave Mathews Band

Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson

Edgar Allen Poe


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: schmendrik on June 17, 2009, 09:25:35 PM
I grew up in Syracuse, NY. Famous locally for snow. And snow. Lots and lots of snow. And I think we're supposed to have less sunshine than any place in the US except Seattle.

Uh, let's see. There have been a number of famous graduates of the University, including Rod Serling, Frank Langella and Suzanne Pleshette. I think Stephen Crane (author of "The Red Badge of Courage") flunked out from there.

They've had some good basketball and football teams over the years. Football hall-of-famers Jim Brown and Larry Csonka played there. Also for some reason a lacrosse team that always does really well.

There was only one connection with the movies that I know: The local hockey rink was used for the ice scenes in "Slap Shot".

I grew up pretty close to the Erie Canal, which is what was responsible for founding and growth of the city I believe.

Did I mention snow?


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: ghouck on June 17, 2009, 10:17:51 PM
Mine is famous for the "Mt. Marathon race": It's a footrace where people start in town and run to the top of a mountain and back. There's always mild injuries and usually and one or two decent ones, with many of the people bleeding on return, but the running and the sweat makes it look worse than it is usually. We're a town of about 2600, but the 4th of July, which is race day, we have an additional 10,000 to 12,000 tourists.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Trevor on June 18, 2009, 01:14:47 AM
My home town is more or less a place where people get off the highway to urniate or buy fast food.   :teddyr:

 :bouncegiggle: :teddyr: :bouncegiggle:

Sounds like the town that I grew up in ~ people said "Yeah, I went through a small place called Gwelo but it was closed."  :teddyr:


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Trevor on June 18, 2009, 04:00:12 AM
He was a tough guy, right to the end of his life, stubborn, cranky, but also a loving husband and father ~ it's him that I have to blame for taking me to a weird place called The Cinema when I was seven.  :wink:

He was so damn stubborn that he even denied that he was very sick and defied the doctor's orders to have his dangerous medical condition attended to.  He actually told the doctor that "if I die, then I die." Dunno if I have even a quarter of his guts. One other thing ~ he insisted on no funerals for him: he wanted a party as his farewell and we had a party on him.  :smile:

The one memory I have of the war is Dad unloading his 9mm Uzi and handing it to me, saying: "Here son, go scare the sh*t out of the neighbours."  :teddyr:
He sounds like one hell of a good guy. Even if he frightned the bejeezus out of the neigbhors! :teddyr: My condolences for your loss. But at least hes in a better place now.

Karma for the nice words, thanks.  :smile:


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: BoyScoutKevin on June 18, 2009, 04:17:02 PM
I love talking about where I live.

Military Outpost
The military has always been here. First it was the United States Army, which was here to protect the first white settlers from the Native Americans. Then it was the United States Air Force. And when they left at the end of the Cold War, the United States Navy arrived.

University Town
At one time, the largest Baptist seminary in the world was located here.
The local university was the first university in the United States to offer a degree in dance.

Medical Center
Until it closed, one of the only teaching hospitals to teach osteopathic medicine was located here.

Center for the Arts
There are museums dedicated to European, modern, and Western art.
The museum for European art is especially noted for it's collection of European art. And the building itself is a work of art. It was one of the last buildings designed by noted architect Louis Kahn.
It is only one of seventy cities in the United States to have its own ballet company, opera company, and symphony orchestra.
The most prestigious piano competition in the world is held here. The Van Clibun.

Western heritage
We are proud of our Western heritage.
We are the home of the Western Cowgirl Museum.
We are the home of the NCHA (National Cutting Horse Association) which holds its annual event here.
If anybody has seen the most famous photo of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, it was shot here, when they were in town.
One of the greatest classic Western gunfights happen here. Between "Longhair" Jim Courtright and Luke Short. Which is re-enacted every year.
The Chisholm Trail passed through here.

We Are Not Proud Of . . . But It is Part of Our History
President Kennedy spent his last night here, before he was assassinated.

Entertainment
Several films and TV shows were shot here and/or supposedly took place here.

Sports
Nothing major, but The Cats, the local minor league baseball team, is one of the best minor league baseball teams in the United States.

Miscellaneous
We have one of the ten best zoos in the United States here.
Here is one of the few places where the United States paper currency is printed.

And as a final clue to where I live, halfway between here and the next major city to the east of us, is where the West begins and the East peters out.





Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: WingedSerpent on June 18, 2009, 08:27:41 PM
We got the Rock n'Roll Hall of Fame.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: flackbait on June 18, 2009, 09:08:49 PM
He was a tough guy, right to the end of his life, stubborn, cranky, but also a loving husband and father ~ it's him that I have to blame for taking me to a weird place called The Cinema when I was seven.  :wink:

He was so damn stubborn that he even denied that he was very sick and defied the doctor's orders to have his dangerous medical condition attended to.  He actually told the doctor that "if I die, then I die." Dunno if I have even a quarter of his guts. One other thing ~ he insisted on no funerals for him: he wanted a party as his farewell and we had a party on him.  :smile:

The one memory I have of the war is Dad unloading his 9mm Uzi and handing it to me, saying: "Here son, go scare the sh*t out of the neighbours."  :teddyr:
He sounds like one hell of a good guy. Even if he frightned the bejeezus out of the neigbhors! :teddyr: My condolences for your loss. But at least hes in a better place now.

Karma for the nice words, thanks.  :smile:
No problem


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Psycho Circus on July 02, 2009, 01:09:45 PM
I forgot! We also have Frank Sidebottom!

(http://www.citylife.co.uk/img/15973/30310_250490_frank_sidebottom_coheadlines_the_salford_festival_of_musical_comedy.jpg)


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: ghouck on July 02, 2009, 02:04:51 PM
We got the Rock n'Roll Hall of Fame.
Cleveland eh? I grew up in a small town between Akron and Canton, called "Canal Fulton"


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: frank on July 03, 2009, 01:58:55 AM


Giessen, Germany, is where Justus Liebig worked. He invented the bouillon cube and the artificial manure/   chemical fertilizer (in simple terms). Think of him next time you eat processed food or crop products...

He also made the city council to build the railway station right next to his lab, which means now all tracks meet in the center of the town crossing all main streets and making you wait on railway crossing gates all the time. Most famous quote:"The nicest part of Giessen is it's main station."





Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Dennis on July 05, 2009, 11:24:51 AM
The city I was born in, Buffalo, New York, is famous for being the western terminus of the Erie Canal, but is probably more famous for Niagara Falls.
(http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/DENNISDURWARDHAMMOND/Panoramic_View_of_Niagara_Falls.jpg) 

The town I live in now, San Gabriel, Ca. is famous for the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, 238 years old, it's still an active part of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as well as being a minor tourist attraction.
(http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/DENNISDURWARDHAMMOND/SGMSanGabrielMission.jpg)


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: schmendrik on July 05, 2009, 02:42:59 PM
The city I was born in, Buffalo, New York, is famous for being the western terminus of the Erie Canal, but is probably more famous for Niagara Falls.
([url]http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/DENNISDURWARDHAMMOND/Panoramic_View_of_Niagara_Falls.jpg[/url]) 


There's a Mark Twain essay called "Niagara Falls". It amuses me how much of a tourist trap it was even then, maybe 100 years ago. The narrator ends up being beaten up by a gang of Irish immigrants who are selling "authentic" Indian jewelry.

I loved going there as a kid. I remember how every plaque in the museum about people who'd gone over the falls seemed to list how many bones they broke and how long they spent in the hospital.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: lester1/2jr on July 06, 2009, 09:09:20 AM

Martini Junction (http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/19/x_marks_the_spot/)


(http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/88a3508a-2bbc-43b5-baaf-75f179f39be7.jpg)

I visited this yesterday and spent most of the time fixing one of the wheels on them model train and getting biten by bugs


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Dennis on July 06, 2009, 02:43:31 PM
The city I was born in, Buffalo, New York, is famous for being the western terminus of the Erie Canal, but is probably more famous for Niagara Falls.
([url]http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/DENNISDURWARDHAMMOND/Panoramic_View_of_Niagara_Falls.jpg[/url]) 


There's a Mark Twain essay called "Niagara Falls". It amuses me how much of a tourist trap it was even then, maybe 100 years ago. The narrator ends up being beaten up by a gang of Irish immigrants who are selling "authentic" Indian jewelry.

I loved going there as a kid. I remember how every plaque in the museum about people who'd gone over the falls seemed to list how many bones they broke and how long they spent in the hospital.





In spite of the commercialization, I've always found the sight and sound of the falls awe inspiring. I've also always wondered why any one would want to go over the falls in a barrel, or anything else for that matter.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: CheezeFlixz on July 07, 2009, 11:52:40 AM
Other than me ... not much.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Joe the Destroyer on November 16, 2009, 07:00:10 AM
Spokane, WA. 

-Birthplace of actor Craig T. Nelson, Everclear bassist Craig Montoya, animator Chuck Jones, and Alter Bridge/Mayfield Four singer Miles Davis.  Childhood home of Bing Crosby, but not his birthplace. 

-Supposedly the site of the first live performance by Jimi Hendrix.  He opened for the Monkees in River Front Park and was booed off the stage.  One thing someone noted from the performance was that he hung upside down from a tree and played a badass solo. 

-Our last mayor, Jim West, was recalled from office on a gay sex scandal.  It was alleged that he was offering men high ranking city positions in exchange for sexual favors.  He also admitted to using office computers to have sexual chats and hook ups with other men.  The man wasn't out of the closet, though.  He was actually fervently against gay rights, and always voted against them.

-Location of the Expo 1974.

-We're regarded as the "sunny side of the state."  Everyone thinks of all of Washington as being rainy and dreary, but Spokane is usually dry during the summer.  We actually experience quite a few droughts. 

-Father's Day was started here.

-Home of "Bloomsday," the nation's longest timed race; and "Hoopfest," the world's largest three-on-three basketball tournament (not that there are many to contend with). 

-Filming location of movies like Home of the Brave, Benny and Joon,  Knockaround Guys, and Mozart and the Whale.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: retrorussell on November 16, 2009, 07:35:45 AM
The Trailblazers.
Multibillionaire/Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
Some of the best microbreweries in the U.S.
Outstanding public transportation systems.
Stonehenge Tower, one of, if not the largest radio tower(s) in the U.S. consisting of a number of local radio stations.
The most environmentally conscious city in the U.S.
Great bike and hiking trails and parks.
Bob Packwood, Tonya Harding and Sam Adams (groan).
Very dog-friendly, as I often see them on public transportation (not in carriers and usually NOT service animals) or brought into enclosed public places like bars and stores, TOTAL bulls**t!!!


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Newt on November 16, 2009, 08:11:11 AM
MUDDY THE MUDCAT!  Entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest fibreglass fish (catfish?) in the world.  Yes, he was finally unveiled on Saturday...the crowds were enormous...people flocked to take their "Oh my goodness: look, they really DID stick a big plastic mudcat on a pole at an entrance to town!" pic's.

We're waiting for the rush to thin out.  Then we'll head on down for a pic or two of our own and drop by the bank to see about a loan to renovate the house into a B&B so that we too can cash in on the tourist influx.  It'll be a goldmine!  :tongueout:


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: WilliamWeird1313 on November 16, 2009, 08:19:51 AM


I'm from a little armpit-of-the-universe kinda town in Pennsylvania called Nanticoke.

Our biggest claim to fame is that we have the only road in the entire United States where you can literally go from kindergarten to college without ever leaving said street. We have an elementary school, junior high, high school, and community college all on the same road. Which is actually kind of depressing when you get right down to it.

Also, apparently the only one-armed man to ever play major league baseball was born (and lost the arm) here. The actor Nick Adams and the famous criminal Albert Tannenbaum is from here too. All in all, that's about it.

I don't know if this is official or anything, but I'm pretty sure we have the worst potholes in America.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: SkullBat308 on November 16, 2009, 11:10:39 PM
I live in Halifax, the capital of the province of Nova Scotia in Canada.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Regional_Municipality

It's famous for having the second largest ice free harbor in the world, where the Halifax explosion took place.

From Wikipedia....

 The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows" section of the Halifax Harbor. About 2,000 people were killed by debris, fires, or collapsed buildings and it is estimated that over 9,000 people were injured. This is still the world's largest man-made accidental explosion.

Also Ellen Page and Sidney Crosby are from here.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: venomx on November 16, 2009, 11:15:33 PM
Just crime and poverty. (that's sad)


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: paula on November 19, 2009, 06:16:06 AM
Lowell MA

Big Mill town back in the day.  Boxer Mickey Ward is from here and his bio pic with Mark Wahlberg and Chritian Bale should be out next year.  Parts of Rickey Gervais movie "The Invention of Lying" were shot here too.  OH!! and the documentary "High on Crack St."......that's all lowell baby!  proud proud


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: El Misfit on November 20, 2009, 03:17:18 AM
New Orleans
Insane Mardi Gras
Birth of Lil' Wayne
Filming location for The curious case of Benjamin button
a holy crap more....


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Rev. Powell on November 29, 2009, 10:32:17 PM
New Orleans
Insane Mardi Gras
Birth of Lil' Wayne
Filming location for The curious case of Benjamin button
a holy crap more....

Great food.
Great music.
Birthplace of Louis Armstrong (a bit more famous than Lil' Wayne  :wink:).
Most interesting city in the U.S.
You're lucky to live there...  :cheers:


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: AndyC on November 30, 2009, 12:42:49 AM
MUDDY THE MUDCAT!  Entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest fibreglass fish (catfish?) in the world.  Yes, he was finally unveiled on Saturday...the crowds were enormous...people flocked to take their "Oh my goodness: look, they really DID stick a big plastic mudcat on a pole at an entrance to town!" pic's.

We're waiting for the rush to thin out.  Then we'll head on down for a pic or two of our own and drop by the bank to see about a loan to renovate the house into a B&B so that we too can cash in on the tourist influx.  It'll be a goldmine!  :tongueout:

Woo hoo! Congratulations. Dunnville is on the map now.

My hometown of Elmira, Ontario is in the Guinness Book for the largest one-day maple syrup festival in the world. The town is also known for being smack in the middle of Mennonite country (a town of 10,000 has about 300 Martins listed in the phone book), and it's a few minutes down the road from a major town-sized tourist trap called St. Jacobs. Elmira has also produced a number of NHL players over the years.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Trevor on November 30, 2009, 01:08:52 AM
My place of birth is Bulawayo, Rhodesia ~ oddly enough my two cousins Karen and Gary were born in the same hospital that my folks adopted me from. I never lived there but the last time I was in Zimbabwe going home in 1997, I phoned home from Bulawayo. Dad answered and he wanted to know where I was. I said "I'm home, but not yet." "Ah, you're in Bulawayo. OK.  :thumbup:"  :teddyr:

I grew up in Gwelo [now Gweru] which is about 150 km north of Bulawayo ~ nice town, one of those small places where if you went to the toilet, everyone knew when you went, why you went and what you did while you were there.  :buggedout:

I attended Chaplin High School ~ the former PM of Rhodesia, Ian Smith was head boy there in the 1930's ~ and after breaking much sweat over studying managed to pass my exams with an astonishing average of 000000000.1%.  :tongueout: It was tough growing up in a war with Dad away much of the time but the three of us survived.  :smile:

Incidentally, the word Bulawayo is derived from the Ndebele word gubulawayo meaning "place of the killing".  :buggedout: :buggedout: Strange place to be born in.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Criswell on November 30, 2009, 06:44:56 PM
Nothing ever happens in Tennessee, so no.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Rev. Powell on December 01, 2009, 05:58:19 PM
Nothing ever happens in Tennessee, so no.

I hear that stuff sometimes happens on Beale Street.  Also, the Memphis Tigers sometimes get Final Fours vacated, and that should count for something.


Title: Re: Is Your Hometown Famous For Anything?
Post by: Jim H on December 02, 2009, 04:51:24 AM
flackbait, I used to live in Michigan.  I've always heard Holland is a pretty cool town, at least nice looking because of its ancestry.  I dunno though, never went there.

I grew up in Northville, Michigan.  I'd have to say the one thing it is famous for (in the region, too small to be nationally known) is its Victorian architecture.  There's a lot of very well-preserved homes from the 19th century and early 20th century with some classical designs.  Some very unique and cool looking houses.  My house was more of the 50s style generic, but because of the up-and-coming nature of the neighborhood, tons of the houses had additions (including ours, which had an extra family room, bathroom, and hot tub room added onto the back), and everyone had lots of colors.  The age of the area meant everything was integrated into the land a little more, and there were a lot of trees.

Another interesting factor to the area was how far we were from major interstates.  Just luck I guess. 

The combination of these two factors means most of the suburbs I see now, especially the newer ones, seem exceedingly ugly and poorly designed.

Related to the Victorian stuff, every year there was a Victorian festival in the center of the old part of town.  There was a man who was basically a snake oil salesman, claiming to sell his magical Roundies (actually M&Ms) that would cure anything.  There was also art, trinkets, etc, and lots of food.  Fun stuff.  We'd go as part of school, once or twice dressed in Victorian clothes.

Henry Ford once lived there.  He married his wife there.

Aside from that...  The city has the first harness horse racing track in the state.  Wow.  I've never been in it.