“From Rabun Gap to Tybee Light” is a phrase popular among Georgia orators. It describes the considerable length of the state, the country’s largest east of the Mississippi. Rabun Gap is a natural land formation whileTybee Light is an historic man-made landmark. One of the earliest structures in Georgia, it was built by the colony’s founder, James Oglethorpe, to mark the entrance to the Savannah River and to warn ships of the shallow coastal waters at Tybee Island. The current edifice is the fourth in a series of “daymarks” and lighthouses erected here. more

Weber Mill, also known as the Florence Mill, is one of the oldest historic landmarks in Nebraska. Located in the Florence neighborhood of North Omaha, the site is near the Missouri River. Mormons under the supervision of Brigham Young established their Winter Quarters here in 1846 during their westward migration from Illinois to Utah. The temporary living quarters consisted of tents, hastily constructed cabins, and sod houses. Realizing the need for flour and lumber the Mormons built a water-powered mill adjacent to what was later named Mill Creek that was intended to provide only a temporary solution to their needs. ...more

The town of Regent, thirty miles south of I-94, was dying, so metal sculptor and retired schoolteacher Gary Greff decided to do something to revitalize and attract attention to western North Dakota’s often bypassed small towns. In 1990 he began to create ten enormous sculptures from scrap metal and placed one every few miles along the popularly named “Enchanted Highway” (as it now appears in tourism literature) on the thirty-two-mile stretch from Gladstone to Regent. All the installations face north toward oncoming traffic from I-94. The Enchanted Highway... more

The California mission system was an attempt by the Spanish government to assert and expand its dominion over the colony of Alta California, not only in built form but through the conversion of Natives to the Catholic religion and to European mores. Between 1769 and 1823, twenty-one missions were established along the California coast, from San Diego to Sonoma, by Friar Junípero Serra and his successors. The missions’ lasting effect on the California landscape cannot be underestimated: often located near presidios (forts) and pueblos (settlers’ villages), the mission conurbations became the foundations for modern metropolises such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. The first and oldest mission in the chain is the Mission San Diego de Alcalá. more