VA

Society: ASABE Main Category: Agricultural & Biological Sub Category: Vehicles Era: 1920-1929 DateCreated: 1926 Orange County Historical Society Orange State: VA Zip: 22960 Country: USA Website: https://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/rubber-tractor-tires-34.aspx Creator: Pounds, Hoyle, Allis-Chalmers Company, Roorda, Hessel

Early tractors were massive and expensive. Their steel lug wheels gave poor traction and a rough ride. Lugs were prohibited on many roads. 1926 Hoyle Pounds modified a Fordson tractor with zero pressure truck tires on special rims to improve performance on sandy soils in Winter Garden, FL.

A successful business resulted. In 1929 Hessel Roorda equipped Farmall tractors with low pressure rubber tires to pick corn in muddy fields near Rock Valley, IA. Farmers found they performed well in all conditions.

YearAdded:

1995

Image Credit: Image Caption: A modern rubber tractor tire Era_date_from:

NASA Langley Research Center

Entrance to NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia, United States.

Society: Main Category: Sub Category: Era: 1910-1919 DateCreated: 1917 Langley Research Center Hampton State: VA Zip: Country: USA Website: https://www.aiaa.org/SecondaryTwoColumn.aspx?id=15032386787 Creator: NASA

The Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, now the core of the Langley Research Center, was a unique facility that served as the nexus of aerodynamic research in the U.S. from its beginning in 1917 to its transformation into NASA’s Langley Research Center in 1958. It achieved world renown for its variety of specialized research tools and its staff’s emphasis on practical solutions to the problems of flight.

YearAdded:

2001

Image Credit: Image Caption: Entrance to NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia, United States. Era_date_from:

Chemistry at Jamestown

Society: ACS Main Category: Chemical Sub Category: Cradles of Chemistry Era: 1600s DateCreated: Historic Jamestown Settlement Williamsburg State: VA Zip: Country: USA Website: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/jamestownchemistry.html, https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/jamestownchemistry/chemistry-at-jamestown-commemorative-booklet.pdf Creator:

Recent archaeological evidence reveals early Virginia, which included both the Roanoke and Jamestown colonies, as the birthplace of the American chemical enterprise. Chemical processes first applied experimentally at Roanoke were re-introduced at Jamestown twenty years later.

YearAdded:

2007

Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/bootbearwdc (CC BY 2.0) Image Caption: Housing within James Fort at Jamestown settlement, Virginia Era_date_from:

Boeing 367-80 (Prototype for Boeing 707)

Society: ASME Main Category: Aerospace & Aviation Sub Category: Air and Space Transportation Era: 1950-1959 DateCreated: 1954 Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Chantilly State: VA Zip: 20151 Country: USA Website: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/air-and-space-transportation/-178-boeing-367-80-%281954%29-, http://files.asme.org/asmeorg/Communities/History/Landmarks/5506.pdf Creator: Boeing

The 367-80 is the prototype for most jet transports. Its success was due largely to its mechanical systems, including turbine engines with thrust reversers and noise suppressors, redundant hydraulic control systems, and an improved cabin-pressurization system. Honeycomb flap panels were introduced, along with a strong, lightweight structural design that controlled fatigue cracking. These led to several innovations in aircraft tooling and manufacturing techniques. The Dash-80 was the first commercial airliner economical enough to take the US airline industry off subsidy.

YearAdded:

1994

Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Boeing Dreamscape (CC BY 2.0) Image Caption: Prototype of the Boeing 707 and most jet transport systems, the Boeing 367-80 established economic feasibility of commercial air travel. Era_date_from: 1954

McCormick Reaper

Society: ASABE Main Category: Agricultural & Biological Sub Category: Equipment, Harvesting and Baling Era: 1830-1839 DateCreated: 1831 McCormick Farm Raphine State: VA Zip: 24472 Country: USA Website: http://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/mccormick-reaper-4.aspx Creator: McCormick, Cyrus Hall

McCormick was born on the 620-acre farm known historically as “Walnut Grove Farm” in 1809. He built the first practical grain reaper, which was successfully demonstrated in a field of oats owned by John Steele in nearby Steeles Tavern in 1831.

YearAdded:

1972

Image Credit: Courtesy of the Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Image Caption: The McCormick reaper was first demonstrated at the Walnut Grove Farm in Virginia. Era_date_from: 1831

Blue Ridge Parkway

Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Roads & Rails Era: 1930-1939 DateCreated: 1935-1937 Blue Ridge Mountains State: VA Zip: Country: USA Website: http://www.asce.org/Project/Blue-Ridge-Parkway/ Creator:

Designed to connect the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway was planned to provide pleasant motoring and to conserve and interpret the unique natural and cultural resources of the Southern Highlands. It was conceived also as a public works project to relieve unemployment in the Appalachian region during the Great Depression.

YearAdded:

1999

Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/thewebprincess (CC BY-ND 2.0) Image Caption: A stunning view from an outlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is famous for its beauty Era_date_from: 1935

Potowmack Canal and Locks

Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Water Transportation Era: 1750-1799 DateCreated: 1799 Great Falls Park Fairfax County State: VA Zip: Country: USA Website: http://www.asce.org/Project/Potowmack-Canal-and-Locks/ Creator: Washington, George, Potowmack Canal Company

These canals and locks are a part of the first extensive system of canal and river navigation works undertaken in the United States. The idea for the canal was proposed by George Washington, when, as an engineer, surveyor and military emissary for Virginia, he saw the need for a trade route west beyond the Allegheny Mountains. In order to do create this route, it was necessary to try to tame the Potomac River which was a wild, unruly stream which only the hardiest of rivermen ever attempted.

YearAdded:

1970

Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Rudi Riet (CC BY-SA 2.0) Image Caption: Potowmack Canal and Locks Era_date_from: 1799

Jackson Ferry Shot Tower

Society: ASME Main Category: Mechanical Sub Category: Manufacturing Era: 1800-1829 DateCreated: 1807 New River Trail State Park Austinville State: VA Zip: 24312 Country: USA Website: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/manufacturing---1/-63-jackson-ferry-shot-tower-%281807%29 Creator: Jackson, Thomas , Watts, William

This facility was typical of others in the country that made small spherical lead shot for the fowling pieces of frontier settlers. Smelted lead from the nearby Austinville mines was melted at the top of the tower and poured through a sizing sieve to produce small droplets. Surface tension caused the molted lead to assume a spherical shape that solidified during its 150-foot fall. The shot was then collected in a water-filled kettle at the bottom of the shaft. The "drop process" was patented in England in 1769 by William Watts, a craftsman of Bristol, England.

YearAdded:

1981

Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Dr00bie (CC BY-SA 3.0) Image Caption: Jackson Ferry Shot Tower Era_date_from: 1807

Gosport Naval Dry Docks

Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Water Transportation Era: 1830-1839 DateCreated: 1834 Rennshaw Street Portsmouth State: VA Zip: 23704 Country: USA Website: http://www.asce.org/People-and-Projects/Projects/Landmarks/Naval-Drydocks-at-Boston-and-Norfolk/ Creator: Baldwin, Loammi

Baldwin's dry dock in Virginia has been designated a National Historical Landmark and is still in use at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The Charlestown dry dock and original pump house, while no longer used, are on display as part of the Boston National Historical Park. Although the need for dry-docking facilities to speed the cleaning and repair of ships in America's naval fleet was apparent as early as 1789, it was the War of 1812, and the burning of Washington, D.C., that finally convinced Congress of the importance of a coastal defense system based on a strong navy.

YearAdded:

1977

Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service) Image Caption: Gosport Naval Dry Docks Era_date_from: 1834

Dismal Swamp Canal

Society: ASCE Main Category: Civil Sub Category: Water Transportation Era: 1800-1829 DateCreated: 1805 Chesapeake State: VA Zip: Country: USA Website: http://www.asce.org/Project/Dismal-Swamp-Canal/ Creator: Dismal Swamp Canal Co., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The Dismal Swamp Canal was created as a 22-mile waterway, extending from Deep Creek, Virginia to South Mills, North Carolina. The canal enabled North Carolina producers of building and agricultural products to deliver goods to the Port of Norfolk where they were transferred to ocean-going vessels.

YearAdded:

1987

Image Credit: Photo by Edwin S. Grosvenor (CC BY 2.0) Image Caption: Dismal Swamp Canal Era_date_from: 1805

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Innovations

Norfolk & Western #611, Class J Steam Locomotive

Developed for use in both the plains and mountains, this coal-fired passenger locomotive was among the most advanced in design, construction, and performance of any 4-8-4. Designed by Norfolk & Western engineers and built in the Norfolk & Western Roanoke shops, the 611 was specially…

Alligator Amphibian

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Old Cape Henry Lighthouse

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Colvin Run Mill

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Crozet's Blue Ridge Tunnel

One of four single-track tunnels built by the Blue Ridge Railroad, the 4,273-foot Crozet Tunnel was constructed at a time when hand drills, pickaxes, and black powder amounted to state-of-the-art tunneling technology. At the time of its completion, it was the longest railroad tunnel in…