Placentia’s colorful history began in 1837 when the Mexican Governor granted the Rancho San Juan Cajon De Santa Ana to Juan Ontiveros. This land grant included the area which today comprises Placentia, Anaheim, Fullerton and La Habra. Our first pioneer was Daniel Kraemer, who purchased 3900 acres in 1865. Three years later, William McFadden and his wife, Sarah Jane acquired 100 additional acres in this area. Many other settlers arrived in the following years. As our community slowly developed, schools and churches were erected.

The school district’s original name was the Cajon School District. In 1878, at the suggestion of Sarah Jane McFadden, the name was changed to the Placentia School District. The city name came from that change. Placentia is derived from a Latin word meaning “pleasant place to live.”

Placentia was placed on the map in 1910 when A. S. Bradford persuaded the Santa Fe Railroad to re-route their track through this area, thus shortening the rail distance to Los Angeles. A station was built and packing houses were established for the town’s growing citrus industry. Mr. Bradford also laid out the main streets of the town; and, in his honor, Bradford Avenue retains his name today.

The climate and rich land attracted an ever-growing number of new residents. Five hundred citizens voted to incorporate in 1926. The area was well suited to the raising of citrus, walnuts, avocados, and grapes. Placentia became the center of Valencia orange growing and packing.

In 1960, Placentia’s population had reached only 5000; but, at that time, a phenomenal growth period began. In ten years, by 1970, the population increased five-fold to nearly 25,000. Today, Placentia is still a fast-growing community of 45,000 residents, with beautiful suburban homes, good schools, stately churches, and wholesome recreation.

We are not the only “Placentia” in the world. A check of the World Atlas reveals a Placentia in Newfoundland. Placentia Point is a geographical feature on the coast on British Honduras. Hannibal, with his army and warrior elephants, camped in Placentia in Northern Italy prior to crossing the Alps.

General Information, Facts & Symbols

The United States of America accepted Indiana as the 19th state to enter the union on December 11, 1816.

Abbreviation:
IN

Capital of Indiana State:
Indianapolis

Primary Agriculture:
Indiana’s primary agricultural crops are soybeans, ranked 4th int the nation and corn, currently the 5th largest producer in the nation. In addition, Indians currently ranks 5th in the nation with hogs as its primary livestock.

Primary Industry:
Indiana ranks 8th in the nation for coal production, totaling 34 million tons. 95% of this total was obtained through surface mining methods. Indiana also ranks 3rd in the nation in manufactured hardwood forest products.

Indiana State Nickname:
The Hoosier State

Indiana State Motto:
The Crossroads of America

Indiana State Flower:
Peony (Paeonia)

Indiana State Tree:
The Tulip Tree (Legislation of 1931)

<Indiana State Bird:
Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a member of the North America cardinal family.

Males of the species are a bright, deep red with black faces and coral-red beaks. Females of the species are a fawn or light brown color, with mostly grayish-brown tones and a slight reddish tint in their wings and tail feathers, also with a bright coral-red beak. Both have prominent raised crests and strong beaks. Young birds are the colored like the adult females until they molt and grow their adult feathers in the fall.

Indiana State Gemstone:
Salem Limestone

The Official Indiana State Seal
Depicted is the state seal of Indiana. The seal of the state of Indiana is a symbol of the authority and sovereignty of the state and is a valuable asset of its people. It is the intent of the state government to ensure that appropriate uses are made of the state seal and to assist the secretary of state in the performance of the secretary’s constitutional duty as custodian of the seal.

The Official Indiana State Flag
Depicted above is the state flag of Indiana. The flag of the state of Indiana is a symbol of the authority and sovereignty of the state and is a valuable asset of its people. The Indiana flag is flown over all state buildings just below the country flag of the United States of America.

Indiana State Quarter
The Indiana quarter, the fourth quarter of 2002 and nineteenth in the 50 State Quarters® Program, represents the state pride in the famous Indianapolis 500 race. The design features the image of a racecar superimposed on an outline of the state with the inscription “Crossroads of America.” The design also includes 19 stars signifying Indiana as the 19th state admitted into the Union.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a 2.5 mile track built in 1909 for automotive research purposes. While the track was and is used for research, it is best known for hosting auto races, most famously, the Indy 500. The oldest auto race in the world, the Indy 500 has been run every year since 1911, except during the two World Wars. The winner of the first Indy 500 was Ray Harroun whose car, the Marmon Wasp, is thought to have been the first to have a single seat and to use a rearview mirror. In the time since Harroun’s victory, the Indy 500 has become an international event, synonymous with auto racing.

Quarter Specifications
Release Date: August 2, 2002
Reverse (tails) Side: Crossroads of America
Engraver: Donna Weaver
Standard Weight: 5.670g
Standard Diameter: 24.26mm (0.955 in)
Thickness: 1.75 mm
Edge Detail: Reeded
Composition: Cupro-Nickel Clad
(8.33% Nickel / 91.67% Copper)

Indiana Historic Figures

Thomas Riley Marshall – Former Vice President of the United States
1854-1925: Born in North Manchester, Indiana. He was a lawyer in Columbia City, Indiana and the Democratic governor of the state from 1909 to 1913. He was the sponsor of labor and social legislation before becoming Vice President to Woodrow Wilson in 1913 and serving until 1921. His most notable quote was “What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar”.

James Danforth Quayle – Former Vice President of the United States
1947-Present: Born in Indianapolis. James graduated from DePauw University in 1969 and served in the Indiana National Guard from 1969 to 1975. He was the son of an important Indiana publishing family and graduated from Indiana University in 1974. In 1976 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a conservative Republican. In 1980 he was elected to the Senate, defeating three-term incumbent Birch Bayh, and was reelected in 1986. In 1989 he was elected to the office of Vice President of the United States and served until 1993.

General Indiana State History

The land which has become the state of Indiana, was once occupied by paleoindians 10-12 thousand years ago. Historic American Indian tribes also lived on this land, inspiring the state’s name – Indiana, the land of Indians.

Settlers from the British colonies on the American east coast began migrating west in the mid 1700s, seeking farmland. The American Revolution and the formation of the United States of America brought more demand for the lands of the west.

Early Indiana settlers had a great concern to preserve religious freedom, and many denominations have been cultivated here and contribute much to the makeup of Indiana life. Today, over 7000 churches can be identified serving about half of the current population.

Residents from even all walks of life have preserved their history and traditions through museums, libraries, archives, and publications. There are currently over 370 museums in Indiana which focus on a variety of subjects. There are more than 2,900 libraries throughout the schools, public, academic, institutional, and specialized. In the early twentieth century, Indiana received more Carnegie Libraries than any other state, totaling 164.

Indiana has also had it’s share of successful writers. Studies have determined that the best-selling fiction by Indiana authors is ranked second only to New York authors in the period of 1895 to 1965.

Indiana’s natural heritage has benefited from private and public attention over the years. In 1916, Indiana began its state park system under Richard Lieber, who became a leader in the national conservation movement. Indiana has 12 state forests, 9 reservoirs, 151 nature preserves, and 18 fish and wildlife areas to preserve its natural heritage. Private organizations help to preserve many natural areas in Indiana. There are 4 national areas designated for their special importance. Such areas are also important for recreation for Hoosiers and tourists.

Back to Locations

Anderson is a city in Madison County, Indiana, United States, and is part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area. The city is the county seat of Madison County. It is the principal city of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Madison county. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 59,734. Anderson is the headquarters of the Church of God (Anderson) and home of Anderson University, which is affiliated with that denomination. Highlights of the city include the historic Paramount Theatre and the Gruenwald Home.

According to some historians, the city is named for Chief William Anderson, whose mother was a Delaware Indian (Lenape) and whose father was of Swedish descent. Chief Anderson’s Indian name was Kikthawenund (spelled in a variety of ways) meaning “making a noise” or “causing to crack.” Others attribute the town name to architect and planner Adam E. Anderson, an early settler from Chillicothe, OH who laid out and built on the first two streets in town.

Prior to the organization of Madison County, William Conner entered the land upon which Anderson is located. Conner later sold the ground to John and Sarah Berry, who donated 32 acres (129,000 m²) of their land to Madison County on the condition that the county seat would be moved from Pendleton to Anderson. John Berry laid out the first plat of Anderson on November 7, 1827. In 1828 the seat of justice was moved from Pendleton to Anderson.

Introduction of internal improvements by the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act caused a growth in the population in 1837. In December, 1838, Anderson was incorporated as a town with 350 inhabitants. The Central Canal, a branch of the Wabash and Erie Canal, was planned to come through Anderson. Work continued on the canal during 1838 and the beginning of 1839, but work on the canal was soon suspended by the state following the Panic of 1837. The town again became a sleepy village until 1849 when it was incorporated a second time as a town. Many new commercial ventures located around the Courthouse Square.

This incorporation was short-lived and Anderson once again went back to village status in 1852. However, with the completion of the Indianapolis Bellefontaine Railroad, as well as their station in 1852, Anderson burst to life. The third incorporation of Anderson as a town occurred on June 9, 1853. The population continued to increase. On August 28, 1865, with a population was nearly 1,300 people, Anderson was incorporated as a city.

Between 1853 and the late 1800s, twenty industries of various sizes located there. On March 31, 1887, natural gas was discovered in Anderson. As the Indiana Gas Boom began, this discovery lef new businesses that could use natural gas, such as glass-making, to move to the city. Anderson grew to such proportions that a Cincinnati newspaper editor labeled the city “The Pittsburgh on White River.” Other appellations were “Queen City of the Gas Belt” and (because of the vulcanizing and the rubber tire manufacturing business) “Puncture Proof City.”

In 1897 the Interurban Railroad was born in Anderson. Charles Henry, a large stock holder, coined the term “Interurban” in 1893. It continued to operate until 1941.

The year 1912 spelled disaster for Anderson: the natural gas ran out, and several factories moved out. The whole city slowed down. The Commercial Club (formed on November 18, 1905) was the forerunner of the present chamber of commerce. This club persuaded the Remy brothers to stay in Anderson and others to locate there. For decades, Delco Remy and Guide Lamp (later Fisher Guide) were the top two employers in the city. From 1913 through the 1950s, the Ward-Stilson Company was one of the country’s largest producers of uniforms, regalia, furniture and props for the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows and dozens of other U.S. fraternal organizations.

The Church of God of Anderson located its world headquarters in Anderson in 1905. Anderson Bible School was opened in 1917, and this was separated from Gospel Trumpet (now known as Warner Press) in 1925. At the same time, it became known as Anderson Bible School and Seminary. In 1925, the name was changed to Anderson College and then to Anderson University in 1988.

Over the years, 17 different types of automobiles were manufactured in Anderson with the Lambert family among the city’s leaders in its development and Buckeye Gasoline Buggy the Lambert product. Many other inventions were perfected in Anderson including: the gas regulator (Miron G. Reynolds), the stamp vending machine (Frank P. Dunn), clothes presser (H. Donald Forse), Irish Mail (Hugh Hill), flower car for funeral homes (Francis M. McClain, automatic gearshift (Von D. Polhemus)), Sisson choke (Glenn Sisson), and the vulcanizing process to retreads tires (Charles E. Miller). Recently, Anderson was named “Most Toxic City in Indiana” by The Sierra Club after a chemical spill killed thousands of fish in the White River.

Notable citizens
Jermaine Allensworth, athlete
Lowell Amos, convicted “Black Widower” murderer.
Melvin E. Biddle, World War II Medal of Honor recipient
James Davis, politician, Secretary of Labor
Winfield Durbin, politician, former Governor of Indiana
Carl Erskine, Brooklyn Dodger pitcher, 1948 – 1960
Mike Kovaleski, Notre Dame
Charles L. Henry, politician, congressman, coiner of the term “interurban”
Orville Hodge, embezzler
James Kilgore, Symbionese Liberation Army member
John William Lambert, inventor of first successful U.S. gasoline automobile
Adam Lind, athlete
Mack Mattingly, politician, Georgia Senator
Larry Savage Jr 2 time state champ pitcher / coach
Jon McLaughlin, singer
Phill Niblock, composer and filmmaker
Sandi Patty, singer
James Rebhorn, actor
Kris Roe (The Ataris), singer
Krystal Harris, Singer
Fred Mustard Stewart, author
Max Terhune, actor
Ray Tolbert, athlete
Albert Vestal, Majority Whip of the House of Representatives
Louis J. Weichmann
Bobby Wilkerson, athlete
“Jumping Johnny Wilson”

Back to Book 3

Quebec is Canada’s largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is bordered to the west by the province of Ontario, James Bay and Hudson Bay, to the north by Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay, to the east by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick. It is bordered on the south by the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.

Quebec is the second most populous province, after Ontario. Most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. English-speaking communities and English-language institutions are concentrated in Montreal but are also significantly present in the Outaouais, the Eastern Townships, and Gaspé regions. The Nord-du-Québec region, occupying the northern half of the province, is sparsely populated and inhabited primarily by Aboriginal peoples.

Nationalism plays a large role in the politics of Quebec, and all three major provincial political parties have sought greater autonomy for Quebec and recognition of its unique status. Sovereigntist governments have held referendums on independence in 1980 and 1995. In 2006, the Canadian House of Commons passed a symbolic motion recognizing the “Québécois as a nation within a united Canada.”

While the province’s substantial natural resources have long been the mainstay of its economy, sectors of the knowledge economy such as aerospace, information and communication technologies, biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry also play leading roles. These many industries have all contributed to helping Quebec become the second most economically influential province, second only to Ontario.

The name “Quebec”, which comes from the Algonquin word kepék meaning “(it) narrows”, originally referred to the area around the Quebec City where the Saint Lawrence River narrows to a cliff-lined gap. Early variations in the spelling of the name included Québecq (Levasseur, 1601) and Kébec (Lescarbot 1609). French explorer Samuel de Champlain chose the name Québec in 1608 for the colonial outpost he would use as the administrative seat for the French colony of New France.

The Province of Quebec was founded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the Treaty of Paris formally transferred the French colony of Canada to Britain after the Seven Years’ War. The proclamation restricted the province to an area along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River. The Quebec Act of 1774 restored the Great Lakes and the Ohio River Valley regions to the province. The Treaty of Versailles, 1783 ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. After the Constitutional Act of 1791, the territory was divided between Lower Canada (present day Quebec) and Upper Canada (present day Ontario), with each being granted an elected Legislative Assembly. In 1840, these become Canada East and Canada West after the British Parliament unified Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada. This territory was re-divided into the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario at Confederation in 1867. Each became one of the first four provinces.

In 1870, Canada purchased Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company. Over the next few decades the Parliament of Canada transferred portions of this territory to Quebec that more than tripled the size of the province. In 1898, the Canadian Parliament passed the first Quebec Boundary Extension Act that expanded the provincial boundaries northward to include the lands of the Cree. This was followed by the addition of the District of Ungava through the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act of 1912 that added the northernmost lands of the aboriginal Inuit to create the modern Province of Quebec. In 1927, the border between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador was established by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Quebec officially disputes this boundary.

First Nations
At the time of first European contact and later colonization, Algonquian, Iroquoian and Inuit groups were the people that inhabited what is now Quebec. Their lifestyles and cultures reflected the land on which they lived. Seven Algonquian groups lived nomadic lives based on hunting, gathering, and fishing in the rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield: (James Bay Cree, Innu, Algonquins) and Appalachian Mountains (Mi’kmaq, Abenaki). St. Lawrence Iroquoians lived more settled lives, planting squash and maize in the fertile soils of St. Lawrence Valley. The Inuit continue to fish and hunt whale and seal in the harsh Arctic climate along the coasts of Hudson and Ungava Bay. These people traded fur and food and sometimes warred with each other.

Early European exploration
Basque whalers and fishermen traded furs with Saguenay natives throughout the 16th century.

The first French explorer to reach Quebec was Jacques Cartier, who planted a cross in 1534 at either Gaspé or at Old Fort Bay on the Lower North Shore. He sailed into the St. Lawrence River in 1535 and established an ill-fated colony near present-day Quebec City at the site of Stadacona, an Iroquoian village.

New France
Samuel de Champlain was part of a 1603 expedition from France that travelled into the St. Lawrence River. In 1608, he returned as head of an exploration party and founded Quebec City with the intention of making the area part of the French colonial empire. Champlain’s Habitation de Quebec, built as a permanent fur trading outpost, was where he would forge a trading, and ultimately a military alliance, with the Algonquin and Huron nations. Natives traded their furs for many French goods such as metal objects, guns, alcohol, and clothing.

Hélène Desportes, born July 7, 1620, to the French habitants (settlers) Pierre Desportes and his wife Françoise Langlois, was the first child of European descent born in Quebec.

From Quebec, coureurs des bois, voyageurs and Catholic missionaries used river canoes to explore the interior of the North American continent, establishing fur trading forts on the Great Lakes (Étienne Brûlé 1615), Hudson Bay (Radisson and Groseilliers 1659–60), Ohio River and Mississippi River (La Salle 1682), as well as the Prairie River and Missouri River (de la Verendrye 1734–1738).

After 1627, King Louis XIII of France introduced the seigneurial system and forbade settlement in New France by anyone other than Roman Catholics. Sulpician and Jesuit clerics founded missions in Trois-Rivières (Laviolette) and Montréal or Ville-Marie (Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance) to convert New France’s Huron and Algonkian allies to Catholicism. The seigneurial system of governing New France also encouraged immigration from the motherland.

New France became a Royal Province in 1663 under King Louis XIV of France with a Sovereign Council that included intendant Jean Talon. This ushered in a golden era of settlement and colonization in New France, including the arrival of les “Filles du Roi”. The population grew from about 3,000 to 60,000 people between 1666 and 1760. Colonists built farms on the banks of St. Lawrence River and called themselves “Canadiens” or “Habitants”. The colony’s total population was limited, however, by a winter climate significantly harsher than that found in France; by the spread of diseases; and by the refusal of the French crown to allow Huguenots, or French Protestants, to settle there. The population of New France lagged far behind that of the Thirteen Colonies to the south, leaving it vulnerable to attack.

The Seven Years’ War / Capitulation of New France
In 1753 France began building a series of forts in the British Ohio Country. They refused to leave after being notified by the British Governor, and in 1754 George Washington launched an attack on the French Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) in the Ohio Valley in an attempt to enforce the British claim to the territory. This frontier battle set the stage for the French and Indian War in North America. By 1756, France and Britain were battling the Seven Years’ War worldwide. In 1758, the British mounted an attack on New France by sea and took the French fort at Louisbourg.

On September 13, 1759, General James Wolfe defeated General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec City. With the exception of the small islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, located off the coast of Newfoundland, France ceded its North American possessions to Great Britain through the Treaty of Paris (1763). By the British Royal Proclamation of 1763, Canada (part of New France) was renamed the Province of Quebec.

The Quebec Act
In 1774, fearful that the French-speaking population of Quebec (as the colony was called) would side with the rebels of the Thirteen Colonies to the south, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act giving recognition to French law, Catholic religion and French language in the colony; before that Catholics had been excluded from public office and recruitment of priests and brothers forbidden, effectively shutting down Quebec’s schools and colleges. The first British policy of assimilation (1763–1774) was deemed a failure. Both the petitions and demands of the Canadiens’ élites, and Governor Guy Carleton, played an important role in convincing London to drop the assimilation scheme, but the looming American revolt was certainly a factor. Through the Quebec Act, the Quebec people obtained their first Charter of Rights, which paved the way to later official recognition of the French language and French culture. The act allowed Canadiens to maintain French civil law and sanctioned freedom of religion, allowing the Roman Catholic Church to remain. It also restored the Ohio Valley to Quebec, reserving the territory for the fur trade.

The act, designed to placate one North American colony, had the opposite effect among its neighbors to the south. The Quebec Act was among the Intolerable Acts that infuriated American colonists, who launched the American Revolution. A 1775 invasion by the American Continental Army met with early success but was later repelled at the battle at Quebec City.

Quebec during the American Revolutionary War
On June 27 1775, General George Washington decided to lead an American incursion in an attempt to wrest Quebec and the St. Lawrence River from the British. Arnold led 1,100 soldiers from Massachusetts to Maine, then up the Kennebec and Dead Rivers into the Province of Quebec by way of the Chaudiere River to Quebec City.

When the American army came to Quebec they found only a minority of supporters. The invasion failed.

At the end of the war, 50,000 Loyalists came to Canada and settled amongst a population of 90,000 French people. Many American loyalist refugees settled into the Eastern Townships of Quebec, in the area of Sherbrooke, Drummondville and Lennoxville.

The American Revolutionary War was ultimately successful in winning independence for the Thirteen Colonies. In the Treaty of Paris (1783), the British ceded their territory south of the Great Lakes to the newly formed United States of America.

Patriotes’ Rebellion in Lower and Upper Canada
Lower Canada Rebellion
Like their counterparts in Upper Canada, in 1837 English and French speaking residents of Lower Canada, led by Louis-Joseph Papineau and Robert Nelson, formed an armed resistance group to seek an end to British colonial rule. They made a Declaration of Rights with equality for all citizens without discrimination and a Declaration of Independence in 1838. Their actions resulted in rebellions in both Lower and Upper Canada. An unprepared British Army had to raise a local militia force, and the rebel forces were soon defeated after having scored a victory in Saint-Denis, Quebec, east of Montreal. The British army also burned the Church of St-Eustache, killing the rebels who were hiding within it. The bullet and cannonball marks on the walls of the church are still visible to this day.

Act of Union
After the rebellions, Lord Durham was asked to undertake a study and prepare a report on the matter and to offer a solution for the British Parliament to assess.

The final report recommended that the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada be united, and that the French speaking population of Lower Canada be assimilated into British culture. Following Durham’s Report, the British government merged the two colonial provinces into one Province of Canada in 1840 with the Act of Union.

However, the political union proved contentious. Reformers in both Canada West (formerly Upper Canada) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada) worked to repeal limitations on the use of the French language in the Legislature. The two colonies remained distinct in administration, election, and law.

In 1848, Baldwin and LaFontaine, allies and leaders of the Reformist party, were asked by Lord Elgin to form an administration together under the new policy of responsible government. The French language subsequently regained legal status in the Legislature.

Canadian Confederation
In the 1860s, the delegates from the colonies of British North America (Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland) met in a series of conferences to discuss self-governing status for a new confederation.

The first Charlottetown Conference took place in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island followed by the Quebec Conference in Quebec City which led to a delegation going to London, Britain, to put forth a proposal for a national union.

As a result of those deliberations, in 1867 the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the British North America Act, providing for the Confederation of most of these provinces.

The former Province of Canada was divided into its two previous parts as the provinces of Ontario (Upper Canada) and Quebec (Lower Canada).

New Brunswick and Nova Scotia joined Ontario and Quebec in the new Dominion of Canada.
Prince Edward Island joined in 1873 and the Dominion of Newfoundland entered the Confederation in 1949.

Quiet Revolution
The conservative government of Maurice Duplessis and his Union Nationale dominated Quebec politics from 1944 to 1960 with the support of the Roman Catholic church. Pierre Elliot Trudeau and other liberals formed an intellectual opposition to Duplessis’s regime, setting the groundwork for the Quiet Revolution under Jean Lesage’s Liberals. The Quiet Revolution was a period of dramatic social and political change that saw the decline of Anglo supremacy in the Quebec economy, the decline of the Roman Catholic Church’s influence, the nationalization of hydro-electric companies under Hydro-Québec and the emergence of a pro-sovereignty movement under former Liberal minister René Lévesque.

Front de libération du Québec
Beginning in 1963, a terrorist group that became known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks directed primarily at English institutions, resulting in at least five deaths. In 1970, their activities culminated in events referred to as the October Crisis when James Cross, the British trade commissioner to Canada, was kidnapped along with Pierre Laporte, a provincial minister and Vice-Premier. Laporte was strangled with his own rosary beads a few days later. In their published Manifesto, the terrorists stated: “In the coming year Bourassa will have to face reality; 100,000 revolutionary workers, armed and organized.”

At the request of Premier Robert Bourassa, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act. In addition, the Quebec Ombudsman Louis Marceau was instructed to hear complaints of detainees and the Quebec government agreed to pay damages to any person unjustly arrested (only in Quebec). On February 3, 1971, John Turner, the Minister of Justice of Canada, reported that 497 persons had been arrested throughout Canada under the War Measures Act of whom 435 had been released. The other 62 were charged, of which 32 were crimes of such seriousness that a Quebec Superior Court judge refused them bail. The crisis ended a few weeks after the death of Pierre Laporte at the hands of his captors. The fallout of the crisis marked the zenith and twilight of the FLQ which lost membership and public support.

Parti Québécois and constitutional crisis
In 1977, the newly elected Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque introduced the Charter of the French Language. Often known as Bill 101, it defined French as the only official language of Quebec in areas of provincial jurisdiction.

Lévesque and his party had run in the 1970 and 1973 Quebec elections under a platform of separating Quebec from the rest of Canada. The party failed to win control of Quebec’s National Assembly both times — though its share of the vote increased from 23% to 30% — and Lévesque was defeated both times in the riding he contested. In the 1976 election, he softened his message by promising a referendum (plebiscite) on sovereignty-association rather than outright separation, by which Quebec would have independence in most government functions but share some other ones, such as a common currency, with Canada. On November 15, 1976, Lévesque and the Parti Québécois won control of the provincial government for the first time. The question of sovereignty-association was placed before the voters in the 1980 Quebec referendum. During the campaign, Pierre Trudeau promised that a vote for the “no” side was a vote for reforming Canada. Trudeau advocated the patriation of Canada’s Constitution from the United Kingdom. The existing constitutional document, the British North America Act, could only be amended by the United Kingdom Parliament upon a request by the Canadian parliament.

Sixty percent of the Quebec electorate voted against the proposition. Polls showed that the overwhelming majority of English and immigrant Quebecers voted against, and that French Quebecers were almost equally divided, with older voters less in favour and younger voters more in favour. After his loss in the referendum, Lévesque went back to Ottawa to start negotiating a new constitution with Trudeau, his minister of Justice Jean Chrétien and the nine other provincial premiers. Lévesque insisted Quebec be able to veto any future constitutional amendments. The negotiations quickly reached a stand-still.

Then on the night of November 4, 1981 (widely known in Quebec as La nuit des longs couteaux and in the rest of Canada as the “Kitchen Accord”) Federal Justice Minister Jean Chrétien met with all of the provincial premiers except René Lévesque to sign the document that would eventually become the new Canadian constitution. The next morning, they presented the “fait accompli” to Lévesque. Lévesque refused to sign the document and returned to Quebec. In 1982, Trudeau had the new constitution approved by the British Parliament, with Quebec’s signature still missing (a situation that persists to this day). The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed Trudeau’s assertion that every province’s approval is not required to amend the constitution.

In subsequent years, two attempts were made to gain Quebec’s approval of the constitution. The first was the Meech Lake Accord of 1987, which was finally abandoned in 1990 when the province of Manitoba did not pass it within the established deadline. (Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells had expressed his opposition to the accord, but, with the failure in Manitoba, the vote for or against Meech never took place in his province.) This led to the formation of the sovereignist Bloc Québécois party in Ottawa under the leadership of Lucien Bouchard, who had resigned from the federal cabinet. The second attempt, the Charlottetown Accord of 1992, was rejected by 56.7% of all Canadians and 57% of Quebecers. This result caused a split in the Quebec Liberal Party that led to the formation of the new Action démocratique (Democratic Action) party led by Mario Dumont and Jean Allaire.

On October 30, 1995, with the Parti Québécois back in power since 1994, a second referendum on sovereignty took place. This time, it was rejected by a slim majority (50.6% NO to 49.4% YES); a clear majority of French-speaking Quebecers voted in favor of sovereignty.

The referendum was enshrouded in controversy. Federalists complained that an unusually high number of ballots had been rejected in pro-federalist areas, notably in the largely Jewish and Greek riding of Chomedey (11.7 % or 5,500 of its ballots were spoiled, compared to 750 or 1.7% in the general election of 1994) although Quebec’s chief electoral officer found no evidence of outright fraud. The federal government was accused of not respecting provincial laws with regard to spending during referendums (leading to a corruption scandal that would become public a decade later, greatly damaging the Liberal Party’s standing), and of having accelerated the naturalization of immigrants in Quebec before the referendum in order that they could vote, as naturalized citizens were believed more likely to vote no. (43,850 immigrants were naturalized in 1995, whereas the average number between 1988 and 1998 was 21,733.)

The same night of the referendum, an angry Jacques Parizeau, then premier and leader of the “Yes” side, declared that the loss was because of “Money and the ethnic vote”. Parizeau resigned over public outrage and as per his commitment to do so in case of a loss. Lucien Bouchard became Quebec’s new premier in his place.

Federalists accused the sovereignist side of asking a vague, overly complicated question on the ballot. Its English text read as follows:

Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Québec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?

After winning the next election in 1998, Bouchard retired from politics in 2001. Bernard Landry was then appointed leader of the Parti Québécois and premier of Quebec. In 2003, Landry lost the election to the Quebec Liberal Party and Jean Charest. Landry stepped down as PQ leader in 2005, and in a crowded race for the party leadership, André Boisclair was elected to succeed him. He also resigned after the renewal of the Quebec Liberal Party’s government in the 2007 general election and the Parti Québécois becoming the second opposition party, behind the Action Démocratique. The PQ has promised to hold another referendum should it return to government.

Statut particulier (“special status”)
Given the province’s heritage and the preponderance of French (unique among the Canadian provinces), there is an ongoing debate in Canada regarding the unique status (statut particulier) of Quebec and its people, wholly or partially. Prior attempts to amend the Canadian constitution to acknowledge Quebec as a ‘distinct society’ – referring to the province’s uniqueness within Canada regarding law, language, and culture – have been unsuccessful; however, the federal government under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien would later endorse recognition of Quebec as a “unique society”. On October 30, 2003, the National Assembly of Quebec voted unanimously to affirm “that the Quebecers form a nation”. On November 27, 2006, the House of Commons passed a symbolic motion moved by Prime Minister Stephen Harper declaring that “this House recognize[s] that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada.” However, there is considerable debate and uncertainty over what this means.

At present, nationalism plays a large role in the politics of Quebec, with all three major provincial political parties seeking greater autonomy and recognition of Quebec’s unique status. In recent years, much attention has been devoted to examining and defining the nature of Quebec’s association with the rest of Canada. Currently, the population is roughly divided between two political visions for the future of their province.[citation needed] About half of Quebecers support the idea of either full sovereignty (completely separating from Canada and forming an independent state) or of sovereignty-association with the rest of Canada, which would entail the sharing of some institutional and governmental responsibilities with the federal government in a manner similar to how the European Union shares a common currency and various other services. On the other hand, a roughly equal faction of Quebecers are satisfied with the status quo and wish their province to remain within a united Canadian federation.

Montreal is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec and the second-largest city in Canada. Montreal was the largest city in Canada up until the 1970s. Originally called Ville-Marie (‘City of Mary’), the city takes its present name from Mount Royal, the three-headed hill at the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the city is located.

The official language of Montreal is French as defined by the city’s charter. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world, after Paris. As of the 2006 Canadian Census, 1,620,693 people resided in the city of Montreal proper. The population of the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (also known as Greater Montreal) was 3,635,571 at the same 2006 census. In the census metropolitan area, French is the language most spoken at home by 70.5% of the population (as of 2006 census). In 2007, Forbes Magazine ranked Montreal as the 10th cleanest city in the world. In the June 19th, 2008 edition of London based Monocle Magazine, Montreal was ranked 16th in a list of the world’s 25 most liveable cities. Contributing factors included a strong arts community, booming aerospace industry and a vast network of free wireless internet.

There is archaeological evidence of various nomadic native peoples occupying the island of Montréal for at least 2,000 years before the arrival of Europeans. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians established the village of Hochelaga at the foot of Mount Royal. The French explorer Jacques Cartier visited Hochelaga on October 2, 1535, claiming the St. Lawrence Valley for France. He estimated the population to be “over a thousand”.

Seventy years later, French explorer Samuel de Champlain reported that the St. Lawrence Iroquoians and their settlements had disappeared altogether from the St. Lawrence valley, likely due to inter-tribal wars, European diseases and out-migration. Champlain established in 1611 a fur trading post on the Island of Montreal, on a site initially named La Place Royale, at the confluence of Saint-Pierre river and St-Lawrence river, where present-day Pointe-à-Callière stands. In 1639, Jérôme Le Royer de La Dauversière obtained the Seigneurial title to the Island of Montreal in the name of the Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal to establish a Roman Catholic mission for evangelizing natives. Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve was the governor of the colony.

Ville-Marie became a centre for the fur trade and a base for further French exploration in North America. It remained a French colony until 1760, when it was surrendered to Great Britain.

Montreal was incorporated as a city in 1832. The opening of the Lachine Canal permitted ships to bypass the unnavigable Lachine Rapids, while the construction of the Victoria Bridge established Montreal as a major railway hub. By 1860, it was the largest city in British North America and the undisputed economic and cultural centre of Canada.

Montréal was the capital of the Province of Canada from 1844 to 1849, but lost its status when a Tory mob burnt down the Parliament building to protest passage of the Rebellion Losses Bill.

After World War I, the Prohibition movement in the United States turned Montreal into a haven for Americans looking for alcohol. Unemployment remained high in the city, and was exacerbated by the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. Canada began to recover from the Great Depression in the mid-1930s, when skyscrapers such as the Sun Life Building began to appear.

During World War II, Mayor Camillien Houde protested against conscription and urged Montrealers to disobey the federal government’s registry of all men and women. Ottawa was furious over Houde’s insubordination and held him in a prison camp until 1944, when the government was forced to institute conscription (see Conscription Crisis of 1944).

Montreal’s population surpassed one million in the early 1950s. The Saint Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, allowing vessels to bypass Montreal: a development that would in time help to spell the end of the city’s economic dominance. However, the 1960s saw continued growth, including Expo 67, the construction of Canada’s tallest skyscrapers, new expressways and the Montreal Metro system.

The 1970s ushered in a period of wide-ranging social and political changes, stemming in large part from the concerns of the French-Canadian majority about the conservation of their culture and language, given the traditional predominance of the English-Canadian minority in the business arena. The October Crisis and the election of the separatist political party, the Parti Québécois, resulted in major political and linguistic shifts. Many companies and people left the city. In 1976, Montreal was the host of the 1976 Summer Olympics.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Montreal experienced a slower rate of economic growth than many other major Canadian cities. By the late 1990s, however, Montreal’s economic climate had improved, as new firms and institutions began to fill the traditional business and financial niches.

Montreal was merged with the 27 surrounding municipalities on the Island of Montreal on January 1, 2002. The merger created a unified city of Montreal which covered the entire island of Montreal. This move proved unpopular, and several former municipalities, totalling 13% of the population of the island, voted to leave the newly unified city in separate referendums in June 2004. The demerger took place on January 1, 2006, leaving 15 municipalities on the island, including Montreal.

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Incorporated in 1896 as a small farming community best known for its produce, Corona is now a quality community with a population of more than 147,428 and a diverse economic base.

The City of Corona is located approximately 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles in western Riverside County. The City limits encompass 39.2 square miles and the population is approximately 147,428. A city whose heritage spans more than a century, Corona has emerged as an ethnically diverse community, where a significant percentage of the population is made up of young, well educated families.

The Corona community boasts many amenities that provide a first-rate quality of life for residents. The City has more than 394 acres of parks, with sports fields, basketball courts, playgrounds, tennis courts, two skateparks and an outdoor pool.

Corona was founded at the height of the Southern California citrus boom in 1886, advantageously situated at the upper end of the Santa Ana River Canyon, the only significant pass through the Santa Ana Mountains. The town of Corona, once laid claim to the title “Lemon Capital of the World.” A museum there presents the lemon’s former role in the local economy. It derived its name (and its nickname, The Circle City) from the curious layout of its streets, with a standard grid enclosed by the circular Grand Boulevard. The street layout was designed by Hiram Clay Kellogg, a civil engineer from Santa Ana who was an influential figure in the early development of Orange County. Also, the renowned circular Grand Boulevard is where three international road racing events took place in 1913, 1914 and 1916. Corona was also home to the Corona road race, a Grand Prix race in the early 20th century.

In more recent years it has been known as the Gateway to the Inland Empire. Prior to the 1980s, Corona was a largely agricultural community, dominated by citrus orchards, ranches, and dairy farms. Sky-high real estate prices in Los Angeles and Orange counties made the area’s land desirable to developers and industrialists, and by the late 1990s it was considered a major suburb of Los Angeles.

In recent years, Corona has become an elite working-class bedroom community for Orange County and the larger cities of the Inland Empire. The development of commerce and industry in the city has been accelerated by congestion on the Riverside Freeway, with many firms leaving northern Orange County to be closer to their employees’ homes in Corona and Riverside.

The construction of the Chino Valley Freeway nearby has also linked Corona to the Pomona and San Gabriel valleys, with the result that the once largely white city has experienced an influx of Asian American residents who commute to Asian-oriented businesses in cities such as Alhambra and Diamond Bar.

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The Borough of Atlantic Highlands, once known as Portland Pointe, was originally part of Middletown Township. During the late 1800’s, the pleas­ant climate together wit the rolling hills bordering on the Raritan Bay ap­pealed to a number of investors.

In 1879, a surveyor was engaged to lay our roads and lots for a permanent community. The Atlantic Highlands Association was formed by prominent members of the Methodist Church. This organization developed the com­munity of Atlantic Highlands.

Individuals and groups came from New York City and the surrounding vicinity to camp along the water in tent colonies. An outdoor amphitheater was created with a large seating capacity and outstanding acoustics. An in­door auditorium was built, which was utilized for entertaining visitors at the camp meetings. In 1887, Atlantic Highlands was incorporated as a Bor­ough, containing 1.2 square miles of prime real estate bordering on the Raritan Bay.

The major construction occurred from the 1880’s trough 1900. It in­cluded hotels, cottages, rooming houses, and private homes. A substantial pier was built extending well into the bay to accommodate steamboats from New York City The next twenty years saw rapid development within the community A water and sewer system was constructed, cottages were erected, and the road system was completed. During this period of development a strong and effective fire department was organized, which is today a well-respected organization within the Borough.

A number of churches saw their beginning in the 1880’s: the Central Baptist, First Presbyterian, Saint Agnes Roman Catholic, First Methodist, and Saint Paul’s Baptist Church.

Steamer service was a major source of transportation during the forma­tion of the Borough, through the 1940’s. The Central Railroad of New Jersey built a major pier at the end of First Avenue. Several trains at a time could continue to the end of’ the pier to off load steamboat passengers. From the teens through the forties, the steamers “Sandy Hook” and the “Monmouth” navigated the waters bringing businessmen and vacationers to Atlantic Highlands.

In the 1890’s, rail service came to Atlantic Highlands. This opened up Highlands and points south to vacationers. The 1920’s saw twenty-six passenger trains daily passing through the Borough.

Some of the names that played a major part in the development of Atlan­tic Highlands were: Thomas Henry Leonard (businessman developer, first mayor), E.G. Martin (builder), Nimrod Woodward (master mason, builder of the Stone Bridge), George F Laurie (businessman), and Rev. James E. Lake (Pastor of Atlantic Highlands First Methodist Church, promoter of Atlantic Highlands).

Many famous people lived in Atlantic Highlands or were associated with the Borough. Simon Lake, considered by some to be the father of the subma­rine, tested his craft the ‘Argonaut Jr.” in Atlantic Highlands. The New York Herald reported the testing in the January 8, 1895 issue. In the 1890’s, Charles Payne Sears, a prominent watercolor artist, resided in the Borough. His works were exhibited in the national portrait gallery in Washington D.C. Corwin Knapp Linson, an artist and illustrator also resided in the borough from the twenties through the fifties. The scene at the baptismal within the Central Baptist Church is a Linson rendering. And, anyone who bought the Sunday Daily News in the forties and fifties recalls a full page of car­toons in the comic section created for many years by resident artist, Reamer Keller.

The creation of our municipal harbor took place from 1938 through 1940. This harbor was built with municipal, state, and federal funds; the Atlantic Highland’s Lions Club supplied the vision and determination. To­day, the municipal harbor is the largest on the East Coast, home to 715 craft including high-speed ferry service to New York City In 1962, the existing Central Railroad of New Jersey pier was destroyed by fire. In 1992 high-speed ferry service was introduced into our Borough. Today, eleven runs a day leave Atlantic Highlands for the “city.”

It is interesting to note the names that appear in the directories of the 1890’s. These same names populate the Borough and run businesses m the community today. The bungalows on the East Side of the Borough, which in the twenties were summer bungalows, are now year- round homes. The Victorian homes remain a reminder of our glorious past. The waterfront is alive with activity as it was in the 1890’s, welcoming the recreational boater.

Today Portland Pointe, a five-story senior citizen building, provides hous­ing for our elderly. The business community just as at the turn of the century provides for our town and the visitor as well. An array of great restaurants, unique shops, theaters (from a great 5- screen movie house to live the­ater), provides the residents and the visitor with a reason to spend dine in our unique community A little bit of Victorian America tucked away at the Jersey Shore, Atlantic Highlands is truly the Jewel of the Bayshore.

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Basic Facts About Woodinville

City Stats

•  City Population: 10,390 (As of 4/1/2007)
•  Incorporation date: March 31, 1993
•  Latitude: 47 degrees 45 minutes
•  Longitude: 122 degrees 09 minutes

Land & Roadways

•  City geographical area: 5.65 square miles
•  Park acreage: 100.84 acres
•  State highway in city limits: State Route 202

Annual Events

•  Cityhood Celebration as part of Celebrate Woodinville (March/April)
•  Chipping Event (April/May)
•  Earth Day Volunteer Event (April)
•  Family Fitness Event (June)
•  Summer Concert Series (July/August)
•  Sammamish ReLeaf (September/October)
•  Harvest Festival (October)
•  Spring & Fall Recycling Events
•  Light Festival (December)

Largest Employers in the City (2007–2008 Budget)

•  W.A. Botting Company: 289
•  Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd: 252
•  Molbak’s Nursery & Greenhouse: 249
•  Loud Technologies: 238
•  Target: 200

Historic Woodinville

The Woodins were the first family to settle in the Woodinville community when they homesteaded 160 acres along the banks of the Squak Slough. Later renamed the Sammamish River, the slough served as the highway for the early pioneers since there were no roads. During the early years, lumber mills and logging were the main employers. Woodinville’s mills included the Machias and Saginaw Sawmilles and the Woodinville Shingle Mill.

The commununity of Woodinville did not develop until the Seattle-Lake Shore & Eastern Railway arrived in 1888. The early business district evolved around the railroad depot located where the railroad split at Woodinville. For the first time, stores, saloons, roads and bridges were built.

As the land was cleared and the valley flooding tamed with the lowering of Lake Washington in 1916, produce and dairy farming extended across the Sammamish Valley. Much of the produce was processed at the DeYoung Produce Packeing Shed and shipped by railroad to the East Coast as well as to Seattle. This later became the Lowell DeYoung Feed Mill, which continued to operate until the 1980s. Early dairy farms included Jess Brown’s Millview Dairy and Fred Stimson’s Hollywood Farms which is the current site of Chateau St. Michelle Winery.

Woodinville’s first post office, school and Sunday School were held in the home of Susan and Ira Woodin. As Woodinville grew, the Calkins family donated land for a one-room school which was built in 1892. Today, the land is the current site of the Carol Edwards Center/Old Woodinville School (NE 175th Street/133rd Avene NE). This building was replaced by a two-room schoolhouse in 1906 which burned from a chimney fire two years later.

In 1909, the first brick school east of Lake Washington was built on the site. It was enlarged by the Work Project Administration in 1935 and expanded to its current size in 1948. In the 1960s, the school ceased to be a regular elementary and was called the Woodinville Annex to house an overflow of students. From 1993 to 2001, the building served as Woodinville City Hall.

Historical Timeline

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Durango, Colorado is located in one of the most beautiful areas in the Four Corners region. Surrounding areas plunge from 14,000 foot peaks to desert valley floors, supporting alpine forests and aspen groves, rolling mountains rich with ponderosa, piñon and juniper trees and lush green valleys. Sagebrush and yuccas are framed by dramatic cliffs of purple and crimson rock.

At an elevation of 6,512 feet above sea level, Durango enjoys an ideal four-season climate with 300 days of sunshine and moderate temperatures year-round. Winters are usually mild and sunny with temperatures ranging from 10 to 50 degrees. Despite Durango’s average snowfall of 71 inches, accumulations don’t stay long in town and snow removal is manageable. Spring brings warmer weather and rain. Summer temperatures seldom climb above the upper 80′s and rivers and reservoirs stay relatively full in summer, fed by melting snow in the San Juan Mountains. Autumn days are dry and cool, creating wonderful fall colors to view while hiking, biking or driving the area’s Scenic Byways.

Due to its ideal climate, beautiful landscapes and plentiful natural resources, Durango has enjoyed a long and rich history.

Founded in 1880 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, historic Durango is perched at 6512 feet above sea level and is the county seat of La Plata County.

Best known for the Historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, as the home of Fort Lewis College, and for its proximity to Mesa Verde National Park, Durango is a popular year-round destination. From pristine snow and waterways, majestic mountains to superb shopping and dining, fascinating arts and culture, you’ll find an array of activities as relaxing or adventurous as you like.

Fun History Fact: The narrow gauge rails are 36 inches apart, whereas standard gauge rails are 56 inches!

Durango History

During the period beginning 2,500 years ago until the 1300s, Ancestral Puebloans called this area home. By the time the Ute Indians settled here, centuries later, these ancient people had mysteriously disappeared from their last homeland – the area now called Mesa Verde National Park. The Ute Indians sheltered in the abandoned dwellings and enjoyed ample fishing and hunting opportunities the area offered.

In 1860, a lucky prospector discovered gold. Within the year, miners, farmers and families flocked to the area.

Twenty years later, railroad officials created plans for the railroad, Main Avenue, Second and Third Avenues, and by 1881 the City of Durango was incorporated and became the county seat.

By the turn of the century, Durango had become a vacation destination, with the creation of the San Juan National Forest in 1905 and Mesa Verde National Park in 1906.

The 1900s brought many of the modern-day amenities that residents still enjoy today, including the Durango Municipal Airport in 1929, the expansion of Fort Lewis College to a four year college in 1957 and Purgatory ski resort in 1965.

Present-day Durango sees multitudes of visitors each year who embrace the many opportunities to fish, hike, mountain bike and ski, and welcomes history buffs taking in Durango’s historic downtown and nearby archaeological wonders.

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General Information, Facts & Symbols

The United States of America accepted Washington as the 42nd state to enter the union on November 11, 1889.

Abbreviation:
WA

Capital of Washington State:
Olympia

Primary Agriculture:
Washington state is a leading lumber producer. The types of lumber include stands of Douglas fir, hemlock, ponderosa and white pine, spruce, larch, and cedar. The state currently ranks first in the nation for apples, pears, edible dry peas, red raspberries, hops, lentils, spearmint oil and sweet cherries. Washington also ranks high in the production of grapes, apricots, asparagus, peppermint oil and potatoes. Livestock and livestock products make important contributions to total farm revenue and the commercial fishing catch of salmon, halibut, and bottomfish makes a significant contribution to the economy of the state.

Primary Industry:
The top Washington manufaturing industries include lumber, aircraft/missiles, food processing, shipbuilding, transportation equipment, metals/metal products, chemicals and machinery.

Washington State Nickname:
The Evergreen State

Washington State Motto:
Al-Ki (Indian word meaning By and By)

Washington State Flower:
Coast Rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum)
(Legislation of 1892)

Washington State Tree:
Western Hemlock (Legislation of 1947)

Washington State Bird:
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
(Legislation of 1951)
The Willow or American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) is a typical North American seed-eating member of the finch family, averaging 4-1/4 inches in length that breeds across southern Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland and through most of the United States north of the Gulf of Mexico and core Southwestern States.

They molt all but their black wing and tail feathers in the spring, and the bills of both sexes turn orange. The male of the species takes on a brilliant canary yellow plumage with a jet black cap and has a very pleasing call song. A white rump contrasts with the black tail while in flight. Their winter plumage is a duller olive-brown with some yellow still showing on the head.

Washington State Fish:
Steelhead Trout (Legislation of 1969)

Washington State Insect:
Green Darner Dragonfly (Legislation of 1997)

Washington State Gemstone:
Petrified Wood (Legislation of 1975)

Official State Seal:
Depicted to the right is the state seal of Washington. The seal of the state of Washington is a symbol of the authority and sovereignty of the state and is a valuable asset of its people. It is the intent of the state government to ensure that appropriate uses are made of the state seal and to assist the secretary of state in the performance of the secretary’s constitutional duty as custodian of the seal.

Official State Flag:
Depicted to the left is the state flag of Washington. The flag of the state of Washington is a symbol of the authority and sovereignty of the state and is a valuable asset of its people. The Washington flag is flown over all state buildings just below the country flag of the United States of America.

State Commemorative Quarter:
From the 1999-2008 United States Mint 50 State Quarters® Program
The second commemorative quarter-dollar coin released in 2007 honors Washington, and is the 42nd coin in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program. Washington, nicknamed the “Evergreen State,” was admitted into the Union on November 11, 1889, becoming our Nation’s 42nd state. The reverse of Washington’s quarter features a king salmon breaching the water in front of majestic Mount Rainier. The coin bears the inscriptions “The Evergreen State,” “Washington” and “1889.”

Mount Rainier is an active volcano encased in more than 35 square miles of snow and glacial ice. It is the symbolic bridge between the eastern and western parts of the State. The salmon is another important symbol of Washington. It is a traditional image of Pacific Northwest culture, and this fish has provided nourishment for the native peoples of the Pacific Northwest. Newsman and real estate pioneer C.T. Conover nicknamed Washington the “Evergreen State” because of its many lush evergreen forests.

Quarter Specifications
Release Date: April 11, 2007
Reverse (tails) Side: The Evergreen State
Engraver: Charles Vickers
Standard Weight: 5.670g
Standard Diameter: 24.26mm (0.955 in)
Thickness: 1.75 mm
Edge Detail: Reeded
Composition: Cupro-Nickel Clad
(8.33% Nickel / 91.67% Copper)

Important Historical Figures of Washington

George Washington
Black founder of Centralia. George Washington was the son of a slave and a woman of English decent. Soon after his birth, his father was sold to a new owner and his mother took him to the home of the Cochranes, a white couple who later adopted George. Anti-black laws, restrictions, and prejudice followed George and the Cochranes through six moves and six different states from Virginia to Washington. Prior to 1857, a law barring blacks from land ownership prevented George from owning the property he found in Washington. The Cochranes filed for the land chosen by George in order to protect it for him. In 1857 the law was repealed and the Cochranes deeded back to George, the 640 acres he had lived on and developed for the past five years. At last, receiving that title symbolized the attainment of basic rights and in 1875 George filed his intention of laying out a new town, originally named Centerville. In 1889 the town had a population of 1,000 and George had sold his 2,000th lot. In the Panic of 1893, Centralia was hard hit, and George saved the town by purchasing properties gone to the auction block and making wagon trips alone to Portland, Oregon for supplies, and by lending considerable sums of money with no interest or terms for repayment.

Dr. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
1802-47: The Whitmans were early Protestant missionaries to the Cayuse Indians near what is now Walla Walla. Narcissa was one of the first two women to cross the continent over land. Their mission became an important stop for emigrants traveling the Oregon Trail in the early 1840s. On November 29, 1847 a small group of the Cayuse Indians, angry, possibly, as a result of cultural differences and a smallpox outbreak, murdered Dr. Whitman, Narcissa and 12 other at the mission.

Chief Seattle
1786-1866: Among the Pacific Northwest Indians, Chief Seattle is one of the most known. Called Sealth by his native Suquamish tribe, his frame rests largely upon his leadership and a speech he gave in 1854 when Governor Stevens visited Seattle for meetings with Native Puget Sound Tribes, he spoke about life and the environment. This particular speech was well known during the 1970′s environmental movement.

Captain George Vancouver
1757-98: In 1792, Captain George Vancouver, of the British Navy, sailed his ships into Puget Sound and named many of the mountains, bays and islands. His goal was to explore the inland waters and make one last attempt at finding the Northwest Passage.

Captain Robert Gray
1755-1806: Captain Robert Gray sailed out of Boston to explore and trade along the Northwest Coast in the late 1700s. Gray discovered Grays Harbor, then continuing south, he finally discovered the mouth of the Columbia River.

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