Why is the area where you live/your town so special?

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I live in Bryson City where the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad is located - you can take a train ride for several hrs & get to see the countryside. They have special theme trips a few times per yr such as The Polar Express and Charlie Brown. Some of the trains that are still used to this day have been used in movies - the main one I can think of is "The Fugitive" with Harrison Ford. When the movie "The Fugitive" was being filmed, a part in the movie shows the train depot of the Great Smoky Mtn RR here in Bryson City. Parts of the movie were also filmed in the town I work in - Sylva. The train wreck/crash in the movie was filmed in a tiny little town called Dillsboro which is directly next to Sylva (2 min from where I work) & the train mentioned above was one of the trains they used in the crash. Harrison Ford & Tommy Lee Jones ate lunch several times at a bbq diner 1 min down the road from where I work. Edited: some parts of the movie were filmed at the hospital where both my kids were born -pretty neat!

Also, one town over from me is Cherokee. An outdoor drama ("Unto These Hills") depicts the story of the Trail of Tears regarding the Cherokee Indians that were forcibly taken from Cherokee, NC to Oklahoma, a 1,200 mile journey. I believe over 4,000 Cherokee Indians died in this horrible trip. A brave Cherokee man, by the name of Tsali, fought and died for his people. A sign in the town I live in (Bryson City) stands beside the old courthouse which describes Tsali's role in the Trail of Tears. My brother is named after Tsali, since we have Cherokee on my father's side of the family - my parents thought it would be a nice way to honor this fallen Cherokee hero.
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TaLani
 
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Here is a little history about Axton, Va. The first one struck me by surprise.........................


Chicken Fights at Axton
Martinsville Bulletin
On Wednesday March 26, 1951 state police raided an establishment in Boxwood, near Axton, and arrested 17 people for chicken-fighting. Fifteen troopers took part and the raid was the second in 5 years for that offense.


J.C. Martin
medlibrary.org
Joseph Clifton Martin (born December 13, 1936 in Axton, Virginia) is a former Major League Baseball player. The left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing Martin played for the Chicago White Sox from 1959-1967, New York Mets in 1968 and 1969 and Chicago Cubs from 1970-1972. Martin was scouted by the White Sox as an amateur free agent in 1956. After five seasons in the ChiSox farm system, which included callups to the majors late in 1959 and 1960, Martin became a regular in 1961. Splitting time between first base and third base, Martin batted .230 with five home runs and 32 runs batted in. Martin converted into a catcher in 1962, after Al Lopez convinced him to go down to the minor leagues and learn to catch. Regular catcher Sherm Lollar was at the tail end of his career at the age of 37; moreover, the White Sox had traded Earl Battey and Johnny Romano and had no catchers in their farm system. As the team’s regular catcher, Martin batted only .205 in 1963 and .197 in 1964; however, he exhibited his value to the team in catching a pitching rotation that contained the likes of Gary Peters, Juan Pizarro, Joe Horlen (whose no-hitter Martin would catch in 1967) and Ray Herbert, as well as closer Hoyt Wilhelm. In 1965 Martin batted a career-best .261; however, he also set a major league record with 33 passed balls (after committing 24 the year before)—due, in large part, to catching knuckleball pitchers Wilhelm and Eddie Fisher. This record stood until Geno Petralli committed 35 passed balls in 1987. In 1967 Martin batted .234 on a team that was involved in a four-way pennant race with the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant, which the latter of these teams won on the final day of the season. The White Sox had been eliminated from pennant contention after losing a doubleheader to the lowly Kansas City Athletics on September 27. After the season, the White Sox traded Martin to the New York Mets to complete a deal that had been made earlier in the season. On July 22 of that year the Mets had traded Ken Boyer to the White Sox for Billy Southworth. Both teams received a player to be named later in the deal; Sandy Alomar, Sr. was traded to the White Sox on August 15 to complete one side of the trade, and the trade of Martin to the Mets on November 27 completed the other. In another deal that same offseason, the White Sox traded Tommie Agee and Al Weis to the Mets with four players (among them Tommy Davis and Jack Fisher) going to the White Sox. In 1969 Martin, as a backup catcher to Jerry Grote, played on a Mets team that surprisingly won the World Series in five games over the Baltimore Orioles. In Game Four of that Series, Martin was involved in a controversial play. With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 10th inning and pinch-runner Rod Gaspar on second, Martin, pinch-hitting for Tom Seaver, bunted to the mound and, while running to first, was hit on the arm by Pete Richert’s errant throw, the error allowing Gaspar to score the winning run. Replays later showed that Martin was running inside the baseline, which could have resulted in him being called out for interference; however, the umpires said they didn’t make the call because they felt Martin didn’t intentionally interfere with the play. As a result of this play, the running lane that extends from halfway down the first-base line to the bag was added to all major league fields. A runner can be running in this lane and be hit by a thrown ball and not be called for interference. Martin was traded to the Chicago Cubs on March 29, 1970 for catcher Randy Bobb. In 1975 Martin was a White Sox broadcaster alongside Harry Caray on WSNS. In his career Martin batted .222 with 32 home runs and 230 RBIs in 908 games played.
 
I live between New Concord and Cambridge Ohio. Lots of history in the area, New Concord is the home of John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth and William Ramsey Harper, the founder and president of the University of Chicago. The Harper log cabin is open for tours on some weekends, Route 40 The National Road was the first federally funded highway built in 1828 and includes the famous "S" bridge. Cambridge is the home of William Boyd aka Hopalong Cassidy; There is a museum there in his honor. Cambridge is also known for its collectible glass from Mosser,Cambridge Glass
and Boyd glass. It is also home to The Wilds and Deerassic Park. Lots of hunting ans fishing at nearby Salt Fork Reservoir. We have 30 acres on the edge of the Appalacian Plateau. Most of the families in the area have owned their farms for generations. They have welcomed us and helped us get established. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I have found my little paradise.
 
I live in Adelaide. What is so special about Adelaide? Capital of the driest state in the driest country in the world, is the only thing I can pull off the top of my head. :p
 
My town has one of the few suspended intersections in the world. The film "Unstoppable" was filmed at some locations here. But why I like living here is there is no need to lock your car doors, or your house. You can wear your slippers/pajamas to the store or show up in barn boots covered in hay. You can still see farmers cutting hay; diary farms and corn fields.
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Let's see. . .Abe Lincoln was a lawyer in Vandalia, about 17 miles from where I love, Emmett Kelly the clown had a little cabin north of Mulberry Grove, where I went to school at. Carlyle Lake is 6 miles from where I live in Pleasant Mound. . .but mostly its a relatively safe place to live, and it has lovely seasons. Good hearted people who would drop everything to come help you when you need it, and that is priceless. Probably a lot of other things, but can't remember anymore famous people . . .but we have good people who might not be famous, but who keep this part of my world a safe and secure place to be.
 

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