Jackson Square - Oak Ridge, Tennessee

At first glance, this looks like one of those incredibly boring cards of a parking lot, but there's actually more to it. This isn't just any parking lot.

Before 1942, the area around Black Oak Ridge was a peaceful rural farming area. It only became a city when the U.S. Government chose it as the production site for the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb. Although the area was not densely populated, the people who did live there were evicted from their homes and given as little as two weeks to evacuate.

A large number of people were needed to work on the military project, so a town was built for the workforce and their families. Jackson Square was the original commercial site of Oak Ridge, and was surrounded by housing. By 1945, the population swelled to 75,000. The town included 300 miles of roads, ten schools, seven theaters, 17 restaurants, and 13 supermarkets.

It was only after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945 that many of the workers realized what they had been working on. Oak Ridge is no longer a military town, and only has a population of about 27,000. Efforts are currently underway to revitalize and preserve Jackson Square.

Here's the back of the card, sent to Mrs. Addie Wolcott in Miami, Florida in 1955.
The message reads:

Dear Addie: I received your letter but have little time to write these days. The children are very good, but do need a lot of attention. It keeps us both busy. Do hope the hurricanes keep on passing us by.

Love,

Mildred

More Motels For You

If you're still not sure where you might like to go this summer, here are a few more suggestions.
I recommend the Downtowner Motel in Memphis, Tennessee for the consistent and classic decorating scheme with warm hues carried throughout, and effective lighting and a appropriately-sized painting on the wall. Smokers will be glad to see that the room is well supplied with ashtrays. Sorry, no wi-fi.

The Floritona in Daytona Beach claims to be on the world's most famous beach, so why are people sunbathing in the grass with a view of the parking lot (even if they are nice cars)? I don't know, but it might be worth it for you to go there and find out.

These two motels, in Sharpsburg, North Carolina and Ashland, Virginia, seem similar enough to be interchangeable. It may just depend on whether you prefer yellow or pink bedspreads.

Here are the backs of the first two cards.

Mystery of Life #63

There is actually more than one great mystery of life at work here. Firstly, why would anyone take a picture of a parking lot for a postcard, especially in such a uniquely beautiful spot as the Smoky Mountains? Secondly, who would buy a card like this? Well, I guess I bought it, so I can't say too much about that.

Here's the back of the card. Unfortunately, there is no message relating a pleasant (or otherwise) experience at the parking lot.

City Patchwork

I've always loved looking out of airplane windows to see the patchwork quilt below. It's interesting  to speculate what the different patches are, but it's also fun to look at the overall pattern as abstract art.

Streetcar Sunday -Memphis, Tennessee

 
The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) currently operates vintage trolleys which were re-introduced in the 1990s to help reverse urban decline and increase traffic to the downtown pedestrian mall. The trolleys they use today were originally used in Porto, Portugal, but Memphis also had its own vintage streetcar system in earlier years.

Memphis had streetcars starting 1895 and running until 1947. For a number of years after that, they ran trolley coaches, which are buses that run on electricity, but by the end of the 1950s, they had changed over to diesel buses. Streetcars may have been considered an antiquated nuisance at the time, but they seem to have helped greatly in revitalizing Downtown Memphis in recent years. The system is popular with both residents and visitors, assuring that it is well used at various times of the day and week.

There are several good links with information on the Memphis streetcar system. For a great historical overview, look at Mike Condren's Memphis Street Railway.  For current streetcar information and pictures, take a look at John Smatlak's website, and the American Public Transportation Association.

Where You Could Be

Contemplating a Summer getaway? Here are some ideas:

We'll get those cows to mosey along and then we can take a dip in that pool.

Or, how about the Country Squire Motel in Knoxville, Tennessee? It has a putting green (not shown):

But this looks like the nicest swimming pool, and the scenery is terrific. It's the Harrison Hot Springs Hotel in British Columbia:

L. Bush stayed there in 1952 and had this to say:
 

Hi neighbor! Believe it or not I might be getting home the last of this week. Took a trip up into Canada with my family and we stayed here one night. Fine scenery.

Do you still have Hay's Dairy? You might have the driver leave a bottle of milk for me Friday. Have him charge it to me.

L. Bush.

Tennessee..or Not

This is spooky, don't you think? Two identical towns and two identical blue trucks, and yet these town are 50 miles apart...and neither one is on the Mississippi River.  Presumably, you could have had Boise, Idaho printed on this postcard if you wanted to. It's such a fine postcard; who wouldn't want their town's name on it?