The Albany and Schenectady Railroad was built as a quicker alternative to bypass a place that a feat of supernatural strength was performed by who?
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Albany and Schenectady Railroad The Mohawk & Hudson Railroad was the first railroad built in the State of New York and one of the first railroads in the United States. It was so-named because it linked the Mohawk River at Schenectady with the Hudson River at Albany. It was conceived as a means of allowing Erie Canal passengers to quickly bypass the circuitous Cohoes Falls via steam powered trains.
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Cohoes Falls Cohoes Falls [Kahon:ios, Mohawk for "Canoe Falls"] is a waterfall on the Mohawk River shared by the city of Cohoes and the town of Waterford, New York, United States. Discovered by the indigenous people, the falls were called "Ga-ha-oose" or "Ga-ho'n'-yoos" by the Mohawks, which is believed to mean "The Place of the Falling Canoe." Cohoes historian Arthur Masten wrote in his 1880 history that the phrase might mean "Potholes in the River," referring to the potholes that appear in the riverbed when it is dry. In the oral tradition of the "Haudenosaunee" (Iroquois), the Cohoes Falls are the site where The Great Peacemaker, performed a feat of supernatural strength, convincing the Mohawk people to become the founders of the Iroquois League of Nations or Confederacy. Some historians believe the Mohawks launched the Confederacy as early as 1142 CE, though other experts report dates ranging from 1450-1650.
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Wisakedjak Wisakedjak ("Wìsakedjàk" in Algonquin, "Wīhsakecāhkw" in Cree and "Wiisagejaak" in Oji-cree) is the Crane "Manitou" found in northern Algonquian and Dene storytelling, similar to the trickster "Nanabozho" in Ojibwa "aadizookaanan" (sacred stories) and "Inktonme" in Assiniboine lore. He is generally portrayed as being responsible for a great flood which destroyed the world. In other stories he is also one of the beings who created the current world, either on his own, or with magic given to him by the Creator for that specific purpose. His name is found in a number of different forms in the related languages and cultures he appears in, including Weesack-kachack, Wisagatcak, Wis-kay-tchach, Wissaketchak, Woesack-ootchacht, Vasaagihdzak, and Weesageechak.
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Vanishing hitchhiker The vanishing hitchhiker (or variations such as the ghostly hitchhiker, disappearing hitchhiker, phantom hitchhiker, or the hitchhiker) is an urban legend in which people traveling by vehicle meet with or are accompanied by a hitchhiker who subsequently vanishes without explanation, often from a moving vehicle. Vanishing hitchhikers have been reported for centuries and the story is found across the world, with many variants. The popularity and endurance of the legend has helped it spread into popular culture.
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Jayville, New York Jayville was a hamlet located in the southwest part of St. Lawrence County, New York, in the United States. The hamlet started as a mining community in 1850 on what eventually became the Carthage and Adirondack Railroad. Its existence was short lived as its non-favorable mineral composition and difficult ore availability was abandoned in favor of neighboring Benson Mines, located 14 mi down the railroad to the east. After mining stopped in the community, other industries such as saw mills kept the population busy. Ultimately, these business were short lived. A further attempt to reopen the mines in 1914 failed and an eventual fire ended the existence of the hamlet of Jayville. Today remnants of the hamlet can be found off the now abandoned railroad station located on New York State owned land southeast of Harrisville on Jayville Road.
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Scott Special The Scott Special, also known as the Coyote Special, the Death Valley Coyote or the Death Valley Scotty Special, was a one-time, record-breaking (and the best-known) passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe) from Los Angeles, California, to Chicago, Illinois, at the request of "Death Valley Scotty". At the time of its transit in 1905, the "Scott Special" made the 2265 mi trip between the two cities at the fastest speed recorded to date; in doing so, it established the Santa Fe as the leader in high-speed travel between Chicago and the West Coast. The "Scott Special" made the trip in 44 hours and 54 minutes breaking the previous records, set in 1900 by the "Peacock Special", by 13 hours and 2 minutes, and in 1903 by the "Lowe Special", by 7 hours and 55 minutes. Santa Fe's regular passenger service from Los Angeles to Chicago at the time was handled on a 2½-day schedule by the "California Limited". It was not until the 1936 introduction of the "Super Chief" that Santa Fe trains would regularly exceed the speeds seen on the "Scott Special".
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Sarah Mildred Long Bridge The Sarah Mildred Long Bridge was a lift bridge that carried the US 1 Bypass over the Piscataqua River between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Kittery, Maine. A double-deck truss bridge, it carried the US 1 Bypass road deck above and a railroad bed below.
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Albany Mounds State Historic Site Albany Mounds State Historic Site, also known as Albany Mounds Site, is a historic site operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. It spans over 205 acres of land near the Mississippi river at the northwest edge of the state of Illinois in the United States. In 1974, the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places list. The historical site is under the provision of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, a governmental agency founded in 1985 for the maintaining of historical sites within the state. In the 1990s, the site underwent a restoration project that aimed to return its appearance to its original condition.
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Leatherman (vagabond) The Leatherman (ca. 1839–1889) was a particular vagabond, famous for his handmade leather suit of clothes, who traveled a circuit between the Connecticut River and the Hudson River, roughly from 1857 to 1889. Of unknown origin, he was thought to be French-Canadian, because of his fluency in the French language, his "broken English", and the French-language prayer book found on his person after his death. His identity remains unknown, and controversial. He walked a 365-mile route year after year. His repeating route took him between towns arriving in a new town every 34–36 days in western Connecticut and eastern New York.
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Rochester and Syracuse Railroad (interurban) The Rochester and Syracuse Railroad was a double-track, high-speed line 87 mi long that ran between Rochester and Syracuse, New York. The tracks paralleled the New York Central Railroad and the Erie Canal and had only one grade crossing with another railroad its entire length.
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John Work House and Mill Site John Work House and Mill Site is a site listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana just outside Charlestown, owned by the Lincoln Heritage Council, (BSA), as part of the Tunnel Mill Scout Reservation. For a century, it was an active gristmill until technology made it obsolete, and arson destroyed much of it. Prominent features around the site are Fourteen Mile Creek and the Devil's Backbone. The land is now used by the Boy Scouts of America for camping activities such as National Youth Leadership Training and a Webelos Camp. In 2010, part of the Tunnel Mill camp was leased to a private company for the purpose of restoring the Historic John Work House for use as a living history center. In order to prevent vandalism and amateur ghost hunters from further damaging the building, security guards patrol the property each night.
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Marian apparition A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by the Blessed Virgin Mary. The figure is often named after the town where it is reported, or on the sobriquet given to Mary on the occasion of the apparition.
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John Henry (folklore) John Henry is an African American folk hero. He is said to have worked as a "steel-driving man"—a man tasked with hammering a steel drill into rock to make holes for explosives to blast the rock in constructing a railroad tunnel. According to legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam-powered hammer, a race that he won only to die in victory with hammer in hand as his heart gave out from stress. The story of John Henry is told in a classic folk song, which exists in many versions, and has been the subject of numerous stories, plays, books, and novels. Various locations, including Big Bend Tunnel in West Virginia, Lewis Tunnel in Virginia, and Coosa Mountain Tunnel in Alabama, have been suggested as the site of the contest.
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Rutland and Washington Railroad The Rutland and Washington Railroad was a railroad company based in Rutland, Vermont which was chartered in Vermont on November 13, 1847 and built between Rutland and Eagle Bridge in Rensselaer County, New York in 1851 and 1852. One of the company's founders was Merritt Clark, a Vermont politician, and another was Thomas Canfield, later involved with the Northern Pacific. In order to build in New York, the company, on June 24, 1850, took a perpetual rent-free lease of the franchise rights east of Salem of the Troy and Rutland Railroad, which had been chartered in that state on July 2, 1849. The remainder of the Troy and Rutland, from Salem west to Eagle Bridge, was completed in 1852 and leased to the Rutland and Washington effective July 2.
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Albany Pump Station The Albany Pump Station, originally the Quackenbush Pumping Station of the Albany Water Works, is located in Quackenbush Square on Broadway in the city of Albany, New York, United States. It is a large brick building constructed in the 1870s and expanded later in the century.
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Exorcism in Christianity Exorcism in Christianity is the practice of casting out demons from a person they are believed to have possessed. The person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, is often a member of the Christian Church, or an individual thought to be graced with special powers or skills. The exorcist may use prayers and religious material, such as set formulas, gestures, symbols, icons, amulets, etc. The exorcist often invokes God, Jesus and/or several different angels and archangels to intervene with the exorcism. A survey of Christian exorcists found that most exorcists believe that any mature Christian can perform an exorcism, not just members of clergy. Christian exorcists most commonly believe the authority given to them by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (the Trinity) is the source of their ability to cast out demons.
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Portland and Southwestern Railroad Tunnel The Portland and Southwestern Railroad Tunnel, also known as the Nehalem Divide Railroad Tunnel, is an abandoned railroad tunnel near Scappoose, Oregon, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The tunnel was driven by the Portland and Southwestern Railroad, whose chief business was logging. Unusually for a logging railroad, the Portland and Southwestern built tunnels. In order to reach the far side of the Nehalem divide in the Northern Oregon Coast Range, the railroad undertook a 1712 ft tunnel. Some work was started in 1910, but most work began in 1918 and was completed in 1919. Since the tunnel was not through solid rock, the tunnel was lined with timber. The tunnel was used until 1945, when it was replaced by a truck road over the divide.
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Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain, spelled Pokamoonshine on U.S. Geological Survey maps, and sometimes known as just Poke-O, is a minor peak of the Adirondack Mountains. The name is believed to be a corruption of the Algonquin words "pohqui", meaning 'broken', and "moosie", meaning 'smooth'. It is located in the town of Chesterfield, New York, United States, on New York state Forest Preserve land, part of the Taylor Pond Wild Forest complex within the Adirondack Park. Due to its location next to the pass through which most travelers from the north enter the range, it has been called the "gateway to the Adirondacks".
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Fleischmann's Railroad Station The station at Fleischmann's, MP 44.1 of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad, was originally called Griffin's Corners Station, as that was the town's original name. It was situated on a hill high above the busy town, and, like the town, was always very busy itself. Changes were made to the station when the New York Central purchased the line in 1932; a room was added on, and a chimney and a lookout room on the second floor were removed. It survived even after the end of passenger service, but all that's left now is a freight house, which is used by the Delaware and Ulster Railroad.
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Kittatinny Mountain Kittatinny Mountain (Lenape: Kitahtëne) is a long ridge traversing across northwestern New Jersey running in a northeast-southwest axis, a continuation across the Delaware Water Gap of Pennsylvania's Blue Mountain Ridge (also known as Kittatinny Ridge). It is the first major ridge in the far northeastern extension of the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian Mountains, and reaches its highest elevation (the state's highest), 1,803 feet, at High Point in Montague Township. Kittatinny Mountain forms the eastern side of Wallpack Valley; the western side comprises the Wallpack Ridge (highest elevation: 928 ft above sea level.
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New England vampire panic The New England vampire panic was the reaction to an outbreak of tuberculosis in the 19th century throughout Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut, Vermont, and other parts of New England. Consumption (tuberculosis) was thought to be caused by the deceased consuming the life of their surviving relatives. Bodies were exhumed and internal organs ritually burned to stop the "vampire" from attacking the local population and to prevent the spread of the disease. Notable cases provoked national attention and comment, such as those of Mercy Brown in Rhode Island and Frederick Ransom in Vermont.
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John Murray Spear John Murray Spear (September 16, 1804 – October 5, 1887) was an American Spiritualist clergyman who is most notable for his attempts to construct an electrically powered Messiah which he referred to as the "New Motive Power".