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Home→Author Ray Balogh - Page 6 << 1 2 … 4 5 6 7 8 9 >>

Author Archives: Ray Balogh

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Largest Things Casey, Ill.

The Municipal Posted on August 7, 2018 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
Casey, Illinois

There are — literally — some big things in Casey, Ill. The mailbox can garage a school bus. The golf tee towers three stories above the clubhouse and a grown man could lie across the tee’s head with neither head … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame

Mystery Hole Ansted, W.Va.

The Municipal Posted on July 5, 2018 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
The entrance to The Mystery Hole still sports the kitschy design and trappings popular with the roadside attractions of yesteryear. (Photo provided)

Is the Mystery Hole just outside of Anstead, W.Va., a unique location where the laws of gravity have somehow gone haywire? Or is it merely a cleverly constructed subterranean attraction designed to make visitors think so? The real answer is … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame

Mayberry Mount Airy, N.C.

The Municipal Posted on June 7, 2018 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
mount airy nc mayberry

Some say the town of Mayberry, N.C., existed only on a television lot in Hollywood. Others insist it is a state of mind more than a physical location. But Mayberry does exist — in Andy Griffith’s hometown of Mount Airy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame

Community Celebration, Fla.

The Municipal Posted on May 7, 2018 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
All public fixtures, such as street clocks and street lamps — even manhole covers — are crafted to evoke memories of the halcyon days in small-town America. (Photo by Michael Rivera via English Wikimedia Commons)

Imagine a place so pristine and idyllic its signal character of perfection is also its most prominent target for criticism. Welcome to the “too good to be true” master-planned community of Celebration, Fla., population 7,427. “Town” is not exactly the … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame

Murals Virginia, Minn.

The Municipal Posted on April 9, 2018 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
Martin Biondich, known around town simply as “Marty,” was an amiable downtown mainstay who swept the streets and greeted everyone with a smile. The baseballs embedded in the mural were purchased by residents for $50 each to help raise funds for subsequent murals. (Photo provided)

Some of the notable denizens of Virginia, Minn., are larger than life. Literally larger than life. They are emblazoned up to 20 feet tall on the city’s colorful and impressive murals, concentrated within a five-by-five block area downtown. The eight … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame

Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum Gatlinburg, Tenn.

The Municipal Posted on March 7, 2018 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum in Gatlinburg, Tenn., situated near the town’s entrance to the Smoky Mountains National Park, opened in 2002 and hosts more than 200 visitors a day during the summer months. (Photo provided)

Nestled serenely among the picturesque Smoky Mountains lies Gatlinburg, Tenn., its 4,200 residents and the largest collection of salt and pepper shakers in the world. The collection started about three decades ago with a single pepper mill. “We did not … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame

Healing Springs Blackville, S.C.

The Municipal Posted on February 8, 2018 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
God’s Acre Healing Springs offers a continuous gush of pure mineral water for the taking. The site is not staffed and visitors are free to fill their containers with the water 24/7. (Photo provided)

Blackville, S.C., boasts perhaps the world’s only parcel of land owned by God. God’s Acre Healing Springs is a small parcel of damp sod 3 1/2 miles north of downtown. The attraction sports about a dozen taps a couple feet … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame

Little Bavaria Frankenmuth, Mich.

The Municipal Posted on January 6, 2018 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
The Frankenmuth Visitor Center features a fountain with a maypole sculpture and a platz for convivial social congregation.

His nickname was Tıny. Hıs influence was gigantic. William “Tiny” Zehnder (1919-2006) grew up in the restaurant business. When he was 8 years old, his parents traded in their family farm to purchase a hotel in nearby Frankenmuth, Mich. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame | Tagged Frankenmuth

Mustard Museum Middleton, Wis.

The Municipal Posted on December 26, 2017 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
The National Mustard Museum moved from its original location of Mt. Horeb with the help of the administration of Middleton, Wis. “They were amazing,” according to museum founder and curator Barry Levenson. (Photo provided)

What makes for a successful globally acclaimed museum? In the case of the National Mustard Museum in Middletown, Wis., the ingredients included a heartbreaking World Series loss, an all-night supermarket and a mysterious disembodied voice. During the wee hours of … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame

Pest House Lynchburg, Va.

The Municipal Posted on October 28, 2017 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
The Pest House was built in the 1840s and served as a quarantine hospital in Lynchburg, Va., until aft er the Civil War. (Wikimedia Commons)

It takes a hero to wade soul-deep into a miasma of death and laboriously rescue victims teetering on the abyss. Dr. John Jay Terrell was that kind of a hero. The good doctor volunteered to staff the first of 39 … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame | Tagged Lynchburg

Native American attractions – Chillicothe, Ohio

The Municipal Posted on October 3, 2017 by Ray BaloghAugust 2, 2023
The entrance to Hopewell Mound Group, a Native American burial ground 3 miles north of Chillicothe. The earthen ridge stretches 2,050 feet on a side and encases a square parcel of land containing 23 burial mounds dating from 200 B.C. to the fourth century. (Photo provided)

Two millennia of Native American culture and customs are always front and center in and around Chillicothe, Ohio. The city of 21,725 is bounded north and south by the largest concentration of American Indian burial mounds in the nation. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Unique Claims to Fame

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