Arlington, Virginia conjures visions of things in today’s world. The most notably might be the Arlington National Cemetery, but there is a rich history in the forming of the city of Arlington. The city skyline is a blend of the past, present and future; greatly influenced by its proximity to the nation’s capital and the government itself. The many colleges and Marymount University contribute to the city’s intense love of education and sports; specifically football and baseball. However, the city’s past may surprise you to find out that it was actually formed to avoid a potential conflict on the topic of slavery.
A thriving and bustling city just north of the nation’s capital, Silver Spring was literally named after the glittering silver of mica in a fresh water spring. The convenience of the location, combined with natural beauty has continued to carry the town to a level of both financial and political success today. The town’s love of sports is exemplified in every day life through their intense youth organizations and camps that focus on football, baseball, soccer and rugby. Pretty much everywhere you look there are games and scoreboards for this varied sports city.
Francis Blair along with Elizabeth, his daughter, found the spring in a tucked away area. It was glittering with natural mica, a mineral that flakes easily, and became the mesmerizing view that affected their decision to establish a settlement. Three families in total built mansions and homes in the area and successive generations became many contributing members of politics and high government positions.
The Dundalk Maryland area has its roots in the foundry industry and the history is a topic that the local residents carry with pride. Some of the nation’s best sports players have called Dundalk their home and the area loves and supports baseball and basketball as their key games. The community is now one of the first neighborhoods outside of Baltimore but the city’s name is all Ireland.
The original inhabitants of what is now Dundalk were the Susquehannock Native American tribe. According to the historic records, the area was actually discovered by John Smith but wasn’t established until a few years later when Thomas Todd actually purchased acreage and built a home. While the original home was lost in the War of 1812, it was rebuilt and remains in Dundalk today as part of their history.
Metairie Louisiana shares the same history of French influence as the New Orleans area. The location of the town along a Mississippi River branch elevated it to an importance for transport. The people of the area are deeply rooted in their culture and traditions, with a fine sense of hospitality and an intense love of their sports teams. The area boasts many areas for their team games of basketball, football and baseball headed by the Jefferson Parish Parks and Recreation; with a special love for tennis.
Originally settled by the French, they named the town of Metairie after the word which meant sharecropper. The residents were hard working with an excellent sense of ethics. The delta area was known for much of the land as swampland and while the location was key, this detained early expansion and was also problematic with natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods.
Most people don’t realize that Birmingham, Alabama started out as a merger of three little farm towns. It was originally created as a center city where cheaper labor that was not related to a union as well as African American workers could work in the blasting furnaces and steel mill environment. Birmingham has had a checkered past, overcoming obstacles that would collapse most towns. Birmingham is an astounding swirl of sports fans of all venues: football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, motor sports, golfing and more. The scoreboards of any stadium, no matter what the team, are the highlight of the games.
Clarksville Tennessee is one of those cities that have an incredible history in our country. The historic downtown area is a vision of small town Americana, but set within a bustling city. There isn’t a single phase of U.S. history that didn’t involve Clarksville in one form or another and the residents have taken great pride in preserving much of the story for generations to come. The sports scoreboards of history show a literal who’s who of famous sports figures that have all come from Clarksville. In this town, baseball reigns supreme.
The lands that are now part of Clarksville have been archeologically dated to habitation by Native Americans to over 11,000 years ago. While there are many tribes that have lived in the area, the most recent and notable are the Muscogee and later the Cherokee, Chicasaw and Choctaw. When the Spanish explorers arrived they brought with them European diseases that the local tribes could not combat and many of the native people died and relocated to escape the disaster. The influx of European settlers to the area created the need to displace the Cherokee people and a plan was designed to forcibly relocate 17,000 people of the Cherokee nation to another state, with lesser land quality. This was known as the Trail of Tears. Cherokee women. men and children walked from Georgia to Oklahoma, and over 4,000 of the tribe died along the way.
Lafayette Louisiana is the center for Cajun and Creole. The influences of this city have changed much of the culture and cuisine of the entire country. This is a part of the U.S. that is proud of its history and has roots deeply embedded in the city that they love and this is exemplified in their love of their university sports teams. Sports fans will argue which is tops: basketball, soccer, ice hockey or football; but the stadiums seem to be filled, no matter what the sport.
The original inhabitants of the area now designated as Lafayette included a number of Native American tribes. The records show that there wasn’t the influx of Europeans to this area as in other parts of the country. However, by around 1765, there was a larger group of Acadians that arrived to New Orleans from Nova Scotia. The local lands were then governed by Spanish and French, and the officials offered expanses of land to the new arrivals in the Lafayette area.
The Cowboy Capital Rodeo Association (CCRA) in Texas understands the importance of an electronic scoreboard. A scoreboard is key to a world class show presentation. That’s why they rented a scoreboard for each of their shows. The cost of renting was astronomical, with the price cutting deeply into their budget. To their surprise, a group of benefactors that wished to remain anonymous made a donation of a twenty five foot electronic scoreboard for CCRA.
There are few places in the world where a rodeo reigns supreme as it is in Texas. This includes the ‘cowboy capital of the world’ in Bandera Texas. Rodeos are part of the community spirit and a true form of Americana. The CCRA prides itself on offering a venue where the best talent in the area can show off their performances. Kids learn at an early age the art of bare back riding, bull riding, saddle bronc riding and calf racing. Friends and family show up for their famous barbeque and shows and rodeo is an integral part of everyone’s life. The CCRA is also home to numerous awards. Year after year the CCRA group has won a variety of titles including: Best of the Best in Rodeo, Top Five PRCA Small Rodeo of the Year, Dodge Small Rodeo and Event of the Year.
