1.
U.S. Route 54
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U. S. Route 54 is an east–west United States highway that runs northeast-southwest for 1,197 miles from Griggsville, Illinois to El Paso, Texas. It enters and leaves Texas twice, the Union Pacific Railroads Tucumcari Line runs parallel to US-54 from El Paso to Pratt, Kansas, which comprises about two-thirds of the route. As of 2004, the eastern terminus is Griggsville, Illinois, at Interstate 72. Its western terminus is El Paso, near the United States-Mexico border, US54 begins in El Paso at Loop 375 downtown. The highway serves as a freeway for the Metro areas network. The highway runs through the city for approximately 20 miles before reaching the New Mexico state line, within the network, it is a military connector for Fort Bliss and Holloman Air Force Base. US54 enters New Mexico in Chaparral as part of the El Paso and it also serves as a military highway to connect Fort Bliss in El Paso to Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The speed limit is 70 mph on the highway section upon entering the state to approximately 10 miles south of Alamogordo. Upon entering Alamogordo, US54 becomes concurrent with U. S. Route 70, US 54/US70 then intersects the beginning of U. S. Route 82 at the north end of Alamogordo. The limit is 60 mph from Alamogordo to Tularosa and 55 mph north of Tularosa, where the concurrency with US70 ends, the highway runs north through the central portion of the state, passing through Carrizozo and intersecting U. S. Route 380. The route then turns northeast before passing through Vaughn, upon entering Vaughn, the route is briefly concurrent with U. S. Route 60 and U. S. Route 285. In Vaughn, US285 splits off to the south, exiting Vaughn, US60 splits off to the southeast, and the route continues northeast to Santa Rosa where it becomes concurrent with Interstate 40. The I-40 concurrency lasts for 59 miles to Tucumcari, the highway then exits the state back into Texas at Nara Visa. The highway runs for 354 miles in New Mexico, and is signed as a route through the state. The highway re-enters the Texas Panhandle just beyond Nara Visa, New Mexico, major Texas cities along US54 in the panhandle are Dalhart and Stratford. US-54 runs through the Oklahoma Panhandle from southwest to northeast and it enters at Texhoma, then continues northeast through Goodwell before entering Guymon. In Guymon, it intersects US-412 and begins a concurrency with US-64 and it goes northeast through Optima and Hooker, where US-64 turns east. After going northeast through Tyrone, it enters Kansas just before entering Liberal, US-54 is a known drug trafficking route with a drug task force located in Guymon, OK
2.
U.S. state
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A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance
3.
New Mexico
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New Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. It was admitted to the Union as the 47th state on January 6,1912 and it is usually considered one of the Mountain States. New Mexico is fifth by area, the 36th-most populous, inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before European exploration, New Mexico was colonized by the Spanish in 1598 Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. Later, it was part of independent Mexico before becoming a U. S. territory and eventually a U. S. state as a result of the Mexican–American War. Among U. S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics, the major Native American nations in the state are Navajo, Pueblo, and Apache peoples. The demography and culture of the state are shaped by these strong Hispanic and Native American influences and its scarlet and gold colors are taken from the royal standards of Spain, along with the ancient sun symbol of the Zia, a Pueblo-related tribe. New Mexico, or Nuevo México in Spanish, is incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the nation of Mexico. The name simply stuck, even though the area had no connection to Mexico or the Mexica Indian tribes, Mexico, formerly a part of New Spain, adopted its name centuries later in 1821, after winning independence from Spanish rule. New Mexico was a part of the independent Mexican Empire and Federal Republic of Mexico for 27 years,1821 through 1848, New Mexico and Mexico developed as neighboring Spanish-speaking communities under Spanish rule, with relatively independent histories. The states total area is 121,412 square miles, the eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and 2.2 miles west of 103° W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, the western border with Arizona runs along the 109°03 W longitude. The southwestern corner of the state is known as the Bootheel, the 37° N latitude parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together at the Four Corners in the corner of New Mexico. New Mexico, although a state, has very little water. Its surface water area is about 250 square miles, the New Mexican landscape ranges from wide, rose-colored deserts to broken mesas to high, snow-capped peaks. Despite New Mexicos arid image, heavily forested mountain wildernesses cover a significant portion of the state, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost part of the Rocky Mountains, run roughly north-south along the east side of the Rio Grande in the rugged, pastoral north. The most important of New Mexicos rivers are the Rio Grande, Pecos, Canadian, San Juan, the Rio Grande is tied for the fourth-longest river in the United States. Tourists visiting these sites bring significant money to the state, other areas of geographical and scenic interest include Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument and the Gila Wilderness in the southwest of the state
4.
Quay County, New Mexico
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Quay County is a county in the state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,041, the county was named for Pennsylvania senator Matthew Quay, who supported statehood for New Mexico. It is west from the Texas state line, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,882 square miles, of which 2,874 square miles is land and 7.2 square miles is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 10,155 people,4,201 households, the population density was 4 people per square mile. There were 5,664 housing units at a density of 2 per square mile. 37. 98% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,28. 90% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the family size was 2.90. In the county, the population was out with 25. 00% under the age of 18,6. 70% from 18 to 24,23. 30% from 25 to 44,26. 00% from 45 to 64. The median age was 42 years, for every 100 females there were 94.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.50 males, the median income for a household in the county was $24,894, and the median income for a family was $30,362. Males had an income of $24,801 versus $17,500 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,938, about 15. 70% of families and 20. 90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25. 50% of those under age 18 and 15. 80% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 9,041 people,4,072 households, the population density was 3.1 inhabitants per square mile. There were 5,569 housing units at a density of 1.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 86. 1% white,1. 2% American Indian,1. 1% black or African American,1. 0% Asian,7. 2% from other races, and 3. 4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 42. 4% of the population, in terms of ancestry,11. 4% were American,10. 7% were English,10. 5% were German, and 9. 8% were Irish. The average household size was 2.21 and the family size was 2.79. The median age was 45.6 years, the median income for a household in the county was $28,773 and the median income for a family was $41,766
5.
2000 United States Census
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This was the twenty-second federal census and was at the time the largest civilly administered peacetime effort in the United States. Approximately 16 percent of households received a form of the 2000 census. Full documentation on the 2000 census, including forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Microdata from the 2000 census is available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, personally identifiable information will be available in 2072. The U. S. resident population includes the number of people in the 50 states. The Bureau also enumerated the residents of the U. S. territory of Puerto Rico, its population was 3,808,610, the 2000 Census was the first time survey options for multiracial Americans were provided. S. Households had access to computers, 42% have Internet access, regionally, the South and West experienced the bulk of the nations population increase,14,790,890 and 10,411,850, respectively. This meant that the center of U. S. population moved to Phelps County. The Northeast grew by 2,785,149, the Midwest by 4,724,144, the results of the census are used to determine how many congressional districts each state is apportioned. Congress defines the formula, in accordance with Title 2 of the U. S. Code, each member of the House represents a population of about 647,000. The populations of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are excluded from the apportionment population because they do not have voting seats in the U. S, since the first census in 1790, the decennial count has been the basis for the United States representative form of government. Article I, Section II specifies that The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, in 1790, each member of the House represented about 34,000 residents. Since then, the House more than quadrupled in size, today, each member represents about 20 times as many constituents. This recommendation was followed by the Secretary of Commerce, after the census was tabulated, Utah challenged the results in two different ways. Utah was extremely close to gaining a fourth seat, falling 857 people short. The margin was later shortened to 80 people, after the government discovered that it overcounted the population of North Carolina by 2,673 residents. Utah claimed that individuals traveling abroad as religious missionaries should be counted as residents, almost half of all Mormon missionaries, more than 11,000 individuals, were from Utah, only 102 came from North Carolina
6.
Central Time Zone
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The North American Central Time Zone is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, during summer most of the zone uses daylight saving time, and changes to Central Daylight Time which is five hours behind UTC. The province of Manitoba is the province or territory in Canada that observes Central Time in all areas. Also, most of the province of Saskatchewan is on Central Standard Time year-round, major exceptions include Lloydminster, a city situated on the boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city charter stipulates that it shall observe Mountain Time and DST, putting the community on the time as all of Alberta, including the major cities of Calgary. As a result, during the summer, clocks in the province match those in Alberta. The Central Time Zone is the second most populous in the US after the Eastern Time Zone, lanett and Valley observe Eastern Time historically because they were textile mill towns and the original home office of their mills was in West Point, Georgia. Some eastern counties observe Central Time because they are close to the border of the Middle Tennessee counties surrounding the Nashville metropolitan area. Louisiana Michigan, All of Michigan observes Eastern Time except the four Upper Peninsula counties that border Wisconsin, other westernmost counties from this area such as Ontonagon observe Eastern Time. South Dakota, Eastern half as divided by the Missouri river adjacent to the state capital, note, the metropolitan area of Pierre is Central, including Fort Pierre. Wisconsin Most of Mexico—roughly the eastern three-fourths—lies in the Central Time Zone, except for six northwestern states, the federal entities of Mexico that observe Central Time, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua all use Central Standard Time year-round. The Galápagos Islands in Ecuador uses Central Standard Time all year-round, Daylight saving time is in effect in much of the Central time zone between mid-March and early November. The modified time is called Central Daylight Time and is UTC−5, in Canada, Saskatchewan does not observe a time change. One reason that Saskatchewan does not take part in a change is that, geographically. The province elected to move onto permanent daylight saving by being part of the Central Time Zone, Mexico decided not to go along with this change and observes their horario de verano from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In December 2009, the Mexican Congress allowed ten border cities, eight of which are in states that observe Central Time, to adopt the U. S. daylight time schedule effective in 2010
7.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
8.
UTC-5
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UTC−05,00 is a time offset that subtracts five hours from Coordinated Universal Time. In North America, it is observed in the Eastern Time Zone during standard time, the western Caribbean uses it year round. The southwestern and northwestern portions of Indiana Mexico – Central Zone Central, in most of Mexico, daylight time starts a few weeks after the United States. Communities on the U. S. border that observe Central Time follow the U. S. daylight time schedule
9.
ZIP Code
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ZIP Codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, was chosen to suggest that the travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly. The basic format consists of five numerical digits, an extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in 1983, includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, a hyphen, and four additional digits that determine a more specific location within a given ZIP Code. The term ZIP Code was originally registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, USPS style for ZIP is all caps and the c in code is also capitalized, although style sheets for some publications use sentence case or lowercase. The early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers, the United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example, Mr. John Smith 3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue Minneapolis 16, by the early 1960s a more organized system was needed, and on July 1,1963, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide. Three months later, on October 1,1963, the U. S, an earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with one exception, according to the historian of the U. S. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP Code, he submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector. The post office gives credit to Moon only for the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or sec center, an SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes, the mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. The United States Post Office used a character, which it called Mr. ZIP. He was often depicted with a such as USE ZIP CODE in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4, often called plus-four codes, add-on codes, or add ons. But initial attempts to promote use of the new format met with public resistance. For Post Office Boxes, the rule is that each box has its own ZIP+4 code. However, there is no rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box. It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster,9999 for general delivery, for a unique ZIP Code, the add-on code is typically 0001
10.
Area code 575
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Area code 575 is an area code in the U. S. state of New Mexico. It serves the remainder of the state outside the Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Farmington, and Gallup metropolitan and micropolitan areas, the new code became effective on October 7,2007, splitting from area code 505. Since October 2007, it is the last area code in the United States introduced by a split from an existing code. All new area added in the U. S. since the introduction of 575 have been overlays. Since the same date, there are no splits currently proposed or being considered, with the cancellation of the proposed splits of area code 814. NANPA Area Code Map of New Mexico List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload. com,575 Area Code
11.
Post office
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A post office is a customer service facility forming part of a national postal system. Post offices offer mail-related services such as acceptance of letters and parcels, provision of post office boxes, and sale of stamps, packaging. In addition, many post offices offer services, providing and accepting government forms, processing government services and fees. The chief administrator of a post office is a postmaster, prior to the advent of postal and ZIP codes, postal systems would route items to a specific post office for receipt or delivery. The term post office or post-office has been in use since the 1650s, in early Modern England, post riders – mounted couriers – were placed every few hours along post roads at posting houses or post houses between major cities. These stables or inns permitted important correspondence to travel without delay, in early America, post offices were also known as stations. This term and post house fell from use as horse and coach service was replaced by railways, aircraft, today, post office usually refers to postal facilities providing customer service. The term General Post Office is sometimes used for the headquarters of a postal service. A postal facility that is used exclusively for processing mail is known as sorting office or delivery office. Integrated facilities combining mail processing with railway stations or airports are known as mail exchanges, there is evidence of corps of royal couriers disseminating the decrees of the Egyptian pharaohs as early as 2,400 BC and the service may greatly precede even that date. Similarly, organized systems of posthouses providing swift mounted courier service seems quite ancient, certainly, by the time of the Persian Empire, a system of Chapar-Khaneh existed along the Royal Road. The 2nd-Century BC Mauryan and Han dynasties established similar systems in India, suetonius credited Augustus with regularizing the Roman network, the cursus publicus. Local officials were obliged to provide couriers who would be responsible for their messages entire course, locally maintained post houses privately owned rest houses were obliged or honored to care for them along their way. Diocletian later established two parallel systems, one providing fresh horses or mules for urgent correspondence and another providing sturdy oxen for bulk shipments, procopius, though not unbiased, records that this system remained largely intact was dismantled in the surviving empire by Justinian in the 6th Century. The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis initiated regular mail service from Brussels in the 16th century, the British Postal Museum claims that the oldest functioning post office in the world is on High Street in Sanquhar, Scotland. This post office has functioned continuously since 1712, an era in which horses, in parts of Europe, special postal censorship offices existed to intercept and censor mail. In France, such offices were known as cabinets noirs, in many jurisdictions, mail boxes and post office boxes have long been in widespread use for dropoff and pickup of mail and small packages outside of post offices or when offices are closed. Deutsche Post introduced the Packstation for package delivery in 2001, in the 2000s, the United States Postal Service began to install Automated Postal Centers in many locations both in post offices and in retail locations
12.
La Veta, Colorado
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The Town of La Veta is a Statutory Town in Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 800 as of the 2010 United States Census, a post office called La Veta has been in operation since 1876. The community was named for a deposit near the original town site. La Veta is located at 37°30′28″N 105°0′29″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.37 square miles, all of it land. At one time there were sulphur springs in La Veta owned by Dr. Acker and they were last managed by W J Pierce of Colorado Springs As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 800 people,415 households, and 222 families residing in the town. The population density was 583.9 people per square mile, there were 566 housing units at an average density of 413.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 91. 1% White,0. 9% American Indian,0. 4% Pacific Islander,2. 6% from other races, hispanics and Latinos of any race were 11. 4% of the population. 42. 7% of all households were made up of individuals, the average household size was 1.93, and the average family size was 2.60. The median age in the town was 52.8 years. 18. 9% of residents were under the age of 18,2. 9% were between the ages of 18 and 24,16. 4% were from 25 to 44,39. 2% were from 45 to 64, and 22. 6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 46. 8% male and 53. 2% female, the median income for a household was $37,457, and the median income for a family was $66,964. Males had an income of $50,577 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,066, about 12. 0% of families and 10. 9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19. 3% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over. There is one school in the town of La Veta, La veta RE2 and it has a total of 229 students. La Veta has the highest CSAP scores in Huerfano county, the school sports team are the La Veta Redskins, which for the last few years have been going to state tournaments in almost every sport. OLD LA VETA PASS Overall History, Before there was a railroad, then the woods were discovered by botanists collecting plants for Harvard College. Next, the Denver & Rio Grande Narrow Gauge Railroad was built in 1877 over the Sangre de Cristos/Rockies, the D&RG Railroad was active from 1877 to 1900 when the railroad over Veta Pass was decommissioned & the rails and ties removed. In the absence of rails the beautifully constructed dirt road one of the few roads crossing the Rocky Mountains for early automobile trips
13.
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
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The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, at the end of 1970 it operated 7183 miles of road on 10669 miles of track, that year it reported 20557 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 118 million passenger-miles. The song Rock Island Line, a spiritual from the late 1920s first recorded in 1934, was inspired by the railway, construction began October 1,1851, in Chicago, and the first train was operated on October 10,1852, between Chicago and Joliet. Construction continued on through La Salle, and Rock Island was reached on February 22,1854, the Mississippi river bridge between Rock Island and Davenport was completed on April 22,1856. In 1857, Abraham Lincoln represented the Rock Island in an important lawsuit regarding bridges over navigable rivers, the suit had been brought by the owner of a steamboat which was destroyed by fire after running into the Mississippi river bridge. Lincoln argued that not only was the steamboat at fault in striking the bridge, the M&M was acquired by the C&RI on July 9,1866, to form the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company. The railroad expanded through construction and acquisitions in the following decades, the Rock Island stretched across Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. The easternmost reach of the system was Chicago, and the system also reached Memphis, Tennessee, west, it reached Denver, Colorado, and Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Southernmost reaches were to Galveston, Texas, and Eunice, Louisiana while in a direction the Rock Island got as far as Minneapolis. The heaviest traffic was on the Chicago-to-Rock Island and Rock Island-to-Muscatine lines, in common with most American railroad companies, the Rock Island once operated an extensive passenger service. The primary routes served were, Chicago-Los Angeles, Chicago-Denver, Memphis-Tucumcari, the Rock Island ran both Limited and Local service on those routes as well as locals on many other lines on its system. In 1937, the Rock Island introduced Diesel power to its passenger service, in competition with the Santa Fe Chiefs, the Rock Island jointly operated the Golden State Limited with the Southern Pacific Railroad from 1902–1968. On this route, the Rock Islands train was marketed as a low altitude crossing of the Continental Divide, the Rock Island did not concede to the Santa Fes dominance in the Chicago-Los Angeles travel market and re-equipped the train with new streamlined equipment in 1948. At the same time, the Limited was dropped from the trains name, the local run on this line was known as the Imperial. The 1948 modernization of the Golden State occurred with some controversy, in 1947, both the Rock Island and Southern Pacific jointly advertised the coming of a new entry in the Chicago-Los Angeles travel market. The Golden Rocket was scheduled to match the Santa Fes transit time end-to-end and was to have its own dedicated trainsets, one purchased by the Rock Island. As the Rock Islands set of streamlined cars was being finished. The Rock Islands cars were delivered and would find their way into the Golden States fleet soon after delivery, the Golden State was the last first-class train on the Rock Island, retaining its dining cars and sleeping cars until its last run on February 21,1968
14.
Boxcar
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A boxcar is a North American railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, boxcars have side doors of varying size and operation, and some include end doors and adjustable bulkheads to load very large items. Similar covered freight cars outside North America are covered wagons and, depending on the region, are called goods van, louvre van. Boxcars can carry most kinds of freight, originally they were hand-loaded, but in more recent years mechanical assistance such as forklifts have been used to load and empty them faster. Their generalized design is still slower to load and unload than specialized designs of car, the other cause for this decline is the dramatic shift of waterborne cargo transport to container shipping. Even loose loads such as coal, grain and ore can be carried in a boxcar with boards over the door openings. Later grain transport would use metal reinforced cardboard which was nailed over the door and this was more common in earlier days, it was susceptible to losing much loading during the journey, and damaged the boxcar. It was also impossible to load and unload. Grain can also be transported in boxcars designed specifically for purpose, specialized equipment. However grain is transported in covered hopper cars. Livestock can be transported in a boxcar, but there is insufficient ventilation in warm weather, specially-built stock cars or converted boxcars are preferable. Insulated boxcars are used for types of perishable loads that do not require the precise temperature control provided by a refrigerator car. Circuses used boxcars to transport their workers, supplies, and animals to get from town to town, box cars were used for bulk commodities such as coal, particularly in the Midwestern United States in the early 20th century. This use was widespread that several companies developed competing box-car loaders to automate coal loading. By 1905,350 to 400 such machines were in use, historically automobiles were carried in boxcars, but during the 1960s specially built autoracks took over, these carried more cars in the same space and were easier to load and unload. The automotive parts business, however, has always been a big user of the boxcar, special boxcars carry newsprint paper and other damage-sensitive cargo. While not holding the dominant position in the world of rail borne freight that they had before World War II, the most common boxcars are 50-6 to 60-9 in length, 9-4 to 9-6 wide, and 10-10 to 11 high. A hi-roof boxcar is 13 in height, corresponding exterior dimensions would be 55-5 to 67-11 in length, and 10-6 to 10-8 in width
15.
Hat
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In the past, hats were an indicator of social status. In the military, hats may denote nationality, branch of service, rank, Police typically wear distinctive hats such as peaked caps or brimmed hats, such as those worn by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Some hats have a protective function, some hats are worn for ceremonial purposes, such as the mortarboard, which is worn during university graduation ceremonies. Some hats are worn by members of a profession, such as the Toque worn by chefs. Some hats have religious functions, such as the mitres worn by Bishops, while there are not many official records of hats before 3,000 BC, they probably were commonplace before that. Archaeologists think that the Venus of Brassempouy from 26,000 years ago may depict a hat. One of the earliest known confirmed hats was worn by a bronze age man whose body was frozen in a mountain between Austria and Italy, where hed been since around 3,300 BC. He was found wearing bearskin cap with a strap, made of several hides stitched together. One of the first pictorial depictions of a hat appears in a painting from Thebes, Egypt. Hats were commonly worn in ancient Egypt, many upper-class Egyptians shaved their head, then covered it in a headdress intended to help them keep cool. Ancient Mesopotamians often wore conical hats or ones shaped somewhat like an inverted vase. Other early hats include the Pileus, a skull like cap, the Phrygian cap, worn by freed slaves in Greece and Rome, and the Greek petasos. Women wore veils, kerchiefs, hoods, caps and wimples, like Otzi, Tollund Man was preserved to the present day with a hat on, probably having died around 400 BC in a Danish bog, which mummified him. He wore a cap made of sheepskin and wool, fastened under the chin by a hide thong. St. Clement, the saint of felt hatmakers, is said to have discovered wool felt when he filled his sandals with flax fibers to protect his feet. In the Middle Ages, hats were a marker of social status, the 1215 Fourth Council of the Lateran required that all Jews identify themselves by wearing the Judenhat, marking them as targets for anti-Semitism. The hats were usually yellow and were pointed or square. In the Middle Ages, hats for women ranged from simple scarves to elaborate hennin, structured hats for women similar to those of male courtiers began to be worn in the late 16th century
16.
Nara Visa School
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The Nara Visa School is a historic school building in Nara Visa, New Mexico. The school was built in 1921 during the settlement of eastern New Mexico, architect Joseph Champ Berry, noted for his work in the Texas Panhandle, designed the Mission Revival building. A gymnasium built by the Works Progress Administration and several contributing outbuildings are also on the property, as of the early 1980s, the school was still in operation, however, it has since closed, and the building is now a community center. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, National Register of Historic Places in Quay County, New Mexico Media related to Nara Visa School at Wikimedia Commons
17.
Union Pacific Railroad
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The Union Pacific Railroad is a freight hauling railroad that operates 8,500 locomotives over 32,100 route-miles in 23 states west of Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Union Pacific Railroad network is the largest in the United States and it is also one of the worlds largest transportation companies. Union Pacific Railroad is the operating company of Union Pacific Corporation. Union Pacific Corporations main competitor is the BNSF Railway, the second largest freight railroad. Together, the two railroads have a duopoly on all freight rail lines in the U. S. The original company was incorporated on July 1,1862, under an act of Congress entitled Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. The act was approved by President Abraham Lincoln, and it provided for the construction of railroads from the Missouri River to the Pacific as a war measure for the preservation of the Union. It was constructed westward from Council Bluffs, Iowa to meet the Central Pacific Railroad line, the line was constructed primarily by Irish labor who had learned their craft during the recent Civil War. The two lines were joined together at Promontory Summit, Utah,53 miles west of Ogden on May 10,1869, hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America. Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, the namesake of the city of Durant, Iowa, the first rails were laid in Omaha. It built or purchased local lines that gave it access to Denver, Colorado, to Portland, Oregon and it also owned narrow gauge trackage into the heart of the Colorado Rockies and a standard gauge line south from Denver across New Mexico into Texas. UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, exposed in 1872 and its independent construction company the Crédit Mobilier had bribed congressmen. The UP itself was not guilty but it did get bad publicity, the financial crisis of 1873 led to financial troubles but not bankruptcy. The company was reorganized as the Union Pacific Railway on January 24,1880, the new company declared bankruptcy during the Panic of 1893. When it emerged in 1897 it reverted to the original name, the corporate headquarters of the Union Pacific Corporation were located in New York City from its initial founding in the 1860s until Drew Lewis became CEO in the mid-1980s. He relocated it to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, later the headquarters was shifted to Dallas, Texas, before relocating to Omaha to join the operating headquarters. From the ICC annual reports, except 1979 is from Moodys, on December 31,1925 UP-OSL-OWRN-LA&SL-StJ&GI operated 9,834 route-miles and 15,265 track-miles. At the end of 1980, Union Pacific operated 9,266 route-miles and 15,647 miles of track, Moodys shows 220,697 million revenue ton-miles in 1993 on the expanded system
18.
Mountain Time Zone
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The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time at the 105th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. In the United States, the specification for the location of time zones. In the United States and Canada, this zone is generically called Mountain Time. Specifically, it is Mountain Standard Time when observing standard time, the term refers to the fact that the Rocky Mountains, which range from northwestern Canada to the US state of New Mexico, are located almost entirely in the time zone. In Mexico, this zone is known as the Pacific Zone. In the United States and Canada, the Mountain Time Zone is one ahead of the Pacific Time Zone and one hour behind the Central Time Zone. Sonora in Mexico and most of Arizona in the United States do not observe daylight saving time, and during the spring, summer, and autumn months they are on the same time as Pacific Daylight Time. The Navajo Nation, most of which lies within Arizona, does observe DST, although the Hopi Nation, as well as some Arizona state offices lying within the Navajo Nation, the largest city in the Mountain Time Zone is Phoenix, Arizona. TV broadcasting in the Mountain Time Zone is typically tape-delayed one hour, sonora – no daylight saving time, always on MST. Sinaloa Revillagigedo Islands, three of the four islands have the time as Mountain Time Zone, Isla Socorro, San Benedicto Island. The following states or areas are part of the Mountain Time Zone, Arizona – no daylight saving time, always on MST, except on the Navajo Nation. Colorado Idaho – southern half, south of the Salmon River Kansas – only the counties of Sherman, Wallace, Greeley and Hamilton, the remaining three counties that border Colorado, Cheyenne, Morton and Stanton, observe Central Time, as do all other Kansas counties. However, the state of Oklahoma is officially in the Central Time Zone. Additionally, northwestern Culberson County, Texas unofficially observes Mountain Time
19.
County seat
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A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is used in the United States, Canada, Romania, China, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, county towns have a similar function. In the United States, counties are the subdivisions of a state. Depending on the state, counties may provide services to the public, impose taxes. Some types of subdivisions, such as townships, may be incorporated or unincorporated. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government is known as the seat of its respective county, a county seat is usually, but not always, an incorporated municipality. The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as Arlington County, Virginia, likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, Cape May Court House, New Jersey, though unincorporated, is a section of Middle Township, in some of the colonial states, county seats include or formerly included Court House as part of their name. Most counties have only one county seat, an example is Harrison County, Mississippi, which lists both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats. The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult, there have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of pride for the towns involved. There are 36 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states, Coffee County, for example, the official county seat is Greensboro, but an additional courthouse has been located in nearby High Point since 1938. For example, Clearwater is the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, in New England, the town, not the county, is the primary division of local government. Historically, counties in this region have served mainly as dividing lines for the judicial systems. Connecticut and Rhode Island have no county level of government and thus no county seats, in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine the county seats are legally designated shire towns. County government consists only of a Superior Court and Sheriff, both located in the shire town. Bennington County has two towns, but the Sheriff is located in Bennington. In Massachusetts, most government functions which would otherwise be performed by county governments in other states are performed by town governments. As such, Massachusetts has dissolved many of its county governments, two counties in South Dakota have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county
20.
Tucumcari, New Mexico
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Tucumcari is a city in and the county seat of Quay County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 5,363 at the 2010 census, Tucumcari was founded in 1901, two years before Quay County was founded. In 1901, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad built a camp in the western portion of modern-day Quay County. Originally called Ragtown, the became known as Six Shooter Siding. Its first formal name, Douglas, was used only for a short time, after it grew into a permanent settlement, it was renamed Tucumcari in 1908. The name was taken from Tucumcari Mountain, which is situated near the community, where the mountain got its name is uncertain. It may have come from the Comanche word tʉkamʉkarʉ, which means ambush, a 1777 burial record mentions a Comanche woman and her child captured in a battle at Cuchuncari, which is believed to be an early version of the name Tucumcari. In December 1951, a storage tank collapsed in the city. Four were killed and numerous buildings were destroyed, Tucumcari is located at 35°10′10″N 103°43′32″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 7.6 sq mi. Tucumcari has a cool semi-arid climate characterized by cool winters and hot summers, rainfall is relatively low except during the summer months, when thunderstorms associated with the North American monsoon can bring locally heavy downpours. Snowfall is generally light, with a mean of 19.4 inches or 0.49 metres, due to the frequency of low humidity, wide daily temperature ranges are normal. The record high temperature at Tucumcari was 109 °F on June 25,1990 and June 28,2013, the wettest calendar year has been 1941 with 34.94 inches and the driest 1934 with 6.13 inches. The most rainfall in one month was 11.19 inches in July 1950, the most rainfall in 24 hours was 4.41 inches on June 21,1971. The most snowfall in one year was 46.7 inches in from July 1918 to June 1919, the most snowfall in one month was 30.0 inches in February 1912. As of the census of 2000, there were 5,989 people,2,489 households, the population density was 793.8 people per square mile. There were 3,065 housing units at a density of 406.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 75. 87% White,1. 29% African American,1. 39% Native American,1. 20% Asian,0. 22% Pacific Islander,17. 10% from other races, and 2. 94% from two or more races
21.
House, New Mexico
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House is a village in Quay County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 72 at the 2000 census, the town has been rapidly losing population. House is located at 34°38′53″N 103°54′14″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.9 square miles, all of it land. As of the census of 2000, there were 72 people,34 households, the population density was 78.3 people per square mile. There were 52 housing units at a density of 56.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 94. 44% White,2. 78% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 6. 94% of the population. 35. 3% of all households were made up of individuals and 20. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.68. In the village, the population was out with 20. 8% under the age of 18,2. 8% from 18 to 24,19. 4% from 25 to 44,23. 6% from 45 to 64. The median age was 52 years, for every 100 females there were 111.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.1 males, the median income for a household in the village was $25,625, and the median income for a family was $35,000. Males had an income of $21,250 versus $32,500 for females. The per capita income for the village was $24,300, there were 5. 0% of families and 14. 3% of the population living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and none of those over 64
22.
Logan, New Mexico
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Logan is a village in Quay County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,094 at the 2000 census, Logan was born when the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad constructed a bridge over the Canadian River. Eugene Logan was a well-known Texas Ranger who came to work on the bridge, in 1963 and 1964, Ute Dam, its reservoir, and Ute Lake State Park were built west of Logan. On March 23,2007, severe thunderstorms passed through Eastern New Mexico, the storms spawned several tornadoes including one in Logan, which destroyed 30 motor homes and mobile homes. Logan is located at 35°21′41″N 103°26′52″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 8.4 square miles, of which,8.0 square miles of it is land and 0.5 square miles of it is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,094 people,485 households, the population density was 137.5 people per square mile. There were 1,010 housing units at a density of 126.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 89. 21% White,0. 27% African American,1. 01% Native American,0. 18% Pacific Islander,6. 12% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 20. 38% of the population. 27. 8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15. 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.71. In the village, the population was out with 21. 2% under the age of 18,4. 8% from 18 to 24,19. 7% from 25 to 44,27. 1% from 45 to 64. The median age was 48 years, for every 100 females there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males, the median income for a household in the village was $24,871, and the median income for a family was $31,528. Males had an income of $28,125 versus $16,393 for females. The per capita income for the village was $13,069, about 7. 1% of families and 11. 1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12. 2% of those under age 18 and 9. 7% of those age 65 or over. U. S. Route 54 highway runs through this village, NM540 highway ends at Logan. The Union Pacific Railroad passes through Logan, and there is one short siding, Ute Lake State Park and Village of Logan Ute Lake State Park
23.
San Jon, New Mexico
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San Jon is a village in Quay County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 306 at the 2000 census, the village was founded in 1902 and grew after the arrival of the railroad in 1904. It was once an important local center and stop on U. S. Route 66 and home to numerous tourist-oriented businesses, such as gasoline service stations, cafes. However, when Interstate 40 bypassed the village in 1981, the economy went into a decline. Today, only one motel is still in operation and all of the gas stations, San Jon is located at 35°6′27″N 103°19′49″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has an area of 2.6 square miles. The village is located on I-40 at New Mexico State Highway 469 and is east of Tucumcari, as of the census of 2000, there were 306 people,118 households, and 82 families residing in the village. The population density was 116.5 people per square mile, there were 133 housing units at an average density of 50.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 87. 91% White,1. 63% Native American,6. 54% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 32. 03% of the population. 28. 0% of all households were made up of individuals and 14. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.24. In the village, the population was out with 30. 7% under the age of 18,5. 9% from 18 to 24,24. 5% from 25 to 44,21. 9% from 45 to 64. The median age was 36 years, for every 100 females there were 74.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.2 males, the median income for a household in the village was $22,917, and the median income for a family was $27,000. Males had an income of $30,000 versus $16,607 for females. The per capita income for the village was $11,592. About 14. 3% of families and 16. 8% of the population were below the poverty line, brief information about San Jon Old San Jon
24.
Unincorporated area
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Occasionally, municipalities dissolve or disincorporate, which may happen if they become fiscally insolvent, and services become the responsibility of a higher administration. In some countries, such as in Brazil, Japan, France or the United Kingdom, unlike many other countries, Australia has only one level of local government immediately beneath state and territorial governments. A local government area often contains several towns and even entire cities, thus, aside from very sparsely populated areas and a few other special cases, almost all of Australia is part of an LGA. Unincorporated areas are often in locations, cover vast areas or have very small populations. Postal addresses in unincorporated areas, as in parts of Australia. Thus, there is any ambiguity regarding addresses in unincorporated areas. The Australian Capital Territory has no municipalities and is in some sense an unincorporated area, the territorial government is directly responsible for matters normally carried out by local government. The far west and north of New South Wales constitutes the Unincorporated Far West Region, a civil servant in the state capital manages such matters as are necessary. The second unincorporated area of state is Lord Howe Island. In the Northern Territory,1. 45% of the area and 4. In South Australia, 60% of the area is unincorporated and communities located within can receive services provided by a state agency. Firstly, the remote area that is unincorporated is the Abrolhos Islands. Secondly, the unincorporated areas are A-class reserves either in, or close to. In Canada, depending on the province, a settlement is one that does not have a municipal council that governs solely over the settlement. It is usually, but not always, part of a municipal government. This can range from hamlets to large urbanized areas that are similar in size to towns. In British Columbia, unincorporated settlements lie outside municipal boundaries entirely, Unincorporated settlements with a population of between 100 and 1,000 residents may have the status of designated place in Canadian census data. In some provinces, large tracts of undeveloped wilderness or rural country are unorganized areas that fall directly under the provincial jurisdiction
25.
Glenrio, New Mexico and Texas
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Glenrio, formerly Rock Island, is an unincorporated community in both Deaf Smith County, Texas, and Quay County, New Mexico, in the United States. Located on Route 66, the ghost town sits on the Texas/New Mexico state line and it includes the Glenrio Historic District which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. The community was founded in 1903 as a siding on the Rock Island Railroad. Its name is derived from Scots glen + Spanish rio, originally a railroad town, the village was renamed from Rock Island to Glenrio by the Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in 1908 and began receiving motorists on the dusty Ozark Trail in 1917. Its original structures were adobe buildings, the circa-1910 Angel House was in New Mexico. The Ozark Trail was formed into U. S. Route 66 on November 11,1926, by the 1930s, U. S. Route 66 in Texas was a paved two-lane road served locally by several filling stations, a restaurant, and a motel. The road was widened in the 1950s, a Texaco station and a diner were constructed in Texas using the art moderne architectural style. The location of Glenrio on Texas and New Mexicos border led to some interesting business practices, at one point, all fuel was dispensed in Texas due to New Mexicos higher gasoline taxes. The 1930s State Line Bar and motel were built in New Mexico because Deaf Smith County, the railroad station was in Texas. The local post office, built circa-1935, was in New Mexico, a water tank and windmill in New Mexico were constructed circa 1945. The Joseph Brownlee House, constructed in Amarillo in 1930, was moved to Glenrio in 1950, three filling stations once operated in New Mexico. For years there has been a dispute over which state the east part of Glenrio is lawfully a part of. New Mexicos short border with Oklahoma, in contrast, was surveyed on the correct meridian, New Mexicos draft constitution in 1910 stated that the border is on the 103rd meridian as intended. The disputed strip, hundreds of long, includes parts of valuable oilfields of the Permian Basin. A bill was passed in the New Mexico Senate to fund and file a lawsuit in the U. S. Supreme Court to recover the strip from Texas, but the bill did not become law. Today, land in the strip is included in Texas land surveys, Glenrio sits just a few yards to the south of Interstate 40 at Texas exit 0 on Business I-40, a road which turns into a local gravel road at the state line. This was the original Route 66 alignment between Glenrio and San Jon until 1952 and was paved for many years until Quay County removed the paving due to maintenance costs, mail was formerly served by a post office on the New Mexico side of the town. A few homes still exist in Glenrio, the Joseph Brownlee House, Glenrio Historic District is a 31. 7-acre historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007
26.
Quay, New Mexico
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Quay is an unincorporated community in Quay County, New Mexico, United States. It is located approximately 15 miles south of Tucumcari on New Mexico State Highway 209, settlement of the community of Quay began circa 1902. In 1904, the community received its name following the establishment of its post office. The name Quay honors Matthew S. Quay, a Civil War veteran who became a U. S, while in office, Quay became a proponent of statehood for the Territory of New Mexico and was appreciated throughout the state for his efforts. New Mexico was admitted as the 47th state in the Union on January 6,1912, eastern New Mexico Llano Estacado Caprock Escarpment Tucumcari Mountain Lucianosaurus Qay County, New Mexico Photos of the Llano Estacado
27.
Wheatland, New Mexico
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Wheatland is an unincorporated community in Quay County, New Mexico, United States. It is located approximated 15 miles south of San Jon on New Mexico State Highway 469, Wheatland traces its beginnings to the building of its first school. Several one-room schools existed in the area, including North Bend School, Blair School, in 1920, these were consolidated to form Wheatland School, which was housed in a frame stucco building constructed for the purpose. The original Wheatland School burned in April 1938 and it was replaced by a new school building and gymnasium built by the WPA. The new buildings, reinforced with steel and plastered inside, used multicolored rock from a nearby quarry, a duplex teacherage was also built at the same time. Completed in 1939, the buildings were used as a school until the early 1950s. Media related to Wheatland, New Mexico at Wikimedia Commons
28.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Media related to Nara Visa, New Mexico at Wikimedia Commons
