1.
National Register of Historic Places
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The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
2.
National Historic Landmark
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A National Historic Landmark is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Of over 85,000 places listed on the countrys National Register of Historic Places, a National Historic Landmark District may include contributing properties that are buildings, structures, sites or objects, and it may include non-contributing properties. Contributing properties may or may not also be separately listed, prior to 1935, efforts to preserve cultural heritage of national importance were made by piecemeal efforts of the United States Congress. The first National Historic Site designation was made for the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on March 17,1938. In 1960, the National Park Service took on the administration of the data gathered under this legislation. Because listings often triggered local preservation laws, legislation in 1980 amended the procedures to require owner agreement to the designations. On October 9,1960,92 properties were announced as designated NHLs by Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton, more than 2,500 NHLs have been designated. Most, but not all, are in the United States, there are NHLs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Three states account for nearly 25 percent of the nations NHLs, three cities within these states all separately have more NHLs than 40 of the 50 states. In fact, New York City alone has more NHLs than all but five states, Virginia, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, there are 74 NHLs in the District of Columbia. Some NHLs are in U. S. commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states. There are 15 in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other U. S. commonwealths and territories,5 in U. S. -associated states such as Micronesia, over 100 ships or shipwrecks have been designated as NHLs. About half of the National Historic Landmarks are privately owned, the National Historic Landmarks Program relies on suggestions for new designations from the National Park Service, which also assists in maintaining the landmarks. A friends group of owners and managers, the National Historic Landmark Stewards Association, works to preserve, protect, if not already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, an NHL is automatically added to the Register upon designation. About three percent of Register listings are NHLs, american Water Landmark List of U. S
3.
Texas Historical Commission
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The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas, the commission also identifies Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks and recognizes them with Official Texas Historical Marker medallions and descriptive plaques. The commission identifies State Archeological Landmarks and Historic Texas Cemeteries, a quarterly publication, The Medallion, is published by the agency and includes news and advice about preservation projects, Texas’ historic sites, and heritage tourism opportunities. Established in 1953, the legislature created the Texas State Historical Survey Committee to oversee state historical programs. In 2007, the legislature transferred management of state historic sites from the Texas Parks. Today, the agency employs about 100 personnel, the Texas Historical Commission leadership is composed of 18 members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate, serving overlapping six-year terms. All members must be citizens of Texas, and together represent all areas of Texas. The commission also employs personnel in various fields, including archeology, architecture, economic development, heritage tourism, history, public administration and these personnel consult with citizens and organizations to preserve Texass architectural, archeological and cultural landmarks. After the fair, these trails were all but forgotten, the Texas Historical Commission began its program based on these historical designations in 1998, starting with the Texas Forts Trail. The goal of the program is to promote tourism and historic preservation. The Texas Historical Commission preserves and operates 21 state historic sites across Texas and these unique places honor the past and inspire an understanding of what it means to be a Texan. From American Indian sites to frontier forts to common and elegant homes and the leaders and statesmen who lived in them, the purpose of the markers, which are available in a variety of types and sizes, is to educate the public. An application must meet requirements to be approved by the THC commissioners as qualifying for a marker. Beginning in November 2006, the Texas Historical Commission adopted a new marker program, Texas has the most prolific state historical marker program in the United States. The Historical Markers have been manufactured by The Southwell Company, located in San Antonio, in 1936 the company was awarded the contract to manufacture all of the bronze historical markers for the Texas Centennial. Since then thousands of cast aluminum historical markers have been provided for the State of Texas, in 1976, the company was selected to manufacture all of the historical markers for the Bicentennial. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is the highest designation given by the Texas Historic Commission for significant structures in Texas, the THC may designate certain locations as State Antiquities Landmarks provided that they are not located on federal lands. These locations may fall into one of two categories, Historic buildings which must also be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Archeological sites, which may not necessarily have NRHP listing, and whose locations are not available to the general public in order to avoid vandalism
4.
Austin, Texas
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Austin is the capital of the U. S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. It is the 11th-most populous city in the U. S. and it is the fastest growing large city in the United States and the second most populous capital city after Phoenix, Arizona. As of the U. S. Census Bureaus July 1,2015 estimate and it is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 2,056,405 as of July 1,2016. In the 1830s, pioneers began to settle the area in central Austin along the Colorado River, in 1839, the site was officially chosen to replace Houston as the new capital of the Republic of Texas and was incorporated under the name Waterloo. Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the Father of Texas and the republics first secretary of state. The city subsequently grew throughout the 19th century and became a center for government and education with the construction of the Texas State Capitol and the University of Texas at Austin. After a lull in growth from the Great Depression, Austin resumed its development into a city and, by the 1980s, it emerged as a center for technology. A number of Fortune 500 companies have headquarters or regional offices in Austin, including Amazon. com, cisco, eBay, Google, IBM, Intel, Oracle Corporation, Texas Instruments, 3M, and Whole Foods Market. Dells worldwide headquarters is located in nearby Round Rock, a suburb of Austin, residents of Austin are known as Austinites. They include a mix of government employees, college students, musicians, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers. The city also adopted Silicon Hills as a nickname in the 1990s due to an influx of technology. In the late 1800s, Austin was known as the City of the Violet Crown because of the glow of light across the hills just after sunset. Even today, many Austin businesses use the term Violet Crown in their name, Austin is known as a clean-air city for its stringent no-smoking ordinances that apply to all public places and buildings, including restaurants and bars. The FBI ranked Austin as the second-safest major city in the U. S. for the year 2012, U. S. News & World Report named Austin the best place to live in the U. S. in 2017. Austin, Travis County and Williamson County have been the site of habitation since at least 9200 BC. When settlers arrived from Europe, the Tonkawa tribe inhabited the area, the Comanches and Lipan Apaches were also known to travel through the area. Spanish colonists, including the Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre expedition, traveled through the area for centuries, in 1730, three missions from East Texas were combined and reestablished as one mission on the south side of the Colorado River, in what is now Zilker Park, in Austin. The mission was in area for only about seven months
5.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
6.
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
7.
Governor of Texas
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The Governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texass government and the commander-in-chief of the states military forces. The governor has the power to approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature. The governor may grant pardons in cases other than impeachment or in the case of treason, the current Governor is Greg Abbott. The states first constitution in 1845 established the office of governor, the 1861 secessionist constitution set the term start date at the first Monday in the November following the election. The Reconstruction constitution of 1869 removed the limit on terms, Texas remains one of 14 states with no term limit. The present constitution of 1876 shortened terms back to two years, but a 1972 amendment increased it again to four years, the gubernatorial election is held every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and does not coincide with the presidential elections. Despite the lack of limits, no Texas governor in the 19th or 20th centuries ever served more than seven. Former Governor Rick Perry, who served from 2000 to 2015, has now surpassed both records, becoming the first Texas governor to serve three consecutive terms. When Perry won the election on November 2,2010, he joined Shivers, Price Daniel. In case of a vacancy in the office of governor, the lieutenant governor becomes governor, one governor of Texas won his partys nomination and was elected President of the United States, George W
8.
Abner Cook
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He also built the west wing of the original main building of the University of Texas at Austin and the first state penitentiary in Huntsville. Cook was born near Salisbury, North Carolina, the son of William and he may have done a construction apprenticeship in Salisbury. At age 21, Cook moved to Macon, Georgia and found work in construction. When the Panic of 1837 brought building to a halt, Cook moved to Nashville, Tennessee, but there was work to be found in Nashville. Cook settled in Austin and supported himself with commissions for houses. Cook helped form the first Presbyterian church in Austin and built the congregations first log church with his own hands, on September 15,1842, he married Eliza T. Logan, with whom he had four sons. During this time there was little building construction in Austin so he partnered in 1840 with Jacob Higgins in ownership of The Higgins Mill in Bastrop, in 1847, Cook built a large residence for a wealthy Austin patron. Between summer 1848 until early 1850 he was at Huntsville, supervising the construction of the Texas State Penitentiary, Cook then designed and built three large Greek Revival homes in Austin which still stand, Woodlawn, the Texas Governors Mansion, and the Neill-Cochran House. As more trained architects moved to Austin after the Civil War and he built residences, commercial buildings and the west wing of the main building of the newly founded University of Texas. He died on February 22,1884 in Austin and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery
9.
Greg Abbott
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Gregory Wayne Greg Abbott is an American lawyer and politician who currently serves as the 48th Governor of Texas since January 2015. During the Governorship of his predecessor, Rick Perry, Abbott was the 50th Attorney General of Texas and is a Republican, Abbott was only the second Republican to serve as Attorney General of Texas since Reconstruction. Prior to assuming the office of Attorney General, he was a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, Abbott was born on November 13,1957 in Wichita Falls, of English descent. His mother, the former Doris Lechristia Jacks, was a homemaker, when he was six years old they moved to Longview and the family lived in the East Texas city for six years. At the beginning of high school, Abbotts family moved to Duncanville. In his sophomore year in school, his father died of a heart attack. He graduated from Duncanville High School and he was on the track team in high school and won every meet he entered his senior year. He was in the National Honor Society and was voted Most Likely to Succeed, in 1981, he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and the Young Republicans’ Club. He met his wife, Cecilia Phelan, while attending UT Austin, in 1984, he earned his J. D. degree from the Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee. He commented about his marriage, that San Antonio is also where Cecilia and our marriage wasn’t just the joining of two families. It was a uniting of cultures, My Anglo heritage and Cecilia’s Irish and we may have come from different cultures but we realized that we share the same foundation, “Dos casas. The story of my family is as old as the story of Texas itself and he went into private practice, working for Butler and Binion, LLC between 1984 and 1992. Abbott’s political career began in Houston, where he served as a trial judge in the 129th District Court for three years. Abbott became a paraplegic when an oak tree fell on him while he was jogging following a storm in 1984 and he had two steel rods implanted in his spine, underwent extensive rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, and has used a wheelchair ever since. He sued the homeowner and negotiated a settlement worth more than US$10 million. Governor George W. Bush appointed Abbott to the Texas Supreme Court, in 1996, Abbott had no Democratic opponent but was challenged by Libertarian John B. Hawley of Dallas. In 1998, Abbott defeated Democrat David Van Os 60–40%, in 2001, Abbott went back to private practice and worked for Bracewell & Giuliani LLC. He was also a professor at University of Texas School of Law
