The 1973 edition of the Chevrolet Emission Control Systems reference manual is a special supplement to the standard mechanic’s repair reference. General Motors produced this manual as a guide for its dealer-level mechanics, who would be tasked with repairing and adjusting emission control systems for Chevrolet owners. The manual contains a host of novel names and corresponding acronyms for parts...
Everyday, people take their morning jogs and overlook the countless trees, rock formations and other scenic landscapes they pass by. John Muir during the early twentieth century admired the scenes that nature provides us all, especially around the Hetch Hetchy Valley in California. At the same time, talk of damming the Hetch Hetchy Valley to create a reservoir for San Francisco residents was...
The United States’ industrial strength was crucial to Allied victory in World War II. Throughout the 1930s, American industry had languished during the Great Depression. However, the American economy quickly rebounded as demand for war materials spiked. Textiles were amongst the most important goods produced during the war. Mills across the country ran night and day to churn out a variety of fabrics...
The U.S. government allocated $200,000 for a Federal Building at the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. This was to cover the cost of constructing the building and of filling it with exhibits from various departments. Prominent among these were displays from the Smithsonian Institution (alcoves A-Q), arranged “to illustrate the methods by which Science controls, classifies,...
In 1935 the Civilian Conservation Corps began construction of a park on a portion of Chewacla Creek considered to be one of the most scenic areas in Auburn, Alabama. A project history printed during park construction states that “2 ½ miles of park road has been constructed, into which numerous rock culverts were built.” The document continues to describe construction of “an all masonry dam,...
Auburn has always been a sleepy little town in the heart of Southeast Alabama, and it was even more so in the 1970s. The population was just over 25,000 people, with 18,000 of them being students and the median income for the city was estimated at $7,700 per year (Warr 1). The economy was starting to stall and inflation was on the rise, and people were just trying to make ends meet to provide for their...
In 1949, the Sanborn Map Company updated its detailed survey of Opelika, Alabama. This map contains a wealth of detail, including all major and minor structures within the city limits, and detailed information about their function. Sanborn published this map (and others like it) for the benefit of insurance companies, who used them to estimate the fire risk for different structures in the town. For...
Representatives of the Department of Agriculture spent weeks arranging the exhibit at the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. Train cars had begun arriving in the city mid-summer, loaded with materials from a number of federal institutions and departments: the Smithsonian, the Forestry Department, the Postal Service, etc.. The specimens and demonstrations would fill the 65,000...
Lake Martin, located in Central Alabama, was the largest manmade lake in the world at the time of its construction. The 25,000-acre lake was formed by Martin Dam, which was built by Alabama Power in 1923. Project designers promoted the construction of Martin Dam by describing its benefits to both agricultural producers and local residents. Among those benefits was the claim that the presence of...