Historic town fights federal government and lead poisoning

by Sean McLachlan on

You may never have heard of Caledonia, Missouri, but it’s one of the most historic spots in the state. While the town has fewer than two hundred residents, its tiny downtown is filled with old homes and shops. It boasts 33 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places and a steady stream of visitors who take up the town’s invitation to “step back in time”.

Sadly, that all might be in danger. The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to designate 175 square miles of Washington County as a Superfund Site in order to clean up dangerously high lead levels in the soil and ground water. The little town of Caledonia is right in the middle of this area and stands to lose a lot of business if it’s slapped with the label of being dangerous. People may not want to eat at the local diner or attend the annual Pumpkin Festival if they think they’re going to get lead poisoning.

Caledonia is in southwest Missouri in what used to be known as the “lead belt” thanks to its large lead mining operations from the 18th to late 20th century. Lead from the mines has made it into the soil and ground water across much of this region. There are already three Superfund Sites in Washington County that have dangerously high lead levels.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a gallery dedicated to Caledonia. The town is protesting the EPA’s move, but there seems little it can do about it.

The Wall Street District is Officially Historic

by Jamie Rhein on

Every day I pay a bit of attention, not much, to what Wall Street is doing. I generally have a vague notion of what it means when I hear the Dow is up or down. Up is good. Down is bad. I think. Regardless of my fuzziness about finances, Wall Street’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places is something I can understand.

Consider this. Wall Street, the street not the district, was once a cow path the Dutch used when they first showed up in the 17th century to make a settlement next to the East River. Sometime in the district’s history, slaves were used to build a wall to keep out the Indians who were creating a ruckus by raiding. Once that was settled, and it was determined America was here to stay, this is where the Bill of Rights was adopted and George Washington was sworn in as the first president. If you head to Wall Street, besides listening for the sounds of fortunes being made or broken, look for the statue of Washington at the spot of his inauguration. Nearby, at 23 Wall St., J.P. Morgan’s old digs where he sat in his counting house counting out his money, so to speak, you can see evidence of the bomb that exploded there on September 16, 1920. Some people must not have been too happy with J.P. Morgan since the explosion was large enough that it killed 38 people and injured folks in the hundreds. There several other buildings of various styles that helped put this part of NYC on the historic places map.

For some more Wall Street information and details of America’s financial path, check out “Wall Street and Stock Market History” in A to Z Investments. Considering the state of the market this past week, I kind of think this photo by Alexander Marc Eckert on Flickr is apropos.