Liquid gold in the forest

The buying of timber land for the purpose of securing the bark is naturally incident to the tanning business The company owns a large amount of land acquired in this way and owns and operates some sawmills for utilizing the timber on it — Lewis H. Lapham, 1901.[1]

Western Pennsylvania is well known as the birthplace of America’s petroleum industry. Edwin Drake’s construction in 1859 of the nation’s first large-scale oil well laid the foundation for the industry that spread from Pennsylvania’s forests to the desert southwest within four decades.

Leroy Well. Stereograph, c. 1860-1870. Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

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Decatur Federal: one bank, two histories

With corporate roots in the 1920s, Decatur Federal Savings and Loan Association was chartered in 1956. Its highrise headquarters at 250 East Ponce de Leon Avenue in downtown Decatur, Georgia, is a prominent visual landmark that provides the eastern bookend to the city’s business district. Continue reading

Decatur Beacon Community update

The Decatur City Commission unanimously voted July 2, 2012, to allocate $1.3 million for consultants Rutledge Alcock Architects to prepare construction documents for redevelopment of the former Beacon and Trinity schools. The proposed project ultimately will cost $25 million.

Decatur Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon’s June 28, 2012 staff report on allocating funds for the Beacon redevelopment project.

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