Viewpoints – Placecloud (English)

Asheville, United States. Biltmore Estate, built by George Washington Vanderbilt in the late 1800s, is the largest historic, private home in America, at 179,000 square feet.

Little Rock, United States. President Clinton chose the city of Little Rock for his presidential library and museum, which also contains the offices of the Clinton Foundation.

Hope, United States. Bill Clinton, who would become the 42nd president of the USA, was born in Hope, Arkansas. His father died in a car accident before he was born, so his mother lived with his maternal grandparents in this house, which is where Clinton spent the first four years of his life, starting in 1946.

Golden, United States. Rising out of the plains at the front range north of Denver, the railroad makes a long slow curve of 270 degrees. Called the Big Ten, because the radius of the track’s curve is ten degrees, based on the method railways uses to measure curves.

Cuba (historical), United States. Built in the late 1950s, this landmark has recently been restored, and is part of the Big Fish Supper Club restaurant next door.

Cabinville (historical), United States. The electric shovel that operated at this coal mine was the largest single-bucket excavating machine ever built, and one of the largest mobile earth-moving machines in the world. It used as much electricity as 27,500 homes to scoop out 325 tons of material in each bite (220 cubic yards). Constructed in 1969 it required a crew of seven to operate it. In 1999, the massive machine and its dragline were destroyed and salvaged, as the mine was shut down. Only the huge bucket was preserved for posterity, and tourists.

Beaumont, United States. Big Hill is a federally-controlled underground petroleum storage site, one of four in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve program of the US Government.

Delaware, United States. An unusual and extremely large antenna consisting of a 500-foot-long flat array, built on the ground, and two vertical reflectors on either end.

Mayer (historical), United States. Once the second largest electric-powered shovel in the world, now a museum. The 16-story coal scoop, which could be moved at a rate of 1/5 mile per hour on its set of eight tank treads, scooped the overburden off a seam of coal in a mine near Hallowell, Kansas, from 1963 to 1974.

The Pines (historical), United States. A solar observatory on Big Bear Lake, in the San Bernardino Mountains. The observatory is located in the middle of the lake, accessed by a narrow spit, as surrounding the observatory with water reduces the distortion caused by terrestrial convection, the shimmering effect of heat radiating upwards from the ground.