Viewpoints – Placecloud (English)

A remote and barren outpost on an island in the middle of the Aleutian Chain, the Naval Air Facility in Adak had a community of 5,000 as recently as a few years ago, until its closure in 1997 as mandated by the Base Realignment and Closure Act.

Grants, United States. An ancient native pueblo atop tall mesa, Acoma is one of the longest continuously inhabited communities in the country, established over a thousand years ago. Acoma, today, is a most unusual-looking place, with thousand-year old buildings that have been updated with modern improvements, such as doors from Home Depot.

Newcastle, United States. The Accidental Oil Company operated this oil well attraction in eastern Wyoming starting in 1970. The primary draw was a hand dug 24 foot-deep oil well, an excavated underground cavity that visitors could walk into through a lighted tunnel, and admire from a 58 foot-long viewing gallery.  Topside was a pump with a crank so people could pump oil out by hand. There was also old oil field equipment on display, and a 10,000 barrel metal oil tank, which was turned into a gift shop called The Gift Tank, with paneled walls and chandeliers. The facility closed some years ago, and is abandoned.

Keith (historical), United States. In 1808, Abraham Lincoln’s father bought a property called Sinking Spring Farm, and built a cabin next to the spring, where his son, Abraham was born a year later. The property is now a National Historical Park with a visitor center about the revered 16th president of the USA.

Blackdom (historical), United States. Possibly the only school constructed entirely underground, simultaneously serving as a fallout shelter. Built in 1962, at the height of Cold War fears. Said to have a capacity of 2,000. An above ground school has been built adjacent to it.

La Cueva (historical), United States. The Abiquiu Reservoir was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1963, primarily for flood control, originally. In the 1970s, with the new water coming into the system from the other side of the Continental Divide through the San Juan-Chama Project, downstream cities, including Albuquerque, successfully petitioned to have more water stored in the reservoir. In the 1980s, the dam was raised another 13 feet. The water leaves the reservoir through a tunnel at the base of the dam, and continues downstream as the Chama River, once again. It joins the Rio Grande at Española, 25 miles away. The Rio Grande is used as the primary water source for most of the population and agriculture in the state.

London, United Kingdom. This viewpoint is about a building in Bloomsbury that was the centre of social justice work over a century ago. It’s 41 Russell Square—where an Australian relative of mine worked for several years following World War I. Find out what she has to do with Australia's most prestigious literary award.

Birmingham, United States. The larger of two coke works in Birmingham is the Alabama Byproducts Corporation (ABC) plant, with 132 ovens, making 730,000 tons of coke for the steel industry per year. There are only a half dozen independent merchant coke plants left in the USA, and this is one of the largest. More often coke is manufactured on site as part of the “integrated production” of Old Steel plants, where all the parts of production are concentrated in one place. The other coke works in Birmingham is next to this one.

Bedford, United States. A partially constructed pyramid, now long abandoned. In 1979, Bedford, the "Limestone Capital of the World," received over $700,000 in government grants to build an eight-story replica of the Great Pyramid of Cheops, as well as a 650-foot-long rendition of the Great Wall of China, out of native limestone. Work proceeded until funds ran out in 1982.

8100 Boone Blvd. at Tysons Corner in Vienna, Virginia, was the original location for MAE-East, the first principal exchange point for the commercialized internet on the East Coast. It was set up in this building by Metropolitan Fiber Systems in 1992. Around 50% of internet traffic in the early 1990s is said to have passed through this point. Today it is a small but still well-connected data center, across the street from AT&T’s Government Solutions building.