Trip 2013: August 2013

We left early in the morning traveling 183 miles heading to North Little Rock, AR where we stayed at the Downtown Riverside RV park which was located across the Arkansas River from the

William J Clinton Presidential Library for two days. Upon arriving at the park we settled in before going to out to eat at Benihanas SteakHouse, of course there was a show with the meal. After the meal we settled in for the evening. The next day we decided to visit the Clinton Library and here is some information.

Looking at the picture on the left side is a old railroad bridge that was built in 1899 it is the 1899 Rock Island Railroad Bridge across the Arkansas River, originally leading to Choctaw Station, has been converted into a pedestrian bridge connecting to North Little Rock. On the fifth anniversary of the library's opening, Clinton said that construction on the project would begin in 2010, but full funding had not yet been secured, as the project was still short about $3 million. The Clinton Foundation had originally planned to renovate the bridge for $4 million in exchange for a $1-a-year land lease from the state. In 2009, Arkansas governor Mike Beebe agreed to use $2.5 million of stimulus funds to fund part of the renovation. A previous $8 million earmark for the project had failed to pass the state legislature. In 2010, fundraising was finally completed for the bridge, renamed as the Clinton Park Bridge, and construction began on May 28, 2010. On September 30, 2011, Clinton spoke at a dedication ceremony for the bridge, which opened to the public on October 2, 2011.

The preliminary planning for the library (including the site choice) began in 1997, while groundbreaking for the complex occurred on December 5, 2001. Early estimates put the library's cost at about $125 million. In 2001, the Clinton Foundation hoped to gather $200 million in donations to cover project costs. In the end, the entire project cost $165 million in private funding, with an additional $11.5 million of land given by the city of Little Rock to construct and covers 152,000 square feet (14,100 m²) within a 28 acres (110,000 m²) park.

Fund-raising for the center was led by Terry McAuliffe, a friend of Clinton's who had also contributed heavily to the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1995. Clinton himself was prohibited by law from personally soliciting donations for the center, but he did host private events relating to the library. There were no other legal restrictions on donations, and the Clinton Foundation was able to accept unlimited private donations, all of which were tax deductible. Approximately $10 million of contributions came from Saudi Arabia. However, the Clinton Foundation declined to release a full donor list, similar to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (although the foundation later agreed to disclose the top 150 donors to the House Government Reform Committee). Donations exceeding $1 million were also given from various other foreign governments (such as Kuwait and Taiwan), as well as foreign individuals. Various American organizations also contributed millions of dollars to the foundation.

The main gallery, in the interior of the main building, is modeled after the Long Room of Trinity College, Dublin.

The five-story main building comprises 20,000 square feet (1,900 m²) of exhibition space, the Great Hall (used for banquets or forums), Forty Two (formerly Café 42, now a full-service restaurant; Clinton was the 42nd president), and classrooms. A 2,000-square-foot (190 m²) executive apartment used by Clinton is located on the top (fifth) floor of the main building, one level above the public museum area. The organization of the exhibits within the main building was inspired by the famous Long Room in the Old Library at Trinity College, Dublin, which Clinton first saw when he was a Rhodes Scholar. The Cadillac One used during Clinton's presidency is housed on the first floor. On the second floor, the main gallery houses a 110-foot (34 m) timeline, representing each of Clinton's years as President. There is also an 80-seat theater, the Great Hall, and the replicas of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room. The archives are housed in a building south of and connected to the main building, which also contains NARA facilities. The Clinton archives are the first to include electronic information along with physical documents. The total amount of records is 35,686 cubic feet (1,010.5 m³), Because Clinton wanted a light-filled library, the archives are kept underground to protect them from damage from ultraviolet degradation.

Choctaw Station, a restored train station

Choctaw Station is a restored historic redbrick train station opened by the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad in 1901 and used by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad until passenger service was discontinued in November 1967. The building was subsequently purchased by the Arkansas Gazette and later restored by a restaurant chain, Spaghetti Warehouse, which was known for preserving old buildings. The Choctaw Station now houses the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, the Clinton Public Policy Institute, and the Clinton Foundation. The station is 13,200 square feet (1,230 m²) after having been renovated. A companion structure, the 1899 Choctaw freight station, was razed in November 2001 after a contentious debate between the City of Little Rock and historic preservationists. All the buildings in the complex have been restored to to its original luster. The next day we headed out to Savannah,TN where we stayed at the Green Acers Campground and visited Shiloh National Military Park. The Battle of Shiloh was one of the first major battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The two-day battle, April 6 and April 7, 1862, involved about 65,000 Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant and Don Carlos Buell and 44,000 Confederates under Albert Sidney Johnston (killed in the battle) and P.G.T. Beauregard. The battle resulted in nearly 24,000 killed, wounded, and missing. The two days of fighting did not end in a decisive tactical victory for either side the Union held the battlefield but failed to pursue the withdrawing Confederate forces. However, it was a decisive strategic defeat for the Confederate forces that had massed to oppose Grant's and Buell's invasion through Tennessee. The battlefield is named after Shiloh Methodist Church, a small log church near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.

Shiloh National Cemetery is in the northeast corner of the park adjacent to the visitor center and bookstore. Buried within its 20.09 acres (81,300 m²) are 3584 Union dead (of whom 2357 are unknown), who were re-interred in the cemetery created after the war, in 1866. There are two Confederate dead interred in the cemetery. The cemetery operations were transferred from War Department to the National Park Service in 1933.

Panoramic view

Shiloh Indian Mounds Site

The Shiloh battlefield has within its boundaries the well preserved prehistoric Shiloh Indian Mounds Site, which is also a National Historic Landmark. The site was inhabited during the Early Mississippian period from about 1000 to 1450 CE.

After leaving Green Acers Campground we headed traveling 110 miles to Huntsville,AL where we meet up with our friends of forty years. A little info on Huntsville that is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County.The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 census. The Huntsville Metropolitan Area's population was 417,593. Huntsville is the fourth-largest city in Alabama and the largest city in the five-county Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area, which at the 2010 census had a total population of 664,441.

It grew across nearby hills north of the Tennessee River, adding textile mills, then munitions factories, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command nearby at the Redstone Arsenal. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Huntsville to its "America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2010" list. At the end of the war in 1945, the munitions facilities were no longer needed. They were combined with the designation Redstone Arsenal (RSA), and a considerable political and business effort was made in attempts to attract new tenants. One significant start involved manufacturing the Keller automobile, but this closed with only 18 vehicles built. With the encouragement of Senator John Sparkman, the U.S. Army Air Force considered it for a major testing facility, but then selected another site. Redstone Arsenal was then prepared for disposal, but, again with assistance from Senator Sparkman, it was selected for the Army's rocket and missile development.

RSA commander Maj. Gen. John Medaris, Wernher von Braun, and RSA deputy commander Brig. Gen. Holger Toftoy(l−r:) in the 1950s

In 1950, about 1,000 personnel were transferred from Fort Bliss, Texas, to Redstone Arsenal to form the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC). Central to this was a group of German scientists and engineers led by Wernher von Braun that had originally been brought to America by Colonel Holger Toftoy under Operation Paperclip. As the Korean War started, the OGMC was given the mission to develop what eventually became the Redstone Rocket. This rocket set the stage for America's space program, as well as major Army missile programs, to be centered in Huntsville. Toftoy, then a brigadier general, commanded OGMC and the overall Redstone Arsenal. In early 1956, the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) under Major General John Medaris was formed. The city is nicknamed "The Rocket City" for its close history with U.S. space missions. On January 31, 1958, ABMA placed America's first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit using a Jupiter-C launch vehicle, a descendant of the Redstone. This brought national attention to Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville, with widespread recognition of this being a major center for high technology.

On July 1, 1960, 4,670 civilian employees, associated buildings and equipment, and 1,840 acres (7.4 km²) of land transferred from ABMA to form NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Wernher von Braun was MSFC's initial director. On September 8, President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicated the MSFC.

During the 1960s, the major mission of MSFC was in developing the Saturn boosters used by NASA in the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. For this, MSFC greatly increased its employees, and many new companies joined the Huntsville industrial community. The Cummings Research Park was developed just north of Redstone Arsenal to partially accommodate this industrial growth, and has now became the second largest research park of this type in America.

Huntsville's economy was nearly crippled and growth almost came to a standstill in the 1970s following the closure of the Apollo program. However, the emergence of the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and a wide variety of advanced research in space sciences led to a resurgence in NASA-related activities that has continued into the 21st century. In addition, new Army organizations have emerged at Redstone Arsenal, particularly in the ever-expanding field of missile defense.