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Delaware Finally Gets Its Stainless Steel Mary
After 25 years of waiting, America's flattest state has a Mother of God that can be seen for miles: a 34-foot-tall, over-four-ton stainless steel "Our Lady Queen of Peace." It was lifted onto its base on the grounds of Holy Spirit Catholic Church near New Castle, Delaware, on May 1, 2007.
This Mary surpasses by two feet another steel Mary also made by its sculptor, Charles Parks, in 1982, for Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church on Highway 101 in Santa Clara, California. Parks was a Delaware native, and the temporary display of his Mary in Delaware during its construction is what kindled a desire among Catholic First-Staters to have one of their own.
Mary is designed to appear to beckon with arms outstretched to the twin spans of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, blessing the estimated 40,000 people who daily pass on their way out of New Jersey.
Donors who give $100 or more for the statue's upkeep will have their names placed into the statue's heart, which is visible at the front of the statue. A small door in the base allows a person to crawl inside and up a ladder to the heart, which opens from the inside.
Mary will be officially unwrapped and dedicated on May 26.
[05/05/2007]Holy Spirit Catholic Church
- Address:
- Halcyon Drive, New Castle, DE
- Directions:
- Holy Spirit Catholic Church. I-295, New Castle Ave. exit.
- Phone:
- 302-658-1069
- Admission:
- Free
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
The miniature train attraction built by Willi Lindhorst recreated "Germany from the North Sea to the Alps."
Roadsideamerica.com Report...
- Directions:
- North end of town, on the east side of Main St., just south of the big windmill at the Heidi Motel.
- Hours:
- Nov. 2021: Gone
- Status:
- Gone
- Boone, Iowa - Tallest Double-Track Railroad Bridge in America
In reference to an earlier tip, this is not the Tallest Double Track Railroad Bridge In America. High Bridge in Wilmore, Kentucky, is 275 high and has a double track -- and I'm not sure if High Bridge is the tallest any more. There may be some that are taller.
[Michael Simms, 03/21/2019]Tallest Double-Track Railroad Bridge in America:- Address:
- Juneberry Rd, Boone, IA
- Directions:
- Go west from Boone on US Hwy 30 until you reach J Ave. (a gravel road). Go north on J Ave. until you reach 208th St. Go east on 208th St. until you reach Juneberry Rd. Go north on Juneberry Rd and it will take you to the bridge.
Opened in 1901, the Kate Shelley High Bridge is the tallest double-track railroad bridge in America. 2,685 feet in length and 185 feet tall, this is where the Union Pacific railroad crosses the Des Moines River.
As of late August 2009, a new concrete bridge has been built adjacent to the old bridge, and the old bridge is no longer being used by train traffic. However, the old bridge is still there, and reportedly shall not be torn down...at least not for a while. But, even if the old bridge does get torn down, the new bridge will still be the tallest double-track railroad bridge in America.
[Cristopher Sturtz, 01/24/2010]Officially titled, "A Little Less Opinion, A Little More Fact," this is another slice-of-life sculpture ennobling America's most artistically malleable President. Unveiled in January 2016, created by artist Jeff Adams, the larger-than-life bronze depicts a beardless 1856 Abe Lincoln meeting a boy on a railroad bridge -- a predecessor of the bridge that's behind the statue.
The original bridge was the first one across the Mississippi River, and it freaked out steamboat companies because they realized that bridges would put them out of business. They claimed that the bridge was a navigation hazard, and as if to prove their point, a steamboat rammed into it and burned it down. The owners of the steamboat filed a lawsuit, hoping to prevent any further bridges from being built.
Lincoln, working for the railroad, visited the bridge, accidentally met the son of the engineer who built it, and somehow this led to a hung jury that then led to the freedom to build bridges across the Mississippi -- or at least that's what this statue suggests. Abe Lincoln! Freedom!
[RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 01/17/2016]Abe Lincoln Saves a Bridge:- Address:
- E. 2nd St., Davenport, IA
- Directions:
- On the riverfront, in a small park at the intersection of Iowa and E. 2nd Sts. The statue stands next to the ramp leading to the Arsenal Bridge across the Mississippi River.
- Admission:
- Free
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Claims to fame are always being one-upped. Maybe this was the Tallest Double-Track Railroad Bridge in America when it was built in 1901? High Bridge is older, but its second track wasn't added until 1929.