Bronx, New York: Hall of Fame for Great Americans

Busts of the celebrated and the obscure -- circa 1901-1973 -- loiter along a Bronx walkway. Only 13 U.S. Presidents -- and a few presidential wannabes -- met the secret criteria to be enshrined in The Hall of Fame of Great Americans, a privately-run open-air pantheon overlooking Manhattan.

This is considered the original hall of fame in the U.S. and is definitely worth a visit. Some people might complain that it is no longer relevant due to those individuals whose busts are on display. The criteria for what makes a great American may be different today, and we may not have heard of some of the honorees, but they all still played a role in the creation of what we are today. That makes it even more historical. And I recognized at least 90 percent of the names.

Even the Wizard of Oz recognized its one-time significance: "you can be a bust in the hall of fame."

The review of the Hall of Fame of Great Americans on your site is really unfair -- it's just plain nasty. For an example, calling Phillips Brooks an "Undeserving clunker" is wrong. He did a lot more than write "Oh little town of Bethlehem" -- he was an abolitionist and a leading religious thinker. If your reviewer hasn't heard of him, he needs to do research.

As to James Eads, he was an important 19th C. engineer. His famous bridge over the Missisippi was a marvel in 1867-1874 and is still carrying traffic today. A better case can be made for Rufus Choate being there than Johnny Appleseed, who is more legend than fact. John Lathrop Motley's historical works are not primary sources these days, but when written they were works of scholarship and achievement.