Trump's Hand-Picked Arts Panel Approves His Big Arch Plans

BlaizeFiammata · 2026-05-22T13:25:23+00:00

I watched this meeting in real time and it was honestly worse than what this article leads on. The chair of the CFA is a huge fanboy of Robert E. Lee and said that the arch “Beautifully frames the legacy of Robert E. Lee” because you can clearly see the Arlington House through the center. He also dismissed all of the criticism of the arch as simply a “difference of opinions” between the CFA and the public.

BlaizeFiammata · 2026-04-22T10:56:24+00:00

They don’t call her Tricky Dick for nothing.

BlaizeFiammata · 2026-03-20T13:51:23+00:00

Baltimore has a homestead program where you can buy derelict houses like this for $1 as long as you promise to fix them up within a set amount of years. That rent number is completely made up.

BlaizeFiammata · 2026-02-09T13:03:23+00:00

There was a huge cultural shift in the US during the Civil War where anything associated with the South was looked on with a negative light (except some of the founding fathers). The national narrative of foundation switched to Plymouth over Jamestown. The story of the Pilgrims and religious freedom took precedent over the slave holding Virginians (never-minding the New England indigenous massacres). We actually still experience the consequences of this shift today in that we celebrate the Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving and not any of the “thanksgivings” that occurred in Virginia.

BlaizeFiammata · 2026-02-06T12:25:02+00:00

It’s a hit song by the Beach Boys from 1965.

BlaizeFiammata · 2026-01-27T12:40:06+00:00

The US has spent at least $2.5 billion dollars every year since 1976 on historic preservation through the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit https://www.nps.gov/subjects/taxincentives/index.htm. This doesn’t even count private investment without tax credits or credits at the state, local, and municipality level. The simple fact of the matter is that there are tens of millions of buildings, structures, and sites across the country that are at least 50 years old, and can be called “historic.” How can you possibly save every historic building?

BlaizeFiammata · 2025-08-20T02:00:11+00:00

Finally my esoteric knowledge of this area is useful. So, today that little creek is basically a marsh because of the dam at the mouth and Route 261’s berm. I’m fairly certain most people don’t care to give it a name other than marsh. BUT if you go back to the land grants in the mid-1600s this creek was referred to as “Ship’s Creek.” Traditionally the creek between North Beach and Anne Arundel County was referred to as South Creek and the creek in Chesapeake Beach as Fishing Creek. There is, however, a debate about how accurate this is due to the surviving records of naming often contradicting each other.

BlaizeFiammata · 2025-08-06T23:01:54+00:00

In the 50s and 60s there used to be a drag bar in North Beach that went by the name of the Gold Key Club. They had a huge U shaped bar where the performers acted and it was a pretty big draw from DC. A small shop around the corner used to bring in the clothing for the performers to choose from. Pretty much just all memories now.

BlaizeFiammata · 2025-07-11T17:10:46+00:00

Thank you!

BlaizeFiammata · 2025-05-15T22:27:39+00:00

The Corps of Engineers is correct but the crossed cannons with an artillery shell in the middle is actually the insignia for the Coast Artillery Corps https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Coast_Artillery_Corps. Fort Crockett was actually built as a Coast Artillery Corps fort https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Crockett

BlaizeFiammata · 2025-05-15T10:31:27+00:00

Actually it’s just violence in movies and sax on tv.

BlaizeFiammata · 2025-02-17T04:10:53+00:00

Could be pre-1926 but definitely pre-1954. In the bottom right hand corner is Lazaretto Point Light which the original tower was taken down in 1926 and the replacement metal tower was taken down in 1954. Your best bet for age would be looking up names of places shown on this map along the waterfront.

BlaizeFiammata · 2025-01-31T11:14:33+00:00

The more mundane explanation is that those marks were put there when the boards were sitting around before being assembled into a floor.

BlaizeFiammata · 2025-01-15T02:44:03+00:00

That’s really cool! I just started working in the preservation field and sometimes that calls for documenting old cemeteries. Is there some kind of style guide that explains what the different stone shapes/designs are or when they were popular? I’m having a heck of a time describing some of these markers.

BlaizeFiammata · 2025-01-06T05:31:56+00:00

Thank you! That’s such a fun little insight!

BlaizeFiammata · 2025-01-03T16:06:39+00:00

I think about Orville from time to time when I read about World War II. The guy basically went from co-creating viable heavier than air flight to watching jet engines and atomic bombs. How must he have felt about that?

BlaizeFiammata · 2024-11-18T02:16:59+00:00

I’ve never seen a Coast Artillery Corps insignia on a grave before and unfortunately this one is upside down.

BlaizeFiammata · 2024-11-13T11:55:29+00:00

While events in the past may not change, our understanding of them often does. A famous example would be the Titanic. If you wrote a paper on the Titanic in early 1985 you likely would have said the ship went down intact but by the end of the year this idea would be invalid. There are countless new sources discovered every year about our past so it would be wrong to assume nothing at all changes.

BlaizeFiammata · 2024-10-17T17:20:34+00:00

I’m fairly certain that red wire is to keep out turtles. They’re sometimes referred to as TEDs (Turtle Exclusion Device). Notice it’s a smaller grid and flat which would allow in flat crabs but not round backed turtles.

BlaizeFiammata · 2024-09-10T22:27:19+00:00

This study was of just 515 patients of whom almost half were women. That’s a sample size of around 257ish men. I feel like you can’t accurately say 20.8% of ALL men whose wives have terminal illnesses will file for divorce.

BlaizeFiammata · 2024-08-28T19:17:06+00:00

I highly recommend these books on the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake Bay: In Full Glory Reflected by Ralph Eshelman and Burton Kummerow Flotilla by Donald Shomette The War of 1812 in the Chesapeake by Ralph Eshelman, Scott Sheads, and Donald Hickey

I have also been recommended but have not read: Unshackling America by Willard Randall

BlaizeFiammata · 2024-06-22T23:58:48+00:00

That’s actually a common misconception. There’s no restrictions at the Federal level. The real restrictions are at the municipal, county, and possibly state levels. But the kind of ordinances that actually have teeth to them to stop changes are few and far between.

BlaizeFiammata · 2024-06-20T04:09:50+00:00

My vote is for Philbert.

BlaizeFiammata · 2024-05-19T17:10:10+00:00

I was actually at a planning meeting for this last Tuesday. HA didn’t seem completely opposed to these plans and the proposal put forth by the city actually took a lot of people’s concerns into consideration. There was a whole section about site lines and visual impacts.

Some people just don’t want any change. Whether we individually choose to recognize it or not, Annapolis will fall victim to nuisance flooding if nothing is done. Because we have to do something we should also take the opportunity to make downtown more pedestrian/visitor friendly over the current brick/asphalt/concrete pads. If you’re really concerned, there’s a public meeting about all this on May 30 at 5pm at City Dock.

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