Estacada, Oregon Over one hundred million natural Christmas trees are grown, harvested and sold around the world every year; and all of those miniature fir, pine and spruce trees have to come from somewhere. Major producers and consumers of Christmas trees include France, Denmark, Canada, Belgium and the British Isles. In Europe, nearly 40 percent of the continent’s fifty … [Read more...]
SANTA CLAUS HOUSE
North Pole, Alaska Although the Santa Claus House of North Pole, Alaska is not the largest or most famous home of Santa Claus, it is the oldest and the best-known in the United States. Located in the small suburban town of North Pole outside of Fairbanks, Alaska, the Santa Claus House has been in business since the early 1950s, besting most of its rivals in Canada and … [Read more...]
BIGHORN MEDICINE WHEEL
Lovell, Wyoming From New England to California, the United States has countless sacred Native American sites. Most of these consist of burial areas, or are otherwise generally sacred to specific local tribes. However, a few sites are acknowledged and revered on a wider scale, and probably the most important of these is the Bighorn Medicine Wheel. This large rock formation … [Read more...]
THUNDERHEAD MOUNTAIN
Hill City, South Dakota The Black Hills of South Dakota are possibly the most famous of all sacred Native places in the United States, and one of the last to remain in the hands of Native American tribes. While the hills are collectively sacred, there are some parts of particular importance. The best known of these is Thunderhead Mountain. More commonly referred to as the … [Read more...]
HOLY ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY CHURCH
Kenai, Alaska The Eastern Orthodox Church got its start in what would become the United States in the high wilderness of Alaska. This was due to its introduction not by missionaries from Europe across the Atlantic, but by Russian explorers from across the Pacific. After Alaska’s first exploration by Russian merchant Grigory Shelikhov in the 18th century, Russian Orthodox … [Read more...]
