Orchestra Hall in Chicago

Postcard US-4029700 to Germany was a 15¢ postal card in the Historic Preservation Series saluting Chicago's Orchestra Hall, home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1904. The indicium shows the interior of the hall where the first-day ceremonies were held at 11:30 a.m. on Friday October 19, 1990. The hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 21, 1978, and designated as a National Historic Landmark on April 19, 1994.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Postcard US-3263831 to California was a vintage card showing St. Patrick's Cathedral, a decorated Neo-Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral church and a prominent landmark of New York City, directly across the street from Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan and specifically facing the Atlas statue. The cathedral was completed in 1878, The cathedral and associated buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. According to a spreadsheet of NRHP list from the National Park Service, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 8, 1976 with a reference number 76001250.

Nott Memorial at Union College

Postcard US-1651769 from the state of New York shows the Nott Memorial, an elaborate 16-sided stone-masonry building which serves as both architectural and physical centerpiece of Union College in Schenectady, New York. Dedicated to Eliphalet Nott, president of Union for a remarkable sixty-two years (1804-1866), the 110-foot or 34-meter high by 89-foot or 27-meter wide structure was recognized as a National Historic Landmark on June 24, 1986. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 5, 1972.

Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston

Postcard US-3230012 from Boston was a shaped card showing Faneuil Hall Marketplace near the waterfront and today's Government Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1743, it has been served as a marketplace and a meeting hall since. Because its significance in history as the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, it is known as "the Cradle of Liberty." Faneuil Hall was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1960. One of those famous stops on the Freedom Trail, Faneuil Hall Marketplace is part of Boston National Historical Park that was added to National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade made history today as two LGBT groups marched for the first time after decades of opposition. In 1995, the parade organizers took its battle to exclude LGBT groups to the U.S. Supreme Court and won on First Amendment grounds. Boston’s mayors had boycotted the event since. With an inclusive parade this year, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and other political leaders such as first-term U.S. Representative Seth Moulton took part.

Boston broken another record today after receiving 2.9-inch snow by Sunday evening. A seasonal total of 108.6 inches so far, it has broken Boston’s old record of 107.6 inches since the winter of 1995-96. The buildup of previous snow on side streets even caused the organizers of the St. Patrick's Day Parade, billed as the second largest in the U.S. in terms of spectators, to shorten the route.

Kenmore, Fredericksburg, Virginia

Outgoing postcard US-3208612 to Germany was a vintage card showing Kenmore, a plantation house built in 1752 at Fredericksburg, Virginia. It is a beautiful specimen of colonial architecture with ornamented ceilings and mantels designed by George Washington. It is home of Col. Fielding Lewis and his wife Betty, the only sister of George Washington. George Washington sent two Hessian prisoners to carry out his artistic conception.

The house was added to National Register of Historic Places on June 4, 1969, and was declared a National Historic Landmark on April 15, 1970.

There are similar cards from the Tichnor Brothers Postcard Collection at Boston Public Library.

Prometheus Statue at Rockfeller Plaza

Outgoing postcard US-3169529 to Russia was a vintage card showing Paul Manship's majestic bronze gilded statue of the Greek legend of the Titan Prometheus recumbent, bringing fire to mankind from the sun. Built in 1934, the 5.5-meter or 18-foot tall and 8-ton statue is a focal point of the fountain in the sunken gardens, which are noted for their trees and shrubs and flowers, at the front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The model for Prometheus was Leonardo (Leon) Nole. The inscription on the granite wall behind was a paraphrase from Aeschylus that reads: "Prometheus, teacher in every art, brought the fire that hath proved to mortals a means to mighty ends."

Built by the Rockefeller family, Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres or 89,000 square meters panning the area from Fifth Avenue to Sixth Avenue and between 48th and 51st streets in the center of Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

San Francisco Cable Car: 141 Years

Postcard US-2468742 to Czech Republic shows the iconic San Francisco Cable Car, one of the most popular attractions in the city, with Alcatraz Island in the background. It is the last manually-operated cable car system in the world. At its heyday, there were twenty-three cable car lines established between 1873 and 1890. Three lines remain today: the Powell-Mason line that begins at the Powell@Market turntable, runs up and over Nob Hill and then down to Fisherman's Wharf; the Powell- Hyde line that also begins at the Powell@Market turntable, runs over Nob and Russian hills before ending at Aquatic Park near Ghiradelli Square near Fisherman's Wharf; the California Street line that runs East-West from the Financial District, through Chinatown, over Nob Hill, and ends at Van Ness Avenue. The cable car on the postcard runs on the Powell-Hyde line.

141 years ago today, the San Francisco Cable Car started as the Clay Street Hill Railroad, first opened on August 2, 1873. The cable cars were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966, and designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark on January 29, 1964.

A Cat Peering Outside

Outgoing postcard US-2680023 to New Zealand shows a National Geographic photo of a cat, next to a blue door, peering out of the window of an adobe house at Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. Taos Pueblo is a Native American community with a population of 1264 in the 2000 census. It was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1992 and a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

Copyright by Ira Block/National Geographic Stock. The postcard was created By National Geographic and can be purchased at Zazzle.

Julien Dubuque Monument

Postcard US-2566039 shows the Julien Dubuque Monument, final resting place of the founder of Dubuque, Iowa. Julien Dubuque was a French Canadian from Champlain, Quebec, one of the first European men to settle in the area that is now known as Dubuque, Iowa. He initially received permission from the Meskwaki Indian tribe to mine the lead in 1788,  eventually married Potosa, daughter of Peosta, the chief of the Mesquakie Indians. He subsequently submitted the claim to Spain since Spain controlled the territory prior to 1801. The Spanish approved a land grant for him in 1796.

Julien died of pneumonia on March 24,1810, and was buried on the bluff above Catfish Creek. After his death, the Meskwaki built a log crypt for him, covering his grave with a wooden and stone shelter. In 1897, the structure was replaced by an imposing stone monument built of Galena limestone quarried from the bluff. The founder was buried four feet into the ground inside the monument. The final cost of the twelve-foot diameter, twenty-nine foot high Late-Gothic-Revival style structure was $560.

The Monument was listed on National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1988; it was declared a National Historic Landmark on November 4, 1993.

French Quarter, New Orleans

Postcard US-1677731 to Finland shows a typical art gallery at French Quarter, New Orleans, LA. The French Quarter, also known as the Vieux Carré ("Old Square" in French) and the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans, was the center of the city when New Orleans was founded in 1718. Although it is called the "French" Quarter, most of the existing buildings were built under Spanish rule with Spanish colonial styles. The French Quarter is a National Historic Landmark that has numerous individual historic buildings.

The photo was from a stop at New Orleans two years ago on September 5, 2010 prior to my All-You-Can-Jet (AYCJ) trip by JetBlue. I flew in from Las Vegas one way on Southwest, and left for Portland, Maine via JFK next on a Jetblue AYCJ pass.