SS Eastland

The SS Eastland was a passenger ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On July 24, 1915 the ship rolled over while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. A total of 844 passengers and crew were killed in what was to become the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.

Following the disaster, the Eastland was salvaged and sold to the United States Navy. After restorations and modifications the Eastland was designated as a gunboat and renamed the USS Wilmette. She was used primarily as a training vessel on the Great Lakes, and was scrapped following World War II.

Construction

The ship was commissioned in 1902 by the Michigan Steamship Company and built by the Jenks Ship Building Company of Port Huron, Michigan. In April 1903, the ship was named by Mrs. David Reid of South Haven, Michigan. She received a prize of $10 and a one-season pass on the ship. The ship was named in May, immediately before its inaugural voyage.

History

Early problems

Following its construction the Eastland was discovered to have design flaws making it susceptible to listing. The ship was top-heavy with its center of gravity being too high. This became evident when passengers congregated en masse on the upper decks. In July 1903, a case of overcrowding caused the Eastland to list with water flowing up one of the ship's gangplanks. The situation was quickly rectified but this was the first of many incidents. Later in the same month, the stern of the ship was damaged when it was backed into the tugboat George W. Gardner. In August 1906, another incident of listing occurred which resulted in the filing of complaints against the Chicago-South Haven Line which had purchased the ship earlier that year.

Shannara

Shannara /ˈʃænərə/ is a series of high fantasy novels written by Terry Brooks, beginning with The Sword of Shannara in 1977 and continuing through The Darkling Child which was released in June 2015; there is also a prequel, First King of Shannara. The series blends magic and primitive technology and is set in the Four Lands, which are identified as Earth long after civilization was destroyed in a chemical and nuclear holocaust called the Great Wars. By the time of the prequel First King of Shannara, the world had reverted to a pre-industrial state and magic had re-emerged to supplement science.

Setting

The Shannara series is set in a post-apocalyptic world called the Four Lands. This world is a futuristic version of our own, and not a secondary world. The Genesis of Shannara trilogy reveals the Four Lands to be located in the modern Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada. Much of the landscape has been changed by a future holocaust called The Great Wars, but some landmarks remain. For example, the Columbia River still exists.

Eastland (Charlotte neighborhood)

Eastland (also known as Eastland-Wilora Lake or Wilora Lake) is a neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. The area is named after the former eponymous mall, that was demolished in the 2014. Eastland is almost seven and a half miles from Uptown, Charlotte.

Demographics

As of 2013, Eastland had a population of 5781. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 44.1% Black or African American, 18.9% White American, 3.2% Asian American, and 2.7% of some other race. Hispanic or Latino American of any race were 31.2% of the population. The median household income for the area was $34,449.

Transportation infrastructure

Mass transit

The following buses from the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) serve Eastland:

Eastland serves as a transit hub with the Eastland Community Transit Center, located in the same lot as the former Eastland Mall. Additionally, the site serves as a future terminus for the CityLYNX Gold Line streetcar, linking the future redevelopment of the previous site of the Eastland Mall with Uptown Charlotte.