Plymouth, Massachusetts

Plymouth /ˈplɪməθ/ (historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Plymouth holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore and culture, and is known as "America's Hometown." Plymouth was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, passengers of the famous ship the Mayflower. Plymouth is where New England was first established. It is the oldest municipality in New England and one of the oldest in the United States. The town has served as the location of several prominent events, the most notable being the First Thanksgiving feast. Plymouth served as the capital of Plymouth Colony from its founding in 1620 until the colony's merger with the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1691. Plymouth is named after the English city of the same name.

Plymouth is the largest municipality in Massachusetts by area. The population is 56,468 according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Plymouth is one of two county seats of Plymouth County, the other being Brockton.

Plymouth, Connecticut

Plymouth is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England. The population was 12,243 at the 2010 census. The town of Plymouth includes the villages of Terryville and Pequabuck.

History

The community was incorporated in 1795, and became known nationally for the manufacture of clocks. The town was named after Plymouth, Massachusetts. Plymouth (formerly Northbury, a section of Waterbury]) was originally used as a burying ground for Waterbury. History records show that it was founded by a group of people who believed they found a large deposit of lead. This fabled "lead mine" never actually existed (or is still yet to be discovered). The oldest home in the community is on Route 6, and dates to 1690-1700. In the 1790s, George Washington traveled through here, both to visit relatives and to stay away from the coastline. The Terry family participated in a great deal of Plymouth's history. Eli Terry became partners with Seth Thomas (clockmaker) and Silas Hoadley to manufacture clocks in the Greystone section of town. Eli gave the factory to Hoadley and Thomas, and opened his own clock factory near Carter Road in Plymouth Center, while Thomas moved to Plymouth Hollow. Eli Terry, Jr. (son of Eli Terry) joined with another man who was interested in the cabinet and lock industry and they opened Eagle Lock Company. In the 1880s, the Plymouth Hollow section of Plymouth decided to split off and become their own town called Thomaston, Connecticut, named after Seth Thomas (clockmaker). The Eagle Lock Company closed in the 1970s and later, in 1975, the entire abandoned site burned, leaving one building left undamaged. The rest of the buildings were torn down or had floors removed.

Plymouth, Montserrat

Coordinates: 16°42′23″N 62°12′57″W / 16.706417°N 62.215839°W / 16.706417; -62.215839

Plymouth was the capital of the island of Montserrat, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom located in the Leeward Island chain of the Lesser Antilles, West Indies. The town was overwhelmed by volcanic eruptions starting in 1995 and was abandoned. For centuries it had been the only port of entry to the island.

Plymouth is still de jure the capital of Montserrat, giving it the unusual distinction of being the only ghost town which is the capital of a political territory.

History

Volcano and abandonment

Beginning in July 1995, a series of huge eruptions at the Soufrière Hills volcano sent pyroclastic flows and ash falls across a wide area of southern Montserrat including the capital, Plymouth. It was immediately clear that the city was in grave danger; on 21 August 1995, tephra fell on Plymouth, and in December residents were evacuated as a precaution. Residents were allowed back a few months later but on 25 June 1997, a massive eruption produced pyroclastic surges that killed 19 people and reached nearly to the island's airport on the eastern side of the island. Plymouth was again evacuated.

Illinois

Illinois (ⁱ/ˌɪlᵻˈnɔɪ/ IL-i-NOY) is a state in the midwestern region of the United States. It is the 5th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base and is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois River. For decades, O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics.

Although today the state's largest population center is around Chicago in the northern part of the state, the state's European population grew first in the west, with French Canadians who settled along the Mississippi River, and gave the area the name, Illinois. After the American Revolutionary War established the United States, American settlers began arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s via the Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. In 1818, Illinois achieved statehood. After construction of the Erie Canal increased traffic and trade through the Great Lakes, Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River, at one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan.John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow turned Illinois' rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmlands, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. Railroads carried immigrants to new homes, as well as being used to ship their commodity crops out to markets.

Illinois (Brett Eldredge album)

Illinois is the second studio album by American country music artist Brett Eldredge. It was released on September 11, 2015 via Atlantic Records Nashville. Its lead single, "Lose My Mind", was released to country radio on May 4, 2015. Eldredge co-wrote every song, and produced the album with Ross Copperman and Brad Crisler.

Critical reception

Giving it 4 out of 5 stars, Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the album's R&B influences, saying that "Such soulfulness and sly stylistic diversity were largely absent on Bring You Back, a quite pleasing set of by-the-books radio country, and it certainly enlivens Illinois, but not at the expense of strong songs."

Commercial performance

Illinois entered the US Billboard 200 chart at number 3, selling 51,000 equivalent units in the week ending September 17 (including 44,000 traditional album sales). This marks the largest-selling week for an album in Eldredge's career, passing Bring You Back (2013), which sold 21,000 units in the first week on chart. In the second week it sold an additional 9,500 copies. As of January 2016, the album has sold 107,400 copies domestically.

Illinois (state song)

"Illinois" is the official state song of the U.S. state of Illinois. Written by Charles H. Chamberlain (1841–1894, also spelled Chamberlin) and composed by Archibald Johnston (died 1887), "Illinois" became the state song by an act of the 54th Illinois General Assembly (1925).

Lyrics

References

External links