Quantico as a topic

My project deals with the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, VA. I have run into some problems regarding relating the history, as it is an active military base. I wanted to talk about some of the unique features of the base and the area, just like all of Virginia, is imbued with interesting resources. The base archaeologist has uncovered everything from Clovis Points, items from the King’s Highway to unexploded ordnance from the American Revolution to modern day.

The unexploded ordnance is the main issue. Though the base has a really cool story to tell, I cannot tell most of it. The problem stems from the lack on knowledge of where things occurred, like the digging of trenches while Marines trained for WWI, to the fact that most of the base was an active firing range at one point or the other. And I don’t mean just lead projectiles. High energy explosive stuff.

I wanted to have maps and explain where some neat things happened. The entire Potomac Coast was a Confederate coastal defense battery on the Virginia side, and a Federal counter battery on the Maryland side. Known Civil War camps litter the area. However, relic hunters love to find unexplored areas like that. Obviously that is a security issue for the base and dangerous because of the amount of explosives that they might unearth and possibly detonate.

There is still a lot I can tell, so I’ll make sure to focus on that.

Confederate Cannon unearthed during the constuction of the Quantico Airfield.

Confederate Cannon on Waller Hill overlooking the Potomac

I just recently had the left hand cannon restored. Its twin has been on display on the base for 50 years. Crews building Turner Field in WWII dug it up, along with tons of explosive shells.

As far as design, I guess I am going to stay on the boring side. I think my colors look good and subdued, but aren’t too boring. I found a lot of templates that would be fun to use, but manipulating them would take more time than I can spend on them this close to the end of the semester. Here is the link to my website and my Design Page. It needs work as I try to fix the columns and some of the pictures that don’t show up.

 

I commented on Joshua’s Blog.