It’s 1886 and Karl Benz has applied for a patent on what is generally acknowledged to be the world’s first motor car, or “vehicle powered by a gas engine” as he put it. But what a machine it was, a three-wheeler, made of spillikins, with a tiny single-cylinder engine pushing out barely three-quarters of a horsepower.
Motivated by stories told to me in the 1970s and 1980s by pioneer residents of Miami’s Colored Town, now known as Overtown, I saved the historic Lyric Theater from destruction as an example of resilience in Black Miami during the 20th century.
According to the National Association of State Park Directors, the United States is home to 9,817 state parks. Many are primarily recreational areas while others were established for preservation efforts