Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Lowell, city (1990 pop. 103,439), a seat of Middlesex co., NE Mass., at the confluence of the Merrimack and Concord rivers; settled 1653, set off from Chelmsford 1826, inc. as a city 1836. High-techno...

(Encyclopedia) Murfreesboro mûrˈfrēzbûrˌə [key], city (1990 pop. 44,922), seat of Rutherford co., central Tenn., on Stones River; inc. 1817. It is the processing center of a dairy, livestock, and farm area. Ma...

(Encyclopedia) Wall Street, narrow street in the lower part of Manhattan island, New York City, extending E from Broadway to the East River. It is the center of one of the greatest financial districts in the world, ...

(Encyclopedia) badlands, area of severe erosion, usually found in semiarid climates and characterized by countless gullies, steep ridges, and sparse vegetation. Badland topography is formed on poorly cemented sedime...

(Encyclopedia) Channel Islands or Santa Barbara Islands sănˈtə bärˈbrə, –bərə [key], chain of eight rugged islands and many islets, extending c.150 mi (240 km) along the S Calif. coast from Point Conceptio...

(Encyclopedia) Bland, Richard Parks, 1835–99, American statesman, b. near Hartford, Ky. He taught in rural schools in Kentucky and Missouri before he went to the gold fields of California in 1855. He was a prospec...

(Encyclopedia) Governors Island, 173 acres (70 hectares), in Upper New York Bay, S of Manhattan island, SE N.Y. Bought from the Native Americans by the Dutch in 1637, it was the site of an early New Netherlands sett...

(Encyclopedia) Yorktown, historic town (1990 pop. 270), seat of York co., SE Va., on the York River 10 mi (16 km) from its mouth on Chesapeake Bay; settled 1631, laid out 1691. It is included in the Colonial Nationa...

(Encyclopedia) Tularosa Basin, desert basin, c.6,500 sq mi (16,800 sq km), S N.Mex. and W Tex. From Texas east of El Paso the basin, an area of interior drainage, extends c.170 mi (275 km) to the north, and ranges c...

(Encyclopedia) Scranton, city (1990 pop. 81,805), seat of Lackawanna co., NE Pa., in a mountain region, on the Lackawanna River; settled in the 1700s, inc. 1866. Named for George W. Scranton, it is a commercial and ...