{"id":7369,"date":"2011-02-22T18:35:30","date_gmt":"2011-02-22T23:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=7369"},"modified":"2022-05-31T06:33:56","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T11:33:56","slug":"penciling-in-reagan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/penciling-in-reagan\/","title":{"rendered":"Penciling-In Reagan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I discussed the erasure of Martin Van Buren<\/a> from geographic features as his popularity waned during the Nineteenth Century. Interestingly the opposite phenomenon seems to be happening with a more modern historical figure, Ronald Reagan. His stock continues to climb as the years progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also his February 6, 1911, birthday generated great publicity on its 100th anniversary. It breathed new life into efforts to enshrine his name upon the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Official<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Ronald Reagan Legacy Project<\/a> (RRLP) has a bold mission to “honor the legacy of our 40th President through the naming of roads, schools, buildings, and other sites<\/em>\u2026 with a memorial in every county in America<\/em>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feasible or not — and depending on how one defines a county — it would mean a minimum of 3,143 features named for Ronald Reagan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RRLP identified 107 dedications in the United States as of the time I\u2019ve posted this entry. They’ve even created a convenient interactive Google Map. Sure, some of the markers seem to fall considerably off from their true geographic locations. Even so I still had a fine time clicking through them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at a small number of examples by type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Airport<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Landing<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As highlighted on their website, “The first project and arguably the most notable project the RRLP has participated in is the naming of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in 1998.”<\/em> I remember this well from that time. And one should note the renaming took place over the vehement objections of local government officials (map<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a geo-blog not a politics blog so I\u2019m not going to take sides on this action. I will reference that depending on one\u2019s political bent, one could interpret this as (1) a fitting memorial garnished with a delicious \u201cin your face\u201d to the People\u2019s Republic of Arlington<\/a>; or (2) a strong-armed tactic contrasting sharply with Reagan\u2019s \u201cNew Federalism<\/a>\u201d ideal, which favored the devolution of power away from the Federal government. Either way I don’t really want to spark a debate. So let\u2019s keep any commentary respectful. That way I won\u2019t have to delete anything from the moderation queue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Road<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Where<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the more common remembrances appears to be the naming of roads in Reagan’s honor. This example highlights Ronald Reagan Boulevard, in Longwood, Florida (map<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are millions of roads. So this creates millions of opportunities to either change an existing name, or provide a designation for a new road. This method of honoring the former President probably has the smallest hassle factor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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School<\/h2>\n\n\n\n