Familiar Places in the Midwest Quiz

Located in St. Louis, Missouri, the Gateway Arch reaches a height of 630 feet, and was erected in 1965. It is known as the "Gateway to the West" due to the western expansion of the United States, largely in part to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 when the United States bought a large portion of land from France, which includes the state of Missouri.

It is made of stainless steel, and at the time of its completion, was the tallest arch in the world. Architect Eero Saarinen is the man who designed the monument.

Willis Tower is located in Chicago, Illinois, and is a 1,451 foot skyscraper that was the tallest building in the world upon its completion in 1973; it has since been surpassed in height by several buildings. The building was originally called the Sears Tower until 2009, and it served as an office building for Sears Roebuck and Company, a company that was founded and based in Chicago.

There are 110 stories in the tower, and tourists are allowed to go up to the 103rd floor, known as the Skydeck, to observe the city and territory into the surrounding states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana. I went to the the Skydeck in 2017, and it was quite a cool experience.

Mount Rushmore is located near the town of Keystone, South Dakota. It is a 60 foot tall sculpture made of granite, and features the heads of former United States presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

The monument was designed to represent the first 150 years of the United States, and these were the four presidents chosen. Gutzon Borglum designed the sculpture, and with the help of around 400 workers, the landmark was built between 1927 and 1941. Borglum died before its completion, and his son, Lincoln, took over its overseer.

Located in Bloomington, Minnesota, the Mall of America is a large shopping mall that opened in 1992, and became the largest shopping mall in the United States. The total floor space covers more than 2.8 million square feet. It houses more than 500 stores, and has more than 12,000 parking spaces. The mall also features an amusement park which has five roller coasters and a water ride.

Badlands National Park is a national park located in the southwest region of South Dakota. The park covers more than 240,000 acres, and it attracts around one million visitors each year. Badlands is a spot of interest to paleontologists, as it is plentiful in fossilized remains of many creatures, including alligators, rhinoceroses, camels, and even dinosaurs.

The park offers many enjoyable things to visitors such as hiking and driving around exploring the landscape, which includes various buttes. I have heard the sunrises and sunsets are beautiful there, as well, but I have never been. I plan on making a trip sooner or later.

Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum opened in 1990, and features the history of the Negro Leagues, which was prominent from 1920 until 1948. African-Americans were unable to play Major League Baseball due to segregation in the United States during that time. Upon Jackie Robinson's debut in Major League Baseball in 1947, the inclusion of black players steadily increased.

The Negro Leagues featured many notable players besides Robinson, including Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and "Cool Papa" Bell, who are represented in the museum in Kansas City.

The building in which the museum is housed also contains the American Jazz Museum.

Each year since 1986, musicians have been selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and ceremonies were held in New York City, but there was no physical building honoring inductees until 1995 when The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum officially opened in Cleveland, Ohio, nine years after it was first planned. Architect I.M. Pei was the designer.

The museum consists of seven levels, and covers more than 55,000 square feet. Many musical artists and bands are celebrated in the museum, including Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and so many more.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is located in Speedway, Indiana, which is just outside Indianapolis. It is home to the Indianapolis 500, which is an Indy car racing event that runs annually in May, and since 1974 it has been featured on the Sunday before Memorial Day, with the exception of 2020 when Covid-19 postponed it to August.

The first race was held in 1911, and Ray Harroun was the first winner. Since 1994, the speedway has been host to NASCAR's Brickyard 400. The track is made from asphalt and brick, and it is 2.5 miles around.

There are more than 250,000 seats.

Lambeau Field is an American football stadium located in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and is home to the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. The stadium opened in 1957, and legendary head coach Vince Lombardi joined the team in 1959, leading them to five NFL Championships from 1961-1967, including the first two Super Bowls.

The stadium was originally called City Stadium from until 1965, when it was re-named after Curly Lambeau, a former player and head coach, who had recently died; Lambeau helped the Packers win six NFL Championships.

When the Packers begun playing in 2023, Lambeau Field was the oldest stadium in the NFL.

Carhenge is located in the small town of Alliance, Nebraska. It is a replica of the world renowned Stonehenge in England. The site consists of 39 classic vehicles, most of them with the rear-ends of the cars buried in the ground while the front-ends face toward the sky.

There are also several cars that are horizontal on top of the vertical cars, which act as beams. Jim Reinders designed the monument and constructed it in 1987.