Exercise 5: Placemaking in Google Earth

A tribute to Courage, the 67-foot tall, white statue of Sam Houston, dubbed "Big Sam," towers over Texas Interstate-45. Billed as the “World’s Tallest Statue of an American Hero,” it was completed in 1994 with 30 tons of concrete and steel and then set atop a 10-foot high granite base. Big Sam’s location in Huntsville - as opposed to Houston’s namesake city an hour away - is due to the fact that the two-time president of the former Republic of Texas lived and died here, with his grave located in a nearby cemetery. He was an American politician and soldier, best known for his role in bringing Texas into the U.S. as a constituent state.

Info from: http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sam-houston-statue , http://www.biography.com/people/sam-houston-9344806