I know across the pond August 8th is National Dollar Day and I wanted to tell you about a 'Dollar' that is shared by the U.S, Canada and the town of Falkirk in Scotland. It's not a mutual currency I'm talking about, but a gentleman called Captain Robert Dollar.
Born in 1844, Robert Dollar left school at the age of 12 years and by his early teens he was working in a lumber camp in Canada, where he and his parents had emigrated to. At the age of 22 years having learnt French, as well as being skilled in numeracy and literacy he was in charge of a camp.
He went on to develop his own lumber business in Canada, Michigan and Northern California and moved into the steamship business, transporting lumber and passengers worldwide. He had an acute business acumen, which lead to him accruing a $40,000,000 fortune and his name appeared in, America's Top 100 Rich List.
But not only was he a lumber baron, shipping magnate, he was a philanthropist. He donated land for schools and orphanages, throughout the world. He didn't forget his routes and gave the people of Falkirk many gifts, including bells for Falkirk Old and St Modan's Parish Church, books for the first library in the town and the parkland where I took these photographs the other day, which is rightly called Dollar Park.
San Rafael, California is the place where Robert Dollar lived until he died and his old home there, named Falkirk, is now an art and cultural centre. The Presbyterian Church in San Rafael received bells as a gift too from him and like those in Falkirk still ring out to this day. Both towns are officially twinned and have a lot to thank this man for and without the, $ he wouldn't have changed so many peoples lives.
#dollar #RobertDollar #Falkirk #SanRafael
http://www.falkirkculturalcenter.org/history-new/
www.falkirkcommunitytrust.org/parks
It's nice to know he not only got rich, but he shared his wealth. Uplifting.
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