When Time magazine released its list of the nation's "Top 50 Roadside Attractions," the sole selection from Washington state highlighted a unique marketing ploy from the 1930s that put the now-defunct Benewah Dairy Co. on the map. A towering milk bottle, visible from Interstate 90 on the drive through downtown Spokane, made the odd, but distinguished roll call, along with a similar jumbo decanter just to the north that is now home to a café known for milkshakes. 

The next closest site on the Time's top 50 can be found in Driggs, Idaho, where a 2-ton concrete facsimile of a potato rests comfortably in the back of a 1946 Chevy truck. 

From the bizarre to the revered, signature destination points dot towns and cities all over the world map. Visitors to the Midwest make the pilgrimage to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, symbol of westward migration, while travelers to the quaint southern California village of Cabazon are just as enthused to walk alongside life-sized dinosaur replicas frozen in time, or at least multi-colored plaster.  

Can't foot the bill to Wiltshire, England, to visit Stonehenge? Try the kitschy spin-off in Alliant, Neb., that salutes the genuine version with 38 vehicles assembled in a captivating formation known as "Carhenge."

In Liberty Lake, noteworthy sites are numerous, going back to the traditions of the Native Americans who first inhabited the region. History books chronicle the festive annual feeds hosted by Chief Andrew Seltice of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe on the shores of the lake that coincided with horse races staged on the surrounding plains. One of Chief Seltice's neighbors, Etienne Eduard Laliberte, arrived in 1871 from Canada and homesteaded on 25 acres, later changing his name to Stephen Liberty and becoming the namesake of the reservoir once known as Lake Grier. 

While plaques and monuments might not mark the site of every former farm or tribal habitation in the area, the city of Liberty Lake has done its part to prioritize the historical landscape. A section in the city's comprehensive plan characterizes such properties as "finite and endangered" while emphasizing the importance of "policies and a course of action for the preservation and treatment of our historic and cultural resources."

As a New Year dawns, the Splash has compiled a list of 15 notable sites for 2015 that celebrate both the distant past and more recent heritage of Liberty Lake. As with any subjective collection, there are exclusions that arguably deserve similar recognition. So, with apologies to the monarch butterfly garden in Pavillion Park, the cedar grove in Liberty Lake County Park and the bench in Rocky Hill Park in honor of the late Ethernet pioneer Bernard Daines, we present the inaugural list of Liberty Lake's leading landmarks. 

Seattle has the Space Needle; Paris has the Eiffel Tower; Liberty Lake has the Legend Tree.

If you ever lose your bearings in Spokane County's easternmost city, just look to the tallest peak where this majestic Ponderosa Pine has stood watch over the basin for parts of three centuries. Perched high atop Legacy Ridge in the city's western section, the Legend Tree can be spotted in several black and white pictures from the early 1900s.

In the 1970s, the tree was part of a unique backdrop for a winter resort known as Holiday Hills, where a ski lodge and restaurant rivaled the slopes and hospitality of nearby Mt. Spokane. During the Christmas season, proprietors of the resort would decorate the tree with an illuminated star.  

"This tree has been growing in our community since the 1800s," said Ross Schneidmiller of the Liberty Lake Historical Society. "Some members of our community believe this tree may have had significance to some of the earliest inhabitants of our area." 

Over the years, the Legend Tree has survived a lightning strike and the encroachment of construction on the hill it calls home. Understanding the importance of a natural monument that could not be replaced, the city has stated that "as development occurs on the site, this tree should be included as part of a park or open space area and preserved for future generations."

English majors will tell you that the signature pavilion at Liberty Lake's most recognizable greenspace is spelled correctly, unlike the name of Pavillion Park itself.

Spelling quirks aside, the distinctive structure was patterned after what may have been the most famous landmark in the region's history - the dance pavilion at Liberty Lake Park. The venue was the social hub of the recreational area around the lake that had its heyday in the early 1900s.

Spanning out over the water, the original pavilion became what Haystack Rock is to Oregon's Cannon Beach or Wrigley Field is to the north side of Chicago. Construction was completed in 1909, right around the time a railroad spur line was built off the main tracks between Coeur d'Alene and Spokane. At its peak, up to 22 trains a day were dropping off passengers at the lake on weekends and holidays.

In addition to dancing at the pavilion, motor boating, wading and a tour around the lake for a quarter were popular among visitors. A genuine Rhode Island Red chicken dinner at the MacKenzie Hotel ran 35 cents. The pavilion was eventually torn down in 1962 after being damaged by fire a few years earlier.         

The modern version of the pavilion was designed by architect Gary Johnson, a longtime Liberty Lake resident. Each summer, thousands migrate to the sloped amphitheater as the building is transformed into a stage, hosting an array of quality entertainment sponsored by the Friends of Pavillion Park.   

Near the eastern corner of the pavilion at Pavillion Park stands a small monument resembling a podium. The flat part of the marker features an engraved photo of the late Lud Kramer.

Kramer's efforts were vital in mobilizing support for the transition of the Liberty Lake area from an unincorporated patch of Spokane County to an official jurisdiction. The plaque itself acknowledges Kramer, who passed away in 2004, as a leader in the incorporation campaign. The vote itself passed in November of 2000 with nearly 65 percent of the ballot, while cityhood became official on Aug. 31, 2001.

A native New Yorker, Kramer brought political savvy to the new city. He was a member of the Seattle City Council before serving as Washington's secretary of state from 1965 to 1975.  

In addition to the salute of Kramer, the etched surface includes a photo of Steve Peterson, accompanied by his wife, Charmaine, taking the oath of office as Liberty Lake's first mayor. The inaugural City Council is also pictured taking their oath in well-ordered line. 

Dedicated in October 2000 on the western fringe of Pavillion Park, the Marian J. Schneidmiller Rose Garden pays tribute to one of Liberty Lake's distinguished matrons.

Ross Schneidmiller and his brother, Rod, were catalysts in the project to honor their mother after she passed away in 1998. The memorial is shaped in a half circle with a rock border recalling the stone wall that once served as a backdrop to Marian's cherished roses.  

"My mother had climbing roses, and she loved tending to them," Ross said. "At sunrise, when my father would leave to work on the farm, my mother would go outside to work on her roses."

Joice Cary, Liberty Lake's horticulturist, has begun the process of adding a variety of roses to the site featuring a range of types, colors and fragrances. All of the roses are now labeled for identification.   

Liberty Lake Golf Course is the oldest of three golf venues that currently sit within Liberty Lake municipal boundaries. The land just north of the lake was purchased in 1955 by members of the Spokane Country Club and sold to Spokane County a year later for just under $20,000. By 1958, the county had opened a golf course. 

While changes have occurred over the years, including a multi-million dollar renovation that began in 2008, the location's idiosyncratic clubhouse has remained intact. Award-winning architect Warren C. Heylman designed the Mid-Century Modern building with original slopes and rocky facades that blend seamlessly into the forested background and nearby lakefront vistas. 

When it premiered, one architectural reviewer described the clubhouse as having "a concrete center with walls of glacier rounded stone from the Spokane Valley floor." 

The Spokane International Airport and the Parkade Plaza parking garage are just a few of the other local sites that reflect Heylman's unique approach to building design, though most don't look out over a practice green.   

A chip shot away from the clubhouse, a double-sided row of Black Locust trees line Sprague Avenue. 

Native to the southeastern U.S., the genus known as Robinia Pseudoacacia has been widely planted and naturalized in temperate parts of North America. Those in the know date the small grove on Sprague back to the early 1950s with the original leafy promenade winding down to the shorefront of Sandy Beach. 

In late spring, flowers emerge and fall from the overhanging branches, blanketing the street in a fragrant floral carpet. While there is little argument that the natural archway gives the southern border of Liberty Lake a noble, layered look, some who live in the shade of the trees say they also present a safety issue.    

In 2010, several residents along Sprague appealed to the city after part of a tree fell and damaged a home. In response, then Liberty Lake Mayor Wendy Van Orman said the city had consulted with arborists who advised removal of two trees and hazardous pruning of 22 others. 

"It's our task to keep the neighborhood intact and try to keep that canopy intact, but safety is our first concern," Van Orman said at the time. 

City Engineer Andrew Staples said the city has not received any recent complaints about the trees. Municipal crews sweep the section of Sprague regularly for stray branches and gravel. 

At the Nov. 4, 2014, Liberty Lake City Council meeting, Mayor Peterson presented Ron Schoenberger with a plaque proclaiming a section of the municipal trail system as "Shirley's Trail."

The honor was bestowed on Ron's late wife, Shirley, one of the founding members of the Liberty Lake Trails Committee, first established under the umbrella of the Friends of Pavillion Park in 1995. The group provided the initiative for the formation of a Transportation Benefit District in 1999 that drew upon a self-imposed property tax to raise money for a trail system now recognized as one of the best in the state.

Tom Specht, longtime chair of the committee, said Shirley frequently mentioned the need for a paved trail to the east of the Liberty Lake Golf Course. The city completed the work down the slope in 2013.

"She was worried about the safety of people walking down there," Specht said.  

The plaque presented to Ron now adorns a bench between the Schoenberger home and the golf course near the crest of the hill. The city attached a concrete base to the bench, which once sat in Shirley's yard. 

Another collaboration between the Transportation Benefit District and the city led to the construction of a pedestrian bridge that spans I-90 and links the municipal trail system with the Centennial Trail while providing a gateway for motorists entering Washington from Idaho. 

The long-awaited project broke ground in February 2005 at an estimated cost of $1.5 million. Funding was provided by the city, TBD and state Transportation Improvement Board as well as Greenstone Homes, ACI Construction and the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District, which each provided in-kind contributions. 

"The bridge is an integral link between the southern portion of the city and the northern portion," said former Liberty Lake Community Development Director Doug Smith shortly before the project broke ground.

At the dedication ceremony, the city distributed special commemorative T-shirts. Addressing the crowd, Mayor Peterson acknowledged the vision of trail advocates who championed the idea of the bridge for over a decade. 

"This bridge is a culmination of events and efforts from people in our community," Peterson said. 

As a former U.S. Marine, Bob Wiese understands the sacrifice made by his fellow soldiers. As a resident of Liberty Lake, Wiese hoped to help his community appreciate the commitment it takes to protect the freedoms many take for granted. 

On Sept. 21, 2013, Wiese was among a group that dedicated the first installment of the Fallen Heroes Circuit Course in Rocky Hill Park. The outdoor exercise station honored the memory of Joshua Dumaw, a West Valley High School graduate who was killed in 2010 at the age of 23 while serving as a Marine in Afghanistan.

"We want people to see these stories and know these stories," said Wiese, who lives not far from Rocky Hill Park.

Over 250 people - including several of Dumaw's family members - showed up for the dedication ceremony on a sunny early autumn day. Wiese, who formed a committee to support the project in the spring of 2012, said the Rocky Hill site and four accompanying installments would only add "to an already amazing parks system in Liberty Lake." When finished, the circuit course will cover 5.5 miles and pay tribute to each branch of the military.

When discussions about a park in the Rocky Hill neighborhood were taking place in fall of 2006, landscape architect Will Sinclair described the opportunity to create an atmosphere honoring a time when farms and orchards dotted the area. 

In referring to grounds that included a vintage barn built in 1948, Sinclair called the future park site "one of the most historic places in Liberty Lake." A well house near the barn has been traced back to the early 1900s.

Today, the Red Barn has become the iconic symbol of Rocky Hill Park, a 14-acre greenspace that broke ground on its first phase in 2008. While ideas like an amphitheater, fishing pond and baseball diamond never made the final cut, the park is home to a playground, tennis courts, soccer field, picnic shelter and basketball court. A community garden similar to one at the arboretum is also part of the terrain.

In 2006, Sinclair said the addition of a communal patch of plants and vegetables near landmarks like the barn and well house would "put gardeners in an historic area that would offer a look back at the agricultural aspect of the community."

When it officially opened in September 2011, the city's arboretum, Nature's Place at Meadowwood, was said to have the capacity to house 3,665 plants from 100 different species.

The 2.88-acre space near City Hall was donated by the Meadowwood Homeowners Association in 2005, beginning a six-year process to establish a refuge for foliage and contemplation. 

"Supporters of the arboretum should be proud of creating such a legacy," said city horticulturist Joice Cary.  "An arboretum states that a city sees beyond the immediate into the future and chooses to provide a beautiful place of permanence and respite for its citizens." 

Liberty Lake has received its official "Tree City" status from the Arbor Day Foundation. In the arboretum and throughout Liberty Lake, Cary says the local tree inventory represents a special branch of the community, providing biodiversity, shade, learning opportunities, water filtration and an aesthetic layer that emphasizes a commitment to the environment.        

"The arboretum will continue to grow with the city of Liberty Lake, not only in height but also in the number of species," Cary said. 

The frozen days of early February are not typically the time of year when media outlets in Spokane provide updates from local golf venues. 

Yet the crew from KXLY-TV figured there was a story in 2013 when the Trailhead at Liberty Lake Golf Course had been open for several days despite "the hills in the distance still covered in snow." With the turf below the slopes clear, Trailhead was seeing familiar faces like Edgar Shields, 84, break out the clubs.

The course itself remains open throughout the year - as long as the snow stays away. Temporary greens and the exclusion of golf carts protect the grounds.  

Part of Trailhead's year-round appeal has to do with a covered driving range that features 10 covered and enclosed stations, half of which are heated. The range is open seven days a week, 362 days out of the year and regularly draws winter golfers who can work on their game despite conditions more closely resembling Antarctica than Augusta.  

Trailhead pro Chris Johnston told KXLY that it was not uncommon for the range to be utilized "even when the entire course was covered in snow." 

The second Fallen Heroes Circuit Course installment was dedicated in Pavillion Park on Memorial Day in 2014 in honor of Air Force Capt. Victoria A. Pickney, who died in an airplane crash on May 3, 2013, during a refueling operation in Kyrgyzstan.

Pickney was stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base and was active in the community and her church. A native of California, Pickney gave birth to a child while living in the Inland Northwest. 

Fittingly, the Memorial Day festivities were hosted by the Liberty Lake Centennial Rotary as part of its annual pancake breakfast. The event raises funds for the Inland Northwest Honor Flight, a program that transports veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit memorials saluting the sacrifice and service of American soldiers from all eras.      

No list of Liberty Lake history would be complete without the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District.

Established in 1973 in response to deteriorating conditions at Liberty Lake, LLSWD has been at the forefront of environmental protection and water resource stewardship for over four decades. Between 2001 and 2002, the district established a demonstration garden at its administration building on East Mission Avenue as an example of a "xeriscape" approach that emphasizes water conservation. 

The site now features over 2,000 plants that, according to LLSWD General Manager BiJay Adams, "are low-maintenance, low-water consumers and grow well in the area." 

When completed, the garden reduced irrigation at the site by 40 percent, utilizing the same water sensors the district makes available to property owners in the area. Adams said the garden provides visitors with an eco-friendly example "that demonstrates proper irrigation techniques." 

Nearly 50 years after he lost a friend in Vietnam, John Kerr traveled across the U.S. to find closure in Liberty Lake. 

Kerr served briefly with Navy Corpsman Greg Vercruysse as a fellow medic in southeast Asia as part of the Bravo Company, second platoon. On June 7, 1967, Vercruysse was killed on a hill battle in the Khe Sanh region at the age of 20. 

Over the years, Kerr has kept in touch with the Vercruysee family, learning more about the soldier who hailed from Spokane and graduated from Rogers High School. When he was informed of a special honor being bestowed on Greg in 2014, Kerr pledged he would make the trip from his home in upstate New York to the Inland Northwest. 

Kerr was at the podium in Liberty Lake's Town Square Park on Nov. 11, 2014, when the Navy Fallen Heroes installment was dedicated, describing the project "as a great way to honor Greg." Sub-freezing temperatures did little to deter the Veteran's Day crowd of nearly 100. Greg's brother, Dean, and mother, Hazel, were among those in attendance.

In 2015, the anthology of Liberty Lake landmarks will add two new Fallen Heroes chapters, honoring the Coast Guard and Army.