The red gingerbread Danville Hotel Restaurant opened in the 1950s with its popular Silver Dollar Saloon; the latest occupant was Celia’s, a Mexican restaurant that closed several years ago. Now shabby curtains can be seen through peeling windows.

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MOSCOW — In the 1950s, the Soviet government set aside a bit of land on the Moscow River for Maria I.

MOSCOW — In the 1950s, the Soviet government set aside a bit of land on the Moscow River for Maria I. Gurlynina’s family and several dozen others to grow food. It was a barren plot, “nothing but sand and swamp,” Ms.