Historic Structures - Urban Exploration of Historic Properties

Kress Building, Anniston Alabama

Kress Building, Anniston Alabama

Constructed around 1917 the Kress building received a new Art Deco facade around 1930. The Kress store occupied the building until 1980 when it closed. Since that time other retail stores, including a furniture store and more recently a department store, have used the building. The Kress Building is an excellent example of the Art Deco style, expressed in the highly stylized ornamentation, particularly the fleur-de-lis capitals, and the polychromatic geometric band above the second-floor windows. This Art Deco facade was the only one of its kind in Anniston, though it was typical of the Kress chain of stores at that time. The two-story-plus-mezzanine brick commercial building is located on the west side of Noble Street between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets

Fire has Severely Damaged this Brockport NY Mansion Turned Museum

Fire has Severely Damaged this Brockport NY Mansion Turned Museum

This Brockport New York Mansion, owned by the Western Monroe Historical Society was severely damaged by fire on Tuesday January 14^th, 2025. The second floor of the structure collapsed, it took firefighters four hours to bring the blaze under control. The Morgan-Manning house is a distinguished example of Italianate-style residential architecture in the village of Brockport, Monroe County. Built in 1854, the two-story brick residence exhibits characteristics associated with the style including simple square massing with symmetrical fenestration, a low-hipped roof surmounted by a cupola, broad overhanging eaves and a full front porch. The building is distinguished by an outstanding interior that retains virtually complete integrity from its construction. The interior is highlighted by ornate wooden moldings, paneling, wainscotting, doors, architraves

Narraguagus Lighthouse, Milbridge Maine

Narraguagus Lighthouse, Milbridge Maine

The Narraguagus Light Station was established in 1853 as a guide to navigation in and around Narraguagus Bay. It was built during the most active period of lighthouse construction in Maine which followed the organization of the Light House Board in 1852. This light station was the primary nineteenth-century navigational aid to Narraguagus Bay. Milbridge, located at the north end of the bay, was a locally important coastal community whose deep harbor was the site of an active ship building industry. Situated at the head of navigation on the Narraguagus River, the town was also the shipping point for lumber manufacturies located upriver, principally at Cherryfield. These principal activities were augmented by other maritime-related industries such as fishing, coasting and lobster

Prospect Harbor Lighthouse and Station, Prospect Harbor Maine

Prospect Harbor Lighthouse and Station, Prospect Harbor Maine

Authorized in 1847 but not established until 1850, the Prospect Harbor Light Station marks the eastern entrance to the inner section of this harbor of refuge. The light station at Prospect Harbor was built in response to the local need for a navigational aid to this deep and sheltered anchorage. Throughout the nineteenth century, Prospect Harbor was home to a large fleet of fishing vessels whose safe passage in and around the harbor was greatly facilitated by the beacon and fog signal at this location. However, despite this apparent need for the station, the Light-House Board deactivated the light in 1859 claiming that the harbor was not used as an anchorage during storms. In 1870, for some as yet unknown reason,

Fire Gutted Structures at this Abandoned Virgina College Campus being Demolished

Fire Gutted Structures at this Abandoned Virgina College Campus being Demolished

Founded in 1884 to meet the demands of local Baptists for women's education in Southwest Virginia, Virginia Intermont represents one of the earliest efforts to ameliorate the quality of women's education in this area of the state. The Main Building, constructed when the school moved from Glade Spring, Virginia to Bristol, and designed by W.P. Tinsley, reflects the aggressive eclecticism of its age. Encompassing a multitude of functions under one roof, the building's plan reflects normative 19th-century academic planning. Elements of the exterior decoration are vaguely Shavian and vaguely Romanesque, while the interior reflects the late influence of the Eastlake mode in Southwest Virginia. The majority of people in this section of Virginia were not sympathetic to, and some were actually

Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse, Vinalhaven Maine

Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse, Vinalhaven Maine

Established in 1839 on a precarious rock outcropping, Saddleback Ledge Light Station marks an eastward approach to Penobscot Bay. Saddleback Ledge Light was the second such complex built to guide maritime traffic into and out of Penobscot Bay. Eventually, it was one of six principal navigational aids built along this important waterway. However, it was the only one of these six to have been classified as a secondary sea-coast light. The station was automated in 1954. The tower at Saddleback Ledge was designed by Alexander Parris (1780-1852) and is similar in its overall form to the tower he designed two years earlier at Mount Desert Light Station. Saddleback clearly shows a proficiency in the use of granite as a material for

Matinicus Rock Lighthouse, Matinicus Island Maine

Matinicus Rock Lighthouse, Matinicus Island Maine

Occupying a lonely island off the south end of Matinicus Island, the Matinicus Rock Light Station was established in 1827 and substantially rebuilt in 1847 and 1857. Originally classified as a primary seacoast light (a designation changed to secondary seacoast light by 1886), this station is of particular importance as a guide along the coastal shipping lanes off the southern entrance to Penobscot Bay. Matinicus Rock Light Station was the fourteenth such complex established along the Maine coast. At the time of initial construction, it was the most distant light from the mainland and the first one to employ a pair of towers. These were located at the ends of the original rectangular rubble stone keeper's house with wooden towers. The

David B. Gamble House, Pasadena California

David B. Gamble House, Pasadena California

The Gamble House is the finest surviving example of the work of Greene and Greene and is one of the outstanding examples of the California Bungalow style. It is also one of the nation's finest representations of the American Craftsman Movement. The house was commissioned as a summer house by David Gamble of the Proctor and Gamble Soap Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. As leading exponents of the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Greene brothers played a leading role in establishing southern California, (notably Pasadena), as a center for this new direction in American architecture. Contemporary with Frank Lloyd Wright, their finest houses done before World War I, were created when Wright was building his Prairie Houses. Both the Greene brothers and

Marshall Point Lighthouse, Port Clyde Maine

Marshall Point Lighthouse, Port Clyde Maine

Marshall Point Light Station, which stands at the eastern entrance to Port Clyde Harbor, was established in 1832 and partially rebuilt in 1857 and 1896. Port Clyde is one of a number of small coastal communities along the Saint George peninsula whose nineteenth-century economy was heavily dependent upon maritime pursuits. Its long-established fishing industry was supplemented beginning in the 1830s by local ship-building enterprises that survived to the turn of the century. In addition, Port Clyde was the site of a commercial ice industry and the home of the South Saint George Guano and Oil Corporation, both of which had their beginnings in the mid-1870s. Building on its fisheries a canned lobster plant was founded in the 1880s. All of these

Historic Craftsman Style Valentine Cottage Destroyed in Los Angeles Wildfires

Historic Craftsman Style Valentine Cottage Destroyed in Los Angeles Wildfires

Walter D. Valentine, a real estate entrepreneur and dairy farmer, commissioned an unknown architect to construct at least three cabins in a rustic area of Altadena known as Wild Wood (or Wildwood) Park. Approximately ten years later, Valentine decided to alter and build additions to the cabins, hiring Henry M. Greene to complete the designs in the Craftsman style... The fact that there are still remnants of a communal barbeque, amphitheater and a now-closed bridge over the wash into Valentine's backyard indicates the little community of rustic cabins may have been intended as guest cottages for friends or perhaps as seasonal rentals. Another possible use may have been as housing for their dairy employees. Also around 1912, the Valentines built a

Former Home of Famed Author Zane Grey Destroyed by Los Angeles Wildfires

Former Home of Famed Author Zane Grey Destroyed by Los Angeles Wildfires

Built in 1906 by Arthur Woodward, it was purchased by famed Western author Zane Grey in 1920. Grey lived here until his death in 1939, and added several large additions to the home. It was destroyed by the Eaton wildfire during the Los Angeles Wildfires in January 2025. In 1906, Arthur H. Woodward, President of International Register Company (now Intermatic Corporation) of Chicago, Illinois and his wife commissioned prominent architects Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey to build their Altadena, California home. The Woodward's had very specific requests about the construction of their home. They requested that the home be made entirely of reinforced concrete and must be made to be entirely fireproof. This was due to Mrs. Woodward being a survivor

Historic Mansion Converted into Pasadena Waldorf School Destroyed in Los Angeles Wildfires

Historic Mansion Converted into Pasadena Waldorf School Destroyed in Los Angeles Wildfires

Scripts Hall was built in 1904 on twenty acres (since reduced to five), and remained in the family until 1983. In 1986 it was sold to Pasadena Waldorf School who used the building for students K-8^th grades. Unfortunately, on January 7^th, 2025, it fell victim to the Los Angeles Wildfires and was burned to the ground. Scripps Hall was completed in 1904 and designed by a well-known local architect, C. W. Buchanan (only one of two of his major works still standing in Altadena). It is the most intact example of the estates that once lined Altadena's Millionaire's Row. In November 1903, William Armiger Scripps, a descendant of a prominent family of publishers, commissioned renowned Pasadena architect Charles W. (C. W.)

Historic McNally Mansion Destroyed in Eaton Los Angeles Wildfires

Historic McNally Mansion Destroyed in Eaton Los Angeles Wildfires

Andrew McNally House in Altadena California was built in 1888. McNally was co-founder of the Rand-McNally Publishing Company. He played a significant role in the founding of the City of Altadena. Tragically, the home was destroyed in the January 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires. The Andrew McNally house was the first substantial home built along Mariposa Street (Millionaire's Row) subsequent to Altadena's founding in 1887. Early newspaper articles, postcards, and professional photographs of Altadena often bore images of McNally's house. These, together with surviving pieces of his correspondence and his personal invitations to visit and buy property in Altadena, were evidence of McNally's role as an early civic booster, especially among his influential friends and business associates from the East. His house

Woodbury-Story House, Altadena California

Woodbury-Story House, Altadena California

The Woodbury House was the home of Frederick J. Woodbury who, together with his brother John P., are credited with founding Altadena in 1887. Built in 1882, the house is the oldest remaining residence in Altadena and one of the few remaining grand mansions built during the boom of the 1880s, when the Woodbury brothers envisioned Altadena as a community of grand estates. It is the only remaining example of the Italianate style in Altadena and was probably designed by early Pasadena builder Harry Ridgway. In 1895 Hampton Story purchased the house and had a music room added in 1898. The addition was designed by Frederick L. Roehrig, a prominent Pasadena architect who is associated with the Green Hotel in that

Tenants Harbor Lighthouse and Station, Tenants Harbor Maine

Tenants Harbor Lighthouse and Station, Tenants Harbor Maine

Tenants Harbor Light Station is composed of a cylindrical brick light tower connected to a one-and-a-half-story keeper's house and detached shed, oil house and replica bell house. The light station at Tenants Harbor was established in 1857 in a continued effort to provide aids to navigation along the coast of Maine. Its location on the eastern side of Southern Island placed the complex at a strategic position, enabling it to guide ships through the two entrances to Tenants Harbor. The village of Tenants Harbor is the largest community in the Town of St. George, and is located at the head of a long harbor. The light station continues to emphasize the maritime heritage of the area where an active shipbuilding industry

Will Rogers House Destroyed in the Los Angeles Wildfires

Will Rogers House Destroyed in the Los Angeles Wildfires

Will Rogers acquired the ranch In 1922. Construction began about 1923. The Rogers family moved out to the ranch from Beverly Hills in 1925. Will Rogers made his home there until his death on August 15^th, 1935. Mrs. Rogers continued to make her home on the ranch until her death, following which, in 1944, it became a State Park. Located in Pacific Palisades California, it burned to the ground during the Los Angeles January 2025 wildfires. Home of the noted American humorist and motion picture actor, Will Rogers. Starting as a cowboy, he became a trick rider, rope artist, philanthropist, columnist, movie star, philosopher, writer, humorist, Ambassador of Good Will, humanitarian, and the best-loved human being of a generation. The Will

Whitehead Lighthouse and Station, Tenants Harbor Maine

Whitehead Lighthouse and Station, Tenants Harbor Maine

The Whitehead Light Station, which occupies Whitehead Island and marks the west entrance to Penobscot Bay, was established in 1804. It is the third oldest station in Maine, although its present components date from the mid to late nineteenth century. Whitehead Light occupies a strategic location along the shipping routes of the mid-coast. Sited on the west side of Penobscot Bay it guides shipping toward the approach to the important coastal communities of Rockland, Camden, Belfast, and Searsport. During the nineteenth century, these were busy commercial ports whose economic livelihood was for many decades virtually dependent on maritime transportation. The significance of this station is further demonstrated by its secondary sea-coast light classification and the fact that a steam-powered fog signal

Alexander Theatre, Glendale California

Alexander Theatre, Glendale California

The City of Glendale consists of approximately 30 square miles located about 6 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, wedged between the San Fernando Valley to the west and the San Gabriel Valley to the east. At the turn of the century, the business district was centered at Glendale Ave. and Third St. (now Wilson). The construction of an interurban railroad line connecting Glendale to Los Angeles was a catalyst for growth of a community of homes. A building boom in the 1920's is characterized by the first four-story business block at the corner of Brand Boulevard and Wilson Avenue By 1945 Glendale was almost entirely improved, with a commercial center at the

Wood Island Lighthouse, Biddeford Pool Maine

Wood Island Lighthouse, Biddeford Pool Maine

Wood Island Light Station was one of two lights established in 1808; the other being at West Quoddy Head in eastern Maine. Of the two, it is the only one that retains the original tower. Wood Island light was erected on a small shallow island at the mouth of the Saco River. This location was of particular significance due to the heavy maritime traffic in and around the commercial centers of Saco and Biddeford. Both of these communities had developed into important local trading centers during the eighteenth century, and their growth continued into the 1800s. Until the construction of Whaleback Light in 1829, the station at Wood Island was the southernmost of the principal aids to navigation in Maine. (West

Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged, Minneapolis Minnesota

Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged, Minneapolis Minnesota

The Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged is one of the few buildings designed by the Minneapolis architect Frederick G. Corser which is still extant and has not undergone substantial alteration. The Home is a good example of Corser's work because it is a well-proportioned building with simple detailing. The Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order dedicated to serving the poor, came to Minneapolis in 1889 to build and support a home for the aged. A three-and-one-half-story yellow brick building with attached chapel was designed by Corser in 1895 and constructed on Broadway Avenue between Second and Third Streets, Northeast. The design reflects Corser's concern with building a functional and safe home for the elderly. Nonflammable

Book Title Abandoned America: The Age of Consequences (Jonglez photo books)

Abandoned America: The Age of Consequences (Jonglez photo books)

Book Title Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Book Title The Atlas of Abandoned Places: A Journey Through The World's Forgotten Wonders

The Atlas of Abandoned Places: A Journey Through The World's Forgotten Wonders

Book Title Abandoned America: Then & Now: A Fun & Fascinating Look Revisiting America's Abandoned Places of the Past

Abandoned America: Then & Now: A Fun & Fascinating Look Revisiting America's Abandoned Places of the Past

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