Historic Structures

Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse, St. Marys Georgia

Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse, St. Marys Georgia

The Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse is located on the northern end of Little Cumberland Island which is separated by Christmas Creek from Cumberland Island (a/k/a Greater Cumberland Island). Today the lighthouse on Little Cumberland is the southernmost in Georgia. The Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse is one of five remaining in Georgia today. The others remain at Tybee Island, Cockspur Island, Sapelo Island, and St. Simons Island. They vary as to age, length of service, and size. All were built, as was this one, to protect a particular sea coast or harbor, guiding ships through bad weather and treacherous coasts. While there were also a few lighthouses on Georgia's coast which were totally deactivated and removed, such as the one that was

Cedar Grove Cemetery, Portsmouth Virginia

Cedar Grove Cemetery, Portsmouth Virginia

Until 1832 there were no public burial places in Portsmouth except for several churchyards. Many people had private plots in their gardens, but for sanitary reasons this type of burial was forbidden in 1832 by the Virginia General Assembly. The legislature authorized the town trustees to prohibit burials within the city limits. Cedar Grove was purchased in 1832, laid out, and sold in lots. When the cemetery was established, it was located outside the city limits. Cedar Grove Cemetery was annexed in 1894. Throughout the nineteenth century, death was an ever-present concern and reality. Cures for many diseases had not yet been discovered and the sight of a hearse was common. The cemetery was viewed as the resting place. The epitaphs

George W. Guthrie School, Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania

George W. Guthrie School, Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania

When the George W. Guthrie School first opened in September 1915, it was an innovation in the educational and architectural history of Wilkes-Barre, and a product of the prosperity the anthracite industry brought to the region. Being an extraordinarily elaborate building, it represented a major investment in education. It is located on a hill in the northern portion of the City, where it is a prominent landmark, clearly intended to be a highly visible monument to the community's commitment to public education. The building was intended to accommodate 1,225 pupils. Eighteen classrooms were expected to hold 900 students. The building's plan was not for creating classes of 50 students each, but for the planned inclusion of facilities for pupils with special

Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond Virginia

Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond Virginia

Originally named Mount Vernon Cemetery, Hollywood was first planned in 1847 when a group of Richmond business leaders formed a stock company to develop a rural decorated cemetery for their city. However, it was not until 1856 that the General Assembly approved the charter of the new company because so much friction had been engendered by adjoining property owners and others who feared adverse effects from the burying ground. By 1860 Hollywood Cemetery was secure in the Richmond scene and was fast becoming the principal and most fashionable burying spot of the city. The success of Hollywood is due, by a large measure, to its site and plan as laid out by John Notman of Philadelphia. Originally a design for the

Stegmaier Brewery, Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania

Stegmaier Brewery, Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania

The Stegmaier Brewery Complex has had a significant impact on industry in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The rapid growth of the brewery from its inception circa 1880 is readily seen in the rapid expansion of the buildings. After the brewery and storage house were built in 1894, the remaining structure additions were made over a five-year period from 1905 to 1910. In all, there appear to have been six definite additions. The brewery grew from a five-man operation in 1857 to a high in 1971 of 300 employees representing an annual payroll in excess of $1,300,000. Stegmaier Brewery was the largest brewery among the ones in Wyoming Valley and at one time, the firm was one of the largest independent breweries in the

The Briars House, Natchez Mississippi

The Briars House, Natchez Mississippi

Located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River southwest of Natchez is The Briars, the most fully developed and sophisticated example of the long, low undercut architectural form indigenous to the lower Mississippi Valley. This regional idiom is characterized by a range of nearly square rooms placed between broad front and rear verandas which are invariably set into the building's volume. Usually considered vernacular, this form reached its most elegant architectural expression at The Briars. The residence was the setting, in 1845, of the marriage of Jefferson Davis and Varina Howell. On October 30, 1818, John Perkins (1781-1866) gained title to that tract of land about 1 mile below the old Spanish Fort Panmure in the city of Natchez containing 99

Guilford Center Presbyterian Church, Guilford Center New York

Guilford Center Presbyterian Church, Guilford Center New York

The Guilford Center Presbyterian Church was founded within a decade of Guilford Center's settlement and early members included many New Englanders who had recently emigrated to central New York. The building is the product of three building periods: its heavy timber frame and stone foundation survive from the original 1817 construction; the majority of the exterior design and tower reflect an 1855 expansion, and its facade and interior plan are the product of a c1896 redesign. As it exists today, the exterior of the church embodies elements of the Greek Revival style ubiquitous in central New York in the mid-nineteenth century. Typical characteristics include the rectangular form, broad gable roof, wide frieze, raking cornice and three-stage tower. Its facade and interior,

Patrick Calhoun Family Cemetery, Abbeville South Carolina

Patrick Calhoun Family Cemetery, Abbeville South Carolina

This cemetery contains the graves of Patrick Calhoun and members of his family, who settled in the Long Canes area of Abbeville County in the 1750s. Patrick Calhoun, early settler of backcountry South Carolina soon achieved a reputation as an Indian fighter. He entered politics and served in South Carolina's early assemblies. Realizing that the Charleston-based state legislature often served only the interests of the low-country planters, Calhoun became a spokesman for the rights of the backcountry settlers. He was influential in securing the right to vote for this region as well as promoting its representation in the legislature. He was also the father of John C. Calhoun, U.S. Senator and Vice-President of the United States (1824-1832). John C. Calhoun spent

Hotel Breakers at Cedar Point Amusement Park, Sandusky Ohio

Hotel Breakers at Cedar Point Amusement Park, Sandusky Ohio

Hotel Breakers is a large late Victorian Chateau-like resort hotel built in 1905, during the golden age of the resort hotel in America. It was designed by Wilm Knox and John H. Elliott, a noted architectural team of Cleveland. The Breakers is one of the few remaining major resort hotels from the turn-of-the-century age of the resort hotel in America. It was also the site of events of historic interest, including the perfecting of the forward pass and the terminus of a record-setting flight over water. The resort hotel has always, in one form or another, been a very popular recreational form in America. Many were built near natural and scenic wonders; sometimes, like the Breakers, they were also linked to

Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe Ohio

Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe Ohio

Grandview Cemetery contains the graves of four important Ohio governors, a famous Civil War General, and pioneer founders of Ohio. Its monuments are of superior workmanship and detailing in the Gothic Revival, Greek Revival, Romanesque, and early twentieth century classical revival influences. Among those buried there are: General Nathaniel Massie (1763-1813), pioneer from Virginia, surveyor, and Revolutionary soldier, founder of Chillicothe; Thomas Worthington (1773-1827) pioneer from Virginia, U.S. Senator from Ohio 1802-1808, 6^th governor of Ohio, builder of Adena, the famous plantation and historic attraction in Chillicothe, close friend of Thomas Jefferson and Tecumseh, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, father of the Ohio Erie Canal; Dr. Edward Tiffin (1766-1829) pioneer from Virginia, first governor of Ohio, U.S. Senator, General of the

Forest City Brewery, Cleveland Ohio

Forest City Brewery, Cleveland Ohio

At the turn of the century Cleveland had two dozen breweries, but only two or three remain, of which Forest City Brewery is the best preserved. Because of the large population of German and other middle and eastern European immigrant groups in the late nineteenth century, there was a large demand for beer, considered before prohibition to be a commonplace and healthful beverage. Brewers in Cleveland were generally either German or Czech, The Forest City Brewing Company opened in 1904. The business was formed by members of the Czech community. It flourished until the passage of the prohibition amendment and continued for another ten years as a bottling works and a soft drink and ice manufacturer. The Forest City Brewing Company

Pebble Hill Plantation, Thomasville Georgia

Pebble Hill Plantation complex of main house, outbuildings, landscaping, and surrounding hunting land resembles an English manor complex. The Main House was designed and built in 1934-1935, along with several of the earlier outbuildings, by Abram Garfield (1872-1958) of Cleveland, Ohio, a nationally-known architect. The numerous outbuildings and outlying structures is one of the largest, if not the largest, collection of such outbuildings remaining in Georgia. Carved from a wilderness, besieged by war and poverty, and reconstructed with perseverance and vision, Pebble Hill Plantation has both influenced and reflected the history of Thomas County and southwestern Georgia. Established in the mid-1820s, the property's early development is similar to that of many other southern plantations. In the 1890s, however, northern interest and

James Madison School - East Scranton Junior High, Scranton Pennsylvania

The development of the public education system in the United States began in the late eighteenth century as state and Federal legislators acknowledged the need for a government-supported system of instruction for all citizens. Organized efforts to establish a public school system in the Scranton vicinity began in the 1770s, but did not begin to bear fruit until the early nineteenth century. By 1857, the recently established Borough of Scranton (1856) already had 17 one-room elementary schools distributed among the town's four districts; the Scranton High School, containing four classrooms in a two-story, stone masonry building located at Vine Street and North Washington Avenue in downtown Scranton, was constructed in that year and opened on January 1, 1858. The rapid growth

Madewood Plantation House, Napoleonville Louisiana

In the architectural history of the State, Madewood is significant, for several reasons. Primarily, it represents the highest development of the pure Greek revival order in a plantation home. Plantations before Madewood adopted classical motifs to more provincial plans, and several later homes reflected more elaborate Roman or Italianate influence. But in Madewood, Henry Howard was able to create a home of great dignity and purity, and yet of equal warmth. The forms are classical, but they are interpreted in indigenous materials, the doorways, for example, follow the Greek-key motif, but the wood tones soften the effect. Likewise, the delicate railings of the front gallery provide an airy contrast to the massive columns. The charm of the huge old Kitchen; the

Belle Alliance Plantation, Donaldsonville Louisiana

According to tradition, the plantation known as Belle Alliance came into existence when German immigrant Charles Kock combined three smaller Bayou Lafourche plantations into a seven thousand-acre holding sometime before 1846. According to tradition, a fire destroyed the original house in that year; the new house was erected on the location of the first house at that time. By 1860 the extremely prosperous Kock family owned 176 slaves. Although Kock died in that year, his heirs managed to retain ownership of Belle Alliance until 1915. It was Kock's son James who expanded the home in 1889, hiring Paul Andry (presumably of what would become the New Orleans firm of Andry & Bendernagel) as his architect. By 1926 C. Stewart Churchill managed

St. Louis Plantation, Plaquemine Louisiana

The plantation house resembles the New Orleans Garden District houses of about 1850 rather than having the Italianate or Monumental Greek Revival styles found in its neighboring contemporaries. It was built in 1857 by Edward Jo Gay who came to Iberville Parish from St. Louis, Missouri. He also laid out the gardens and grounds which surround the house. Mr. Gay's early background was as a merchant in St. Louis. There he was the first to engage in the direct importation of coffee by cargo into St. Louis. He was at the head of a firm whose trade extended from New Orleans to the sources of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. After moving to Louisiana in 1856, Mr. Gay became the largest

Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville Louisiana

The Myrtles Plantation is an outstanding example of the expanded raised cottage form that characterized many Louisiana plantation houses by the mid-19^th century. This can be seen in its size (with a 107-foot frontal gallery) and in its handsome detailing, both inside and out. The Myrtles is particularly notable for its unusually fine carved plaster cornices and ceiling medallions. The Myrtles was the home of General David Bradford, a wealthy judge and businessman from Washington County, Pennsylvania and a leader in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. The plantation which was later named the Myrtles was built in 1797. With the collapse of the Whiskey Rebellion, Bradford was forced to flee from the Federal Army. In 1796, he arrived by boat at

Greyfield Estate, Cumberland Island St. Marys Georgia

Greyfield is one of four major late 19th-century and early 20th-century estates established on Cumberland Island for the children of Thomas and Lucy Carnegie of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and used as seasonal family resorts. They date from the period of time when the Carnegie family owned most of Cumberland Island. The ruins of the parents' estate known as Dungeness still exists at the southern end of the island. Other surviving Carnegie children's estates on Cumberland Island include Stafford and Plum Orchard. The Greyfield estate is remarkably intact with its original main house, several historic outbuildings, and landscaping along with a tract of island land from the river on the west to the ocean on the east. The main house at Greyfield is

Hazelwood Plantation, Laurel Hill Louisiana

Although the exact date of construction of this house is not known, structural evidence and stylistic details indicate that it was probably built shortly after the property was acquired by Stephen Windham in 1832. When Windham purchased the property from Anthony Doherty (Daugherty), the plantation then contained 600 arpents that had been patented to Robert Munson by the Spanish Government of the Province of Louisiana, confirmed by the United States in 1813. The property appears on a survey of Township 1 South, Range 2 West, signed by James P. Turner, Principal Deputy Surveyor and Dated November 5, 1827, and then contained 948.54 acres, Section 27 claimed by Anthony Daugherty. A survey of the same township signed by R. W. Boyd, Surveyor

Hollywood Plantation, Thomasville Georgia

Mr. and Mrs. Henry K. Devereux built the stately brick house known as Hollywood in 1928, on the site of their home, which burned on January 20, 1928. The Devereux's purchased the old winter home in 1915, and had added wings and other improvements. The servants and people who saw the blaze from the Country Club across the street saved much of the interior furnishings and furniture. The wood frame house burned to the ground in about an hour. The Devereuxs announced their intentions to rebuild in March of that year. The newspaper reported that the architect would be Mr. John B. Thomas, formerly of New York, but now located in Thomasville. The builder was to be Mr. E. Q. Stacey

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