Historic Structures - Urban Exploration of Historic Properties

Missouri-Pacific Railroad Depot, Atkins Arkansas

Missouri-Pacific Railroad Depot, Atkins Arkansas

The city of Atkins was incorporated in 1876 as a direct result of the arrival of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad, later taken over by the Missouri-Pacific. As was frequently the case after the railroad arrived in the vicinity of previously established river towns but did not actually pass through the town itself, the local commercial and transportation hub shifted from Galla Rock (located approximately five miles to the south) to Atkins, and subsequently signaled the demise of Galla Rock as a steamboat landing and trading center. Atkins served as the new local transportation hub from the date of its incorporation until the dramatic expansion and improvement of the state highway system that took place after World War II,

Missouri-Pacific Depot, Ozark Arkansas

Missouri-Pacific Depot, Ozark Arkansas

Due solely to the division of the county by the Arkansas River and the difficulty of crossing it during rainy spells, Ozark has been one of two county seats in Franklin County since 1838 (the other being Charleston, located eighteen miles to the southwest). Ozark operated primarily as a principal river port for a region the major export of which was coal up until the arrival of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad in 1879. This line later became part of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, and was absorbed into the Missouri-Pacific Railroad system by 1910, when this depot was constructed. The Missouri-Pacific Depot in Ozark is a single-story stone masonry passenger and freight depot constructed in

Laurel Street Fire Station, Baton Rouge Louisiana

Laurel Street Fire Station, Baton Rouge Louisiana

The oldest fire company in Baton Rouge was established in 1825. Eventually, six volunteer companies were established, and there was great rivalry between them. Membership in any of the companies was considered prestigious and Unless you or one of your family was a fire fighter, you just weren't in it. Annually, on George Washington's birthday, there was a fireman's parade complete with floats and a Grand Ball. In 1914, the fire companies were transferred to the public domain. By 1918, there were four paid employees. With the passage of a bond issue for $175,000 in 1922, the streets were paved and four new fire stations were built. By 1925, the number of Fire Department employees had grown to 40. The 4

Missouri-Pacific Depot, Altus Arkansas

Missouri-Pacific Depot, Altus Arkansas

The community of Altus was established after the Little Rock-Fort Smith Railroad laid its tracks through the hills north of the Arkansas River in the 1870s. The railroad successfully attracted European immigrants, particularly from Germany and Switzerland, to settle in the area and work for the railroad, largely due to the similarities in climate and terrain to their homelands. Altus quickly developed a thriving winemaking industry, with families like the Posts and Wiedekehrs achieving significant success in bottling and marketing their wines widely. Today, Altus continues to be the winemaking capital of the state, with three active wineries still in operation. The Missouri-Pacific Depot in Altus is a single-story passenger and freight railroad depot constructed circa 1920 in the Plain Traditional

Missouri-Pacific Depot, Bald Knob Arkansas

Missouri-Pacific Depot, Bald Knob Arkansas

The town of Bald Knob began when the Cairo and Fulton Railroad built its line from Little Rock to St. Louis in the 1870s. Layered sandstone rock was quarried to provide ballasting rock for under and around the new railroad tracks, and the town's first residents were quarry workers and their families. As the railroad continued to thrive, so did the town, with as many as 50 trains passing through during a 24-hour period in the late 1880s. The early twentieth century saw Bald Knob develop into a major timber and strawberry shipping station. Although the advent of the automobile had replaced rail transportation by the 1930s and 1940s, Bald Knob still refers to itself as the Strawberry Center of the

Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot, Sylamore Arkansas

Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot, Sylamore Arkansas

Permanent settlement in Izard County began in 1815 with the arrival of Jehoida Jeffery from southern Illinois. He settled with his family in an area known as Pine Bayou, approximately five miles up the White River from Sylamore, and his farmstead was the first permanent settlement between Batesville and the Missouri state line. As more people settled in the area, the settlement changed its name from Pine Bayou to Mount Olive, the name that it retains today. Izard County was formed on October 27^th, 1825, as the result of a bill introduced to the Territorial Legislature by Jeffery, who served as a representative from 1824-1829. Land was added to the county in 1827 and again in 1828, but some of the

International Trade Mart, New Orleans Louisiana

International Trade Mart, New Orleans Louisiana

The International Trade Mart (ITM) was conceived and built to stimulate and promote international trade through the port of New Orleans. The building illuminates and reinforces the selection in 1718 of the site for New Orleans for its potential as a trading post and maritime port. Over the following centuries, international trade built New Orleans. The ITM building provided a headquarters for commercial and trade organizations, foreign consulates, maritime law firms, shipping companies, and diplomatic and trade-related meetings and functions. Begun in 1964 and completed in 1967, the ITM played a major role in the growth and commercial activity of the port. Its purpose and significance is underlined by its prestigious site in the heart of New Orleans at the center

Missouri and North Arkansas Depot, Leslie Arkansas

Missouri and North Arkansas Depot, Leslie Arkansas

The town of Leslie, nestled among the Ozark Mountains and on a tributary of the Middle Fork of the Little Red River, had been an isolated and remote Ozark Mountain community until the arrival of the fledgling Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad in 1903. The potential of Leslie as a regional lumbering and milling center, taking advantage of both the abundant stands of surrounding hardwood and the water power provided by the stream, no doubt encouraged the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad decided to extend its line to Leslie from its southern terminus in Harrison, thereby also connecting the growing resort community of Eureka Springs with Leslie's enormous potential for producing building materials. The arrival of the railroad produced exactly the

Homestead Plantation, Port Allen Louisiana

Homestead Plantation, Port Allen Louisiana

The property where Homestead sits was acquired by John Hill in 1866 from the widow of Senator Andrew Barrow at a sheriff's sale, and is likely where the first sugar cane in Louisiana after the Civil War was planted. The office building dates from the plantation time period. The current home was constructed by John Hill's son George in 1915 on the site of an earlier raised cottage residence. While John Hill passed away five years before the home was built, he spent his life on the site and died in his office which still stands at Homestead. George Hill took over the running of the plantation after his father's death and did so until retiring in 1921. He resided at

Missouri and North Arkansas Depot, Bellefonte Arkansas

Missouri and North Arkansas Depot, Bellefonte Arkansas

Bellefonte was settled before the Civil War, and thrived as a cattle trading center and campground for drovers on the trail between Springfield, Missouri and northern Arkansas. The local economy slumped when Harrison, located approximately five miles to the northwest, became the county seat in 1873. The town revived somewhat with the arrival of the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad line in 1901, which connected it with both Harrison and Eureka Springs, the popular Ozark Mountain resort community. The Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad Depot was constructed at this time, primarily to handle passenger traffic and ticket sales. The Missouri and North Arkansas Depot in Bellefonte is a single-story passenger depot constructed in 1901. This Plain Traditional-styled depot features an asphalt-shingled

Arkansas Midland Depot, Clarendon Arkansas

Arkansas Midland Depot, Clarendon Arkansas

This is the last of the two railroad depots built in Clarendon shortly after 1910. The depot at 205 Midland was constructed circa 1912 for the Arkansas Midland Railroad. The Midland was originally incorporated as the Arkansas Central Railroad on January 20^th, 1871 to link Helena with Little Rock. The tracks from Helena to Clarendon were completed in 1872. Because of the panic in 1873, construction stopped. In 1874, the company defaulted. It was sold in 1877, and reorganized as the Arkansas Midland. In 1901, the Midland was purchased by Jay Gould and operated as a subsidiary of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and Southern Railroad. During this period, the depot was constructed around 1912, it was in a convenient location

Holiday Inn Highrise East, New Orleans Louisiana

Holiday Inn Highrise East, New Orleans Louisiana

Holiday Inn construction in the mid-20^th Century was directly related to the way cities were mapped out historically as they responded to suburban growth. As cities grew during the mid-20^th Century, interstates and other major thoroughfares were being constructed, which led to the growth of suburban areas, such as New Orleans East. Interstate 10 offered a direct route through New Orleans East and thus, new business began to be built along it, including hotels, which could provide more options for travelers and visitors to New Orleans outside of the main central business district and French Quarter. In New Orleans, the construction of this particular Holiday Inn not only served the traveler passing through, but the new community of New Orleans East

Arkansas Texarkana and Fort Smith Railway Depot, Wilton Arkansas

Arkansas Texarkana and Fort Smith Railway Depot, Wilton Arkansas

Wilton merchant, Sergent Smith Prentiss Mills was born in Mississippi in December of 1844. Named for the famous Mississippi orator Sergent Smith Prentiss, Mills came to Arkansas with his parents approximately 1849. The family settled in, what was at that time, Sevier County. Gradually Mills' father built a significant plantation near the Little River. Mills joined the Confederate Army in the fall of 1862 and served at the battles of Pea Ridge, Iuka, and Corinth. Mills left the army on parole, returned home, and spent some time in Mexico with his father during the Civil War. He rejoined an Arkansas Cavalry regiment and closed the war participating in raiding parties in Missouri. Upon returning from Civil War service Mills took up

The Governor House Motor Hotel, New Orleans Louisiana

The Governor House Motor Hotel, New Orleans Louisiana

The Governor House Motor Hotel was the first motel or motor hotel built in New Orleans's central business district and marked the end of the dominance of old-line hotels. The automobile-oriented travel of mid-century America represented an acceleration and popularization of leisure and business travel which fueled New Orleans's tourism industry which became the city's dominant industry. In the early 1960s, William P. Bosworth, Jr. (1925-2009), a New Orleans builder whose previous experience was primarily in building single-family homes, saw an unprecedented opportunity in the changed landscape of the city's lodging industry. He had been very successful with his first venture into a commercial building, a motel on Tulane Avenue in 1957. With the grip of the old line hotels on

Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad Depot, Ashdown Arkansas

Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad Depot, Ashdown Arkansas

The Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad Depot was constructed in 1908 upon the completion of the rail line to Ashdown from Nashville, Arkansas. The Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad was incorporated in 1905 as but one of many such small, ambitious rail lines that sought to access the rich timberland of southwest Arkansas in response to the national and international demand for finished lumber, particularly for home building. As the name indicates, the original goal of this enterprise was to connect these woodlands with Memphis, Tennessee to the east, Paris, Texas to the southwest, and various points beyond in both directions. The fledgling Memphis, Paris and Gulf Railroad sputtered through a year of grand plans, good intentions, and precious little else

Missouri Pacific Depot, Marianna Arkansas

Missouri Pacific Depot, Marianna Arkansas

Marianna, the county seat of Lee County (the eastern edge of which abuts the western bank of Mississippi River), is centrally located therein and has historically been surrounded by some of the richest agricultural land in Arkansas's Delta region. Unlike many other county seats throughout the state that owes virtually their entire existence as a discernible community to the arrival of the railroad, Marianna was a fairly active and prosperous town before the first railroad's arrival in 1879 (the narrow-gauge Iron Mountain and Helena Railroad, running the twenty-seven miles between Marianna and Helena). Though the original townsite of Marianna was located on the western bank of the L'Anguille River approximately three miles north of the current site, the town was relocated

Richard and Deborah Glaister House, Lansing Michigan

Richard and Deborah Glaister House, Lansing Michigan

The Glaister House was the home of master stone mason Richard Glaister, who, employed by N. Osburn & Co., contractor for the Michigan State Capitol built in 1872-78, served as the company's head of stonecutting for the capitol's construction. The house is one of the few remaining Italianate houses in Lansing. The city's growth and development since the later nineteenth century have resulted in the loss of much of the city's nineteenth-century housing stock. In 1847, after long and hard deliberations in the state legislature, what is now Lansing was selected as the future site of the seat of Michigan state government. The area, centrally located within the southern Lower Peninsula but previously wilderness except for a small settlement around mills

Kansas City & Southern Depot, Decatur Arkansas

Kansas City & Southern Depot, Decatur Arkansas

The Kansas City-Southern Railroad was the realization of the dream of Arthur E. Stilwell, a native of Rochester, New York. Stilwell envisioned a railroad that would be straight as the crow flies to connect Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico. Farmers, ranchers, lumber, and coal men were being exploited by the rates charged to ship goods by way of the east, ignoring the ports to the south, in order to get them to waters for European markets. With his railroad Stilwell could ship faster, cheaper and preserve the perishables that were often spoiled along the normal shipping channels. At the age of thirty Stilwell organized the Kansas City Suburban Belt Railroad and in 1889 started the Kansas City, Pittsburgh &

Gem Theater, New Orleans Louisiana

Gem Theater, New Orleans Louisiana

The Gem Theater is a good example of a first-class theater built specifically for African Americans in their respective neighborhood. Theaters such as the Gem were symbolic during a time of segregation and allowed for the African American residents to have their own theater where they were not specifically relegated to one section due to segregation. Segregation was in place throughout the country in the 1940s and 1950s and as with other public establishments, theaters had separate entries for whites and African Americans. They also had separate ticket booths as well. These entry routes bypassed the main lobbies and usually included a steep, narrow stair that led to an upper balcony where they sometimes had more uncomfortable seats and fewer amenities

Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad Depot, Mammoth Spring Arkansas

Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad Depot, Mammoth Spring Arkansas

Mammoth Spring, Arkansas was named for the underground spring that surfaces at this location, forming the sole source for the Spring River (measuring 180 feet in diameter, the spring discharges a constant volume of 45,000 cubic feet per minute, regardless of season; it is considered to be the largest such spring in the United States). The earliest settlement in the area was located across the state line in Missouri, but the entire community largely relocated after the railroad came through in 1883. With the arrival of the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad (a relatively small railroad that just dipped into Arkansas from Missouri to the north, and which later became part of the St. Louis and San Francisco, now

Book Title Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Book Title Abandoned: Hauntingly Beautiful Deserted Theme Parks

Abandoned: Hauntingly Beautiful Deserted Theme Parks

Book Title Abandoned America: Dismantling The Dream

Abandoned America: Dismantling The Dream

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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