Latest Structures Page 119

Alhambra Theatre, Sacramento California

Alhambra Theatre, Sacramento California

The Alhambra opened its doors on September 24, 1927 with a gala program so typical of the era, called A Night in Spain in keeping with the Moorish-Spanish architecture of the structure. Featuring a concert on the grand organ, talkies (among the first to be presented on the West Coast), the Alhambra's own symphonic orchestra and such notable DeMille stars as Marie Prevost, Sally Rand, Vera Reynolds, etc. (Sally Rand returned to the Alhambra in 1972 to assist with a fund-raising drive to save the theater.) The program closed with a concert in the patio and gardens. The Alhambra incorporated many unique features such as the newest lighting system for its time, the first Vitaphone sound synchronization device permanently installed in

Lasalle, Koch and Company Department Store - Macys, Toledo Ohio

Lasalle, Koch and Company Department Store - Macys, Toledo Ohio

The City of Toledo grew rapidly after the Civil War. From 1870 to 1930 Toledo became an import commercial and manufacturing city, as well as the third largest rail center in the nation and a major shipping point for coal and iron. The Lasalle, Koch and Company Department Store was constructed in 1917 as an outgrowth of the prosperity, and is an unusually handsome commercial building of the period. Designed in the ideal of formal and classical beauty of the Second Renaissance Revival style, this building represents several early skyscraper construction methods. The most notable features are the great Roman arcade on the ground floor and the Corinthian colonnade on the seventh and eighth floors, as well as the use of

Spitzer Building, Toledo Ohio

Spitzer Building, Toledo Ohio

The Spitzer Building is a significant late nineteenth century tall commercial structure in Toledo. The distinctive design of the exterior, especially the projecting bay windows which suggest the Chicago school of commercial architecture, make it unusual in Toledo. The particularly fine terra cotta ornament is also distinctive. The building is also important in Toledo's commercial history, as it is still owned by the Spitzer family. The firm of Spitzer and Company was established in 1871 and has been identified with the financial interests of the city since that time. Originally the company bought and sold municipal and railroad bonds. In 1896, the company erected a ten-story office building designed by Thomas F. Huber, prominent local architect and partner in the architectural

Garver Brothers Department Store, Strasburg Ohio

Garver Brothers Department Store, Strasburg Ohio

The Garver Brothers Store is a major visual landmark in the small community of Strasburg. Its remarkable full three stories and 35 yard facade tower over the main commercial street of this quiet country trading place, and reflect the unusually visionary marketing concepts of its builders, G.A. and Rudy K. Garver. They were the sons of a small mercantile businessman, Philip A. Garver, who began in a small 1½ story log structure in 1866. After a fire destroyed an 1875 commercial block in 1902, the brothers planned and constructed what was touted as the World's Largest Country Stores. The range of products the new building housed was far wider than the usual general store and as shown in the 1908 Atlas

T. Lanning & Company Department Store, Dennison Ohio

T. Lanning & Company Department Store, Dennison Ohio

T. Lanning & Co. Department Store it served in the commercial development of the Village of Dennison throughout the first half of the 20^th Century as Dennison's premier retailer for a quarter of a century, Theodore Lanning & Company provided goods and services and drew customers from surrounding communities because of the Panhandle Line Pennsylvania Railroad & St. Louis railroad system. In the context of the business district, the Lanning Building represents a significant and largely intact commercial structure in Dennison. The building is one of the tallest in the central business district of Dennison. The building's size evokes an era of optimism and prosperity that began with turn-of-the-century service, and ended with the advent of shopping center efficiency and the

Quaker Oats Cereal Factory, Akron Ohio

Quaker Oats Cereal Factory, Akron Ohio

The Quaker Oats Company traces its history back to 1854 when Ferdinand Schumacher built his first hand-operated mill in Akron. He perfected two revolutionary milling processes, steel cut oats and rolled oats, and popularized the new breakfast product oatmeal. During the Civil War, Quaker Oats' popularity mushroomed because of its ease of preparation on the battlefield. Schumacher's company flourished, and in 1872, he built his greatly expanded German Mills complex on the present site of the brick factory buildings. Though destroyed by fire in 1886, these structures were quickly replaced by similar buildings on the same stone foundations. Through various mergers and acquisitions, Schumacher's company became the Quaker Oats Company and the Akron headquarters continued to grow through the 1940's. For

Oakachoy Covered Bridge, Nixburg Alabama

Oakachoy Covered Bridge, Nixburg Alabama

Before it was destroyed by fire, the Oakachoy Covered Bridge was the only remaining example of a modified Queen Post truss bridge in Alabama. The structure was also the only remaining covered bridge in Coosa County and one of the few remaining in the state. Although its deteriorated condition necessitated covering its exterior walls with cypress siding, the bridge retained its most significant features, its overall structure and form. Covered bridges once dotted the Alabama landscape. With the development of Ithiel Town's lattice design of the 1820s, and with the abundance of timber in the virgin forests, there was a covered bridge building boom in Alabama. These structures gradually replaced ferries over the major rivers and were the main method of

Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot, Harlan Kentucky

Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot, Harlan Kentucky

It was only after the Civil War that railroads began to open up the vast natural resources of Eastern Kentucky and end the isolation of this mountainous area. During the decade of the 1880s the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company began to move in this direction but it was not until after the turn of the twentieth century that their lines extended as far east as Harlan County, Kentucky. In 1891 the Cumberland Valley Division of the L & N was opened with the completion of a line from Corbin, Kentucky to Norton, Virginia. As early as 1887, two mineralogists, Andrew S. McCreath and E.V. D'Invilliers, both from Philadelphia, had recommended the construction of a line into Harlan County. Some twenty

Traymore Hotel, Atlantic City New Jersey

Traymore Hotel, Atlantic City New Jersey

The Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City was built in 1898 and experienced two additional phases of construction which was completed in 1915. It became a local landmark soon after, and was called one of the nation's most elegant resorts. The hotel closed its doors for the final time in 1971. After a lengthy court battle to preserve the hotel, it was demolished on May 26^th, 1972. The Traymore Hotel was the culmination of architect William Price's individual search for an appropriate style for the relatively new material of reinforced concrete. Where, in earlier buildings, such as the Jacob Reed's sons store in Philadelphia, or the Blenheim Hotel in Atlantic City, he had utilized revival styles (Byzantine in the first, Pan-American fair

Blacklick Covered Bridge, Pickerington Ohio

Blacklick Covered Bridge, Pickerington Ohio

The Blacklick Covered Bridge was built in 1888 by August Borneman who was proprietor of the Hocking Valley Bridge Works in lancaster, Ohio. Cost of the bridge was $2,020.75. According to one source, this old bridge rests on the abutments of an earlier covered bridge that was supposedly built in 1832. The Blacklick Bridge was built at the site of Allen's Mill in Violet Townhip. It is one of the few covered spans left in this township out of at least a dozen that once stood here. It is the largest covered span in Fairfield County at 133' and is wider than the usual covered bridges. It is very well-built and Mr. Borneman obviously intended that it should last for many

Elberon Railroad Station, Elberon New Jersey

Elberon Railroad Station, Elberon New Jersey

The Elberon Railroad Station was one of the finest and most opulent terminals on the Jersey Central Line. Because Elberon is a resort with a transient population, the railroad station has played an unusually large part in the life and growth of the town. The town of Elberon was built on land which was purchased from Benjamin Wooley by Lewis Brown. It gradually developed into an exclusive seashore resort. When President Garfield was shot in 1881, it was decided to bring him to Francklyn Cottage in Elberon, where he had called many times. It was felt that his recovery would be helped by the seaside atmosphere. Many of the townspeople worked for several days to lay a special track from the

Renner and Weber Brewery, Mansfield Ohio

Renner and Weber Brewery, Mansfield Ohio

The Renner and Weber Brewery was one of few remaining examples of 19^th century industrial architecture in Mansfield and is one of Ohio's dwindling number of brewery structures. At one time there were over 75 breweries in Ohio, by the 1970s there were only 10 and most of these are in modern structures. Mansfield was a brewing center of north central Ohio from 1850 to the early 1900's. The industry came to the city with early German settlers. Henry Weber arrived in Mansfield about 1860. He was from a family of brewers. Born in Schillingstadt, Germany he begain work in his father's brewery while still a boy. Young Henry came to the U.S. when only 24 and first settled in Pennsylvania

Middle Creek Hydroelectric Dam, Selinsgrove Pennsylvania

Middle Creek Hydroelectric Dam, Selinsgrove Pennsylvania

The Middle Creek Hydroelectric Dam is a significant example of a timber crib dam and small electric generating station, that is typical of early rural electrification in America. Locally it was a major component of a conscious plan to modernize and promote a rather depressed county in Pennsylvania. After a period of disuse, it was revived and remained an active hydroelectric site until 1991. After being abandoned by the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company in 1954, the dam and associated facilities eventually came into the possession of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission (PFC). In 1982 the PFC leased the dam to American Hydro Power Co. (AHP), subject to regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In 1992 FERC declared the timber

Valparaiso Inn, Valparaiso Florida

Valparaiso Inn, Valparaiso Florida

Once Lavish Hotel in Florida was Destroyed by Fire in 1980

The Valparaiso Inn played an integral part in the development of Okaloosa County, the city of Valparaiso, and in the establishment of Eglin Air Force Base, the country's largest air force base. It is also representative of the architectural style (Mediterranean Revival) most prevalent during the Florida land boom of the 1920's. The Inn is the only survivor from the original town of Valparaiso dating from this period. It served as the social center for early investors and developers, as well as a center for local social activities until the 1950's. Frank Perrine, a Chicago promoter, bought 16,000 acres of land along Boggy Bayou in 1919 and attempted to develop the city of Valparaiso. When Perrine died in 1921, his Valparaiso

Grand Imperial Hotel, Silverton Colorado

Grand Imperial Hotel, Silverton Colorado

The Imperial Hotel sits at the northwest corner of Green and 12^th Streets. One of the oldest of the major structures in the town, the Imperial Hotel was constructed about 1882. It is a three-story building with mansard roof. Dormers are situated around the third floor of the building. This impressive hotel, the largest of the three in Silverton, was billed the finest hotel on the western slope except the La Veta, at Gunnison by the builders, the Thompson Brothers. Presently on the first level of the building are a restaurant located in the hotel as well as various shops that occupy rented space. There is a glass facade (storefront in character) which runs the length of the southeast elevation. Silverton,

Douglass High School, Memphis Tennessee

Douglass High School, Memphis Tennessee

Throughout its history, Douglass High School was one of few high schools in Memphis for African-American students. The irony of the separate but equal law set out by Plessy v. Ferguson was that schools such as Douglass High School in Memphis and other areas in the south rarely received adequate funding for maintenance of the facility of educational materials. Nevertheless, the community members of Douglass provided the students with support by maintaining the facility, purchasing educational materials, and offering intellectual and moral encouragement. Douglass High School is significant to the Memphis/Shelby County area as the last African-American school built prior to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education integration edict. Douglass High School remained an African-American school after other schools in

Studio Theater, Sacramento California

Studio Theater, Sacramento California

Completed by 1946, the Studio Theater was a post World War II addition to the amusement facilities of Sacramento's thriving business district. The theater was constructed on the 1200 block of K Street, on property that was in residential use at least through 1915. The whole city block had seen a drastic change from distinctly residential in the late-1800s to entirely commercial by the mid-1900s. The Studio Theater was a separate facility to the east side of the Esquire Theater (built in 1940) and to the west side of a multi-store commercial structure that extended to the comer of K Street and 13^th Street. A brick portion of the Studio Theater's east wall suggests that the theater may have shared a

Dania Hall, Minneapolis Minnesota

Dania Hall, Minneapolis Minnesota

On 10 November 1875 the Danish-American community of Minneapolis formed the Society Dania as a benevolent association and library to help immigrant young Danes to adjust to life in the United States. This society continued on to serve an important role in Minneapolis Scandinavian history for the next fifty years. Eleven years after its founding, members commissioned the architect, C.F. Struck, to design their first edifice. was dedicated with much pomp and folk pagentry on 10 November 1886. It soon became not only a gathering place for Danish-Americans, but also a center for vaudeville entertainment which featured Scandinavian Americans talent. It was also the site of an annual Thanksgiving Turkey raffle, the Society Dania Festival, and a gala Christmas celebration. Also

Pierce Arrow Factory Complex, Buffalo New York

Pierce Arrow Factory Complex, Buffalo New York

George N. Pierce and Company had made its first automobile in 1901. In 1907 the grand new factory, consisting of an Administration building and separate one-story manufacturing, assembling, and body buildings began production of Pierce Arrow cars. Additions which more than doubled the size of the plant were made after 1916. Unfortunately for lovers of fine machinery, the Pierce Arrow Company went into bankruptcy in 1938. Both equipment and property were sold. Subsequent owners of the plant have blocked off windows and made other alterations in adapting the building to other uses, and some of the great spaces have been cut up by partitions. Yet to the discerning eye, this is still recognizable as one of the most important industrial plants

Newton Falls Covered Bridge, Newton Falls Ohio

Newton Falls Covered Bridge, Newton Falls Ohio

The citizens of Newton Falls and Trumbull County are justly proud of this fine old landmark which was built in 1831, making it the second oldest covered bridge in Ohio. The Newton Falls Bridge is an outstanding example of the Town truss, one of the earliest American bridge trusses. There are only 11 Town lattice truss bridges left in Ohio. This 191 year old structure still carries heavy traffic which is a further testimonial to the strength and durability of the Town truss. The Newton Falls Bridge is unusual in that it is one of the few village bridges remaining in Ohio and our only covered bridge with a sidewalk. This fine old bridge is also the last covered bridge in

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

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

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

Book Title Abandoned Train Stations (Abandoned Places)

Abandoned Train Stations (Abandoned Places)

Book Title Abandoned Malls of America: Crumbling Commerce Left Behind

Abandoned Malls of America: Crumbling Commerce Left Behind

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