Latest Structures Page 121

Hotel Lenox, Portland Oregon

Hotel Lenox, Portland Oregon

The building was originally designed as an office building and received a building permit in 1906 for that purpose. During construction a decision was made to use the building as a hotel. A few minor changes were made such as changing the number of water closets from 8 to 43 and the number, of bath tubs from 6 to 24 before the building opened as a hotel. The Hotel was commissioned by Emil C. Jorgensen, who owned the property on the corner of S.W. Third and Main. Jorgensen was born in Denmark in 1851 and immigrated to the United States in 1870. He moved to Portland soon thereafter and worked as a salesman in the liquor business. He later owned a

Coffeeville Hotel, Coffeeville Mississippi

Coffeeville Hotel, Coffeeville Mississippi

From 1906 until World War II, the Coffeeville Hotel played an important role in the business life of the town of Coffeeville. For over seventy-five years it has been a local landmark due to its prominent location and distinctive architectural design. From the turn of the century until World War II, Coffeeville was the turn around point for the engineers and crews of the Illinois Central Railroad. In addition, the town was the county seat of Yalobusha County and as such was a center of legal and commercial activity in this agricultural region. The Coffeeville Hotel, therefore, provided room and board for railroad men, passengers, salesmen, and visiting professionals. Its rooms were used by the local undertaker for the display of

Finch Hotel - Franklin Hotel, Spartanburg South Carolina

Finch Hotel - Franklin Hotel, Spartanburg South Carolina

In 1916, W.T. Finch purchased a tract of land on East Main Street in order to enlarge the Hotel he operated on an adjacent tract. The original Finch Hotel was located at 123 South Liberty Street and began operation in 1910. Finch mortgaged himself heavily to Frank Hodges, a local businessman and continued to try to finish the Hotel project. The unfinished Hotel was sold at Public Auction to Frank Hodges for $201,000.00 Hodges later named the building The Franklin Hotel and operated the Hotel for over forty years. The Hotel was sold to the R.M. Caine Company of Greenville, SC, in the 1970's and became a boarding house with eighty of its two hundred rooms occupied in 1983. In August

Montgomery Ward & Company Northwestern Catalog House, Saint Paul Minnesota

Montgomery Ward & Company Northwestern Catalog House, Saint Paul Minnesota

When completed in the early weeks of 1921, the Montgomery Ward facility consisted of two reinforced concrete sections: the Administration Building, which overlooks University Avenue to the north, and the Operations Building, situated about 80' to the south. The three-story Administration Building presented a dignified and inviting facade to the busy street. Paved walks provided access to the three entrances, and wide steps led to each doorway. Columns and pilasters gave the building a mildly neo-classical look. Although simpler in design, the Operations Building echoes the original classical detailing of the Administration Building. Its articulated skeletal structure continued the vertical emphasis established by columns and pilasters in the first building. The Operations Building is nine stories high with two parallel wings

Wake Island Airfield, Terminal Building, Wake Island

Wake Island Airfield, Terminal Building, Wake Island

The Wake Island airfield played an important and central role in transpacific commercial airline and developments after World War II (WWII). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operations of airport facilities at Midway, Wake, and Guam became part of the federal airways; links in the air routes over the Pacific; and part of Pan American World Airways' (Pan Am) Pacific airline operations. Wake Island airfield served as a key refueling station for transpacific flights until the early 1970s when technological advances in aircraft design resulted in higher-efficiency jet aircraft with longer-range capabilities and lessened the need for refueling stops. The last scheduled Pan Am passenger flight landed at Wake Island in June 1972. In July 1972, the FAA turned over administration of

Puget Sound Power & Light Company, White River Hydroelectric Project, Dieringer Washington

Puget Sound Power & Light Company, White River Hydroelectric Project, Dieringer Washington

Prior to the arrival of whites, Native Americans inhabited the White River Valley. Although little is known of the region's long history of native-American life, archeological evidence points to a number of settlements, as well as to hunting and gathering activities in the surrounding forests, streams, and prairie lands. Much more information exists on the first white settlers, who established themselves in the vicinity of the White River as early as 1853. Few in number, these settlers filed land claims which ranged in size from 160 acres to 320 acres. Most of these early claims encompassed the valley's fertile prairie land where white settlers, such as Michael Connell and James E. Williamson, built cabins and engaged in subsistence farming. Soon after

Loew's Victoria Theater, New York City New York

Loew's Victoria Theater, New York City New York

The 1910s and 1920s were the heyday of theater construction in New York City as legitimate theaters proliferated and clustered about the Times Square area and movie houses and vaudeville facilities were built in many sections of New York City. While Times Square was the heart of the theater district, with both playhouses and movie theaters, Harlem, which by 1920 contained two thirds of the city's black population, was another important theater enclave. Today the majority of New York City's theaters survive in the Times Square area; the survival of the Loew's Victoria is much rarer. The Loew's Victoria located in Harlem opened October, 1917 as a film house, as one of the largest and most beautiful theaters in greater N.Y....devoted

Prattville Manufacturing Company - Cotton Mill, Prattville Alabama

Prattville Manufacturing Company - Cotton Mill, Prattville Alabama

Prattville, founded as an industrial village by Daniel Pratt in the 1830s, rests on Autauga Creek, a tributary of the Alabama River, about twelve miles northwest of Montgomery. Pratt's industrial establishments dominated the landscape and included, most notably, his cotton mill and his gin manufactory. Pratt's gin company, a sash, door, and blind factory, and a grist mill originally operated on the 17-foot fall. In 1846, Pratt opened his cotton factory on the east side of Autauga Creek, utilizing the same fall. In 1859 the original mill was razed and a three-story brick mill and a two-story brick picker house were erected in its place. In 1870 Prattville Manufacturing Company is purchased by Daniel Pratt, Lewis M. Whetstone, Mills Rogers and

Electron Hydroelectric Project, Electron Washington

Electron Hydroelectric Project, Electron Washington

The first stage of hydroelectric development in the Northwest occurred during the 1880s and 1890s, when a multitude of small steam electric plants were constructed Owned and operated by small private companies, these plants were normally inefficient and costly, serving only a small circle of customers. During the first decade of the twentieth century in western Washington, population growth and a corresponding increase in the demand for electrical power led to a second stage of development. This was characterized by the consolidation of the many small electric companies and the establishment of electric service on a regional basis. The second stage of development saw a shift from the construction of small urban steam plants to relatively large hydroelectric projects located away

Cedar Falls Hydroelectric Works, Cedar Falls Road, Cedar Falls Washington

Cedar Falls Hydroelectric Works, Cedar Falls Road, Cedar Falls Washington

The first electrical lighting in Seattle was provided in 1886 by a private utility. The Seattle Electric Light Company was the first to organise and the first utility west of the Mississippi River to use Edison's three-wire direct current system. Within 10 years, nearly 30 small cottage industry lighting plants had been established in the city. But with the perfection of alternating current in the early 1890s, long-distance transmission became possible and the way was opened for large central general plants that could serve wide areas. This development at once made the electric industry very capital-intensive, and large holding companies soon entered the field and absorbed the small independent producers. The Stone and Webster holding company of Boston began a campaign

Fox Theater - Music Hall Theatre, Seattle Washington

Fox Theater - Music Hall Theatre, Seattle Washington

Documentation on the construction history of the Music Hall Theatre remains somewhat sketchy. It is clear from recorded transactions, that the Real Estate Improvement Company, headed by W. D. Comer, engaged in assembling property for the future theatre project from as early as May, 1926. By December of that year, when the concept of the Mayflower Theatre was first made public in The Seattle Times and in the Washington State Architect, architect Sherwood Ford's name was already linked to the project. Comer and Ford had collaborated at a slightly earlier date on the development and design of another project, the Marcus Whitman Hotel in Walla Walla, completed in 1928. Construction on the Mayflower Theatre moved quickly at first. According to reports

Enloe Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant, Oroville Washington

Enloe Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant, Oroville Washington

The earliest known power production on the Similkameen River was within the Similkameen Valley proper. An elderly German settler named Kruger placed a small waterwheel on a shaft and lowered it into the Similkameen River. The exact location of the waterwheel and powerhouse have been lost to time. This first powerhouse with its small generator furnished electricity for the mining town of Golden six miles to the south. J.M. Hagerty organized the Similkameen Power Company in 1902. Hagerty was a man of many talents and was heavily involved in mining in the Loomis and Nighthawk territory of Okanogan County. It was Hagerty's other talents that he may be best remembered, for he was not so much a mining man as he

Enumclaw High School, Enumclaw Washington

Enumclaw High School, Enumclaw Washington

Like many schools in other small towns, the Enumclaw High School has served the entire community in a variety of roles. For many decades after its erection in 1921, the Enumclaw High School remained its community's center for cultural, social, educational, and sports activities. Additions to the building during the depression also helped to relieve local unemployment. The design of the building is typical of large schools built during this period with its restrained ornamentation, central halls, and banks of windows. Designed by the notable architect, Harlan Thomas, the school remained one of the most prominent structures in town until its demolition. The Enumclaw High School stands on land that was purchased from the Catholic Diocese for $5,000 in 1920. The

Sears Roebuck Department Store, Spokane Washington

Sears Roebuck Department Store, Spokane Washington

Richard W. Sears began the company which bears his name in 1886. As a young railroad agent in Redwood, Minnesota, Sears came across a shipment of watches a jeweler refused to accept. Knowing the demand for watches among railroad workers, Sears contacted the watch company and obtained the watches at a considerable discount. He then proceeded to write his fellow workers describing the watches and offering them at an exceptional price. Sears soon sold out of his stock and made a good profit. He then quit as a railroad agent and started selling watches by catalog. By 1887 Sears' growing business required that he hire a watch repairman. He hired Alvah Curtis Roebuck who later became a partner in the firm.

Potomac Hydroelectric Power Plant, On West Virginia Shore of Potomac River, Harpers Ferry West Virginia

Potomac Hydroelectric Power Plant, On West Virginia Shore of Potomac River, Harpers Ferry West Virginia

The Potomac Power Plant was an innovative small hydroelectric facility that operated from 1899 to 1991, originally as part of a wood pulp mill (built 1888), and solely as a powerhouse after a fire in 1925. Significant extant equipment/machinery in the plant includes a c.1905 Dayton Globe water turbine, and a 1925 Woodward water turbine governor. The building occupies the site (and possibly the partial foundations) of Harpers Ferry National Armory buildings dating to 1834 and 1853, and contains reused structural materials from various Armory buildings as well as from an 1848 Harpers Ferry cotton mill (later a flour mill). The Potomac Power Plant in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia is a small industrial building that was once a hydroelectric facility, and

George Eckhart House, Wheeling West Virginia

George Eckhart House, Wheeling West Virginia

The G.W. Eckhart House at 810 Main Street was built in 1891, the same year that another prominent banker and neighbor, Henry K. List, built two homes, one each for his son and daughter at 821 and 823 Main Street. That year the construction of the G.W. Eckhart House was part of a magnificent record of building operations in the present seasons in Wheeling during which over a million dollars was spent. Wheeling's commercial and residential building operations were considered to be unprecedented in scope, demonstrating that progress is the watchword of the community. Wheeling's building boom in the early 1890s was not an isolated phenomenon. It was part of a process of modernization and urbanization occurring in many cities throughout

Bunker Hill Grist Mill - Cline and Chapman Roller Mill, Bunker Hill West Virginia

Bunker Hill Grist Mill - Cline and Chapman Roller Mill, Bunker Hill West Virginia

As many as 13 grist and saw mills once operated along Mill Creek near Bunker Hill, West Virginia. At the site of the Bunker Hill Mill, water power was used to grind flour from 1735 until 1964 making it one of the oldest mills along the creek. At present, the Bunker Hill Mill is the sole surviving Mill Creek mill. The original mill was built by Thomas Anderson who had migrated from New York in 1735 after acquiring 542 acres of land along Mill Creek. Three years later Anderson sold the mill and 271 acres of adjacent land to his son Colbert. The mill property remained in the Anderson family until 1804 when Colbert Anderson Jr. exchanged the mill and 32

Kaymoor Coal Mine, South side of New River, Fayetteville West Virginia

Kaymoor Coal Mine, South side of New River, Fayetteville West Virginia

Two converging series of events led to the opening of Kay Moor Mine. The first was the completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad through the New River Gorge. The second was the modernization movement taking place 125 miles east, in the iron ore region around Allegheny County, Virginia. Following a national trend, blast furnace operators there began replacing their old charcoal furnaces with modern, coke fired, furnaces at about the same time that the C&O railroad opened the New River coal field. The furnace operators needed coke and the C&O, which ran right through the middle of Allegheny County, could now deliver some of the best coking coal in the United States, from New River's Sewell seam, quickly and cheaply.

Thomas Shepherd's Grist Mill, Shepherdstown West Virginia

Thomas Shepherd's Grist Mill, Shepherdstown West Virginia

The original mill on this site was erected by Thomas Shepherd sometime between 1734 and 1739 and was probably the first of its kind in the Valley of Virginia. A native of western Maryland, Shepherd settled in the area in 1732, when it was still a wilderness. In 1734 he received a grant of 222 acres of land from Virginia's Governor William Gooch. From that time until his death in 1776, Shepherd's career was intimately linked to the development of Jefferson County and to the patterns of settlement of the Shenandoah Valley as a whole. The date of the first settlement at what is now Shepherdstown has never been adequately established, but the records of the Philadelphia Presbyterian Synod reveal a

Hartford & New Haven Railroad Passenger Depot, Windsor Connecticut

Hartford & New Haven Railroad Passenger Depot, Windsor Connecticut

The Hartford and Springfield Railroad began service through Windsor in December 1844. At that time, a depot was built on the site. In May 1847, the Hartford and Springfield Railroad merged with the Hartford and New Haven Railroad, retaining the latter name. The original depot was replaced with the current passenger building in 1871. In 1872, the Hartford and New Haven Railroad merged with the New York and New Haven Railroad, forming the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. This merger created the largest and most powerful railroad in New England. The railroad station in Windsor Center was a major factor in the extensive residential and commercial development which took place during this period. The railroad claimed that it was

Book Title Abandoned Train Stations (Abandoned Places)

Abandoned Train Stations (Abandoned Places)

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

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

Book Title Abandoned Palaces (Abandoned Places)

Abandoned Palaces (Abandoned Places)

Book Title Abandoned Industrial Places: Factories, laboratories, mills and mines that the world left behind (Abandoned Places)

Abandoned Industrial Places: Factories, laboratories, mills and mines that the world left behind (Abandoned Places)

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.