Latest Structures Page 137

B&O Railroad Repair Shops, Martinsburg West Virginia

B&O Railroad Repair Shops, Martinsburg West Virginia

Since the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company felt that the facilities at Sandy Hook, Maryland, were inadequate, in 1849, $35,000 was spent for construction of various structures at Martinsburg to replace Sandy Hook. Besides the central engine station, a brick engine house with a turntable in front and 11 stalls for locomotives, a brick engine shop with a smithy and stationary engine shed attached, and two coal sheds with depositories for wood, were built at this time. In 1852, large expenditures were deemed necessary for the acquisition of additional grounds to construct shops which the company required for its prospective wants. In 1856, $11,555.69 was spent to widen the depot grounds and to construct the foundation for a new engine house.

B&O Railroad West Roundhouse, Martinsburg West Virginia

B&O Railroad West Roundhouse, Martinsburg West Virginia

West Roundhouse is a building in the former engine and machine shops complex erected by the B & O in Martinsburg beginning in 1849. Destroyed by Confederate troops in 1861, the existing shops date from 1866 and later. West Roundhouse was one of two identical buildings used for running repairs to locomotives. It is a sixteen-sided, brick-walled polygon covered by a bell-shaped roof over the locomotive turntable, with sixteen wedge-shaped work bays radiating from the turntable. What makes the building unique and architecturally distinctive is its total cast-iron frame of octagonal columns, struts and beams. It is one of the most significant cast-iron framed buildings in the United States. The B&O Railroad shops operated until 1988. This site was active early

B&O Railroad East Roundhouse, Martinsburg West Virginia

B&O Railroad East Roundhouse, Martinsburg West Virginia

East Roundhouse is a building in the former locomotive repair and machine shops erected by the B & 0 in Martinsburg beginning in 1849. Destroyed by the Confederal troops in 1861, the existing shops date from 1866 and later. Originally identical to the West Roundhouse, the building had its cast-iron frame replaced by roof-trusses of heavy timber in 1927. The B&O Railroad shops operated until 1988. This site was active early in the Civil War and was the site of the first National Labor Strike of 1877.

Central Railroad Engine Terminal Complex, Jersey City New Jersey

Central Railroad Engine Terminal Complex, Jersey City New Jersey

During the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth, the Central Railroad of New Jersey maintained extensive facilities to service its passenger and freight operations on the New York harbor. Its main line from Phillipsburg crossed the Newark Bay at Elizabethport to Bayonne and followed the western edge of the upper bay to the Jersey City yards. These yards, located on fill in Communipaw Bay, were the most extensive and concentrated such facilities of one railroad company on Jersey City's waterfront. Included here were the large passenger terminal, lighterage and car float operations, covered and open piers, the coal dumpers at Pier 18, the marine repair drydocks at Pier 19, and the various support facilities

Excelsior Hotel, Jefferson Texas

Excelsior Hotel, Jefferson Texas

The frame portion of the building was built in 1858 by Captain William. Ferry of New Hampshire, it was used as an hotel and was known as the Irvine House. The corner portion of the hotel which is of brick was built during the 1860's but it has nothing of the charm, that is found in the frame portion. New Orleans influence is found here not only in the iron work of the street front but also in the semi-patio in the rear. The old registers bear the signatures of Jay Gould, John Jacob Astor, H. K. Vanderbilt, General U, S. Grant and scores of actors and actresses of a by-gone period. Captain William Perry, owner of dredge boats which kept

Samuel Lane Elementary School, Akron Ohio

Samuel Lane Elementary School, Akron Ohio

Lane School was constructed in 1902 as an elementary school and opened its doors in September, 1903. It was named after Samuel A. Lane, noted Historian and elected official of Akron. It was designed by Frank O. Weary, noted architect in Akron and Northeast Ohio. There was an addition to the building in 1912 and a gymnasium constructed in 1923. The Akron Beacon Journal (December 10^th, 1901) stated that the Lane Building construction would be awarded to George Crisp and Son with a bid of $40,379.20. The building was to be constructed of common brick with stone trim. Subsequent contracts for plumbing were awarded to Krause, Krin, and Co. with a bid of $2,596 to install a Mott Plumbing System (ABJ,

Wheeling Suspension Bridge, Wheeling West Virginia

Wheeling Suspension Bridge, Wheeling West Virginia

This was the Longest Suspension Bridge in the World When Completed in 1849

Connecting West Virginia with Ohio, the Wheeling Suspension Bridge stands as a symbol of technological progress in the midst of the industrial revolution. It is the crowning achievement of a brilliant man whose reputation was late in emerging from the shadows of obscurity - Charles Ellet, Jr. The decision to build the bridge occurred in the context of a rivalry between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Wheeling, West Virginia, in the days when Wheeling was still making a bid to become one of the transportation and industrial centers of the West. The ensuing argument over its construction at Wheeling concluded with a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 21^st, 1969, the American Society of Civil Engineers designated the bridge a

Railroad Machine Shop and Foundry, Grafton West Virginia

Railroad Machine Shop and Foundry, Grafton West Virginia

The Grafton Machine Shop walls are of rubble masonry construction two feet thick and were built of local sandstone from a nearby quarry. Overall, the structure measures 256 feet by 50 feet six inches (exterior dimensions) and is divided into three main sections. A central pavilion of two stories, (54 feet 9 inches x 59 feet 11 inches, external dimensions) five bays wide, projects slightly from both longitudinal walls. In typical Georgian fashion, its gable-end extends above the eaves to provide relief from the overall linearity of the structure. The upper floor of this section was used recently as office space and it is likely that that was its original function as well. An interior staircase - originally provided access to

Warwood Tool Company, Wheeling West Virginia

Warwood Tool Company, Wheeling West Virginia

Henry Warwood, founder of the Warwood Tool Company, was born in Staffordshire, England in 1823. Warwood learned the art of making miner's tools and garden implements while employed by Brade and Company at their steel works near Birmingham, England. Warwood emigrated to the United States in 1848, settling first in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Shortly afterwards, Warwood moved to the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania where he was employed in the manufacture of forks. Henry then made tools at several locations in the Pittsburgh area over the next couple years. Henry Warwood returned to Ohio in 1854, settling in Martin's Ferry. Here, he paid John Wallace $300 for lot No. 52 in Wallace's Addition in March 1854, where he established a shop on

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Point of Rocks Station Maryland

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Point of Rocks Station Maryland

The elaborate architecture of the Point of Rocks Railroad Station testifies to the significance of the railroad as the dominant institution in post-Civil War America, especially in small towns. Situated at the junction of the B & O's mainline to Baltimore and the branch to Washington, D. C, the station is one of the most picturesque railroad stations in America. Point of Rocks Station dates from 1871 and 1875 and its architectural style is categorized as Victorian-Gothic revival. Historically, the Point of Rocks Station is located on a significant site. In the 1830s, both the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal were constructinq their respective routes west to the Ohio River. The railroad and the canal both

Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company Train Station, Madison Indiana

Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company Train Station, Madison Indiana

This yellow brick passenger station was built 1894 and originally housed a telegraph and small freight office. The exterior design is relatively plain and functional though the complementary octagonal and rectangular forms reflect Queen Anne stylistic influences. The rail office closed in 1930 and the station was adapted for reuse as a business office. The Railway Station is associated with the famous railroad cut through solid limestone in 1835. An engineering feat for that day, the excavation enabled trains to reach Madison by descending 400 feet in a mile's distance. Two trains passed through daily. In 1839 the state let the first contract to a private firm, a line from Madison to Indianapolis, but the road was built slowly as public

Missouri Pacific Railway Depot, Wisner Louisiana

Missouri Pacific Railway Depot, Wisner Louisiana

Economic development and a link to the outside world were the two main notions rural people associated with the railway at the end of the nineteenth century. Poor roads and the lack of navigable waterways had kept many small farmers, particularly in the ante-helium south, from reaching their full economic potential. This was especially the case in Louisiana where vast tracts of timber remained uncut and crops were primarily produced for local use. After the Civil War, however, the railroad made its way through the Louisiana countryside. Between about 1880 and 1910, some five thousand miles of mainline track were laid, opening sparsely populated areas to settlement. Small communities now had hope that if the railway came to their town, they

Garret-Jacobs Mansion Baltimore Maryland

Garret-Jacobs Mansion Baltimore Maryland

This building, Baltimore's largest and most costly mansion, was built in two stages. Robert Garrett, a prominent financier and businessman, built the first part in 1884, designed by McKim, Mead and White. His widow, who married Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs, added the second part c. 1905, designed by John Russell Pope, and e. 1916 acquired an adjoining property, demolishing a portion of the building thereon. The Garrett-Jacobs House is Baltimore's most ambitious example of a great mansion of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Other comparable buildings, such as the Ross Winans House, may be superior for integrated design or architectural detail, but none existing is on an equally ample, imposing, and costly scale. It stands in what once was

Peale Museum, Baltimore Maryland

Peale Museum, Baltimore Maryland

The Municipal Museum of the City of Baltimore, at 225 North Holliday Street occupies the first building erected as a museum in the United States. Rembrant Peale, the artist son of Charles Willson Peale, opened the museum on August 15, 1814. Peale advertised in Baltimore in April, 1813, his intention to build a museum, and on August 15 of the following year,' he inaugurated his new undertaking. Having no plan to follow, he erected a brick three-story house that had a two-story wing in back. Inside, the central hallway opened onto four small rooms on the first floor, in which were placed scientific and natural exhibits. A large drawing room occupied the second floor and the third floor held a painting

United States Mint - Nevada State Musuem Carson City Nevada

United States Mint - Nevada State Musuem Carson City Nevada

The plans, specifications and authorization papers for the construction of the mint arrived in Carson City on July 17, 1866. Ground was broken the next day at 8:00 a.m., and the cornerstone laid on September 24^th 1866. Delays in appropriations, labor disputes, high costs, etc. plagued the construction, but on December 13, l869 after an inspection, the architect, Alfred Bult Mullett, pronounced the building completed to his satisfaction. Many of the original drawings, both for the building and the mint machinery housed therein, are preserved in the Nevada State Museum. Construction began on the Mint on July 18, 1866, and the Carson Daily Appeal prophesied that the building would be completed by winter. However, the initial construction took over three years

Henry Marvin Yerington House, Carson City Nevada

Henry Marvin Yerington House, Carson City Nevada

Henry Marvin Yerington was born in Colburne, Ontario, Canada on September 5^th 1829. In 1858 he married Susan Mary Hume, and in 1863 with his wife and two sons came to Carson City. At this time Yerington was- associated primarily with milling operations. He is listed in the 1868-69 Directory as Yerington, H.M., millman. He constructed the first flume for sending timber down from Lake Tahoe to the Carson Valley. By 1868 he was associated with the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, which was organized in March of that year, and drove the first and the last spikes for the V. and T, tracks from Virginia City to Carson City. In 1872, he was appointed General Superintendent of the V. & T.

Abraham Curry House, Carson City Nevada

Abraham Curry House, Carson City Nevada

This house vas built and lived in by the founder of Carson City, who was also the first Superintendent of the U.S. Mint at Carson. The house resembles much earlier prototypes and is largely in its original state. Abraham, Abram, or Abe, Curry was born in Ithaca, New York in 1815. Little is known of his early career, but by 1858 he was in Western Utah. In company with three other men, he came to Genoa in that year from California, intending to establish a general store there. Finding the price of land in Genoa too high, the four men - A. Curry, B.F. Green, Frank M. Procotr and J.J. Musser - rode a few miles north to Eagle Valley, then

United States Post Office, Carson City Nevada

United States Post Office, Carson City Nevada

On January 5S 1885, the United States Senate passed a bill appropriating $100,000 for a public building in Carson City. Nevada Senators Stewart and Nye were largely responsible for the appropriation, and on page 278 of his Reminiscences, Stewart notes that he prevented the conversion of the Mint into a public building and secured mandatory legislation with an appropriation for the construction of the present Government Building at the capital. Several citizens of Carson City were then appointed as a commission to select an- appropriate site for the building. A protracted search, ensued, during which, time the not too distant city of Reno offered a Block appraised at $30,000 if the Building would be located there. Some three years after the

St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Carson City Nevada

St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Carson City Nevada

The organizational meeting to incorporate a Protestant Episcopal Church in Carson City was held on November 9, 1863. At this meeting, the first Wardens and Vestrymen were elected. They were: Sam D. King, H..M. Yerington, A.H. Griswold, A.W. Tjader, J.C. Dorsey, P.W. Van Winkle, James V. Nye, Geo Turner, and H.F. Rice. King and Griswold were selected as Wardens, the rest as Vestrymen. All of these men were well known and prominent citizens of Carson City in its formative years. Perhaps the most noted were James W. Nye, Governor of Nevada Territory and H.M. Yerington, later to become General Superintendent of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Among the men who have served the church in a ministerial capacity, the Right Reverend

Virginia and Truckee Railroad Shops, Carson City Nevada

Virginia and Truckee Railroad Shops, Carson City Nevada

By 1865s the initial output of the Comstock Lode had dwindled to a trickle. Virginia City experienced its first decline, and many of its inhabitants left to seek new fortunes elsewhere. What had actually happened, and what was guessed at by a few shrewd business men, was that the major lode, the Big Bonanza, was yet to be reached. In addition, the tailings and slag heaps surrounding Virginia City contained much low assay ore in them. This ore had heretofore been discarded because it was too expensive to cart in wagons down to the reductions mills on the Carson River, near Dayton. Among the few men who gauged the situation correctly was William Sharon, Virginia City representative of the powerful Bank

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: Dismantling The Dream

Abandoned America: Dismantling The Dream

Book Title Abandoned Malls of America: Crumbling Commerce Left Behind

Abandoned Malls of America: Crumbling Commerce Left Behind

Book Title Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

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