Latest Structures Page 142

The Willard Hotel, Washington DC

The Willard Hotel, Washington DC

Both the site and the present building have a long history of entertaining Presidents, statesmen and other important people. In 1816 John Tayloe built six three-story buildings at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 14^th Street to be used as private residences. As early as 1818, however, at least one of them was leased as a hotel. For the next twenty-nine years the buildings housed a number of hotel establishments. During this time the building that became the original hotel was built. In 1847 Henry A. and Edwin D. Willard came to Washington to lease what was by then the 40 room old CITY HOTEL from the owner Benjamin O. Tayloe. At this time the name was changed to the Willard

BF Keith Memorial Theater - Opera House, Boston Massachusetts

BF Keith Memorial Theater - Opera House, Boston Massachusetts

Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26^th, 1846 - March 26^th, 1914) was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, the youngest of eight children born to Samuel C. and Rhoda Keith. At the age of seven he began to work on a western Massachusetts farm, remaining there for 11 years and attending the district school and village academy during the winter months. When he was 17, Keith was greatly attracted by a country circus that he had visited, and shortly thereafter he left for New York, where he found employment with Bunnell's Museum. He later worked for P. T. Barrium and with Adam Forepaugh's Circus, remaining in the circus business as employer and proprietor until the early 1880s. During that time he added to

Stoney-Baynard House, Hilton Head Island South Carolina

Stoney-Baynard House, Hilton Head Island South Carolina

Before the American Revolution, land on which the Stoney-Baynard House stands was owned by John Bayley. Bayley's estate was confiscated by the State of South Carolina and sold at auction in 1782, at which time John Mark Verdier, a well-known merchant of Beaufort, and Thomas Fergusson purchased portions of the property. These parcels were later restored (ca.1794) to Benjamin Bayley. Subsequently, the site passed to members of the Stoney family but exactly when and under what circumstances cannot be determined. It is probable that two brothers, John and James Stoney, who were both merchants of Charleston, gained control of the property near the beginning of the nineteenth century in a speculative venture involving acquisition of cotton lands on Hilton Head Island.

Rose Hill Plantation House, Bluffton South Carolina

Rose Hill Plantation House, Bluffton South Carolina

Rose Hill Plantation House, located on a large undeveloped tract in the Rose Hill Plantation residential development in Beaufort County, is a large, two-story, frame, Gothic Revival residence. The house is believed to have been constructed for Dr. John Kirk and his wife Caroline ca. 1858-60. Rose Hill was not completed before the Civil War and remained unfinished until ca. 1946 when John and Florence Sturgeon purchased Rose Hill and renovated it for their private residence. The plantation tract was known as Rose Hill at least as early as ca. 1828 when it was purchased by James Kirk, Dr. Kirk's uncle and, later, father-in law. The property, formerly part of Devil's Elbow Barony, was reputedly a wedding present to James Kirk's

Ophir Plantation House, Pinopolis South Carolina

Ophir Plantation House, Pinopolis South Carolina

Ophir, with Mexico, was one of the three plantations of Peter Porcher of Peru, who believed in giving his places the names of famous gold mines. Colonel Thomas Porcher, son of Peter, appears to have built Ophir Plantation House about 1810. The floor plan of this house is typical more of Upper than of Middle Saint John's where Ophir stands, as in everything but exact proportion, it is almost a replica of that used by Porcher's brother-in-law Peter Gnillard of The Rocks. It is interesting to note the varied use of the same motifs on the exterior cornice at Ophir and on that of the parlor at The Rocks. Ophir is a large scale, two-story, gable roof house, rather barn-like in

Springfield Plantation House, Eutawville South Carolina

Springfield Plantation House, Eutawville South Carolina

Built for Joseph Palmer. The records of the building of the house are extant and show that it was built by George Chamolin, who commenced work on October 20, 1817, and finished on June 17, 1818. The house is very broad and deep and is covered by a gable roof of vast proportions. At the apex is a pair of large squat chimneys with the traditional plaster necking. The gable ends are treated as pediments, but their Treat height gives them an ungainly aspect. The house is two stories above a high basement, with the usual fenestration. It has a central triple window on the second floor. The lower windows are treated with decorative frames of pilaster strips and entablatures. Sheltered

Ruins of the Edward House Plantation, Spring Island South Carolina

Ruins of the Edward House Plantation, Spring Island South Carolina

George Edwards is credited with developing Spring Island into a flourishing plantation that by 1850 was producing more bales of cotton than any other holding in St. Luke's Parish. Earlier, the island's husbandry had been dominated by cattle ranching and indigo production, both activities being mentioned in late eighteenth-century sources. When exactly the transition to cultivation of cotton as the major cash crop occurred is difficult to say. However, the U.S. Census of 1800 for St. Luke's Parish does attest that a substantial work force was then available to George Edwards, listing forty slaves under his name and an additional sixty slaves belonging to the estate of George Barksdale which he (Edwards) apparently controlled. Aside from slaves, the household was small.

Ruins of Augusta Evans Wilson House, Mobile Alabama

Ruins of Augusta Evans Wilson House, Mobile Alabama

The ruins of this house stands upon land that was a part, of the second grant by the Spanish to Thomas Price consisting of 500 acres. This structure was built by Samuel G. Swift, who later sold it to Lorenza M. Wilson, husband of Augusta Evans Wilson, a noted novelist, whose books made a wide appeal. It was a broad, high, one storied house; wide galleries across the front,.and the two wings; and a hall through the center. To the east of the house were the double parlors, whose long French windows opened upon the galleries. It was in this house that Augusta Evans at the age of fifteen completed her first novel, Ines - a tale of the Alamo, and

Rickwood Field, Birmingham Alabama

Rickwood Field, Birmingham Alabama

Erected in 1910, the original concrete and steel grandstand at Rickwood Field is the oldest baseball grandstand on the same site in the United States. The grandstand forms the core of a historic ballpark which includes a 1928 Mission-style entryway and other subsequent additions. Modeled after Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, Rickwood is one of the few grandstands which remain as a testament to the now classic early twentieth-century style of ballpark construction. The stadium was built by local industrialist A.H. Rick Woodward, III for his Birmingham Barons baseball club, and was also home to the Birmingham Black Barons, and the Oakland A's farm teams. As a center for leisure-time activity, the field was an important social and cultural institution in this southern

Jackson's Mill Covered Bridge, Breezewood Pennsylvania

Jackson's Mill Covered Bridge, Breezewood Pennsylvania

This covered bridge contains a Burr arch truss and measures 91' x 15'. The wood siding extends up about 3' below the roof line, exposing the upper one-fifth of the arch truss. The bridge also contains a king post approach span on the north end of the bridge. Originally the bridge rested on stone piers and abutments; however, it was substantially reconstructed in 1992 and concrete piers with stone facing were added. Builders of covered bridges are usually unrecorded, but Jackson's Mill bridge is known to have been built by Karns and Rohm in 1886, reportedly for $675. During the May 1889 flood it was dislodged and washed about 300 yards downstream towards M. J. Jackson's grist and saw mill. The

Kidd's Mill Covered Bridge, Greenville Pennsylvania

Kidd's Mill Covered Bridge, Greenville Pennsylvania

In the 1850s, Robert D. Kidd established a mill near this site. The road and crossing were established sometime between 1848 and 1860, when they appear on G.M. Hopkins' Map of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. No documentation has been found concerning the first bridge at this location, except that it was repaired in 1859. In February 1867 a flood destroyed the bridge at Kidd's Mill. The present covered bridge was reportedly built the following year. No records have been found concerning its construction. Two courthouse fires at the turn of the century reportedly destroyed the Mercer County records. There are also no local newspapers from the late 1860s. Kidd's Mill Bridge carried traffic for over a century. In the early 1960s, the

Willimantic Linen Company Mill Number 2, Windham Connecticut

Willimantic Linen Company Mill Number 2, Windham Connecticut

willimantic Linen Company began operations in 1854 using cotton mills built in 1825, and soon shifted from linen to thread production when the Crimean War interrupted European flax supplies. By 1895, the firm built three new mills, a bleachery and dye house, a storehouse, an office, and other auxiliary structures. American Thread Company purchased Willimantic Linen in 1898 and continued to expand the Willimantic complex until c1915, adding or completing two mill buildings, a second dye house, and a warehouse. Thread manufacture persisted here until 1984. Information on 19th-century Willimantic Linen hydropower facilities is limited, but the overall sequence of development can be inferred from several sources. Between 1854 and 1864, the company purchased or developed four consecutive water privileges on

Westlake Public School, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

Westlake Public School, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

The Westlake Public School, constructed in 1885, was named in honor of J. W. Westlake, textbook author and teacher at Millersville Normal School. The Chartiers Township School Board built the new eight-room school to accommodate students residing in what is now the City of Pittsburgh's West End. The new school replaced two smaller facilities, the Orchard and Old Brick Schools. In 1895, the area around Westlake School became incorporated as part of Elliott Borough. The need for a new school in Chartiers Township resulted from a period of unprecedented regional growth after the Civil War. The need for unskilled workers in the iron and steel industry brought thousands of new families to southwestern Pennsylvania. Between 1861 and 1895, a total of

Josiah Haigler Plantation House, Burkville Alabama

Josiah Haigler Plantation House, Burkville Alabama

The Haigler House was constructed in 1841 by Y. W. Graves who was the son of William Graves. The Graves family moved to this section of Lowndes County in the early 1820s and Y. W. Graves acquired this property during those years. In 1841 he built the house which was sold two years later to Josiah Haigler. The Haigler family moved to Lowndes County from South Carolina and became part of the slave holding planter class characteristic of Alabama's Black Belt. By 1855 Haigler cultivated several hundred acres in rice and cotton. Haigler also owned 23 slaves which was well above the county average of 12 per household. Haigler also had diversified business interests as shown through his part ownership in

New London Ledge Lighthouse, New London Connecticut

New London Ledge Lighthouse, New London Connecticut

New London Ledge Lighthouse, built between 1906 and 1909, is a significant landmark in the history of navigation aids in New London Harbor. It marks a major hazard at the harbor entrance and replaced the New London Harbor Lighthouse, which was constructed in 1801. In the context of the history of lighthouse architecture, New London Ledge Lighthouse represents a rare example of a turn-of-the-century water-bound, masonry structure. This type of lighthouse design flourished in the United States during the 1860s and 1870s, but was largely supplanted by cheaper and more easily erected pre-fabricated cast-iron structures. Perhaps because the Congressional appropriation for this lighthouse followed the initiation of the design process by 14 years, the design of the superstructure combines nineteenth-century ideas

Starr Piano Company, Richmond Indiana

Starr Piano Company, Richmond Indiana

The Whitewater Valley, the site of buildings provided, the necessities for the town first settled by Jeremiah Cox and Joseph Smith in 1806. The uplands provided excellent timber, and good soil and clay for bricks. The gorge was lined with springs and supplies of easily extracted building stones. The river provided water power for early mills. It was these assets that enabled the steady growth of Richmond. The valley was the site of grist mills saw mills, linseed oil mills, tanneries, and quarries. In the 1820's and 30's, some residences and mills were found in the valley. The early state road came down into this area and crossed the Whitewater at the ford located near present G Street Bridge before climbing

West Baden Springs Hotel, West Baden Indiana

West Baden Springs Hotel, West Baden Indiana

The West Baden Springs Hotel rests on rolling land in the middle of extensive forested areas in a region long famous for its mineral springs. In its heyday, during the first three decades of the 20^th century, the complex included the 708-room main hotel building, built in 1901-02; a number of smaller structures; and various recreational facilities. The main hotel is a 6-story brick and concrete structure, 16-sided on the exterior, with a vast covered circular Pompeian Court, or atrium, rising the full height of the building on the interior. A huge steel and glass dome, 195 feet in diameter and 130 feet high, covers the circular court. Elliptical in configuration, the dome is supported by 24 steel ribs connected to

Fisher Body Company, Cleveland Ohio

Fisher Body Company, Cleveland Ohio

Automobile Bodies for Chevrolet, Chandler, Cleveland Automobile Co., GM Were Made Here until 1980S

Fisher Body's Coit Road plant was the first big body plant to operate in the city of Cleveland. The factory received the largest permit ever issued in the State of Ohio from the standpoint of floor space and had probably the largest permanent floor space ever constructed under one contract at one time. The history of The Fisher Body Ohio Company begins in Norwalk, Ohio. The Fisher family operated a factory there for the building, painting, and repairing of carriages. The oldest of the six sons, Fred Fisher, left Norwalk in 1901 to work for the Detroit-based C. R. Wilson Body Company, eventually becoming a superintendent for the firm. On July 22^nd, 1908, Fred and his brother Charles Fisher founded The

Cunningham Plantation, Cherokee Alabama

Cunningham Plantation, Cherokee Alabama

This home, also known as Barton Hall, is located two miles west of Cherokee, Alabama. It was built by Armstead Barton at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars, besides labor done by the slaves of the plantation who cut stone and got out the timber. In 1916 there were alterations and additions made; Sleeping porch built; two bath rooms, and divisions of ell rooms, making kitchen, breakfast room and butlers pantry of one; school, bath and linen closet of the other.

Hammack Plantation House, Loachapoka Alabama

Hammack Plantation House, Loachapoka Alabama

A family by the name of Hammac& owned this old plantation house and lived in this home for quite a number of years. The portico has indications of excellent proportions, Some of the peculiar architectural features of this house are the absence of a central window and a doubling up of two entrance doors instead of the conventional larger central entrance door. The interior is divided into two similar layouts, but opposite to each other, and without communication from one to the other. There are two separate stairs leading up to the second story, which again, is divided equally. This peculiar handling in the plan suggests a two family house, which naturally, is found very rarely.

Book Title Abandoned America: Dismantling The Dream

Abandoned America: Dismantling The Dream

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 Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

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