Latest Structures Page 168

Williamstown Railroad Station, Williamstown Massachusetts

Williamstown Railroad Station, Williamstown Massachusetts

The Troy & Greenfield Railroad Company began railroad service to Williamstown in 1859. The station was a small, frame structure, located approximately on the site of the present station. Use of the station increased after the opening of the Hoosac Tunnel in 1875, after which the station was used as a base for prioritizing the order in which trains might enter the tunnel from the west. To accommodate the station's expanded role, the new owners, the Fitchburg Railroad Company, laid new track and constructed a quarter-roundhouse and a freight yard nearby. In 1897, they announced plans to renovate and modernize the station. Before such plans could be implemented, however, the station burned to the ground. Construction of the existing station began

Shaker Church Family Round Barn, Hancock Massachusetts

Shaker Church Family Round Barn, Hancock Massachusetts

Built by the mechanic of the Hancock Shakers; possibly Elder William Deming. Local materials were used for the construction. After 1960 it was owned by United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing; Shaker Community, Inc. The barn originally had a conical roof. A fire on December 1, 1864 destroyed the roof and substructure. It was rebuilt with a circular loft and a louvered turret for light and air, like a small hat box on a larger one. There have been some additions; a brick ell or wing with a carriage shed below, (date is not known), and a cattle shed with stanchions built since 1900. The barn was visited by Hawthorne and other notables.

Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia Pennsylvania

The Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the prime exponent of the Pennsylvania system of imprisonment, a system which was of limited influence in the United States, but was studied and applied widely in Europe and South America. This system, developed primarily by the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons, founded in 1787, was grounded in the Quaker concept of reflection in solitude as well as an abhorrence of the 18^th century practice in Philadelphia of sentencing all offenders to public hard labor. In 1821, the state legislature appointed a building commission to oversee the construction of a 250-cell prison, based on the principle of solitary confinement. After a public competition for the design of the prison, won

St. Stanislaus Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

St. Stanislaus Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

This was the first Polish church in Milwaukee and mother church for later Polish parishes. The cornerstone was laid July, 1372, but work proceeded slowly as the principal building period appears to have been 1884-1894. During this period, the sanctuary was built, the roof covered with copper, the organ installed, and the interior painted, there is a note that the church was built without suteren, a Polish word meaning a below ground-level room usually used for living quarters. In this case it may mean basement. Major remodeling took place between 1895 and 1913 but it is not possible to break this down in detail. During this period, the three main entrances were surrounded by a simulated Gothic Revival porch, the archivolts

Academy Building, Fall River Massachusetts

Academy Building, Fall River Massachusetts

The Academy Building, also known as Borden Block and Academy of Music, was constructed by the Borden Family, textile entrepreneurs of Fall River. The prominent structure, with Ruskinian Gothic details, was designed by Hartwell and Swasey of Boston In 1875. The Academy of Music, located within the block, was a local cultural center, housing performances by nationally renowned actors and actresses as well as concerts, lectures and civic events. After World War I, the auditorium was used predominantly for movies. It was modernized in 1946. The building was restored in the 1980s, the offices were converted into apartments and the theater portion was demolished. The Academy of Music opened its doors on January 6, 1876, boasting the second largest stage in

St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Parish House, Milwaukee Wisconsin

St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Parish House, Milwaukee Wisconsin

This Richardsonian Romanesque Building is Known for its Spectacular Stained Glass

The second church built for Milwaukee's pioneer Episcopal congregation (organized in 1838), St. Paul's is the city's outstanding Richardsonian Romanesque church and is further distinguished by a splendid collection of stained-glass windows. Early in 1882 the building committee of St. Paul's vestry invited five prominent architectural firms to submit designs for the new church to be built at Knapp and Marshall streets. At a meeting of the vestry on May 13^th the competition was resolved in favor of Milwaukee's E. T. Mix and Co., and the contract with Mix was approved on June 24th. Excavations for the foundation commenced in the autumn of 1882. Ceremonies on June 19^th, 1884, marked the laying of the cornerstone, and on October 12^th, 1884, the

St. Mary's Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

St. Mary's Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

This is the oldest Catholic church in Milwaukee with the exception of a small wooden chapel dedicated to St. Peter, which stood on or near the present cathedral and is now restored on the grounds of St. Francis's Seminary. The cornerstone was laid by Bishop Henni on Whit-Sunday, April 19, I846. The dedication took place on September 12, I847. The present form of the church is largely the result of major alterations made in 1866 by Victor Schulte, architect, in which the school which occupied a lower floor was eliminated, the east end of the church enlarged, the main auditorium lowered to ground levels the lower windows bricked-up, and the entire facade enlarged and rebuilt together with the tower. The original

Elizabeth Plankinton House, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Elizabeth Plankinton House, Milwaukee Wisconsin

John Plankinton (1820-1891) the original owner and builder of the house was not only a pioneer in the development and origins of the City, but a leader in establishing Milwaukee as once the foremost city west of Cincinnati in the meat packing industry. Born in Delaware, he came to Milwaukee in 1842 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Within the same month of his arrival, he had opened an ordinary meat market. By 1849 he added slaughtering and packing to his business and in the following year established a partnership with Frederick Layton known as Layton and Plankinton Company. This business lasted for 10 years, upon which Layton retired and Plankinton continued alone until 1863 when Plankinton and Armour was formed. Phillip D. Armour

St. James Episcopal Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

St. James Episcopal Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

St. James', considered one of Wisconsin's finest Gothic Revival buildings, is reported to be the city's first stone church, and is now the denomination's oldest surviving church edifice in Milwaukee. Ground was broken on May 27, 1867, and on July 25 the cornerstone was laid. St. James' opened on July 25, 1868. Cost of the church and its furnishings exceeded $50,000. St. James' Church was erected for Milwaukee's fourth Episcopal parish, founded in 1850. Their first church, at Spring Street (Wisconsin Avenue) and Second Street, was a frame structure, Greek Revival in style, and originally built for the Unitarian Society. In the early 1850s they moved it to the site of the present building, a site that then contained an old

Pabst Theater, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Pabst Theater, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Erected for the Pabst Brewing Company, the theater belonged to Pabst interests until 1953, when it was sold by the trustees of the Ida Pabst Trust to the Pabst Theater Foundation, Inc., organized by the Lynde Bradley, Allis-Chalmers, and Froedtert Foundations. This foundation, in turn, sold it to the city in 1961 (Milwaukee's Common Council approved the purchase in March 1960; the warranty deed is dated February 1961). In 1870-71 Jacob Nunnemacher and his son, Hermann, erected a three-story brick building containing a theater, offices, and stores on the north side of Oneida Street (now Wells) between East Water (now North Water) and River (now Edison) Streets. Designed by Milwaukee architect Henry C. Koch, their building measuring 210 feet wide (east-west)

North Point Water Tower, Milwaukee Wisconsin

North Point Water Tower, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Part of the complex erected for the Milwaukee Water Works over one hundred years ago, the lofty Victorian Gothic Water Tower stands on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan and encloses an iron standpipe that originally served to relieve city water mains of pulsations from pumping engines housed in the lake-front pumping station. Modern equipment has made the facility unnecessary, but tower and standpipe have remained, little altered through the years. Long a notable feature of the city's skyline and often praised for its beauty, the Water Tower has been accorded official landmark status by the Milwaukee Landmarks Commission and the American Water Works Association. Work on the foundation had begun by May, 1873; and on September 14, 1874, the tower was

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Home Office, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Home Office, Milwaukee Wisconsin

The date stone on the facade, above the central entry, reads Erected A.D. 1886. On January 28, 1885, Northwestern Mutual's Executive Committee recommended to the Board of Trustees that a new home office be erected, and the firm's plans were made public in the Evening Wisconsin and Milwaukee Sentinel on January 29 and 30, respectively. Title to the property at Broadway and Michigan-lots 4, 5, and 6 of Block 8 in the Third Ward-was legally transferred to Northwestern Mutual from the Newhall House Stock Company on February 4. The purchase price was $90,000. On April 17 the company applied for a permit to build. The two month lapse between acquisition of the lots and application for the permit came about, in

Mitchell Building, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Mitchell Building, Milwaukee Wisconsin

This building was designed by Edward Townsend Mix (1831-1890) and was erected in 1876 for Alexander Mitchell, a Milwaukee banker. Mitchell, with George Smith, founded the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company, which was incorporated under the Wisconsin territorial government in 1839. This company was reincorporated in 1846 under the new State Banking law as a Marine National Bank. The Marine Bank occupied the site in 1846 and occupied this building from the time of its erection in 1876 until 1930. The site is presumed to have been the location of the residence of Solomon Juneau, the trader who founded Milwaukee about the 1830's. This heavily ornamented structure, as representative of commercial building in this period, is typically eclectic; it shows

Second Ward Savings Bank (now Milwaukee County Historical Center), Milwaukee Wisconsin

Second Ward Savings Bank (now Milwaukee County Historical Center), Milwaukee Wisconsin

Erected for the Second Ward Savings Bank in 1911-13, and since 1965 it has served as headquarters of the Milwaukee County Historical Society. This graceful structure is a fine example of the Neo-classical revival. The application for the building permit (No. 2110) is dated September 27, 1911. By January 10, 1913, construction was complete, and the bank opened officially on February 3. It Is reported to have cost approximately $400,000. In 1928 the Second Ward Savings Bank, the original owner, merged with the First Wisconsin National Bank of Milwaukee, and the building became the First Wisconsin's Second Ward Office. In April, 1965, the First Wisconsin donated the structure to Milwaukee County. The historical society took possession a few weeks later, and

Lafayette Hotel, Cape May New Jersey

Lafayette Hotel, Cape May New Jersey

This resort hotel was constructed by Victor Denizot in 1884 on the site of the former Columbia House. It was an irregular H-shaped structure, 4 stories high with a flat roof and a 1 story porch across the front facade. It was altered/remodeled in 1919-1920, and demolished in 1971.

Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

The architect's plans for this church were approved in March, 1873; ground was broken in May, the cornerstone laid in August. On December 28 of the following year the church opened, and on January 3, 1875, it was dedicated. Cost of the building is said to have been in excess of $160,000. Immanuel Church was founded in 1870 by members of the First Presbyterian Church, organized in 1837, and North Presbyterian Church, established in 1849. Before completion of the new edifice on Astor Street, each congregation held services in their own building. First Church, on the northwest corner of Milwaukee and Mason Streets, was a classical structure of wood erected in 1841-43. North Church, located at the northwest corner of Milwaukee

Holy Trinity Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Holy Trinity Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

This is the third oldest Roman Catholic Church in Milwaukee and was created to serve immigrants from southern Germany and Austria who had settled at Walker's Point, now South side Milwaukee. The cornerstone of the building was laid July 8, 1849; the building was dedicated September 22, 1850 by Bishop Henni of Milwaukee. The building was originally erected without a steeple which was added in 1862. The interior was renovated in 1863 and again in 1874. The clock with three bells was installed in the tower in 1869. The pipe organ was installed in 1878. The three interior altars were installed in 1890 and were built by Aegidius Hackner of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Overall dimensions of the building are 57' x

Colonial Hotel, Cape May New Jersey

Colonial Hotel, Cape May New Jersey

I have very limited information on this hotel. It was built in 1894-1894. It is three stories plus attic and raised basement. It has octagonal towers with tent roofs that flank the entrance. It's roof is a mansard roof with gabled dormers. The south wing of the hotel was added in 1905.

Robert P. Fitzgerald House, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Robert P. Fitzgerald House, Milwaukee Wisconsin

Edward Townsend Mix, a prominent local architect, drew the plans for this Italian Villa, built in 1874 for Milwaukee shipping pioneer. Captain Robert P. Fitzgerald. Since the 1960s, it has been the clubhouse of the Milwaukee Branch of the American Association of University Women, for whom it has been remodelled and enlarged. It was built at a reported cost of $20,000 In July 1872, Robert Patrick Fitzgerald purchased, for the sum of $8,500, the lots on Marshall Street on which his spacious residence was later erected. In 1897 he sold the house to Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Clyde Fuller, from whom Mr. and Mrs. George Benjamin Miller, the Fullers' daughter and son-in-law, bought it in 1921. Twenty-five years later Miller's widow

First Unitarian Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

First Unitarian Church, Milwaukee Wisconsin

The work of a distinguished local architectural firm, First Unitarian is a particularly attractive Neo-Gothic church that survives in an excellent state of preservation. It is, further, the oldest remaining church of the denomination in the city and has been designated a Milwaukee Landmark. By the first week of January 1891, the society had purchased the site for its new church. Bids were submitted late in June and contracts awarded shortly thereafter. The application for the building permit (No. 128) is dated July 15, 1891. May 15, 1892, saw the first services in the new edifice, which was dedicated four days later. Church and grounds had cost some $50,000, according to a contemporary newspaper story. The church at Astor and Ogden

Book Title Abandoned America: Dismantling The Dream

Abandoned America: Dismantling The Dream

Book Title The Atlas of Abandoned Places: A Journey Through The World's Forgotten Wonders

The Atlas of Abandoned Places: A Journey Through The World's Forgotten Wonders

Book Title Abandoned Places: A Photographic Exploration of More Than 100 Worlds We Have Left Behind

Abandoned Places: A Photographic Exploration of More Than 100 Worlds We Have Left Behind

Book Title Abandoned: Hauntingly Beautiful Deserted Theme Parks

Abandoned: Hauntingly Beautiful Deserted Theme Parks

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