Historic Structures - Urban Exploration of Historic Properties

Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Passenger Terminal, Mobile Alabama

Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Passenger Terminal, Mobile Alabama

The Gulf Terminal Building was constructed shortly after the turn-of-the-century and is one of only two large scale railroad stations in the state. Completed in 1907 at a cost of $400,000, the massive and ornate building reflects the importance of railroads and the City of Mobile in this era. The Neo-Spanish Colonial Building is one of the earlier and finer examples of the style in the city and was designed by P. Thornton Marye. The Mobile and Ohio Railroad was one of the most important transportation ventures in ante-bellum Alabama. The road, charted by the Alabama legislature in 1848 was an ambitious project to connect Mobile with the Mississippi River at Memphis and with the railroads of the Midwest and the

Wadley Railroad Depot, Wadley Alabama

Wadley Railroad Depot, Wadley Alabama

The Wadley Railroad Depot was constructed in 1907 by the Atlanta, Birmingham, and Atlantic Railroad to serve the new town of Wadley, planned and developed by the Callaway Development Company of LaGrange, Georgia. The company abandoned its plans in 1910 and the lofty expectations for the town's growth and potential went unrealized. Still, Wadley had established itself by that time as a small regional trade center, a role it has continued to play ever since. The Wadley Railroad Depot was a central element of the community's economic and social life until it closed circa 1964. The Depot was the principal train depot for the town of Wadley from 1907 until circa 1964. The Callaway Company conceived Wadley as a planned model

Arlington Mudd-Munger Plantation House, Birmingham Alabama

Arlington Mudd-Munger Plantation House, Birmingham Alabama

Arlington is the oldest structure in Birmingham and Jefferson County, one of America's youngest metropolitan areas and one of the most heavily industrialized cities in the South. Sometimes called the Birthplace of Birmingham, Arlington is the only Greek Revival structure of mansion proportions to survive the War Between the States, Union Army raids and the phenomenal 1890-1950 growth of the Magic City, the South's leading steel industry center. This mansion is almost unique in Alabama for large square supporting pillars, a complete upstairs veranda, and an impressive 1840 facade enclosing an unpretentious 1820 home. While the house itself, as it appears today, dates back to 1842, records pertaining to the land go back as far as 1820. On July 1^st of

Ideal Department Store Building, Birmingham Alabama

Ideal Department Store Building, Birmingham Alabama

The Ideal Department Store Building, with its ornamental terra cotta facade, typifies one of Birmingham's most popular early 20th-century commercial styles, which reached its fullest expression in the 1920s. It was characterized by the use of terra cotta, either gleaming white or richly colored, and the incorporation of such Renaissance Revival details as cartouches, bas-relief arabesques, and denticulated cornices. The lavishness of the ornament and materials exemplified the prosperity of the 1920s throughout the country. In addition to its stylistic importance, the Ideal Building represents the most noteworthy period in the long career of prominent Birmingham architect D.O. Whilldin. During the 1920s he designed some of downtown Birmingham's most decorative commercial buildings: The Florentine Building, 111 19^th Street North, 1920 2^nd

Southern Railway Terminal Station, Bessemer Alabama

Southern Railway Terminal Station, Bessemer Alabama

The Bessemer Southern Railway Terminal is an excellent example of a small town railroad terminal constructed in the early 1900s. Built by the Alabama Great Southern Railroad as the result of a direct order by the Railroad Commissioner, the building stands as a monument to the importance of Bessemer, one of the early industrial towns of Alabama. Bessemer was founded in 1887 as a result of the iron and steel making boom in Jefferson County. The town founder, Henry Debardeleben, noted that the coal and iron beds which lay in close proximity to the town were intended by nature to feed some great creature. He was correct, and the town prospered. Around the turn of the century, Bessemer, which had a

Southern Railroad Depot, Leeds Alabama

Southern Railroad Depot, Leeds Alabama

The Southern Railroad Depot at Leeds, originally the Georgia Pacific Railway Company Depot, is a representative example of late 19^th century, small town railroad depots. Like others such structures, it incorporates the freight and passenger depots into one simple frame building with deep overhanging eaves supported by oversized and curved brackets. The depot is closely associated with the early history of Leeds and with the Georgia Pacific Railway Company. Leeds was founded as a rail stop on the Georgia and Pacific Railway Company line which linked Birmingham with Atlanta in the early 1880s. The town was laid out by E. M. Tutwiler, a construction engineer for the railroad who purchased 156 acres of farmland along the new rail line. The depot

Bragg-Mitchell House, Mobile Alabama

Bragg-Mitchell House, Mobile Alabama

The Bragg House was the home of Judge John Bragg and subsequently his brother General Braxton Bragg, and is one of the finest Greek Revival mansions in Mobile and was designed and constructed by one of the city's outstanding architects, Thomas Simmons James. The house was built in 1847 by William H. Pratt who has acquired the land within the year. A small house was already on the property and had served as the country home of Louis Judson from 1827 to 1837. Pratt hired Thomas Simmons James of Mobile to design the house. James, who also worked in Natchez, Jackson, and New Orleans was one of Mobile's outstanding architects. He is credited with having designed the City Hall, and the

Rawls Hotel Building, Enterprise Alabama

Rawls Hotel Building, Enterprise Alabama

The Rawls Hotel is one of the most elaborate buildings in Coffee County. Constructed by Japenth Rawls about 1903 and remodeled and enlarged by his nephew, Jesse P. Rawls, in 1923, it is located across from the train station and has served as a landmark and central meeting place for the citizens of Enterprise. The Rawls family was important in the early growth and prosperity of the city. The elder Rawls was involved in the development of the turpentine industry in Coffee County, while his nephew built and financed the first electric system in Enterprise and operated one of the largest and oldest mills in the city. It was, however, the railroad, whose station the hotel served, that gave the town

Bellingrath Gardens and Home, Theodore Alabama

Bellingrath Gardens and Home, Theodore Alabama

Bellingrath Gardens is an excellent example of a large estate garden planned in the late 1920's and is one of the finest of the Southern estate gardens of any period. It is widely accepted as having the most spectacular spring display of any garden in the southeast and is noted for the wide variety of azaleas. Planned as the private country garden of Walter D. Bellingrath, who made a fortune in bottling Coca-cola during the first decades of the 20^th century, it reflects the ideas of the Gardenesque Movement of the late 19^th century with the characteristic vignettes of Italian and French formal gardens within an overall romantic English garden. The Gardens are the major landscape work of George B. Rogers,

Pea River Power Company Hydroelectric Facility, Elba Alabama

Pea River Power Company Hydroelectric Facility, Elba Alabama

The Elba Hydroelectric Dam facility is one of the earliest private ventures (1911-1914) in Alabama of the use of waterpower to produce electrical power and transmit it by high voltage lines to more than one destination. This facility is representative of the type developed by large privately-owned power companies that soon replaced small uneconomical and unreliable municipally-owned steam and hydroelectric plants. The facility was constructed to supply power to Troy, Alabama, which is thirty miles from the site. The facility provided surplus power that opened the way for improved municipal services, lower power rates for customers and an increase in new industries such as cotton gins, with all-electric machinery, a fertilizer plant, and woodworking mills. Along with two other hydroelectric facilities,

Bishop Manor Estate, St. Elmo Alabama

Bishop Manor Estate, St. Elmo Alabama

Bishop Manor is the only known extant example in Mobile County of the extravagant estates built in the South by wealthy Northern families of the early 1900s. Another wealthy family from Chicago, the Daweses after whom Dawes, Alabama is named, built similar estates in Mobile and Baldwin Counties but these have long since been subdivided or demolished. Bishop Manor has not only survived, but has essentially survived intact. The main house is particularly noteworthy as a well proportioned, beautifully crafted house that draws a great deal stylistically from Mediterranean architecture. Exceptional materials were used throughout the house including basswood paneling, moldings and curved staircase, cherrywood stairway railing, vari-colored marble fireplace surround and hearths, marble floors and glazed ceramic tile walls in

Seaboard Coastline Depot, Enterprise Alabama

Seaboard Coastline Depot, Enterprise Alabama

The Seaboard Coastline Depot is one of the oldest wooden structures in Enterprise, a town constructed in the late 1900's and is one of the oldest transportation landmarks in Southeast Alabama. The railroads had a peculiar significance in this section of Alabama. Nowhere else in the state were they so responsible for the development and new settlement of the area. By 1895 a small community had grown up in the area and in 1896 the town of Enterprise was officially incorporated with a population of 250. The Alabama Midland Railroad Company built a line to Enterprise in 1898 and the town began to grow rapidly at the expense of several smaller communities in the area. Later the railroad was sold to

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Depot, Headland Alabama

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Depot, Headland Alabama

The Seaboard Coast Line Depot is one of the oldest wooden structures in Headland as well as one of the oldest railroad depots in the Southeast Alabama Region. Built in 1893 the depot represents as architectural style characteristic of that used in other railroad stations built in small communities during the same period. The Headland Depot was one of four built by the Abbeville Southern Railway Company to serve its solitary line which ran 26.9 miles from Abbeville Junction (now Grimes) on the Alabama Midland to Abbeville. Incorporated in 1892 the Abbeville Southern Railway Company was organized locally to provide railroad service to the surrounding area. The line became part of the Plant System and was operated by agreement with the

Memphis and Charleston Railroad Depot, Scottsboro Alabama

Memphis and Charleston Railroad Depot, Scottsboro Alabama

One of the last surviving antebellum depots in Alabama (most were burned during the Civil War), the depot in Scottsboro was begun in 1860 and completed and added to the Memphis and Charleston line on the eve of the Civil War in 1861. Scottsboro was located on the important route through Alabama which connected Memphis to Chattanooga. In 1865 the depot and surrounding area was the site of a skirmish between African-American Union troops, who were guarding the depot and water tanks, and rebel Confederate soldiers. The depot originally serviced both passengers and freight and continued to do so until 1892 when passenger service was transferred to a new depot constructed just for that purpose. The Memphis and Charleston line was

Dunbar High School, Bessemer Alabama

Dunbar High School, Bessemer Alabama

The city of Bessemer was founded in 1887 by industrialist Henry F. De Bardeleben as a manufacturing center to rival nearby Birmingham. Although the city never attained the stature of Birmingham, it did experience rapid growth in its formative years and by 1890 the population had risen to 4,544 persons. African Americans moved to Bessemer for job opportunities in mining and manufacturing, bringing with them children in need of schooling. A black elementary school was held in a Bessemer church as early as 1889. In 1891, the year the Bessemer Board of Education was officially established by the state legislature, the city boasted two public elementary schools, one black and one white. Accounts differ as to the number of students who

Central of Georgia Depot, Andalusia Alabama

Central of Georgia Depot, Andalusia Alabama

The Central of Georgia Depot, built in 1899, at Andalusia, Alabama is a fine example of a small, late 19^th century board and batten train station. This depot was designed and built for the Central of Georgia Railroad Company and is the last remaining commercial building of wooden construction in Andalusia. The railroad brought modern transportation and increased prosperity to the town of Andalusia by making available the means to export finished lumber, logs and timber, naval stores and agricultural products. Several new wholesale houses and businesses were opened near the depot. Also, the railroad was the major factor that caused the population of Andalusia to double, in one year, to 596. This form of modern transportation provided many new commercial

Dayton's Department Store, Minneapolis Minnesota

Dayton's Department Store, Minneapolis Minnesota

The Dayton's Department Store building is located at 700 Nicollet Mall (historically 700 Nicollet Avenue) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Dayton Corporation is a leading Minneapolis company that had a profound impact on Minnesota's retail landscape in the twentieth century. From its innovative sales and marketing techniques to revolutionizing discount shopping, the Dayton Corporation changed the way that Minnesotans shopped. The downtown Minneapolis location was the company's first store, its flagship store, and its corporate headquarters. From 1903 through the 1960s, the Dayton Corporation would respond to changing market conditions, suburbanization, and consumer demands in ways that changed the retail landscape in Minneapolis-and the country. From their corporate offices on the upper floors of the flagship store at Seventh Street South and

Alabama Midland Railway Depot, Ashford Alabama

Alabama Midland Railway Depot, Ashford Alabama

The Ashford/Alabama Midland Railroad Depot was associated with the Alabama Midland Railroad which was a major force in the development of the sparsely populated southeastern section of Alabama, primarily, Henry and, after its creation in 1903, Houston County. The depot was constructed in 1892 at the small lumber and naval stores producing village of Ashford as a shipping and passenger service station for the railroad. The railroad opened an avenue for the shipment of naval stores and lumber and later agricultural goods to markets which, up to the coming of the railroad, were not accessible. The accessibility of these new markets, by rail, attracted people living in the area around the town to settle near the shipping point of their products

Fort Payne Opera House, Fort Payne Alabama

Fort Payne Opera House, Fort Payne Alabama

The Fort Payne Opera House is a boom-town theatre. In 1889, the Fort Payne Coal and Iron Company was organized on the assumption that coal and iron deposits in the area could turn this village into a thriving manufacturing city. Immediately the town began booming, with investments coming from as far away as New England. Promoters called Fort Payne the little Chicago of the South. The DeKalb Hotel, with 180 rooms, was constructed, the opera house was built, and a railroad was laid up the mountain. When the mineral-manufacturing complex failed to materialize, the boom suddenly ended and the newcomers left. The population figures for this period show the rapidity of changes. In 1888, one year before the boom began, there

Sanger Brothers Complex, Dallas Texas

Sanger Brothers Complex, Dallas Texas

The block in downtown Dallas bounded by Elm Street on the north, Lamar Street on the Bast, Main Street on the south, and Austin Street on the west, contains four of the most significant buildings in the city. Examples of the High Victorian Italianate, Romanesque Revival, and Commercial-Sullivanesque styles are to be found on this block. The oldest building in the complex, located in the center of the block facing north on Elm Street, was built in 1884. Five stories in height, the building is a masonry structure with load-bearing walls. As was typical of the period, a cast iron storefront at the street level supports the masonry edifice above. An equally typical feature is the High Victorian Italianate-influence in the

Book Title Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

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

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

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

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