Historic Structures - Urban Exploration of Historic Properties

Interlake Public School, Seattle Washington

Interlake Public School, Seattle Washington

The design of Interlake School was the work of James Stephens, an architect who made a significant contribution to public school building programs throughout the State of Washington. This school is an essentially unaltered example of the Model School Plan adopted by the Seattle School Board as rapid expansion and increased school enrollments occurred in the city generally, and the Wallingford neighborhood specifically. The Interlake Public School, which is now located adjacent to an active commercial thoroughfare, has strong associations with the earliest establishment of the surrounding neighborhood. During the February 8^th, 1904 meeting of the Seattle School Board, plans for the construction of Interlake School were presented by school architect James Stephens and approved by the Board. Board minutes do

Bay View Brewery, Seattle Washington

Bay View Brewery, Seattle Washington

The growth and success of the Bay View Brewery facilitated Andrew Hemrich's political and commercial prominence; the incorporation of the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company; and the creation of the regionally iconic Rainier Beer brand. From founding in 1883 through construction of the last addition in 1962 before Sick's death, the brewery underwent several name changes: 1883-1884: Hemrich and Company's Brewery
1885: name changes to Bay View Brewery, because of site overlooking Elliott Bay
1891: brewery incorporated as the Bay View Brewing Company and continued as such through 1892
1893-1918: Seattle Brewing and Malting Company Brewery, Bay View Branch
1919-1932: Bay View Milling Company
1933-1935: Century Brewing Association, Inc.
1936-1962: Seattle Brewing and Malting Company and Rainier Brewery
Andrew

Race Rock Light Station, Fishers Island New York

Race Rock Light Station, Fishers Island New York

Located off the western end of Fishers Island in Suffolk County, New York, the Race Rock Light Station has been an active aid to navigation since 1879 and was one of the last offshore light stations in the eastern United States to have a solid masonry base constructed for support. Engineer, artist and author Francis Hopkinson Smith (1838-1915) was a prominent late nineteenth century civil engineer in the United States whose company was responsible for several important public works in addition to the Race Rock Lighthouse. These other properties include the Block Island breakwater, the Staten Island sea wall, and the foundation for the Statue of Liberty. This property is located at the Race, a narrows between Fishers Island and northeastern

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Station, Menominee Michigan

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Station, Menominee Michigan

The Milwaukee Road depot at Menominee is associated with one of the major rail lines serving the city and the Upper Peninsula between 1860 and 1938, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. It also notes the brief existence of railroad passenger service in Menominee during the twilight of its logging era. In 1857 the Michigan legislature granted thousands of Upper Peninsula land to railroad companies for acquisition and future rail development. Authorized by the Congressional Land Act of 1856, the grants created several Upper Peninsula rail systems, which by the 1870s laid track near and through the region's mining and timber heartlands. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific, recipient of 34,227 acres in land grants, was one such

Bonita Springs School, Bonita Springs Florida

Bonita Springs School, Bonita Springs Florida

Located in southernmost Lee County on the banks of the Imperial River, the rural village of Bonita Springs grew into a thriving small town during the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s. Originally known as Survey, the community was the site of several substantial citrus groves when much of the land was purchased by a group of investors led by J. Henry Ragsdale in 1912. Ragsdale renamed the village Bonita Springs in honor of his daughter's name and because of the location there of a fresh water spring. The event that sparked intensive settlement of the community was the construction of the Fort Myers Southern Railroad through the community in 1923. Bonita Springs became popular as a health resort after the

Queen Anne High School, Seattle Washington

Queen Anne High School, Seattle Washington

Completed in 1909, Queen Anne High School, located crest of Queen Anne Hill, was among the first high schools constructed in the city and an outstanding example of the work of prominent school architect James Stephens (whose model school plan of 1901 had been adopted statewide). Stephens designed an imposing structure, distinguished by its classical style and innovations in fireproofing, heating and ventilating systems, and classroom facilities. Enlarged in 1929, and again in 1955, the high school continued to serve as the focal point for public education in Queen Anne and a dominant feature of the hill. A sparsely settled area in the 1880's, just recently logged, and connected to Seattle only by a crude wagon road, Queen Anne Town was

Owls Head Light Station, Owls Head Maine

Owls Head Light Station, Owls Head Maine

The lighthouse at Owl's Head designates the entrance to Rockland Harbor, Maine. The ships that were guided to safe harbor by the light carried the goods, raw material and people that assisted in the development of coastal villages to modern towns and cities of today. Ships and boats were the main mode of transportation, and the sea, rivers and streams were the only roads. The following history of the Owls Head Light consists of extracts from The Lighthouses of New England written by Edgar Rowe Snow. At the entrance to the attractive seaport of Rockland, Maine is a high, wave-swept promontory, visible to all who sail up or down Penobscot Bay. Pine trees and grassy terraces vie with each other for

Union Station, Seattle Washington

Union Station, Seattle Washington

Seattle's Union Station is an important transportation intersection that once helped to exert strong pressures on the patterns of local and regional development. It is also a fine example of monumental railroad architecture which survives to this day as one of the best-designed structures in the industrial portion of the city. The station was designed by architect D. J. Patterson of San Francisco. Major elements of the station categorize it architecturally as representative of the Roman Classic Revival period of the early 1900's. Ground was broken for the station's construction in January 1910. The station was completed for occupancy on May 1^st, 1911, and formal dedication ceremonies were conducted on May 21^st, 1911. The Union Station site consisted of blocks 25,

Oakfield Station, Oakfield Maine

Oakfield Station, Oakfield Maine

Oakfield's former railroad passenger station is the most significant extant building associated with the community's once important position astride the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad. Opened in 1912, the station served in its original capacity until 1961 when passenger service was eliminated along this rail corridor. In addition to its association with Oakfield's development as a railroad center, the relatively intact station exhibits the architectural features of a number of similar structures located along the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad. The small rural community of Oakfield became an important Aroostook County railroad center by virtue of its location at the junction of two important rail lines. In 1893, the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad completed a main line from Brownville via Oakfield to Houlton,

Swan House - Atlanta Historical Society, Atlanta Georgia

Swan House - Atlanta Historical Society, Atlanta Georgia

Designed by Atlanta architect Philip Trammell Schutze in 1928 and decorated by Ruby Ross Wood of New York, Swan House stands today as the home of the Atlanta Historical Society, the third most well-endowed institution of its kind in the United States. Built by Edward H. Inman, one of Atlanta's best citizens and a member of a noted local family, Swan House served as the home of the Inman family for nearly forty years. Upon the death of Mrs. Inman in 1965, the house and estate, valued at some $8,000,000, went to the Atlanta Historical Society. Located on prestigious Andrews Drive, N.W., Swan House was not the house that the Inman's had originally intended to build on what was soon to

Stryker Depot, Stryker Ohio

Stryker Depot, Stryker Ohio

The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, which built the Stryker Depot in 1900, to replace an earlier frame structure destroyed by fire, apparently predicted continued growth for the town. In fact, Stryker's rapid growth made it one of the so called big towns along the route and thus the recipient of a substantial brick and stone railroad station. The town later languished. However, the Stryker Depot remains as important visual evidence of the high hopes which both the railroad and local citizens had for their town. Rail service through Stryker dates from 1855, when the Michigan Southern took over the ailing Northern Indiana Railroad and built its famous Air Line Route through northwestern Ohio into Indiana, where it joined existing

Little River Light Station, Cutler Maine

Little River Light Station, Cutler Maine

Established in 1847 and substantially rebuilt in 1876 and 1888, the Little River Light Station is located on Little River Island at the mouth of the Little River. It was built here not only as a guide to the refuge at Cutler Harbor but also as a Navigational aid between the lights at West Quoddy Head to the northeast, Libby Island to the southwest and the Canadian seacoast light at Machias Seal Island. The small community of Cutler is focused on Cutler Harbor which opens out to the south. Known for its deep, ice-free character and the high protective bluffs that surround it, the harbor provided an important natural resource for the development of the village. Incorporated in 1826, Cutler had

Eustatia House, Beacon New York

Eustatia House, Beacon New York

Judge John Monell's brick cottage, Eustatia, is a rare intact example of the High Victorian Gothic Style as adapted to cottage architecture. The design is in keeping with the ideals popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing, Calvert Vaux and other notable mid-nineteenth-century architects in the mid-Hudson region. The architect of the building was Frederick C. Withers who, after briefly studying with Downing, went on to become one of the accepted leaders of the High Victorian Style in this country. The major significance of Eustatia lies in the fact that it is one of the earliest and most highly developed High Victorian Gothic cottages in America. Its high degree of integrity and its associations with Frederick Withers and the so-called Downing School, make

Chetolah - George Inness Jr. Estate, Cragsmoor New York

Chetolah - George Inness Jr. Estate, Cragsmoor New York

Chetolah was the summer home of George Inness, Jr. It recalls the lavish lifestyle of a successful, turn-of-the-century artist at home in a well-established art colony. The art colony at Cragsmoor developed in the 1870s and thrived until the 1930s, Until the railroad reached Ellenville in 1871, the area was a relatively isolated, agricultural region, disturbed only by the Delaware and Hudson Canal which carried coal from Pennsylvania coal fields to the Hudson River port of Kingston. The country outside the town was unaffected by the canal, but with the railroad providing easy transportation, local entrepreneurs began to capitalize on the beautiful scenery by opening guesthouses and small resorts. One particular settlement, Evansville, became popular with artists and developed into Cragsmoor,

George H. Miller House, Bloomington Illinois

George H. Miller House, Bloomington Illinois

This building is the home built by George Miller soon after his marriage. He lived here from 1890 until his death in 1927. Miller was the first architect to practice for any sustained period in Bloomington. He designed many public buildings, churches, office buildings, and private homes in Bloomington, the surrounding area and throughout the Midwest. George H. Miller's parents were born in Germany. They came to this country and settled in Bloomington in 1855. George was born the following year. When he was fifteen Miller entered the architectural offices of Richter and Bunting where he worked as a draftsman. In 1874 he worked briefly in Ohio, returning in 1875 to work in the Chicago offices of F. & E. Baumann,

Rock Island Passenger Train Depot, Weldon Arkansas

Rock Island Passenger Train Depot, Weldon Arkansas

The town of Weldon grew to any noteworthy size only after the Civil War, when several families located here along what was one of the principal local overland routes between Jacksonport on the White River and Augusta, Brinkley, and other communities to the south. Good farmland and plentiful stands of timber provided the principal means of income for most of the early residents. Not surprisingly, the fledgling Brinkley and Batesville Railroad also chose to construct their rail line along the established highway, though the line from Brinkley terminated at Jacksonport and was never constructed through to Batesville. The growing Chicago, Rock Island and Southern Railroad (known as the Rock Island) purchased the line by the end of the first decade of

Southwestern Bell Repeater Station, Wright City Missouri

Southwestern Bell Repeater Station, Wright City Missouri

Repeater stations first appeared in the late 1920s and 1930s and initially contained equipment that allowed sound messages to be amplified and carried over long-distance lines via other repeater stations between main telephone exchanges. All telephone companies had to implement this new technology in order to remain competitive in the market as well as keep up with emerging technology in communications capability. This property type represents a short-lived model however the buildings remained in use by telephone companies with updates in equipment installation. The Southwestern Bell Telephone Company completed the building in 1930 as one of four repeater stations constructed along the original Highway 40 (now Interstate 70) enabling clear long distance between St. Louis and Kansas City and thence to

Tatoosh Island Lighthouse, Olympic Peninsula Washington

Tatoosh Island Lighthouse, Olympic Peninsula Washington

On March 22^nd, 1778, Captain James Cook discovered and named Cape Flattery. Manuel Quimper called it Punta de Martinez in 1790. It was also known as Cape Classet and Tutusi by the early fur traders. The original name given by Cook was retained by Vancouver on his chart in 1792. Probably no lighthouse along the the Pacific Coast is more isolated than is that of Tatoosh Island. Even in present times, it is necessary to drive to Neah Bay, a Makah Indian village, and from there go by boat to the island. The lighthouse on Tatoosh Island is the guiding one for ships passing Cape Flattery en route into the Strait of Juan. de Fuca. In the early years, the light

Lambskin Temple, St. Louis Missouri

Lambskin Temple, St. Louis Missouri

When constructed in 1927, the building was in the vanguard of the new Modernistic architecture, just then beginning to appear in the Midwest, and later to be more fully developed in high rise and commercial buildings in major St. Louis business districts. Designed by St. Louis architect Edward F. Nolte, the Lambskin Temple is a monumental three-story brick structure; the massive planes of its facade are overlaid with a flat geometric pattern of varied materials. The abstract quality of its ornamentation serves to emphasize the synthetic and graphic qualities of its design. The Lambskin Temple was the first fraternal building in St. Louis, and one of the first in the country, which relinquished historical references in favor of the new modernism.

Coral Court Motel, Marlborough Missouri

Coral Court Motel, Marlborough Missouri

The Coral Court Motel is located at 7755 Watson Road in the Village of Marlborough, Missouri and was built in 1941 on Route 66. It is associated with the growth of commerce oriented to automobile travel, which enjoyed a period of brief prosperity before World War II. The architecture of the Coral Court embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Streamline Moderne, one of the sub-categories of the modernistic styles that appeared in the 1920s and became popular in the 1930s. The Coral Court Motel is outstanding in part because of its remarkable state of preservation, but it was also exceptionally well designed by the standards of its day. Adolph L. Struebig, the architect who designed Coral Court, recalled that John Carr,

Book Title Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Book Title Abandoned Malls of America: Crumbling Commerce Left Behind

Abandoned Malls of America: Crumbling Commerce Left Behind

Book Title Abandoned Train Stations: Rail Stations, Yards, Signalboxes and Tracks that the World Left Behind

Abandoned Train Stations: Rail Stations, Yards, Signalboxes and Tracks that the World Left Behind

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

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