Latest Structures Page 50

Joplin Connor Hotel, Joplin Missouri

Joplin Connor Hotel, Joplin Missouri

The Hotel closed in 1969 and was vacant until 1971 two local residents of Joplin purchased the hotel and began restoring it. The retail spaces on the first floor and the restaurant were rented, covering the expenses for the building while plans were made to convert half of the hotel rooms into apartments, and reopen half for a hotel. The structure was designated a historic landmark in 1973, and financing was sought to complete the restoration project. Meanwhile, Joplin City Council, for whatever reason, decided that the hotel site was the only location to build a new library, and a company was formed to make that happen. The city tried, unsuccessfully, to have the historic landmark designation revoked, hampering efforts to

Shushan Covered Bridge, Shushan New York

Shushan Covered Bridge, Shushan New York

The ease of construction afforded local builders by the Town lattice truss explains its popularity in Washington County. At least eleven Town truss bridges are known to have spanned the Batten Kill during the nineteenth century. Of these eleven, only two examples remain in Washington County. The Eaglevllle Covered Bridge was erected by local builder Ephraim Clapp in 1858. The Shushan Bridge, built in 1858 by Milton Stevens, has survived as the result of local preservation efforts. Open to the public on a seasonal basis, the Shushan Covered Bridge presently houses a local history collection of artifacts. Both the Eaglevllle and the Shushan bridges are significant as typical examples of the Town lattice truss design as constructed in New York State

Eleanor Roosevelt School, Warm Springs Georgia

Eleanor Roosevelt School, Warm Springs Georgia

The Eleanor Roosevelt School was the 5,358^th and final school built in the United States using the Julius Rosenwald Fund. The school was constructed in 1936 even though the fund had officially ceased operations four years earlier. The Rosenwald School Building Program, which began in 1912, was a major effort to improve the quality of public education for African Americans in the early-20th-century South. Between 1912 and 1920, philanthropist Julius Rosenwald worked with African-American educators (including Booker T. Washington) at the Tuskegee Institute to build several black schools in Alabama. In addition to providing financial support for the construction of new schools, the program also produced plan books to aid local communities with constructing cost-efficient, architect-designed school buildings. The Negro Rural

Salisbury Center Covered Bridge, Salisbury Center New York

Salisbury Center Covered Bridge, Salisbury Center New York

The Salisbury Center Covered Bridge is the sole survivor of seven bridges of this form which were once present in the town of Salisbury. It is the only example of this rapidly disappearing type in its region of the state. Today only twenty-five of the over two hundred and fifty covered bridges constructed in New York State during the nineteenth century still exist. In 1817 Theodore Burr patented the combination arch-and-truss structural system. Although more advanced trusses were invented, local bridge builders continued to use the Burr truss almost to the end of the century because of its strength and stability and because it could be made of materials easily available in rural areas. In 1875 Alvah Hopson, a local bridge

Edward Augustus Russell House, Middletown Connecticut

Edward Augustus Russell House, Middletown Connecticut

This house was built for Edward Augustus Russell (1797-1874) in 1841-1842. He was a member of a distinguished family that had resided in Middletown since the 17^th century and a direct descendant of Noadiah Russell, the second pastor of the First Congregational Church. The second son of Captain John and Abigail Warner Russell, his career in business paralleled that of his older and better-known brother Samuel. Following the early death of his father, Edward was also apprenticed to Samuel Wetmore, a Middletown merchant, and clerked for Edward Carrington and Company of Providence, East India traders. In 1825 he joined his brother in China where he worked for Russell and Company, a firm founded by Samuel Russell and Philip Amidon of New

Rexleigh Covered Bridge, Rexleigh New York

Rexleigh Covered Bridge, Rexleigh New York

Built in 1874 to serve the small mill community of Rexleigh on the Batten Kill, the Rexleigh, Howe truss bridge is a later example of its type. Constructed of standard sawed timbers, iron tension rods, and cast-iron bearing blocks embossed with the name of their manufacturer, R. Comins, Troy, N.Y., the Rexleigh Covered Bridge appears to be a rare surviving example of this type of prefabricated nineteenth-century bridge construction. Local builders, using abundant native timber for construction materials, erected a number of roofed bridges based upon two principal designs: the plank lattice truss patented by Ithiel Town (1820), and the timber and iron truss patented by William Howe (1840). The Howe truss type is represented in Washington County by the bridges

Somerset Place Plantation, Creswell North Carolina

Somerset Place Plantation, Creswell North Carolina

Somerset Place was one of the most significant antebellum plantations in North Carolina. Located on Lake Phelps, near the Scuppernong River, the plantation at the height of its development, comprised several thousand acres of arable land, grist and saw mills, abundant labor supply, and vast fields of corn, its main crop. The history of the Somerset Place site began with the discovery of Lake Phelps in 1755 by Josiah Phelps and Benjamin Tarkinton, local hunters. The body of water lay amidst a vast, forbidding swamp, considered, at the time to be useless for human habitation. It was not until the 1780s that plans were developed for the exploitation of the region. In 1784, three Edenton businessmen; Josiah Collins, Dr. Luther Dickinson,

Perrine's Covered Bridge, Rosendale New York

Perrine's Covered Bridge, Rosendale New York

Built in 1844, Perrine's Bridge is one of the oldest covered wooden bridges still standing in New York State and the only true example of the Burr Arch type. It has served horse and buggy, automobile, and pedestrian traffic from the date of its construction to the present. The scenic beauty of the bridge has long been admired by artists and tourists from many areas. The Burr Arch was patented in 1817 by Theodore Burr (1771-1822). One of the early settlers of Oxford, New York, Burr was a millwright with a flair for heavy construction, and bridge-building became his life work. He is noted as one of the first and most prominent master bridge builders in the United States. The architectural

James and Jessie West Mansion, Pasadena Texas

James and Jessie West Mansion, Pasadena Texas

The James and Jessie West Mansion is one of the largest and most opulent dwellings built in Texas during the 1920s. The Italian Renaissance villa is finely crafted, and originally was the centerpiece of a 30,000 acre ranch. James Marion West (1871-1941) was a major figure in the early Texas timber industry with extensive ranching and oil interests as well. The property is the work of prominent Houston architect Joseph Finger (1887-1953). James Marion West, Senior, was in many ways the quintessential rags-to-riches Texas millionaire. Born in Waynesboro, Mississippi, in May 1871, West's parents moved to the community of Pennington in Trinity County, Texas in 1880. His father, Silas Wesley, and mother, Mattie Clark, eventually settled near Groveton establishing a family

John J. Glessner House, Chicago Illinois

John J. Glessner House, Chicago Illinois

H.H. Richardson was the second American architect to study at the Ecole dea Beaux-Arts in Paris (after Richard Morris Hunt). His earlier works, after returning to Boston in 1865, showed some of the eclecticism that dominated architecture in the second half of the 19^th century. Glessner House in Chicago is the product of his nature years - in the early medieval idiom that is still called Richardsonian-Romanesque. The house for J.J. Glessner, a vice president of International Harvester, in one of his greatest houses the same details reflect this style; heavy, rough stone courses, rounded arches and turrets. The house, in the center of Chicago's original Gold Coast, is fortress-like on the exterior as it was on an urban site but

Newfield Covered Bridge, Newfield New York

Newfield Covered Bridge, Newfield New York

The Newfield Covered Bridge is a rare and substantially intact example of rural vernacular bridge design and construction in Tompkins County. Built of native materials, the timber bridge was erected at Newfield in 1853. The 115-foot, single-span structure incorporates the patented Town lattice truss; it is one of only 10 examples of its type and method of construction remaining in New York State. Built as a vehicular and pedestrian crossing over Cayuga Creek, the Newfield Covered Bridge remains in daily use. The initial permanent settlement of the present hamlet of Newfield occurred during the first decade of the nineteenth century. Eliaken Dean purchased land along the West Branch of Cayuga Creek, where he erected a sawmill and grist mill. Originally named

Shupe-Williams Candy Company, Ogden Utah

Shupe-Williams Candy Company, Ogden Utah

In its early beginnings in Utah, the first candy was made of sorghum molasses derived from sugar cane as pioneer attempts to produce sugar from sugar beets proved unsuccessful. Mormon church leaders, in keeping with their policy of maintaining self-sufficient communities, imported sugar-making machinery from France during the 1850's. Often crucial pieces of machinery and instructions were missing and because local people were not sufficiently trained in operating and repairing the machinery, production from the imported machinery was very limited. The early pioneers therefore hauled sugar into the territory by ox team before the coming of the railroad in 1869. After 1869 it became easier to import cane sugar, sugar and candy-making machinery. As the market as well as for candy

Old Lyford High School, Lyford Texas

Old Lyford High School, Lyford Texas

Being the first building erected solely for use as a high school in Willacy County, the Old Lyford High School was constructed in 1923 according to designs prepared by the San Antonio architectural firm of Smith & Kelly. The students were originally drawn from several small neighboring communities, and the construction of the school took place after the near-unanimous passage of a bond election to raise the needed funds. The structure served its original function until superseded by a new high school in 1958. Willacy County was created in 1911 and is situated just to the north of the Rio Grande and above Cameron County. During the early years of the county's history, it was threatened by the incursions of Mexican

Timberline Lodge, Government Camp Oregon

Timberline Lodge, Government Camp Oregon

Widely regarded as the finest example of 1930's mountain architecture, Timberline Lodge is sited on the south slope of Mt. Hood. Conceived by the Federal Works Progress Administration the structure is a remarkable example of the WPA ideal at its best; artists and craftsmen, builders and architects working to create a major building, beautifully appointed. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Lodge on September 28^th, 1937. Timberline Lodge was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1935 and completed in 1938. Timberline Lodge was sponsored by the Forest Service Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, built by Works Progress Administration labor and financed by Federal appropriations combined with locally subscribed private contributions which were raised by the Mount Hood Development

Lower Shavertown Covered Bridge, Methol New York

Lower Shavertown Covered Bridge, Methol New York

The Lower Shavertown Covered Bridge is a rare and substantially intact example of rural vernacular bridge design and construction in the Catskill region. Originally erected in 1877 to cross Lower Beech Hill Brook at Shavertown, in 1954 the span was moved 15 miles to its present location at Methol. Constructed of native materials, the 42-foot, single-span structure incorporates the patented Town lattice truss design; it is one of only 10 examples of its type and method of construction remaining in New York State. Saved from destruction during the construction of the Pepacton Reservoir, this small span is a rare surviving structure associated with the inundated Shavertown community. At its present location on a private road, the Lower Shavertown Covered Bridge remains

Stanley Hotel, Estes Park Colorado

Stanley Hotel, Estes Park Colorado

The Stanley Hotel, one of the important early mountain resorts in north central Colorado, is both a monument to its builder, F.O. Stanley, and an architectural landmark in the Estes Park area. In addition, the hotel played an important role in the growth of the tourist trade in that area. F.O. Stanley was born in 1849 in Kingston, Maine. He and his twin brother Francis were engineers with several inventions to their credit. Perhaps the most important was the photographic dry plate process which permitted film to be made available in rolls instead of the cumbersome wet plate process and thus opened the way for the simple box cameras of today. This invention was sold to George Eastman who helped found

Hyde Hall Covered Bridge, New York

Hyde Hall Covered Bridge, New York

The Hyde Hall Covered Bridge is a rare and substantially intact example of timber truss bridge design and construction in Otsego County. Built in 1825 as a component of the vast Clarke estate, the bridge incorporates the Burr arch truss design developed and patented by Theodore Burr in 1817. The bridge truss system remains intact and is one of only three known extant examples of Burr arch truss bridges remaining in New York. The former estate on which the Hyde Hall Covered Bridge is located was a tract of 600 acres first acquired by Englishman George Clarke in 1738. Clarke served as colonial lieutenant-governor of New York colony from 1733-1744. Upon the death of his wife, Clarke returned to England. After

Mobley Hotel, Cisco Texas

Mobley Hotel, Cisco Texas

A.J. Olsen Construction built the Mobley Hotel in 1916 for Henry Mobley. Conrad Hilton purchased the hotel in 1919, during the time it catered to the participants of the Ranger oil field boom in west central Texas. The building is significant for being the first Hilton Hotel. It was the birthplace of not only one of the world's leading hotel chains, but also of the modern hospitality industry itself. Henry Mobley of Cisco built his hotel on property purchased from A.J. Olsen, who had purchased it from the Texas Central Railroad Company in 1914. The Mobley Hotel opened its doors in 1916. Most of its guests came from the railway station across the road. The major feature of the hotel was

North Fort Worth High School, Fort Worth Texas

North Fort Worth High School, Fort Worth Texas

The North Fort Worth High School (NFWHS), also referred to as North Side High School (NSHS), was built in 1918 to accommodate the educational needs of the growing population on the city's northside. From 1918 through the spring of 1991, the school was known sequentially as NFWHS, Technical High School (THS), and J.P. Elder Junior High (later Middle) School Annex. Closed in 1991 and scheduled for demolition, a group of concerned citizens formed the nonprofit North Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Inc., for the purpose of preserving and reusing the building. Schooling north of the City of Fort Worth began in 1879 when land developer Meredith Ellis established a private school in a 20 x 30-foot building at the south line

Elm Court Estate, Butler Pennsylvania

Elm Court Estate, Butler Pennsylvania

Retaining all of its original fixtures and detailing, Elm Court stands as a rare period piece of the Gothic Revival of the 1920's and 30's. It is also one of only two buildings in Butler by Benno Janssen, the other being a small classical office building for the J.W. Phillips Gas & Oil Company. Benno Janssen (1874-1964), working in conjunction first with Franklin Abbott and later with William York Cocken, was considered to be quite a fashionable designer. In tune with the eclecticism of his time, Janssen worked in both the Italianate - Classical and Romantic country house styles. Best known for his work in Pittsburgh; the Pittsburgh Athletic Association (1901-11), Mellon Institute for Industrial Research (1931-37), the E.J. Kaufmann House

Book Title Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

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 Abandoned: Hauntingly Beautiful Deserted Theme Parks

Abandoned: Hauntingly Beautiful Deserted Theme Parks

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