Latest Structures Page 93

Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, Poughkeepsie New York

Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, Poughkeepsie New York

The building of the Great Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge encountered both political and physical obstacles. However, two respected and powerful Poughkeepsians were able to persuade individuals to subscribe, bridge companies to take the contracts and the State Legislature to renew the charter; during the twelve years that it took to see the bridge to completion. As a result, the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge was one of the great bridges of the nineteenth century, significant transportation achievement and a symbol of progress to Poughkeepsians. The 1860s was a progressive era in Poughkeepsie. The riverfront was crowded with a variety of industries, real estate was booming, the country's first sand filtration water system was being designed, New York Central was improving the successful east shore

Rouses Point Railroad Station, Rouses Point New York

Rouses Point Railroad Station, Rouses Point New York

At the northeast corner of the State of New York, on the west bank of Lake Champlain adjacent to the International Boundary between the United States and Canada, is situated the Village of Rouses Point. Named after its first permanent white settler, Captain Jacques Rouse, the community has long been famous as a Border Port and gateway for trade and commerce between Canada and the Eastern United States. The lands in and about Rouses Point were established as the Canadian and Nova Scotia Refugee Tract and were granted to the soldiers who came from Canada and Nova Scotia to fight on the side of the American Colonists during the Revolution. Most of the soldiers sold their grants to land speculators, who

Erie Railroad Station, Jamestown New York

Erie Railroad Station, Jamestown New York

Located at the outlet of Lake Chautauqua near the Pennsylvania border in the Southern Tier of New York State, the City of Jamestown was founded in 1810 by James Prendergast on land originally owned by the Holland Land Company. In its early days the community developed a reputation as a summer resort, especially for people from Ohio and Pennsylvania. It is to Ohio, and particularly Cincinnati, What Hastings or Southend is to London, a quite, middle class watering-place, wrote English visitor Patrick Barry in 1866. Already [in May], he noted, every vacant house has been secured for the summer months. But just a few years before Barry had made this statement, the city had begun to attract a growing number of

Loyd Hall Plantation, Cheneyville Louisiana

Loyd Hall Plantation, Cheneyville Louisiana

Loyd Hall has long been considered a landmark in central Louisiana because it is architecturally unique in the Bayou Boeuf area and beyond. Its uniqueness for the area stems from several points. First of all, it appears to be the only brick plantation house in the upper Bayou Boeuf area (the Anglo-Saxon settled part) left from the 19^th century. Virtually all of the others were built of cypress, including New Hope, Homeplace, Walnut Grove, Wellswood, Wytchwood, Bennetts' House and various others. Secondly, Loyd Hall is the only truly pretentious building in the area. The others seem only like good, substantial farmhouses in comparison. Loyd Hall is very different in form from the other houses in the area. With its brick structure

Robert Buckles Round Barn, Mount Pulaski Illinois

Robert Buckles Round Barn, Mount Pulaski Illinois

The Buckles Barn is one of the few remaining round barns in central Illinois, and the only known round barn in this area constructed with vitrified tile. The tile are unusual in that they are curved based on the barn's 30 feet radius. The barn was built in 1917 at a cost of $11,000. The farmhouse, which was built at the same time cost $17,000. The barn is a fine example of a round farm structure that was inspired by a promotional effort of the University of Illinois, A bulletin, developed by William J. Fraser at the Agricultural Experiment Station was published in 1910 on the topic of The Economy of Round Barn. This effort by the university gave the round

Division Street School, New Albany Indiana

Division Street School, New Albany Indiana

Division Street School was built a generation after the end of the Civil War to serve New Albany's growing black population, it continued to serve this role until eight years before Brown vs. the Board of Education, when it was consolidated with another segregated school. It is believed to be one of the oldest remaining African-American schools in the state. New Albany was founded in 1813 on the banks of the Ohio River by Joel, Abner, and Nathaniel Scribner. They selected the site because of its location just below the Falls of the Ohio, the only natural barrier to navigation along the 981-mile length of the river. Its location made New Albany a natural port, and the surrounding area offered an

Carr High School - Weddleville High School, Medora Indiana

Carr High School - Weddleville High School, Medora Indiana

The school was constructed in 1857 on land given to the inhabitants of Carr Township by George W. Carr the previous year. The first classes in the new school were taught in March 1858 and classes continued to be held in the school until 1934. On June 21, 1856, the stockholders of the Carr Township High School Association met at the site fixed upon to erect a suitable building for a high school in Carr Township, Jackson County, Indiana. George W. Carr was clerk of the meeting and was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees for the school. The site was 1.32 acres given to the residents of the township by George W. Carr and his wife Fannie

Alliance Bank - First National Bank, Alliance Ohio

Alliance Bank - First National Bank, Alliance Ohio

Built in 1914 and expanded in 1923, the building is an important symbol of Alliance's prosperity and standing as a center of commerce and banking in the years before and after World War I. In Stark County, the Alliance Bank was the second high-rise bank building to be built, following City National Bank in Canton, which was built in 1895, but pre-dating the First National Bank in Massillon. By the mid-1920s, the skylines of all three cities were dominated by such buildings. The construction of the Alliance Bank changed the face of downtown Alliance by introducing a large-scale, classically-styled office building into a downtown of mostly three- and four-story 19th-century commercial buildings. Its classical style and three-part design of base, shaft

Portage Hotel, Akron Ohio

Portage Hotel, Akron Ohio

Abandoned Since 1978, this Building was Demolished in 1992

The Portage Hotel, serving as the premier hotel for Akron during the rubber boom of the first third of the twentieth century, is significant as a key site in the formation and development of the United Rubber Workers of America. Rubber made Akron, and rubber created the Portage Hotel and helped it prosper. By 1910, Akron boomed because of the rubber industry, but the city was without a decent hotel to host salesmen and executives traveling to town. A group of prominent businessmen, including three rubber company executives, formed a corporation to finance the Portage Hotel. Named for the nearby Indian portage trail, the hotel opened on July 11^th, 1912 attracting Akron's most prominent citizens. It served as the city's premier

Barclay Court Apartments, Atlantic City New Jersey

Barclay Court Apartments, Atlantic City New Jersey

The Barclay Court Apartment was from the early twentieth-century heyday of Atlantic City recalling the time when it was truly the nation's vacation spot, before tropical resorts and then casinos replaced the historic city of the past. It is of note because of its bright tiles and varied brick colors gave it an exuberant commercial character that typified so much of the resort experience. The building was known in the 1920s as a residence of significance, housing Wanamakers, and later Mayor Jackson; and it is the work of local architect J. Vaughn Mathis (1882-1964) who did so much to shape his native city in a career that spanned the resort's greatest era of prosperity from 1905 until the Depression. Finally, after

Jefferson Hotel, Shreveport Louisiana

Jefferson Hotel, Shreveport Louisiana

From its founding in 1835, Shreveport became a natural crossroads of commerce due to its location on the Red River, a major trade artery. However, by the turn of the century, the Iron Horse had supplanted the steamboat, and Shreveport soon emerged as a major regional railroad hub. In short, it had moved from a river town to a railroad town. There were no less than six railroad lines converging upon Shreveport, radiating from the city like the spokes of a wagon wheel. These transportation facilities enabled the city to become a regional shipping center as well as a major passenger hub. Perhaps Shreveport's railroad history is most graphically illustrated in Sanborn Insurance Company maps for the 1890s-1935 period. Even the

Harlem Plantation House, Pointe a la Hache Louisiana

Harlem Plantation House, Pointe a la Hache Louisiana

The Mississippi River below New Orleans was and is one of the main arteries of transportation in the nation, and undoubtedly most of the plantations along the river had relatively modest residences like Harlem. Many of these, however, have disappeared from the area, leaving Harlem as one of very few surviving examples. Harlem is further distinguished (within the same geographical context) as a transitional building that reflects both the French and Anglo-American traditions. The hall-less plan and the chimney placement reflect the French influence, while the symmetrical articulation and the sash type windows reflect the Anglo-American influence. Harlem is noteworthy in this regard because its central room (a common feature in transitional architecture) is unusually large. Building Description Harlem Plantation House

Scotland Bridge, Mechanicsburg Indiana

Scotland Bridge, Mechanicsburg Indiana

Scotland Bridge provided an important transportation link on a road which formerly ended at Sugar Creek. The Scotland Bridge on Lost Road allowed access to Scotland Church and Cemetery, an important center for this rural Scotch-Irish community. County Road 200 East is also known as Lost Road, because, according to local lore, the road ended abruptly at or near Sugar Creek. Lost Road appeared to vanish into the swampy area around the site of the bridge, according to an 1860s account. An 1876 atlas map shows the road continuing north of Sugar Creek, indicating an earlier bridge on the site or a ford. In 1894, the Scotland Christian Church was built, and regular, permanent access north of Sugar Creek would have

Santa Rita Apartments, Atlantic City New Jersey

Santa Rita Apartments, Atlantic City New Jersey

Surrounded by the churches, clubs and institutions of Atlantic City's permanent community along Pacific Avenue, the Santa Rita Apartment brought modern, high-rise urban living to the resort town. The building is visually striking with its green copper bays and cornice outlining its strong, simple form. The building had added significance because for a time it was the tallest structure in the seashore resort, and for a long time was topped only by the oceanfront hotels. The size of the Santa Rita denotes another purpose, for by its size across the street from the boardwalk hotels, it marks the maturation of Atlantic City as a metropolis in its own right and no longer as just a resort extension of Philadelphia. It was

Hotel Morton, Atlantic City New Jersey

Hotel Morton, Atlantic City New Jersey

Due to a disastrous fire (ca.1973) which destroyed the main office, official records of the Morton Hotel are lost. Therefore, to reconstruct the hotel's history, it was necessary to consult various former owners and their relatives. Mrs. Mamie B. Haines operated a guest house on the site from 1898 to 1918, which was named for John Morton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. It is asserted that Mrs. Haines was a direct descendent. In 1918 her daughter Mary married Ezra Bell, and the guest house was taken over by a partnership that he apparently headed. An early decision of the partnership was to move the guest building to the rear of the property and erect the present brick structure. Although

Mayfair Theatre, Asbury Park New Jersey

Mayfair Theatre, Asbury Park New Jersey

The Mayfair Theater cost $1.5 million to build, a huge sum for such a structure in the late 1930s. Marble water bowls with silver legs in the restrooms were valued at $1,650 in 1927. Opening in 1927, the Mayfair has showed, since then, thousands of significant movies through the years. The theater was the Flagship of the Walter Reade Organization whose home offices are in the Asbury Park area where the Mayfair is located. The Asbury Park Press said of the Mayfair to those who are familiar with theater masterpieces, there was laid before them a theater of such Broadway would be proud to have in its Roaring Forties. This refers to its magnificent exterior and interior architecture of which there

J.F. Budd Baby Shoe Factory - West Electronics Company, Burlington City New Jersey

J.F. Budd Baby Shoe Factory - West Electronics Company, Burlington City New Jersey

The Burlington City manufacturing climate into which the J.F. Budd Baby Shoe Factory was born was one marked by impressive industrial growth in the latter half of the nineteenth century, particularly for the shoe industry. James Birch established his renowned carriage business in Burlington City in 1862, and J.T. Severns established a large lumber yard and wood factory that same year. Several foundries were established along the riverfront along with a terra cotta factory and ice factory. Two of Burlington City's largest shoe manufacturing interests were established immediately after the close of the Civil War: R.T. Wood & Co. in 1867 and G.W. Lewis & Co. in 1874. By 1875, there were nine documented shoe manufacturers within the city, the majority

Madison Hotel - Madison House, Atlantic City New Jersey

Madison Hotel - Madison House, Atlantic City New Jersey

At the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, Atlantic City became the playground of an America freed by industrial prowess to play, and goaded by advertising and commerce to spend not wisely but conspicuously. Atlantic City became the focus of the mass spectacles of the enlarged middle class with bathing beauty pageants (Miss America) and individual success (the Easter Parade) housed in grand hotels that lined its boardwalk. Those hotels have entered into the lost past of American architecture, with the Marlborough, Blenheim and the Traymore (Price and McLanahan), the Shelbourne (Warren and Wetmore), and others all now demolished. Others, including the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall (Rankin and Kellogg) and the Claridge (McIlvain and Roberts) survive as exteriors

Valverda Plantation House, Maringouin Louisiana

Valverda Plantation House, Maringouin Louisiana

Greek Revival House was Owned by a Louisiana Governor in the 1860s

In 1855 Valverda Plantation was purchased by former Louisiana governor Henry Johnson, who retained ownership until his death in 1864. Johnson's political career included the U. S. Senate, 1818-24; governor, 1824-28; U.S. Congress, 1834-39; U. S. Senate, 1844-49. Apparently, Johnson moved to Pointe Coupee after his unsuccessful bid for re-election to the Senate in 1850. The origin of the Valverda name is unknown. Presumably, it is a corruption of valle verde, green valley in Spanish, although there are no valleys in flat South Louisiana. There is a small community of the same name. Valverda went through various sheriff's sales in the late nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The Miller family has owned it the longest of anyone. Alfred Richard Miller purchased Valverda

Felicite Plantation, Vacherie Louisiana

Felicite Plantation, Vacherie Louisiana

Felicite was built by the well-known Louisiana Creole planter Valcour Aime whose famous plantation, Le Petit Versailles, stood a short distance downriver in the heart of the Acadian Coast. The house was a wedding gift to his third daughter, Felicite Emma Aime, when she married Alexandre Septime Fortier. Septime, who was educated in France, became a planter, handling his own plantation and with his brother, Florent, operating the family plantation, Richbend. The Fortiers had 14 children at Felicite and continued to live in St. James Parish as indicated in the 1860 census. However, by 1870 they had moved to New Orleans where Septime was in the wholesale grocery business. He died in 1898 and Felicite lived with her daughter at 2642

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

Book Title Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

Lost Places: Images of Bygone America

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)

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