Grain Elevators at Hopkinsville Milling

Landmark in Hopkinsville, KY

Most people who've ever visited Hopkinsville, KY, remember these big grain elevators that stand at the head of Fort Campbell Boulevard. Or, you could say that they stand at the end of Walnut Street. Either way, they're a landmark that everyone uses when giving directions in this part of town.

This photo was taken from the parking area at Lorenzo Johnson's Body Shop. The bridge in the foreground crosses the train tracks on Walnut Street.

I visited Lorenzo's shop a few times in recent weeks because Isaac's car was there. We had a bit of bad luck with it. Shortly after we purchased the car, we took it to Frank, our mechanic, to check it over. While the car was at Frank's garage, someone backed into it in the parking lot! Fortunately, Frank was headed for lunch at that very moment, witnessed the accident, and stopped the driver as he was about to drive off.

Sometimes, unexpected little complications seem to fill my life. But this complication did include an unexpected opportunity to photograph the grain elevators from a less-familiar angle.

Oakland Manor

Historic home near Hopkinsville, KY

Oakland Manor, where Keely and Taurus were married a few weeks ago, is a lovely place. From early spring to late fall, it is a popular site for outdoor weddings. Many brides and grooms have walked the long flagstone sidewalk that leads to the gazebo.

As I look at some of the photos I took at Oakland Manor, the phrase "pastoral setting" comes to mind. The mansion, is surrounded by some of Christian County's finest farmland. It is located on Newstead Road, roughly 5 miles from the western outskirts of Hopkinsville.

Oakland (as it was originally named) was built in 1857 for a railroad executive named Gano Henry. Its architect and builder was Dan Umbenhour, who enjoys considerable renown and respect to this day for various structures he built in and around Hopkinsville.

After the Civil War, Henry sold the property to Dr. John Clardy, a local physician, farmer, and politician. The Clardy family lived in the home through the early 1930s, and the buildings were called "the old Clardy Place" for many years thereafter. A later owner of the house called it Dolly Oaks, and it is currently known as  Oakland Manor.

During the latter 1930s, the Farm Security Organization used the house as an office building. The home passed into private hands again in 1944. A more detailed history of the mansion by Mary D. Ferguson can be read in the April 14, 1967, Kentucky New Era (page 6 and page 7).

Today, Oakland Manor is owned by Melissa Jones, who has lived there since the late 1980s.  She hosts weddings, receptions, showers, parties, dinners, reunions, and events of all sorts, year round. Four Seasons Catering, operated by daughter and son-in-law Jennifer and Julio Diaz, has its headquarters on the property as well.

Pilot Rock

Seen from Todd County

Pilot Rock is one of our local landmarks, and I've photographed it from just about every road around here, I think. Coming back from Rattlesnake Road, I stopped along Pilot Rock Road (Highway 508), just east of Pilot Rock in Todd County, to take this photo.  As you may know, Pilot Rock sits on the county line between Christian and Todd Counties.

Pilot Rock looks like a hill in this photo. And it is a hill, but it's also the highest point of both Todd and Christian Counties. It's a knob on an escarpment -- or to describe it as I see it, it's a big rock that juts out of the top of a steep ridge. When I pulled over to take the photo, I was already halfway up the ridge.

The Corner with the Pink Church

Landmark in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

This church of unusual hue was a landmark in our neighborhood when we lived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia (1980-1982). In my mind's eye, it is a brighter pink than this image shows it.

We lived seven or eight blocks from this intersection, and directions to our house began with, "Go to the pink church and ..." I hope the building is still there because I remember it affectionately as a distinctive and useful landmark. And I hope it is still a church, as well.

We taught at an English-speaking school in Santa Cruz. When school was dismissed in the afternoon, we often rode a micro (red-and-white bus in the photo) to this corner and walked the rest of the way home.

An Indian lady with big skirts and a little bowler hat always had her pushcart on this corner, near where I stood to take this photo. Vendor pushcarts like hers were miniature convenience stores where passersby could get an aspirin, a handkerchief, a comb, a piece of candy or gum, a rubber band, a T-shirt, or whatever.

I smoked in those days, and one day, I stopped at the cart and asked for a pack of cigarettes. I didn't look carefully at the cigarette box before paying, and when I got down the street, I found that she had opened it and replaced all the cigarettes with rolled up pieces of paper.

A little note inside the box said (in Spanish), "Ha ha, stupid gringo." She knew that only gringos would buy a whole pack of cigarettes from a market cart. Any Bolivians who were shopping at a market cart would buy one cigarette at a time.

If I had taken it back to her, she'd have professed innocence or pretended not to understand my Spanish, so I accepted that I'd been taught a lesson. I never bought anything from her again, so in the long run, she was the loser. Or maybe she won, because I still remember the incident to this day.

Alhambra Theater in Hopkinsville, Ky

Historic theater, then and now

Hopkinsville's historic Alhambra Theater has recently been renovated. Most of the changes were made in the lobby, as I understand it. The restrooms were enlarged, so the ticket window had to be eliminated. It was a case of modern needs overruling perfect preservation.

In the Christian County Courthouse, I photographed an old photograph (image below) that shows the Alhambra about 50 years ago. I would guess that this photo is from about 1960. (Note the air conditioner in the second story window.)

The Christian County courthouse stands next door to the Alhambra. It's the building that is visible to the left of the theater in the image at the top of this post.

In the old photo, a crowd of people are waiting to enter the courthouse for some reason. The Alhambra theater, as it was then, is shown in the background. The man in military uniform was probably a soldier from Fort Campbell.

Christian County Courthouse

Historic public building in Hopkinsville, KY

The construction of the Christian County courthouse was completed in 1869. The previous courthouse was burned by Confederate General Lyon in 1864 to prevent it from falling into Union hands. (I guess it made sense to him, at the time. He burned seven courthouses in western Kentucky.)

The courthouse originally had a large cupola on the top front, just behind the balcony roof. It was replaced in 1903 with another cupola. (Hopkinsville Nostalgia has a postcard image from 1908 of the second cupola.)

In 1960, the first major alteration was done to the exterior of the building. I believe the cupola was lost at that time. According to Christian County historian William Turner, the alterations from 1960 and onward were architectural disasters. Nonetheless, I think it's an interesting old building.

In the photograph at right, the front door is seen from the inside. The twin staircases lead to the former court chambers on the second floor. (Court sessions are now held in a new building, the Christian County Justice Center.)

The old courtroom is still used for various official meetings and also for driving school for people who have received a speeding ticket. (Hmmm, how would I know about that?!)

The image at left shows the first floor hallway as you would see it when walking through the front door. The county clerk's office occupies most of this floor. The sign at the end of the hallway points to a section of the county clerk's office that I visit a couple of times each year -- motor vehicle registrations. I may have been in the other county clerk sections two or three times in the last ten years.

My kids have unique memories of feeling excited and nervous in this hallway. When the Hopkinsville High School choirs performed at the Alhambra Theater, just north of the courthouse, the 120 (or so) choir members met in the courthouse hallway. Here, they warmed up, and from here, they processed to the theater when it was their group's turn to perform.

For this post, I chose to use sepia-tinted images because the building looks so old fashioned. You can hardly tell whether these photos were taken in 1940, 1980, or 2008. If you'd like to see the same photos in color, they are linked below:

Christian County Courthouse
Front door, Christian County Courthouse
Main hallway, Christian County Courthouse

Ferrell's Hamburgers, Star of the Show

Hamburgers in Hopkinsville, KY

Ferrells, December 1, 2006

TroyServe, a Hoptown Hall forum member, has posted a time-lapse video of Hopkinsville's famous Ferrell's Hamburgers on YouTube.

TroyServe made the video from Hoptown Hall Webcam images during the recent snowstorm. (The webcam is permanently focused on Ferrell's, a tiny 24-hour hamburger joint that is a treasured icon of Hopkinsville, KY.)

In the video, the snow covers the street, deepens, and then melts. Watch carefully, and you'll see some curious details blip by -- for example, a guy pushing a truck down Main Street and a snow shoveler sitting down on the sidewalk to rest.

Ferrell's was in our local news this week because a grease fire ignited behind its grill. The fire department was called after the cook couldn't put out the fire with a splash of salt. Meanwhile, the Kentucky New Era's (our newspaper's) president Chuck Henderson wielded a fire extinguisher against the flames without success.

The fire department killed the flames in very short order (thus avoiding shame, ridicule. and public condemnation.) The fire occurred at 8:30 a.m., and the restaurant was open for business again by 10:30 a.m.

In other news about Ferrell's, it was recently inspected by the Health Department and received a score of 75/100. The re-inspection score was 89/100.

Critical violations included raw eggs stored by a hot grill, employees washing hands in dishwashing sink and using common towel to dry hands. In addition, an employee failed to wash hands after returning from break. Another major violation was that the same spatula was used to flip cooked and uncooked burgers.

Source: "Restaurant Inspections, "Kentucky New Era, February 26, 2008

Some local residents are unperturbed.

Did anyone really think Ferrell's would get a high grade?
I don't believe this low rating in the KNE is going to affect their business much. Most of their customers probably don't even read the KNE.
As long as they are open, Ferrell's will still be slapping them burgers on that hot grill -- with whatever spatula the old lady chooses!

Source: Comment by bigcountry on the thread, "Restaurant Inspections. " Hoptown Hall Forum, February 27, 2008

The "old lady" is Mrs. Cecil Ferrell who is in her upper 80's. I believe she is 89. She was 86 in June, 2005, when she shared a stage with President Bush. He was in Hopkinsville to promote the privatization of Social Security and Mrs. Ferrell was on a panel of local citizens who participated in the presentation. President Bush commented that Mrs. Ferrell reminded him of his mother.

The banter between Bush and Ferrell quickly turned to hamburgers.

"I'm really hungry. Can you help me out?" Bush asked.

"The only thing is to bring you a hamburger," Ferrell said as the crowd erupted in cheers and laughter.

Source: "Bush Touts Plan" by Jennifer P. Brown, Kentucky New Era, June 3, 2005. (Subscription required.)

Ferrell's Hamburgers opened in 1929. A second Ferrell's is located in Cadiz, KY, and it enjoys a similar affection and loyalty from its patrons.

In case you missed it when I posted it previously, you can download a great Ferrell's Hamburgers wallpaper for your computer's desktop.

The Broadbent Building Near Cadiz, KY

German and Austrian POWs in Trigg County, Kentucky, during World War II

UPDATED February 13, 2008

We've been told by several people that this large building along Highway 68/80 east of Cadiz, KY, was built by German prisoners of war during World War II. The building's rounded corners are cited as evidence that the construction crew was German.

I assumed this to be true because I knew the government had programs that provided POW laborers to American farmers and other industries. With so many men gone to the war, America was desperate for laborers. Without support behind the lines, the war effort would fail.

I thought it likely that the prisoners came from Camp Campbell, just 20 miles southeast of the Broadbent Farm (or possibly from Camp Breckenridge, near Morganfield, KY.)

As it turns out, the story we heard and my speculations were partially correct, but several details were wrong. After I originally wrote this post, a Prairie Bluestem reader researched the story of the building with someone who remembered its construction. John wrote:

My dad says he remembers going down with the Broadbents to "Camp Campbell" and picking up those German soldiers. His dad also used German POW's on his farm. He did not remember [Mr.] Smith Jr. [Broadbent] using Germans to build the "seed house" as they called it. Mainly they worked in the fields. Most of the POW's were farmers back home and were glad to work instead of being in the stockades. They weren't allowed to pay them much; they mostly paid them in cigarettes and fed them really well. The Germans may have had something to do with the construction, but my dad didn't think they did.

John's father checked with some of the Broadbent family, and this week, John wrote again:

I finally got the scoop on the old seed house. It was built by 19 WWII POWS. They weren't German though. They were Austrian. [Mr.] Smith Jr. [Broadbent] went to Camp Campbell and picked up 40 originally, and kept 20 to work on the building. All were working out except for one of them. He happened to be the only German among those 19 Austrians, so I am sure there was a conflict there. As for the architects, they were out of Des Moines, IA. So it was definitely built by POW's, just of the Austrian persuasion rather than German.

The sign over the building's door says "Broadbent's B&B Food Products." Apparently the building was once used in the production of Broadbent Farm's famous, prize-winning hams, sausage, and bacon. Broadbent Hams was sold to new owners in 1999, but I don't think this building was included in the deal.

In our family, this building is associated forever with an unfortunate highway breakdown. A couple years after we moved here, we were coming home from a long trip to Missouri and Kansas. When we turned off I-24 onto Highway 68/80, our little VW Fox lost its ability to change gears. You can't go anywhere when your car is stuck in neutral!

We had to push the Fox off the highway into the parking lot of the old Broadbent building. Then we called our pastor. He is a kind soul; he came in his van, armed with automotive fluids and tools. When the breakdown proved too serious for a roadside remedy, he drove us home. It was a bad ending to a long, hard day of driving and a long week of traveling.

When I showed these photos to Isaac, he immediately identified it as the place where we pushed the Fox off the highway. As an afterthought, he mentioned that it was built by POWs.

UPDATED December 5, 2018
Continental Drone Aerial Photography's video on Facebook about the Broadbent Seed House

 

Interesting links:
German POWS in North America
German POWs in Alabama
Story of a German artist and sculptor who was a POW at Camp Breckenridge

Five Steps of Home Improvement

Ideas from 1923 for making your home place look and function better

These five steps to a convenient and attractive home place are from a 1923 Agriculture textbook, (The New Agriculture for High Schools by Kary Cadmus Davis, Ph, D.) Dr. Davis's five steps are listed below in the order that they should be undertaken:

1. Clean up the place and put it in order as much as you can.

2. Study the current situation and think how it could be improved by re-planning or by adding new features.

3. Carry out the proposed improvements.

4. Add trees, shrubs and other plants to shade, beautify, delineate, and disguise.

5. Install modern conveniences.

Dr. Davis was writing about the improvement of a farm's home place, which would include barns, barnyards, chicken house, orchard, house, etc. However, his steps could be applied to any sort or size of home, anywhere.

I like his recommendation to make the most of what is there, first. Before you start spending money, put some elbow grease into it and really clean up the place. That can be a big improvement!

The "re-planning" he mentions in step 2 might include some "re-purposing", as we say today -- that is, simply thinking about the best way to use what you have to meet your needs and to improve the appearance of the place where you live.

I've watched Mennonite families set up farming operations in old farm buildings that weren't in the best of shape. It is interesting that they proceed much as outlined above.

First, they clean up the place, get the grass mowed, take care of the fences, nail down the loose boards, etc. Then, as money permits, they add the most necessary improvements first.

In the case of one of our Mennonite neighbors, he built a big machine shed for his tractor repair business as soon as they moved in. The old house looked pretty rough for a few years, but now they have put vinyl siding on it, and are in the process of building on a few rooms.

The modern conveniences that Dr. Davis suggested for step 5 were running water, bathroom equipment, electric lights and irrigation. That was in 1923. We think of most of those as necessities 85 years later!

In 2007, the modern conveniences we'd like might be a refrigerator with ice and water in the door, a home theater, or a hot tub. They're not necessities and everyone doesn't have them, but they'd be nice. I imagine that Dr. Davis would like us pay cash for our modern conveniences rather than purchasing them on credit, too.

The benefits of home improvement? Dr. Davis lists three:

1. For the members of the family -- better satisfaction with home surroundings, improvement and conservation of health, a valuable education for its younger members.
2. For the community -- good example.
3. For the place itself -- enhanced value.

Source: The New Agriculture for High Schools, by Kary Cadmus Davis, Ph.D. (Cornell). Published in Philadelphia by the J.B. Lippincott Company, in 1923. From the chapter titled "Improvement Projects" (p. 303).

Technorati tags: home improvement tips, remodeling advice, home improvement steps, how to improve your home

Bothwell Lodge, Near Sedalia, MO

Life In Missouri... History And Old Stuff...

If you ever travel north from Sedalia, MO, on Highway 65, you'll notice a large stone house on the top of a ridge.

When I lived in central Missouri (most of 1975-1986), people called it "the castle on the hill north of Sedalia." I don't think it was open for visitors then.

Nowadays, it is called Bothwell Lodge. It's an official State Historic Site, managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and open to the public. If you visit at the right time, there are guided tours.

From the entrance side

From the lower side

Seen from the entrance on top of the hill, the house appears to have two levels, but when you look at the house from the other side, you realize that one end has three levels and the tower is four stories high.

Looking down from a balcony

Looking inside Bothwell Lodge

According the the MDNR pamphlet about Bothwell Lodge, there are 11 bedrooms and 20 other rooms -- 12,000 square feet in all. We didn't tour the house, but I liked the rustic, Arts-and-Crafts style I saw through a window.

Shady gardens on the hilltop

A view of the valley below

The house has an interesting history. It was built by a prominent Sedalia lawyer, John Homer Bothwell. He was influential locally and also served as a state legislator for 16 years. During his time in office, the city of Sedalia was declared the permanent site of the Missouri State Fair.

Bothwell was married to Miss Hattie E. Jaynes in 1884. She died in 1887, and he never remarried. Instead, he poured his energies into public service, the practice of law, and his home and farm.

Bothwell bought this acreage, 7 miles north of Sedalia, to protect a portion of the wooded ridge from lumbering. He named it Stonyridge Farm. The house was constructed in several stages from 1890 to 1929.

The property also includes several outbuildings, the quarries from which the rock for the house was mined, and nature paths that wander down the hillside.

John Homer Bothwell died in 1929. He willed the property to a group of friends and relatives who owned it until the State of Missouri assumed ownership in 1974. Bothwell Lodge, Hotel Bothwell, and the Missouri State Fair are three of his achievements that can still be seen in the community of Sedalia.

On the wall at Bothwell Lodge, the following typewritten message is posted:

Thursday, August 8th, 1929

The flag is not flying at the "Top of the Hill" because the "Builder of the Lodge" has gone.

He left the doors of the Lodge wide open for his friends to come in.

Every stone that he placed with exacting care stands as a monument, and the wondrous design his personality expresses.

His gracious wish was that others would come to enjoy it as he did.

The murmurings in the trees, the song of the birds, and the glow of the sunset across the fields -- to him:

Life's race well run,
Life's work well done,
Life's crown well won,
Now comes rest.

Jennie Jaynes Lewis
(Sister of Hattie Jaynes Bothwell)

Related Site:
Photos of Bothwell Lodge by karendenise1960

Technorati tags: Bothwell Lodge, Sedalia Missouri, Sedalia MO, John Homer Bothwell

Arrow Rock National Historic Landmark

Life In Missouri... History and Old Stuff...

The Missouri River Valley at Arrow Rock

If you pass through central Missouri, try to make time for a stop at the village of Arrow Rock. It's located about 15 miles north of I-70 on Highway 41, northwest of Boonville.

This photo of the Missouri River Valley (above) was taken from the bluff at Arrow Rock in early spring, eight or nine years ago. This bluff was a landmark for Native Americans and for early European travelers. A big spring provided good water for anyone who passed. Native Americans came here to gather flint for arrows (hence the name of Arrow Rock). Lewis and Clark wrote in their diaries about the big bluff and the salt licks nearby.

Arrow Rock was established as a town in 1829, and it rapidly became an important river port as settlement pushed westward. The Santa Fe Trail crossed the Missouri River via the Arrow Rock ferry, and much trade and traffic came to Arrow Rock through this intersection.

After the Civil War, Arrow Rock was bypassed by the railroad and it began to slowly dwindle away. With diminished traffic, trade and population, there was no need for new store buildings or homes. The town became frozen in time.

Arrow Rock today (population: 79) is a time capsule. Buildings still stand from the 1830's, the town's first decade. Many other buildings in the town were constructed by the mid-19th century. Wooden sidewalks and stone-lined gutters are still part of the infrastructure. The entire town has been declared a National Historic Landmark.

The hour we spent at Arrow Rock was just enough to tantalize me. I hope I can go back sometime. We were driving to Kansas City to visit my mother-in-law, and we'd been in the car all day. You can see the stress of hard travel on the kids' faces. They weren't as impressed with stone gutters as their mother was.

I remember that I was impressed by the neatness of the village. Every store, every house, every parking lot, and every lawn was manicured. Somehow they had convinced or forced everyone in town to make the place look beautiful.

You can read more about Arrow Rock's history and see some good photos of the old buildings at the Friends of Arrow Rock website.

Technorati tags: Arrow Rock Missouri, Arrow Rock MO, National Historic Site, historic preservation, Missouri history, river town, Missouri River

Rock County (Nebraska) Courthouse

Life in the Nebraska Sandhills...

A small but steady stream of visitors come to Prairie Bluestem, hoping to find images of the Rock County Courthouse in Bassett, Nebraska. Search engines send them here because I once linked to a photo of the Rock County courthouse as an example of an Art Deco structure.

I came across the above snapshot a few days ago in a box of photos. It was taken about five years ago. It shows the courthouse from a different angle, so it might be interesting to the folks who are seeking info about the building.

According to the Nebraska Historic Building Reconnaissance Report (pdf file):

The first court house built in Rock County was destroyed by a fire in 1899 and the second was torn down to make room for the court house built in 1939. This court house was constructed at a cost to the county of $30,000 with the assistance of a $33,000 Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) grant.

I haven't been inside the Rock County Courthouse for at least 35 years, and I retain only a few, vague memories of the building:

• Sounds echo slightly in the hallways, probably because of the hard stone (?) or ceramic (?) floors.
• I had a macabre fascination with the barred windows of the jail in the basement of the courthouse when I was a child.
• The office of the County Superintendent of Schools in the courthouse had a small library of teacher resources (filmstrips and more). These materials were much appreciated by rural teachers and students.

Technorati tags: Rock County Nebraska, Bassett NE, courthouse, historic building, art deco, WPA,

Pilot Rock Revisited

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

The folks on the Hoptown Hall Forum have been discussing Pilot Rock lately, and that reminded me that I have a photo of the Rock (above) that I should post. I took it at the end of March, just before the late freeze zapped all the leaves you see on the trees. I like this photo because it suggests how rough the terrain is around Pilot Rock.

Like the images (here and here) that I posted in January, this photo was taken from a gravel road to the northwest of Pilot Rock.

Through the Hoptown Hall discussion of Pilot Rock, I've learned of another treasure legend associated with this landmark. It is similar, but not quite the same as the story I've heard.

I am more inclined to believe the written version (which probably was researched to some extent) than the word-of-mouth version (which was told to me by people who heard it from somebody who heard it from somebody, etc.)

The photo at left was taken about six years ago with a zoom lens from the field just north of our little acreage. This view is from the southwest and I think it was taken in July. That's corn in the background, and I believe it's soybeans in the foreground.

You may wonder why I don't post any photos of the view from Pilot Rock. That's because I've never climbed it! I've never had a desire to stand up there and look off the edge of that rock. I think it would give me the heebie-jeebies.

Our 80-year-old neighbor lady, Miss M., told us about climbing Pilot Rock one Sunday with a group of people when she was a little child. She was wearing shoes with hard, slick leather soles, and she got too close to the edge and began to slip. An adult snatched her back by her skirt-tail just in the nick of time. The Good Lord had other plans for her, Miss M. told us.

Related posts:

• January Scenes from Christian County, KY
• Pilot Rock
• Treasure at Pilot Rock or Apex in Christian County
• Uniting Organizations to Save Vultures

Technorati tags: landmark, Pilot Rock, Todd County KY, Christian County KY

Whitehaven at Paducah, KY

Life in The Upper South... History and Old Stuff

Whitehaven is a beautifully restored mansion at Paducah, KY, located near Interstate 24. If you ever pass through Paducah, I hope you'll take time to visit it. Take Exit 7 off I-24 and follow the signs.

One wing of the house hosts the Kentucky Welcome Center and rest stop. Its facilities are open 24 hours for travelers.

The main part of the house is open for tours every half-hour from 1:00-4:00 p.m. daily. The house is furnished with antiques, and the second floor holds a collection of Vice President Alben Barkley memorabilia.

Even if you don't happen to arrive at the time that the tours are being given, you can walk around the porches, peek in the windows, and enjoy the grounds. And of course, you can pick up a Kentucky map and lots of tourist information in the Welcome Center.

The historic marker at Whitehaven gives a good synopsis of the house's story:

Whitehaven

Main part of house, two-story brick structure, built in 1860's by Edward Anderson. Edward Atkins bought it in 1903 and had noted Paducah architect A.L. Lassiter transform Victorian farmhouse into Classical Revival mansion. He added the Corinthian-columned front portico and named house Whitehaven.

In 1908, Paducah Mayor James P. Smith bought and renamed home "Bide-A-Wee," Scottish adage for "Come Rest A While." Smith family members lived here until 1968. After mansion restored, it opened on June 23, 1983 as Whitehaven Tourist Welcome Center. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

The historic marker doesn't explain that Whitehaven had suffered a good deal of vandalism and deterioration, and its future was uncertain until the decision was made to restore and refurbish it as the welcome center at I-24's northern entry to Kentucky. It's a model of historic preservation of which Kentucky is (and should be!) proud.



More photos of beautiful Whitehaven can be viewed at:

• Photos from Whitehaven
• Whitehaven (includes photos of the mansion before restoration)

Technorati tags: Whitehaven, Paducah, historic preservation, mansion

Mineral Hall and Its Unique Arched Doorway

History and Old Stuff...

Image courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division,
Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS MO,48-KANCI,10-5

The curious arched doorway is the photo above is the main entry to Mineral Hall in Kansas City, MO.

Mineral Hall was built between 1903 and 1905. Its architect was Louis Curtiss (1865-1924). He was born in Ontario, Canada. After studying architecture in Toronto and Paris, he came to Kansas City around 1890, apparently attracted by the economic boom and extensive construction in the area.

According to Susan Jezak Ford, writing for the Kansas City Public Library, "[Curtiss] only wore white. He continually smoked monogrammed Turkish cigarettes. He was a reckless driver. Yet his legacy of buildings remains truly recognizable by their style and innovative designs."

The main part of the house was built by William Rule, who never lived in it. About a year after it was built, it was sold to Roland E. Bruner, a businessman with extensive personal and business interests in mining.

To house and showcase his extensive collection of minerals, Bruner employed Curtiss to design and add a wing to the house . The name Mineral Hall was given to the house because samples of local minerals were embedded in the mortar of the interior walls of Bruner's new wing.

The exterior of the home is Jackson County oolitic limestone -- that is, locally quarried stone. The door itself is an example of Art Noveau style. The total cost of the house, when built, was about $25,000.

Mineral Hall looks like the residence of a mining king. The doorway reminds me of a hobbit hole, but of course Louis Curtiss had no such influences on his imagination. In 1903, J. R. R. Tolkien was a mere lad of 11 years.

According to Ford, Louis Curtiss is buried in an unmarked grave in Kansas City's Mount Washington cemetery. He died in 1924, at work at his drafting table.

Mineral Hall is used today as the Admissions Office of the Kansas City Art Institute. The Art Institute website remarks that Mineral Hall's door is said to be "the most photographed doorway in Kansas City."

I found a description of Mineral Hall and the photos I've posted here in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) at the Library of Congress website. Most of the details I've cited here come from the HABS documentation. If you want to read it yourself, the best way to find it is to visit the HABS homepage and type "Mineral Hall Kansas City" into the search bar.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division,

Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS MO,48-KANCI,10-2

Note: I revised this a few hours after I posted it to organize it better and to include more information. I also separated some information into a second post about buildings designed by Louis Curtiss.

Technorati tags: Mineral Hall, Louis Curtiss

Buildings by Louis Curtiss

Kansas City architect and his buildings

Buildings designed by the talented and eccentric architect Louis Curtiss (1865-1924) include:

• Swope Park Superintendent's residence in Kansas City
• Jesse A. Hoel residence in Kansas City
• Willis Wood Theater in Kansas City
• Union Depot in Joplin, MO
• Boley Clothing Co. Building (a 6-story glass building, the first of its kind) in Kansas City
• Louis Curtiss Studio in Kansas City 
• Clay County State Bank in Excelsior Springs, MO

Another of Louis Curtiss's buildings, the Bernard Corrigan house in Kansas City, is included in the Historic American Building Survey at the Library of Congress website. The best way to find it is to visit the HABS homepage and type "Bernard Corrigan Kansas City" into the search bar. Like other Curtiss buildings, the Corrigan house is visually interesting and unique.

I wrote about another Louis Curtiss building in the post "Mineral Hall and Its Unique Arched Doorway".

This is by no means a full list of the buildings that Louis Curtiss designed. These are just the Curtiss buildings of which I found images.

Update:
Hypno+Raygun has posted an excellent collection of photographs of Louis Curtiss structures on Flickr.
Some other Louis Curtiss buildings appear in this Flikr search. (Research them carefully, though. Some of these buildings were actually by associates of Louis Curtiss -- and others.)
Also see "Louis Curtiss and the Politics of Architectural Reputation."

Shiloh Baptist Church, Christian County, KY

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

Shiloh Baptist Church

This is the Shiloh Baptist Church in northeastern Christian County, KY. It's about 10 miles from Hopkinsville as the crow flies but farther by the roads. The Shiloh Church Road is named for this church. The church sits beside the Shiloh Church Road, a few miles southeast of a crossroads and tiny community that is known as Carl. The terrain around it is high, rough, and rocky, but the church sits in a little valley surrounded by tall oak trees.



Technorati tags:

country church
Baptist

Early February

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

We've had the coldest February of this century, I'd guess. According to my unscientific research on Weather Underground for Hopkinsville, KY, it's been colder than average most days since the 16th of January. It's not that common for us to see ice in the puddles --that's why I took this photo.



These beautiful big oaks grow along the driveway of a big old farmhouse that is standing empty. These trees must be at least a century old -- very possibly more than that. I am not good at identifying the species of oak at this distance, but I don't think they are white oaks because their bark is too dark. Southern red oaks are very common here, so that would be my guess.



These barns belong to a Mennonite farm. The Mennonite farmers here often buy silos that are no longer being used, tear them down, move them and reconstruct them. That works out well for both buyer and seller.



Keeling Hill rises out of the farmland northeast of Fairview, KY, just a mile or two out of town. It's on the southern tip of one finger in a group of ridges. I wrote a little about this land formation last July in the post, "Pilot Rock."




This is the Long Pond of Long Pond Road, I assume. At any rate, Long Pond Road passes over the dam that creates this pond, and there are no other ponds of size along the way. I can never drive by it without taking a photo. (See the pond in autumn in the post, "Seen on Long Pond Road.") It's a lovely place, and I have often wondered whether it is a good fishing spot!



On February 9, 2006, I posted photos of a light snow and wrote about "Happenings in the Night."