We were wandering down Main Street in St. Charles and realized I hadn’t really taken very good photos of these buildings, which are primarily in the Greek Revival style. I’ve photographed some of them before in September of 2014. These are some very old houses, and their backsides are of interest, too. Most are built…
Tag: Historic Sites
The Pony Express and Patee House, St. Joseph
Moving up into the hills of St. Joseph, we encounter the Patee House Hotel (pronounced “Pay-tea,” no accent on the first e), which played a critical role as the offices for the Pony Express and is now an eclectic and fun museum. Heavily influenced by an early Italianate style, the most stylish hotel in St….
Auburn Avenue, Mount Auburn, Cincinnati
Mount Auburn? That sounds interesting, I thought to myself, and then discovered that there was a historic site related to future president William Howard Taft. After taking a terrible photo of his boyhood home, I photographed many of the houses along Auburn Avenue, which follows the crest of the hill. The siting of Mount Auburn…
South Bass Island and Perry’s Victory Monument
A critical moment in the early history of the United States, and also the Midwest, was the Battle of Lake Erie, where the Navy secured the large body of water for America from British control. On my journey from Toledo to Cleveland, I decided to take the ferry out to South Bass Island from Catawba…
Fort Atkinson, Iowa
At the same time Adam Lemp was founding his brewery in St. Louis, the US government was busy in Iowa removing Native Americans from their homelands and forcing them to live in new territory. Fort Atkinson was built in 1840 to supervise the government’s efforts as different Native American nations who were oftentimes traditional enemies….
Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio
Founded in 1844 and inspired like many American rural cemetery movement burial grounds by Père LaChaise Cemetery in Paris, Spring Grove Cemetery is the huge contributor to the field in Cincinnati. Like many others, a cholera epidemic and a desire to replace small urban cemeteries spurred its founding. An impressive Gothic Revival gatehouse welcomes the…
Lock Number 14, Illinois and Michigan Canal, LaSalle, Illinois
I have long been interested in the investigation of how Chicago passed St. Louis by in terms of economic power. I have also long felt that the discussion in St. Louis has existed at a very low intellectual level, usually focusing on the person’s own confirmation biases and background. In reality, if one tries to…
Tower Rock
We made it out to Tower Rock, and it was worth making the trek down to the rural corner of southeast Missouri where it’s located. As can be seen from the above engraving, Tower Rock has been a sight on the river for generations of travelers, and I think about all the people who have…
Who Controls the Past Now Controls the Future
Who controls the past now controls the futureWho controls the present now controls the pastWho controls the past now controls the futureWho controls the present now? I’ve been thinking about the lyrics of this song by the band Rage Against the Machine, which are based off the novel 1984, after having gotten back from Paris….
The Eiffel Tower: A Critical Moment in Architectural History
Yes, the Eiffel Tower is a famous landmark in its own right, a must-see tourist destination. But the 1889 structure is also a critical moment in the history of architecture and engineering, fitting in nicely with our very own Eads Bridge and Wainwright Building. First of all, the Eiffel Tower is actually most likely iron,…