The second I saw the distinctive buildings on the south side of Lincoln, I knew exactly what I had just stumbled upon on my tour of the Central Illinois city that my family has driven by hundreds of times, but never visited. This is the former Lincoln State School, which has gone by numerous other…
Tag: Power Plants
Checking In on the Metro East: Granite City Industry
After leaving Madison, I wandered over into Granite City, where I soon found myself on East 23rd Street, and lo and behold, there was TMS Services. I went to their website, and after reading their “About Us” section I still have absolutely no idea what they do. I guess it looks like they probably scrap…
Near North Riverfront, Early Fall 2022
It had been a little while since I had photographed the rapidly diminishing warehouses of the Near North Riverfront, specifically the ones just to the north of the casino, which has weirdly changed its name to the Horseshoe, which makes it sound like it should be out in the middle of nowhere in Texas or…
South Riverfront Near the Wreck of the Intrepid, October 2021
I went down to the South Riverfront bright and early on Saturday and cut through the flood wall. The sun was shining across the Mississippi River. The water level is still low, but I think it has been rising a bit since the last time I looked. I had come to see if I could…
New Power Plant, Lemp Brewery, Fall 2021
They don’t make power plants like this anymore. I wrote an extensive article about the Lemp Brewery’s power plant several years ago, so you can learn about it here. This is another work by Guy Tyler Norton, with extensive collaboration from General Electric. Remember the northeastern exposure would have been blocked by the Second Bottling…
Liggett-Meyers Tobacco Company, North Side
The Liggett and Meyers Tobacco Factory stretches between Folsom and Park Avenues, and the north side of the building is perhaps not as often photographed. There are large rounded arch windows of what was originally the power plant, with ten boilers that were served by the massive octagonal smokestack. It’s one of the most popular…
Dick Brothers Brewery, Quincy, Illinois
The Dick Brothers Brewery is located on York Street in the South Side German Historic District. It is a great example of adaptive reuse of a historic brewery building that has incorporated its underground cellars into a guided tour. The buildings are also a great example of the Rundbogenstil of brewery architecture, which I classify…
Lemp Brewery, Early May, 2020
Jason Gray’s photographs that he took for my series of articles about the Lemp Brewery for St. Louis Magazine are of such higher quality than mine that it almost seems pointless for me to take any more pictures of the massive complex. But I was in the neighborhood recently near sunset, and the temptation was…
Alliant Energy Power Plant Under Demolition, Dubuque, Iowa
This power plant is no longer standing; it was being demolished when I walked by in the afternoon. It was not the largest power plant in the world, but it sure seems huge when I was standing near it. Back in 2008, before it was slated for demolition, it was the feature of a power…
North Bank, St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis
The north bank of the Mississippi is where Pillsbury, yes that Pillsbury, had its mills and grain elevators. Much of its huge physical plant is now condos, and it is really a beautiful area today, much like we saw yesterday. The old tail race of the turbines is still there, showing the history of the…