Historic Structures

Marble House - William Vanderbilt House, Newport Rhode Island

Insofar as the Vanderbilt family is concerned, Marble House represents its first great, splash in the social waters of summer Newport. As the ambitious and strong-minded Alva Smith Vanderbilt planned it, it placed her on top of a tidal wave of social importance and it gave to the Newport locale a new standard of luxury, pretension and formality. This house is a showy but handsome monument to our biggest display of the power of money and of conspicuous consumption. Within this house and grounds took place many private and public events controlled by Mrs. Vanderbilt (Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont following her divorce); among them were early gatherings of the suffragettes. Because of its chatelaine, perhaps, and surely because of its impressive appearance, Marble House has-always been one of the sights of Newport.

Blenheim Hotel, Atlantic City New Jersey

Marlborough Hotel, Atlantic City New Jersey

George Colt Mansion, Erie Pennsylvania

The George Colt Mansion was the home of a prominent Erie banker from its completion in 1872 until his death in 1908. The owner was a member of a pioneering Erie family which settled in the region in 1795. One of the very first settlers in Erie County was Judah Colt, land agent for the Pennsylvania Population Company after 1797. In this capacity he was largely responsible for the early development of the area. Among those associated with him in his agency was a nephew, Thomas Colt, who later became burgess and the first mayor of the city of Erie in 1851.

Dennis Hotel, Atlantic City New Jersey

Of the three hotels the Dennis is the oldest by virtue of its succession to the buildings constructed on the property acquired by William Dennis just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. After the war ended, the cottage was acquired by Joseph H. Borton, who extended it along Michigan Avenue. Although nothing of the original cottage survives, the early building had long lasting effects on the eventual hotel, determining by the location of its public rooms, the future development of the site. That first hotel was pictured in an engraving in Heston's Handbook of Atlantic City, 1892. It showed a threestory, L-shaped, frame structure with porches surrounding the Michigan Avenue front. The ell extended across the property and fronted on the lawn. The porches caused the volume of the hotel to be set back from the street, with the consequence that the later porchless Michigan Avenue extension did not line up with the earlier parts. A part of this 1870's building still remained in 1978, attached to the hotel by a short spur wing, its set back'from the demolished porches. Although the chamber partitions had been removed when the rear wing was converted to storage spaces leaving only the corridor walls and the original doorways, enough survives to give a sense of the accommodations. Rooms were a generous fifteen feet deep, but varied in width from seven to fifteen feet, in accordance with late nineteenth century standards. The contemporary Congress Hotel in Cape May, New Jersey, for example, had bedrooms that averaged nine by twelve feet, a far cry from current casino hotel requirements. Finishes were simple — sawed pine floors, plaster walls and ceilings, accented by broad, deeply shaped moldings around doors and windows.

Alnwick Hall Morris New Jersey

Alnwick Hall, built in 1904, is a rare and virtually unaltered survivor of Millionaires' Row, that stretch of Madison Avenue where the fabulously wealthy (as well as mere millionaires) resided in turn of the century Morristown and Morris Township. Inspired by Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England, Alnwick is a representative example of the taste of its era, when the new American plutocracy emulated European models socially and architecturally. Its owners were Edward P. Meany, a prominent attorney and pioneer in the telecommunications industry, and his wife Rosaline, who made Alnwick famous for glittering musical entertainments. The fortune that built Alnwick was amassed by Edward P. Meany (1854-1938) from a career as one of America's most distinguished lawyers. Admitted to the bar in 1878, He was for many years counsel for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and had several positions of importance and confidence in that company and in many of its associated companies. General Meany has also acted on many occasions as an officer and director of important railway, financial, and other corporations. He was appointed Judge Advocate General of New Jersey in 1893. . . he has appeared in a number of celebrated litigations. As Vice President of the New Mexico Central and Southern Railway, he directed extensive negotiations between the company and the Government of Mexico, and with influential financial interests in Europe.

Hotel Astor, New York City, New York

Shortly before the opening of the Hotel Astor in 1904, the owner, William Waldorf Astor, predicted in The New York Times that the new building would be the finest hotel in the world. Lavishness and elegance were apparent throughout the building, from the richly ornamented exterior to the carefully decorated public rooms and guest accommodations. The hotel was acclaimed for its fire-proof construction and for its many technical innovations, including an incinerator, thermostats in every room, and cool air-conditioning. The original part of the Hotel Astor was 9 stories and extended along Broadway for 200 feet and from Broadway along West 44th and West 45th Streets to a depth of 160 feet. It was built at a cost of approximately seven million dollars, including five million dollars for the structure itself and $700,000 for the movable furniture. In the sub-basement, basement, and on the ground floor were a great variety of dining and public rooms. The second through ninth floors contained bedrooms and suites; there were about six hundred bedrooms and four hundred baths. On the eleventh floor were private dining rooms and two banquet halls. The building was topped by a roof garden. Each of the dining and public rooms, as well as many of the suites, were decorated in a distinct style, ranging from the Romanesque wine cellars to the Louis XVI banquet hall.

Reed Mansion, Erie Pennsylvania

The Reed Mansion is located on the northwest corner of peach and West Sixth Streets, Erie, Pennsylvania, with, the First Presbyterian Church directly north on Peach Street and the Erie County Court House directly west on West Sixth Street. It faces the West park and across West Sixth Street to the south is the palatial residence of the late Mrs. Annie Wainwright Scott Strong. The house was designed by General Charles Reed and built about 1849 by him as a home. His grandfather Col. Seth Reed, a Revolutionary War soldier. was the first white settler of the City of Erie, Pennsylvania.

Stanford-Lathrop Mansion, Sacramento California

The original owner and builder of the house was Shelton C, Fogus, a pioneer merchant of Sacramento. Fogus was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1817; he was a veteran of the Mexican war and painted a large scene of the fall of Col. John Hardin at the Battle of Buena Vista (1847), which he later took about the country. In 1856, Fogus bought two lots at the southeast corner of 8th and N streets, in Sacramento, from William Dodd; Fogus then built a small structure on the property at an estimated cost of $2,000. In 1857, Seth Babson (born 1828 in Maine, died 1907 in California) was commissioned to design a fine house of brick and plaster. This house and property were deeded to Leland Stanford for $8,000 cash in 1861. (The sale was executed on July 10, but recorded on July 11. The assessor's records indicate the sale of lots 1 and 2; see Book 31, p. 78. $8,000.00 was less than the 1858 assessed valuation of the property. Shelton Fogus left Sacramento in 1862 to seek his fortune in the Comstock; he became a founder of Reno, Nevada, and made and lost two small fortunes in that area.) On September 4 1861, Leland Stanford became Governor of California, after having once failed in the effort. His inauguration took place on January 10, 1862. Returning from the inaugural ceremonies in a row boat (the winter of 1861-62 saw severe flooding of Sacramento), the Governor found his new house inundated to the level of the parlor windows; some of the furniture was floating in the first floor rooms of the two-story house. (The Stanfords had previously occupied a modest house on 2nd Street, between 0 and P; Leland had been trained as a lawyer in New York state, but came to California in 1852 and opened a general merchandise store at Gold Springs, near Placerville. He moved to Michigan City, California, until 1855, when he went to Albany to get his wife, Jane Eliza Lathrop.)

Caumsett Manor – Marshall Field Estate, Cold Spring Harbor New York

Caumsett Manor is one of the last grand mansions on Long Island retaining most of its acreage and outbuildings. It is a fine example of English Georgian design adapted for a 20th century American country estate. Built in 1924-25 for use as a hunting lodge and farm, the estate was designed by architect, John Russell Pope for Marshall Field.

The Shelburne Hotel, Atlantic City New Jersey

The original Shelburne Hotel was a frame structure, described as sprawling...with wide porches and sun parlors. This hotel was reknowned for its cuisine, and it attracted such patrons as James Buchanan Diamond Jim Brady, who paid $1000 /week for his apartment facing the ocean and who died in the Shelburne in 1917. In 1922, the section nearest the Boardwalk was replaced by a 9-story structure (the existing front section). The architect of this section is not known. The 12-story center section, designed by Warren and Wetmore of New York City, was built in 1926. During this period, Atlantic City was still primarily a health resort, catering to the demand for the regenerative effects of sun and salt water bathing. As salt water baths were considered healthy, the Shelburne's rooms had hot and cold running salt as well as fresh water. The interiors were opulent and eclectic, and the hotel continued to receive such notables as Lillian Russell and Irving Berlin.

David Preston School, Detroit Michigan

In the last decade of the nineteenth century, the City of Detroit was experiencing rapid growth that was straining the fabric of its educational system. In 1894 Preston School was constructed to relieve overcrowding at the existing Tappen and Webster Schools. The architectural firm of Malcolmson and Higginbotham designed the school, having served as the Detroit School Board's architect under a renewable annual contract since 1891. The firm completed research into architectural plans for the most progressive schools built in the nation at that time, and visited numerous structures. Preston School was one of five designed by the firm and built by the school board in 1 894, (including Eastern High School, Western High School, Berry School, and Columbian School). Malcolmson and Higginbotham completed the plans for the 91-foot by 73-foot, two-storey, building. Constructed at a cost of $22, 750, the 8-room school, with a seating capacity of 392, was ready for occupancy in February, 1895. Local contractors involved in the project include M. Blay and Son (masonry) and Vinton and Company (carpentry).

Hartman Building and Theater, Columbus Ohio

Samuel B. Hartman was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in 1830 and died in Columbus, Ohio in 1918. Having completed medical studies in Philadelphia in 1857, he began practicing medicine in Pennsylvania. Eventually he moved to Columbus, Ohio where he founded an immensely successful surgery practice. In order to expand his practice, he began to erect buildings in which to house his enterprises and patients; some of the structures are still extant. However, his real fame and fortune came through the sale of the patent medicine Peruna, which earned him enough money to embark upon large-scale real estate ventures. Among the buildings built by Hartman were the Peruna Building, the Surgical Hotel and the Hartman Building and Theater. One of the most ambitious real estate ventures undertaken by Hartman was the Hartman Farm, built in 1903. It is located just south of Columbus. It began with 2,400 acres, increased to approximately 5,000, and represented a significant step toward modern large-scale farm management. It included monumental buildings, a railroad line, a power station, a canning factory and employee housing. Huge cash crops were raised and horses were bred. Today the farm, reduced in size to about 2,000 acres, is in the hands of the Hartman Trust, and is still productive.

Woonsocket Company Mill 1, Woonsocket Rhode Island

Mill number 1 was built in 1827 by Daniel Daniels and Jonathan Russell and was operated as the Russell Manufacturing Company. In 1929 the company failed during the depression. In 1831 the property was purchased by Sullivan Dorr and Crawford Allen, and in 1832 the firm was chartered as the Woonsocket Company.

Woonsocket Company Mill 2, Woonsocket Rhode Island

The original plan, which remains essentially unaltered, was a simple rectangle placed perpendicular to the Blackstone River and with the main entrance at the center of the southeast facade of the building. The building measures 110'10” x 48'7” and is four stories plus attic.

Clinton Mill, Woonsocket Rhode Island

The mill was built by the Clinton Manufacturing Co. in 1849 and they operated it until 1876, when it was taken over by the huge textile firm of B. B. and R. Knight. In October, 1918 the Knight corporation purchased all plant, water rights, etc. which they retained until the Knight firm was dissolved in 1923. The mill then passed into the hands of trustees. It was operated as a textile mill until about 1950. It was then occupied by a discount store. Severely damaged by fire in the mid-1960's, the building was later acquired by the City of Woonsocket, condemned and scheduled for demolition. The mill was demolished in June, 1969. The original building was five stories high with a gable roof and continuous clerestory windows. The plan was rectangular 256' x 50' with a central entrance and stair tower on the main elevation (northwest). The exterior walls were granite, load-bearing; and the interior framing was slow-burning timber construction.

Union Railroad Station, Providence Rhode Island

The Providence Union Station building complex, constructed approximately five hundred feet north of the earlier Tefft depot, was designed as part of the elevated viaduct, with Francis Street running directly underneath the main terminal building. Architects Stone, Carpenter and Willson designed the structures, which were built on pilings sunk into the recently filled Cove Basin. The main terminal building is composed of two sections: the front portion is a two-story hip-roofed structure, with its main floor at the level of the elevated tracks; the rear portion, covered by a sawtooth roof, is a one-story brick block. There was a great deal of controversy when the station was built whether to construct a head or a through station. The plan as adopted was a compromise, using the essential features of both to avoid the contention that a Chinese Wall was being built to divide the city. Francis Street, 110 feet wide, Gaspee Street to the east and promenade Street on the west provided a new direct thoroughfare from the center of the city to the north.

Kingston Train Station, South Kingston Rhode Island

In the 1830s, the principal mode of travel from Boston to New York was by stagecoach to Providence, with transfer to steamer from Providence to New York. As the ride could be difficult and the route often compromised by weather, it became increasingly apparent that alternative land-based transportation was a necessity. In 1835, the Boston and Providence Railroad was opened from Boston to India Point, east of the Providence Harbor. A second rail line on the west side of the harbor, the New York, Providence, and Boston Railroad opened in 1837 from Providence to Stonington, Connecticut. This line was known popularly as the Stonington Line. Passengers travelling through were ferried across the harbor between the two lines until 1847 when they were joined. The final allrail route between Boston and New York was not completed until 1889 when the drawbridge over the Thames River between Groton and New London, Connecticut was completed. In 1892, the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad leased the New York, Providence, and Boston, and in 1893 acquired the Boston and Providence line, subsequently operating the run between Boston and New York. The opening of the railroad to Stonington in 1837 was an important occasion for South Kingstown, for it made the small town one of the first in the nation to be served by this relatively new means of transportation. The first American passenger train had begun operation seven years earlier and there were only 2,000 miles of track in the United States at the time. The new railroad was put through what was to become the village of West Kingston. The first Kingston depot was built west of the tracks to the north of Waites Corner Road, an east-west thoroughfare in the village. At the time, there was a store adjacent to the depot and a neighboring residence, otherwise the area was undeveloped.

Westerly Train Station, Westerly Rhode Island

Much of Westerly's historic period development is owed to its location on major transportation arteries that linked the major cities of the Northeast. Located on the headwaters of the Pawcatuck River, the most significant river route in southern Rhode Island, the city initially served as an important waterborne travel and shipping point for the surrounding countryside. By the mid-seventeenth century, a system of roads, including Post Road (U.S. Highway 1), was established and connected Westerly with Providence and Boston to the north and New York to the south. Settlement, however, remained sparse in the small village until the mid-nineteenth century, when the Industrial Revolution began to gather steam. Westerly's position as a shipping center was augmented by the completion of the Stonington and Providence Railroad (S&P) through the village in 1837. The 47-mile Stonington Road was constructed only two years after the opening of New England's first railroad, the Boston and Providence (B&P). Before the establishment of those rail lines, travel between New York and Boston was difficult. The overland route along winding Post Road took several days to complete. Ship travel, while faster and more comfortable, required rounding the arm of Cape Cod, a dangerous journey during storms. The B&P line provided the first viable alternative to ship travel around the Cape. After its completion, goods were transported by rail to India Point in Providence and offloaded onto ships bound for New York via Narragansett Bay. The completion of the Stonington Road made the trip faster and safer by allowing shippers to bypass the sometimes treacherous sea passage around Point Judith at the southwest corner of Narragansett Bay and providing direct access to the relatively calm Long Island Sound.

Westmoreland Glass Company – Specialty Glass, Grapeville Pennsylvania

The Specialty Glass Company was organized about 1889 and was originaly located at East Liverpool, Ohio. The plant made cream pitchers, goblets, tumblers, and glass novelties. In 1899 Specialty Glass Company moved to Grapeville because of the abundant natural gas supply there. The firm also acquired house-lots that it auctioned off to its employees, and glass workers were allowed to pay out their mortgages in monthly installments from their wages. After the West Brothers and Ira A, Brainard of Pittsburgh gained control of the company, the company's name was changed to the Westmoreland Speciality Glass Company. The company produced condiments, such as vinegar, baking powder, and mustard, and glass items containing candy during the First World War. During its last thirty years the principal products of the Westmoreland Glass Company were milk glass reproductions. The company's chicken and animal covered dishes and other vessels of gleaming milk glass were produced until the factory closed. The factory employed 3 09 workers in 1916, 380 workers in 1919, 231 workers in 1931, 197 workers in 1935 and 133 workers in 1947. In 1982 the factory ceased production. The Westmoreland Glass Company complex is situated on Brush Creek and adjacent to the mainline of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Grapeville. Hot Metal Shop: red brick, common bond with corrugated sheet metal covering sides and upper level; one-and-ahalf stories with full basement; gable roof of sheet metal has monitor with casement windows; rubble stone foundation; two brick stacks with decorative brick dentil work. Interior: wood trusses and timber post and beam structural system in original building; steel Howe and steel frame structural system in addition; two sixteen-pot furnaces of common bond brick, one is original, one was rebuilt in 1950; furnaces supported by massive pilasters in basement; brick floors; glory holes for reheating glass; loft used for formers, fitters and snaps; original molds in the mold cleaning shop. Machinery: early H.L. Dixon Company lehrs. Machine Shop/Mold Shop: red brick, common bond; multipaned double-hung arched windows with triple brick voussiors; brick bearing walls with timber post and beam system; roof has timber rafters; pattern shop has many original patterns and an early milling machine. Mixing. Resorting, Warehouse, Packing, and Storage Buildings: three interconnected buildings facing the railroad tracks, one housed the kilns and lehrs, one an office and the last addition, a carpenter shop with original gift shop; red brick, common bond; one story with full basement; rubble stone foundation; brick bearing walls with timber post and beam structural system; brick vaults in basement; multipaned casement windows; original kilns from 1889 and pan lehrs from 1940. Decorating Room and Cooper Shop/Gift Shop: red brick, common bond; one story with full basement; multipane double-hung windows with double voussiors. Mold Storage, Packing, and Printing Buildings: four additions to the rear of original buildings ca. 1920s; red brick, stretcher bond; 1 story with full basement; Machinery: 1930s decorating lehr. Blower House: red brick, common bond; one story; two Sturtevant #8 Blowers.