Historic Structures

Bentley Hotel, Alexandria Louisiana

The Bentley Hotel was built in 1907-1908 by Joseph A. Bentley, a prominent citizen of Alexandria who in the course of his life was a banker, lumberman, and philanthropist as well as hotel owner. The building's architect was George R. Mann and his assistant was J.L. Howard. Their firm was based in Little Rock, Arkansas. The contractor was Hull Construction Company of Jackson, Mississippi, and the construction crew was under the supervision of D.H. Shenk. The cost of construction was $750,000, including the furnishings. In addition to its association with Bentley, who is almost a legendary figure in Alexandria history, the hotel also has associations with some important figures of World War II. During the war there were several military installations in the area, and according to the reminiscences of a longtime employee, among the famous soldiers who stayed at the hotel were General Omar Bradley and Colonel Dwight Eisenhower. Other guests were Huey Long, Gary Grant, and John Wayne.

Gaineswood Mansion, Demopolis Alabama

Gaineswood has been acclaimed by numerous authorities as one of the most impressive homes in America. We regard Gaineswood as one of the most significant and important houses of its period for the history of American architecture in the entire United States, according to a letter from Denys Peter Myers, acting chief of the Division of Historic Architecture, United States Department of the Interior, to the governor of Alabama on July 9, 1970. Gaineswood was begun in 1842 but not completed until 1860, and therein lies the reason for much of its charm. The builder, Nathan Bryan Whitfield served as his own architect, keeping, up with the latest in architectural styles. As he concentrated on completing one remarkable room after another, the stylistic preference in America shifted from Greek to Renaissance Revival or the Italianate. The balustrades and picturesque massing of Gaineswood are to be attributed to this later vogue.

Washington School - New Fifth Ward School, Appleton Wisconsin

As a product of 1890's large-scale school construction, the Washington School is bolder and more elegant, rare expressive of Richardsonian Romanesque period influences than other comparable schools in Appleton. The Lincoln School, Columbus School, and St. Joseph School, all designed in the same decade, are less lively in form and less coloristically rich. Broken into larger parts, the Washington School is more strongly reminiscent of libraries and academic buildings designed by master H. H. Richardson. Its irregular silhouette speaks more forcefully of the late Victorian era. Contrast with later schools, like the Collegiate Gothic Roosevelt Jr. High School, strengthens the significance of the Washington School as the preeminent interpretation of Richardsonian form in Appleton. Frank Shaver Alien lived in Joliet, Illinois, when commissioned to design the school building. His work has been identified throughout the Midwest and southern California, yet the most representative examples of his work are in the Joliet area. Alien's work shows his familiarity with Richardsonian principles. His more representative commissions include the Barber Building, Central High School, and his former residence, all in Joliet. Alien was selected by the school board to design Washington School to replace the original Washington School, which was located adjacent to the site. The original school was considered too small for Appleton's expanding school population. It should be noted that classes were held in the original school up to a week prior to opening of the new school. At that time a fire, believed to be arson, consumed the original school.

Rogers House - Hearth Stone, Appleton Wisconsin

Hearthstone is interesting architecturally as an example of a fine Queen Anne house still in excellent condition. The hand-crafted interior woodwork as well as the fine stained-glass, Minton tiles, and antique furniture make it important for Victorian decorative arts as well. A further significance of Hearth Stone is historical. It was built by Henry J. Rogers an industrialist who had come to Appleton from the East. Rogers wife missed the social life of her native Baltimore, and Rogers is said to have built Hearth Stone to provide her with elegant surroundings which would reconcile her to life in the West. Rogers was a friend of H.E. Jacobs who, in 1882 had taken a job with Thomas Edison, Jacobs convinced Rogers that electricity was the wave of the future, and Rogers devised a scheme to light Hearth Stone, the Vulcan Paper Mill, and the Appleton Paper and Pulp Mill electrically. A generator was purchased from Thomas Edison, and Rogers and three other men founded the Appleton Edison Light Company, Ltd., using the Fox River as their source of power. On September 30, 1882, Hearth Stone was illuminated electrically for the first time. This first operation of the Appleton plant followed the opening of Thomas Edison's steam operated Pearl Street Station by only twenty-six days; and Edison's plant was not originally used to light any buildings used solely for residential purposes, though it did light some houses associated with industrial purposes. Thus, Hearth Stone was the first residence in America to be lighted from a centrally-located power plant.

Bothwell House, Ashville Alabama

The house was constructed in 1835 for James J. Bothwell who came to Ashville in 1834. Until that time, Ashville had only one doctor, Dr. Charles C. P. Farrar. In addition to his other services, Bothwell was a charter member of Cataula Masonic Lodge. In 1852, shortly before his death, he hired Richard Crow, a local builder to add a kitchen and dining wing to his house. On his death in 1854, his widow, Ellen Bothwell obtained a license to operate a tavern in her home. In 1857, she sold all her holdings in Ashville and moved to Tishamingo County, Mississippi. Her cousin, Peyton Roway, purchased the home and several years later sold it to W. T. Hodges. In 1880, Judge Leroy F. Box purchased the home which he presented to his daughter Lula on the occassion of her marriage to James A Embry, a local attorney. The Embrys had twelve childern, which necessitated additions to the house. In 1978, a grandson of the Embrys sold the house to Dr. Lamar M and Rebecca Campbell. The Bothwell-Embry House is a two-story, wood frame, three-bay wide Federal house with exterior chimneys at the gable ends, and a central two-story columned portico. The portico has four two-story fluted Doric wood columns and a second story balustered balcony, topped by a pedimented gable. Two pilasters frame the first and second floor doorways to the portico, and two more form the front corners of the house. The two-panel doors both have sidelights and transoms. Two rear wings were added to the original section of the house; one for a dining room, kitchen, and upstairs bedroom, and a second for two bedrooms. The area between the wings was enclosed for a ball and sun room. A rear porch was also added. The roof has been modified from a gable to a hip to accommodate the additions. The house is sheathed in hand-sawn clapboards, and is constructed of large pegged timbers. The floor joists are notched and fitted, and are of hand-hewn heart pine. There is a basement with 5'6 headroom.

Parker Reynolds House, Anniston Alabama

The Parker-Reynolds house is the finest of the mansions surviving from the late-19th century boom which thrust Anniston into prominence as one of Alabama's largest cities, second in its industrial importance only to Birmingham. The house is also a rare and early example in the state of the so-called Chateauesque style popularized, in the Northeast especially, by Richard Morris Hunt. The opulence of the dwelling suggests the wealth and power commanded by the entrepreneurs who were initially drawn to Anniston by the community's potential as a manufacturing and industrial center. The house was commissioned by Duncan T. Parker, who came to Anniston from Mobile in the early 1880's as one of the select business partners of the Noble and Tyler families, the founders of the closed industrial community. Parker headed the Anniston Land and Improvement Company, and was also president of the First National Bank. In addition, he was a pivotal figure in the organization of the municipal gasworks, the water company, several local industries, and in 1887 the Anniston and Cincinnati Railroad Company. Tradition holds that the craftsmen employed in the construction of Parker's mansion were the same ones responsible for the extraordinarily fine workmanship still to be seen in a number of contemporary public structures, most notably the Church of St. Michael and All Angels.

Antigo Train Depot Station, Antigo Wisconsin

The original design of this depot separated the passenger station from the baggage area by placing them in two buildings. The other non-passenger related activities of the depot, such as the express store room and office, were also efficiently separated from the passenger activities. The two waiting rooms, with their own bathrooms, were designed to make waiting more comfortable for women and children, who could be close to, but not right next to men who might be smoking or engaged in other less refined activities. The centrally located ticket office, with its large bay window serving outside customers, is also and efficient and attractive feature of the depot design. Division headquarters offices were located on the second floor of the depot, accessed via staircases that did not intrude into passenger or express and baggage areas of the building. The railroad dominated transportation history in Wisconsin during the last half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. This large depot, built at the height of the railroad era in the state, represents the railroad company's commitment to the Antigo area and the community's importance as a stop along their line.

McKleroy Wilson Kirby House, Anniston Alabama

The McKleroy-Kirby house is the last remaining mansion constructed in the boom times of the late 1880s on Quintard Avenue, Anniston's finest residential street at the time. Lots on the 160 foot wide boulevard, named for a close family friend of the town's founder, Samuel Noble, were originally sold only to purchasers who promised to build houses costing at least $5,000. Moreover, each of the four men who lived in the house during the 95 years it was used as a residence was an outstanding business leader who greatly contributed to the growth of Anniston in his time. During the 1880s the industrial town of Anniston not only grew more rapidly than any other city in Alabama but achieved prominence second only to Birmingham as a manufacturing center of the New South. During the midst of these flush times in 1887, the owners of Anniston's parent industry, the Woodstock Iron Company, reorganized their business interests with the introduction of new capital into two separate companies. One of these was the Anniston City Land Company, headed by John Martin McKleroy, a new business partner from Eufaula. He selected the highest hill on Quintard Avenue and built his house in 1888.

Union Depot and Freight House, Anniston Alabama

The first railroad station, for the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad, was constructed across 10th Street during the early years of the town. When the town council ordered 10th Street opened, the structure was moved and later dismantled. In 1884 Samuel Noble began construction of a new railroad, the Anniston and Atlantic, and the following year this depot was built to serve all incoming rail lines into the town. As with most of the larger buildings erected in Anniston during the 1880s, the depot utilized native sandstone in its construction and displays the characteristic workmanship of the master stonemason, Simon Jewell. Later the Louisville and Nashville Railroad acquired the A & A, and the depot was known as the L & N Depot until the last passenger train of that line passed through Anniston in 1951. Since that time, a hardware-and-lumber business has occupied the building under various names. Situated immediately east of the old L & N railroad track (now the Seaboard) at 13th Street, the main building is an irregular-shaped one-story structure of vermiculated native sandstone of the variety found in most of the Anniston churches constructed during the late 19th century. The steeply pitched hip roof was remodeled after a fire in the late 1950s. The original lines of the roof were restored. However, a decorative balustrade, wide dormer, and 2nd-story office that were destroyed by the fire were not replaced. The roof covers a porch that extends across the front of the building, the porch roof being supported by an unusual arrangement of Tuscan columns.

Cedar Grove Plantation, Faunsdale Alabama

In 1854, Charles Walker of Pulaski County, Georgia purchased the plantation of a Mr. McAlpine. Located on the plantation was a two story hall and parlor plan I-house. In 1857, Walker engaged local builder, Theophilus Fowler to erect an addition to the east wing of the existing structure, resulting in a large rambling plantation house. Fowler utilized a cross hall plan and embellished the formal rooms with elaborate plasterwork, cornices, and chandelier medallions. Charles Walker was a wealthy planter, in 1860 his real estate was valued at $85,000 while his personal property was worth $172,952. Walker owned 154 slaves and his plantation comprised 1700 acres. The plantation passed to Charles Walkers's son, Mims Walker, who renovated the house around the turn of the century, modifying the porch, replacing some mantles, and refurbishing the dining room. Cedar Grove remained in the Walker family until the late 1980s when it was sold. In 1990, it was purchased by Thomas Alison who undertook an extensive renovation of the dwelling. The Cedar Grove Plantation rests at the junction of the old Upper and Lower Demopolis Roads, approximately 7 miles west of Uniontown on Marengo County Road 54, east of State Highway 25. The plantation main house rests approximately one quarter of a mile from the intersection of the two roads. Originally, the approach to the dwelling was from the east, down a long entrance drive. Today, one approaches the house from the north. The remnants of a large grove of cedar trees, from which the plantation drew its name, are still visible. The house is a mixture of Greek Revival and Neo-classical detailing.

Southern Railway Terminal Station, Bessemer Alabama

The Bessemer Southern Railway Terminal is an excellent example of a small town railroad terminal constructed in the early 1900's. Built by the Alabama Great Southern Railroad as the result of a direct order by the Railroad Commissioner, the building stands as a monument to the importance of Bessemer, one of the early industrial towns of Alabama. Bessemer was founded in 1887 as a result of the iron and steel making boom in Jefferson County. The town founder, Henry Debardeleben, noted that the coal and iron beds which lay in close proximity to the town were intended by nature to feed some great creature. He was correct and the town prospered. Around the turn of the century, Bessemer, which had a population of 6,358, was served by five railroads none of which offered more than a one-room shack for passengers.

Bullocks-Wilshire Department Store, Los Angeles California

John G. Bullock built his first department store at 7th Street and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. Twenty-two years later he built a second store on Wilshire Blvd. In doing so, Bullock was not only the first successful merchandiser to set up a rival business to himself in the same city but was the first merchant to experiment with a department store outside the main downtown business district. In moving a major store to this location, he helped facilitate the gradual move of the business district from downtown Los Angeles to the Wilshire district. The building itself was designed by John and Donald Parkinson, two well-known Los Angeles architects. At the time of its construction, local newspapers~'ee'ferred to the structure as a temple to merchandizing. Today the buff terra-cotta Bullock's Wilshire with its copper-sheated, threestory extention on the six-story tower and its copper bands between the various floors stands as the finest example of Art Deco architecture in the Los Angeles area.

Sears Store Building, Evansville Indiana

The old Sears Store stands as a landmark in American commercial history. Its conversion as the company's first retail outlet in 1925 marked the very hegemony of city life. Admittedly, the transition from a rural to an urban nation was a far larger phenomenon than the establishment of a retail store by a firm theretofore catalogue-only. Yet 1920 was the first Federal census tipping the balance of population to cities, and buying habits clearly underscore that trend. In addition to commercial importance, however, the old Sears Store building shares in a significant midwestern architectural development. By 1920, when the building was actually erected, several shipping and manufacturing concerns, notably John Deere, had pioneered the construction of reinforced concrete warehouses and salesrooms. Large buildings - vaguely Chicago School in their style - housed farm equipment and hardware in spaces unhindered by complex structural systems and supported by stout concrete floors. Buyers could shop free of pretentious ornament and equipment could be easily moved or rearranged.

Lovemans Department Store, Birmingham Alabama

The Loveman's Department Store (circa 1934), formally Loveman, Joseph and Loeb, is located on the southeast corner of 19th Street and 3rd Avenue North in Birmingham. This is the historic location of Loveman, Joseph and Loeb's second retail store built in 1890 and subsequently expanded in 1899 and 1916. On March 11, 1934, a catastrophic fire destroyed the four story 1890 and 1899 buildings and severely damaged the seven story Annex (circa 1916) on 3rd Avenue. The present Art Deco Department Store and the rehabilitated 1916 Annex opened for business on March 20, 1935. Forty-five years later in August, 1980 the Loveman's stores in Alabama were liquidated by City Stores, Incorporated. Loveman's Store was found in 1870 by Mr. A. B. Loveman, in Greensboro, Alabama. In 1887, Mr. Loveman,attracted by the booming commercial opportunities of the Magic City, moved his business to Birmingham. Between 1888 and 1889 Mr. Loveman attracted two partners, Mr. M. V. Joseph and Mr. Emil Loeb and the business name became Loveman, Joseph and Loeb. By 1890 the firm had expanded the business to a full scale department store and moved into a new four story building at 212 19th Street. In 1899, the 19th Street store was expanded by a larger addition extending to the corner of 19th Street and 3rd Avenue North.

Stan Hywet Hall, Akron Ohio

The estate is named for the Anglo Saxon term for stone quarry, as there was a large sandstone quarry here. The builders, Frank Augustus and Gertrude Seiberling, were industrial and philanthropic leaders in their community. Indeed, Mr. Seiberling was extremely influential in the development of the American rubber industry, being the founder of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and Seiberling Rubber Company, He was also involved in a number of transportation enterprises, including railroads, trucking, and blimps. Stan Hywet remained in the family until 1957 when the Seiberling heirs donated 65 acres of the estate, including the house and three other buildings, to a non-profit foundation. It is now open to the public as a house museum.

16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham Alabama

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church has served as the religious and cultural center of Birmingham's African-American community, and now also, as a landmark to Birmingham's Civil Rights District. Built in 1909-11, it was designed by Wallace A. Rayfield, a graduate of Howard University and Pratt Institute, and the first African-American to establish an architectural practice in Birmingham. The church was erected by successful African-American contractor Thomas C. Windham. Located downtown near the former center of the African-American business district, Sixteenth Street Church has been known throughout its history as everybody's church. Many distinguished Americans such as Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Jackie Robinson, Marian Anderson, Mary McLeod Bethune and W.E.B. DuBois were heard there. The church began to receive national attention in 1963 when it became the principle site for organizing civil rights demonstrations led by the Reverends Fred Shuttlesworth and Martin Luther King, Jr. The Bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that killed four young girls attending Sunday School resulted in the national and international condemnation of segregation.

Mount Lubentia Plantation - Magruder House, Largo Maryland

The Mount Lubentia plantation house, in both plan and interior detailing, is of a formal and dignified Federal style. The size and appointments of the rooms and the considerable space given to the center stairhall reflects a refinement and sense of social space indicative of the period beginning in the mid-18th century. By the time of the Revolution, the early hall-and-parlor house form had given way to a larger plan based on formalism rather than functionalism. The four-room, Georgian-inspired plan was far more expansive, with specialization in the usage of rooms. Mount Lubentia epitomizes these ideals with its plan, grace and spaciousness. The formal stairhall and center passage occupies one-quarter to one-third of the first-floor space. In addition, each room—large and with high ceilings—differs slightly in its detailing. The elegance and formality of Mount Lubentia is apparent immediately upon entering the house. There is a graceful, open-well stairway connecting with a center hall. The formality is further in evidence by the use of what appears to have been separate parlors for receiving guests and for family use. The receiving parlor—located near the front entry and the impressive stairhall—does not adjoin the family dining parlor which looks out over the garden to the rear of the house, carefully separating formal space from family space. In addition, each room is an entity unto itself, having its own particular moldings and interior finish such as mantels and built-in cabinets.

SS. Peter & Paul Russian Orthodox Church, St. Paul Alaska

This 1905 church is the oldest building on the island of St. Paul. The church's separate elements - sanctuary, nave, narthex, vestibule, and belltower - are clearly expressed on the exterior in a harmonious composition, and the interior features an elaborate mahogany iconostas. In contrast to their housing, which was supplied by the government, the church was commissioned by the natives, and remains an important expression of Russian-influenced Aleut culture. The Russian people began to settle on St. Paul Island in 1810. They had no means of constructing a temple. Finally Russian Ignatii Cherkashenin, who died in 1822, and Creole Kassian Shayashnikov built the first church, without assistance from the Company, in 1821. Since that time Shayashnikov has continued (in the 1840s) to take care of the church as church warden.

Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Church, Unalaska Alaska

One of the oldest Russian Orthodox churches in Alaska, the Holy Ascension Church of 1894 has a cruciform plan but a hip-roofed nave that emphasizes its squareness. Featuring three altars, this church is rivaled only by St. Michael's Cathedral in Sitka for size and grandeur. In addition, the site is associated with Fr. Innocent (Veniaminov), the Russian Orthodox missionary priest who studied Aleut language and culture while located here in the early nineteenth century. Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Church is a National Historic Landmark. The first church in Unalaska was built in 1808 by Fedor Burenin, the Russian-American Company manager. Depicted in an 1821 watercolor by L. Choris, it was a small octagonal chapel, apparently of log construction, with a cupola. It appears to have been located on the east side of the small town.

Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company - Fairchild Aircraft, Hagerstown Maryland

Kreider-Reisner Factory No. 1 (also known as Fairchild No. 1) was built as a result of a partnership between upstart airplane builders Ammon H. Kreider and Lewis E. Reisner and aviation industrialist Sherman Fairchild in 1929, in order to meet demand for the Challenger, a popular sport biplane. A modern open industrial structure by the late 1920s standards, the factory was constructed in only four months in the former airfield behind the original Kreider-Reisner Shed. Here Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company and Fairchild Aviation Corporation developed and mass produced several innovative commercial aircraft, including the KR-31 and KR-34 Challengers, the F-22 and F-24, and the F-91 Amphibian. Entering the defense field in 1939, Fairchild's PT-19 Primary Trainer and C-82 Packet both earned major Army contracts, leading to tremendous expansion of both the factory and the company. During World War II, Fairchild No. 1 was the center of the Hagerstown System of manufacturing as Fairchild subcontracted with over twenty-five businesses throughout the city to assist in the production of military aircraft for the war effort. Although Fairchild closed in the 1980s, the factory survives as a symbol of Fairchild's and Hagerstown's heyday as a major aviation manufacturing center. Kreider-Reisner Factory No. 1 (Fairchild No. 1) represents the evolution of the Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company from a small partnership assembling biplanes out of a patchwork of buildings into the modern Fairchild corporation operating essentially under one roof with state of the art practices. Although forced to cut back production not long after it opened due to the effects of the stock market crash, Fairchild managed to survive the Depression by reducing production costs and building quality, affordable planes. It was poised for growth with the onset of World War II after it developed the PT-19 Primary Trainer for the military in 1939. Moving into the air transport market, Fairchild also developed the F-31, F-91 Amphibian and C-82 Packet. New wartime contracts led to further expansion of the company adjacent to the Hagerstown Airport with the construction of Fairchild No. 2, designed by Albert Kahn & Associates. During WW II, Fairchild No. 1 became the center of the Hagerstown System of aircraft manufacturing, in which a variety of local industrial concerns were converted to aviation subcontractors to meet the incredible demand of the U.S. Army. The company and city went into eventual decline following the Korean War, as Fairchild sold its flagship factory in 1963 and ultimately closed its remaining plants in the 1980s. Even after its conversion to miscellaneous light industrial uses, Fairchild No. 1 remains as a testament to the growth of aircraft development and construction in Hagerstown from 1929-45.

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