Latest Structures

The Brooklyn Bridge, New York New York

The Brooklyn Bridge, New York New York

After 14 Years of Construction, this Iconic Bridge Opened in 1883

A national symbol and a world-renowned landmark, the Brooklyn Bridge has stood for over 100 years. Designed by John A. Roebling, who came to America from Prussia in 1831, and built under the careful scrutiny of his son and successor, Colonel Washington A. Roebling, the bridge was for twenty years the largest suspension bridge in the world. In addition, the building of the bridge required a variety of new and unusual construction techniques, among them, the use of pneumatic caissons and the use of steel, instead of iron, cable. A majestic and impressive structure, little altered from its original form, the bridge stands today as a testament to the vision and determination of both its designers and its builders. In many

More...
Charles E. Conrad Mansion, Kalispell Montana

Charles E. Conrad Mansion, Kalispell Montana

The Ghost of the Owners Wife is Frequently Seen in this House Turned Museum

Charles Edward Conrad was born near Fort Royal, Warren County, Virginia and he and his brother William came to Fort Benton, Montana Territory in 1868 when he was eighteen years of age. They went to work for I.G. Baker & Brothers of St. Louis, Missouri and Fort Benton, Montana Territory, largest mercantile enterprise in the northwest. Charles' friendly association with the Indians was an asset in their early days of the mercantile business. In 1876 the brothers purchased the company they had started working for as clerks. Their business prospered and soon they expanded into banking and finance. Their legacy includes a city and bank named Conrad. On the brink of what is now called Conrad Hill in Kalispell looking out

More...
Floyd County Courthouse, Rome Georgia

Floyd County Courthouse, Rome Georgia

Historic 130 Year Old Courthouse Destroyed by Fire March 23, 2026

This is an excellent example of a design by Bruce and Morgan. The exterior has been altered little and has much of the original terra cotta trim around the arches, stringcourses. The dramatic terra cotta gargoyles are rarely found on buildings of this type. Inside the massive oak millwork remains in place in place throughout the building. It is especially handsome in the courtroom. On Monday, March 23rd, 2026 a fire broke out in the building in the early afternoon. Everyone was safely evacuated from the structure, however the building was extensively damaged. Massive flames destroy historic Georgia courthouse in Rome Monday (March 23, 2026)

Floyd County Courthouse temporarily closes after fire, court dates postponed (Mar 23, 2026)

Floyd Co. leaders

More...
The Belvidere Mansion, Claremore Oklahoma

The Belvidere Mansion, Claremore Oklahoma

Built in 1902, this House is Believed to be Haunted

Hazy figures, toilets that flush on their own, random grabbings (when no one is around), and mysterious hot and cold spots have led some to believe that this historic home is one of the most haunted in the state. John M. Bayless was one of the first settlers in northeastern Oklahoma. He came to Oklahoma during the railroad boom of the late nineteenth century and was responsible for selecting the route for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad when it entered the state. At the turn of the century, he decided to move his family and business endeavors to Claremore, Oklahoma. In 1902, he designed and built the Belvedere which was the family home until the mid-1920s. Bayless established the

More...
Blue Job Fire Tower, Farmington New Hampshire

Blue Job Fire Tower, Farmington New Hampshire

This is 1 of 15 Watch Towers Still in Use in the State

The Blue Job Mountain Fire Tower is one of 15 active fire towers owned and operated by the State of New Hampshire, through the New Hampshire Division of Forests & Lands, as part of a statewide fire tower system. Prior to its use for fire prevention and observation, Blue Job Mountain was likely used for timber harvesting and general agriculture. The mountain was first used for fire detection in 1912-1913 by the state's Forestry Commission. The first watchman was Albert B. Felker (b. 1874), who worked on his parent's farm in Stratford. In following years, John M. Felker (b. 1872), Albert's brother, served as watchman. Although description of the original station equipment is omitted from Forestry Commission reports, it was likely

More...
Eastern High School, Baltimore Maryland

Eastern High School, Baltimore Maryland

After years of Vacancy, the Building was Renovated in the 1990s for Office Space

The evolution of Eastern High School was an important part of the development of female education in the Baltimore public school system culminating with the construction of the impressive Eastern High School on 33rd Street and Loch Raven Road. The curriculum offered by Eastern teachers was continually revised and adjusted to ensure that the female students were presented a comparable education with the male students throughout Baltimore. From the opening of its doors in 1844, Eastern led the way in female education revolutionizing teaching, curriculum, and school design. Eastern graduates advanced to improve the professional, business, cultural, and social life of the city. When the new Eastern High School building opened in 1938, it represented the latest in educational design and

More...
Dwight Chicago and Alton Railroad Depot, Dwight Illinois

Dwight Chicago and Alton Railroad Depot, Dwight Illinois

Richardsonian Romanesque Train Station Closed in 1971 and is now Serves Amtrak

The Dwight Depot, built in 1891 was designed by Chicago Architect, Henry Ives Cobb, and was based on a Richardsonian Romanesque style. Mr. Cobb also designed the first buildings of the University of Chicago, the Newberry Library, the Chicago Post Office, and other well-known buildings. The old depot was a one and a half story, 16x24 foot frame building was erected in 1854. A much larger depot was needed for the increasing traffic. The Keeley Gold Cure Co., run by Dr. Leslie E. Keeley, had about 300 patients in town end more were coming from all around the country by train to Dwight. The Dwight Business Men's Association, organized in May, 1891, including Chas. L. Romberger, David McWilliams, Dr. Leslie Keeley,

More...
Hotel Belleville, Belleville Illinois

Hotel Belleville, Belleville Illinois

Built in 1931, this Hotel Closed in 1961 and was Converted to Apartments in 2022

Hotel Belleville, located within the public square at 16 Illinois Street in downtown Belleville, Clair County, Illinois, was constructed between 1930 and 1931 to answer the needs of a struggling Belleville to provide a modern hostelry capable of representing an upward moving city, the building fostered in civic pride and remained in service to the community until 1961 after which a period of decline in hotels was ushered in by the more popular motel model. The building's role within the commercial as well as social history and development of Belleville continued for three decades, providing essential office and meeting space for local and national organizations, a permanent home for the Chamber of Commerce and other civic groups, dining and entertaining space,

More...
Hotel Bell, Alva Oklahoma

Hotel Bell, Alva Oklahoma

This 50 Room Hotel Opened in 1927 and Closed in 1968

The Hotel Bell, located at 501-505 Barnes in Alva, Oklahoma was built using a historical 1920s small-town pattern of planning and erecting community hotels by means of stock sales among local individuals. The Hotel Bell was physically central in Alva and was central to Alva community life from 1927 through 1968. By the mid-1920s in small towns across America prominent citizens and city councils began to think of ways to attract business to town when it might naturally flow toward larger communities. The mantra of the era was make this a better town to live in, by building up business. City leaders touted a new, modern, fireproof hotel as one of the most important civic improvement projects that citizens make real

More...
Hotel James, Palatka Florida

Hotel James, Palatka Florida

Built in 1916, this Hotel Closed in 1982 and Remains Vacant Today

The James Hotel in Palatka Florida was built in 1916, and received an addition in 1924. The James Hotel is an excellent example of the Prairie Style adapted for large commercial building. It is the work of master architect Henry John Klutho. A protege of Frank Lloyd Wright, Klutho was renowned for his work in rebuilding the city of Jacksonville, Florida, after a major fire which occurred there in 1901. The James Hotel was constructed at the height of Klutho's career and the usage of the Prairie Style in this building is in keeping with what he was known for at this time. Although he was most significant for his work in Jacksonville, Klutho in fact designed a number of buildings

More...
Hotel America - Spectra Boutique Apartments, Hartford Connecticut

Hotel America - Spectra Boutique Apartments, Hartford Connecticut

Built in 1964, this Hotel Only Lasted 30 Years, Sitting Vacant Until Apartment Conversion in 2015

The Hotel America, located in Hartford, Connecticut, played a yet central component of Hartford's signature downtown urban renewal project, Constitution Plaza. Drafting of plans for the Front-Market Project, as Constitution Plaza was originally referred, began in 1953 and effectively drew to a close upon completion of the hotel's construction, after several delays, in April 1964. The hotel was added as an integral element of plans for Constitution Plaza in March 1958, while the project was still in its formative stages, and its groundbreaking in November 1961 was heralded as a critical moment in the city's redevelopment efforts. The Hotel America building was operated by a series of national hotel chains between 1964 and 1994 (it closed for good on August 25th,

More...
Warner Hill Fire Tower, Derry New Hampshire

Warner Hill Fire Tower, Derry New Hampshire

This Watchtower Was Used as an Aircraft Warning Station During WWII

The Warner Hill Fire Tower is one of 15 active fire towers owned and operated by the State of New Hampshire, through the New Hampshire Division of Forests & Lands, as part of a statewide fire tower system. Prior to its use for fire prevention and observation, Warner Hill was used primarily for general agriculture. The 1938 Hurricane caused extensive damage to forests across New Hampshire. The State's forestry division anticipated a greater fire risk in the following years due to the exuberant deadwood on the ground. In response, the state built five additional fire lookouts across the state, including one on Warner Hill. These towers were International Derrick towers manufactured by Derrick & Equipment Company of Columbus, Ohio, and assemble

More...
Morley Button Factory, Portsmouth New Hampshire

Morley Button Factory, Portsmouth New Hampshire

Buttons were made at this Complex Until 2000, when it was Divided for Multi-Use

The Button Factory is Portsmouth's only intact nineteenth-century industrial complex. When the Morley Button Factory was built in the 1890s, it was at the outer edge of Portsmouth's urban center. Islington Street, and the parallel railroad tracks, closer to downtown, were the location of Portsmouth's other large scale industries. The Frank Jones Brewery stood opposite the lower end of Bartlett Street, and on Bartlett was the Eldredge Brewery. Closer to downtown on the shore of the North Mill Pond was the Portsmouth Shoe Factory. Many of these businesses were interrelated. Brewer Frank Jones was a major financier of the Portsmouth Shoe Factory, built in 1886. The leading figure in the Morley Button Factory was Jones' was son-in-law and business partner, Charles

More...
Perkins & Jones Shoe Factory, Rochester New Hampshire

Perkins & Jones Shoe Factory, Rochester New Hampshire

The Encore Shoe Company made Shoes Here Until 2000 when the Factory Moved

The Perkins & Jones Shoe Factory was one of the last surviving shoe factories in Rochester, a city once prominent statewide as a shoe manufacturing town. Between 1870 and 1880, Rochester's shoe industry surpassed textiles as the dominant industry in the city. The Perkins & Jones Factory was constructed by the Rochester Enterprise Organization (REO) in 1892, around the chimney, engine room, and boiler house of an earlier factory erected in 1884 by public subscription and leased to the Breed Shoe Company of Lynn, Massachusetts. The 1884 factory burned almost completely in May 1892, resulting in the establishment of the REO two months later. The new shop was dedicated in January 1893 and the celebratory ball held by the employees was

More...
Maple Haven Campground, Woodstock New Hampshire

Maple Haven Campground, Woodstock New Hampshire

This Site has Offered Tourist Cabin Rentals Since 1919

For over fifty-five years, this property was associated with Joseph R. Sawyer, member of a family who ranked among the earliest settlers of Woodstock. Joseph R. Sawyer's father, Albert W. Sawyer, built the Fairview Hotel on Route 175 in North Woodstock in 1883, and Sawyer was well-acquainted with the tourist business. He worked for his father before seeking employment at a local mill. After he lost an arm in an accident, he elected to return to the hospitality business and purchased this farmhouse from a Mr. Hart. In 1919 Sawyer built the first tourist cabin on the site (Cabin #6), soon joined by others. A brochure published by the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce in 1935 lists Sawyers Cabins, with its six

More...
Mount Prospect Fire Tower, Lancaster New Hampshire

Mount Prospect Fire Tower, Lancaster New Hampshire

This Stone Fire Lookout was Part of a Large Estate that Later Became a State Park

The Mount Prospect Tower is one of 15 active fire towers owned and operated by the State of New Hampshire, through the New Hampshire Division of Forests & Lands, as part of a statewide fire tower system. Prior to its use for fire prevention and observation, Mount Prospect was a popular hiking destination for summer tourists and then a private estate. During the second half of the nineteenth century, New Hampshire became a destination for summer tourists and those seeking health benefits of mountain air. Across the state, hotels and resorts opened on mountain summits and welcomed visitors seasonally. Mount Prospect had been traversed by the early nineteenth century, when a path was carved to the summit. In 1859, a road

More...
Belknap Mountain Fire Tower, Gilford New Hampshire

Belknap Mountain Fire Tower, Gilford New Hampshire

This Active Fire Lookout is Located at the 2,384 ft summit of Mount Belknap

The Belknap Mountain Fire Tower is one of 15 active fire towers owned and operated by the State of New Hampshire, through the New Hampshire Division of Forests & Lands, as part of a statewide fire tower system. Prior to its use for fire prevention and observation, Belknap Mountain (also Mount Belknap) was a popular hiking destination for summer tourists visiting Lake Winnipesaukee and the Lakes Region in the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. Early on, a carriage road was built from Belknap Mountain Road to the top of the mountain. A large portion of the mountaintop was owned by Leon E. Morrill (1871-1927), a farmer. He lived in a farmhouse near Gilford Village at the base of the mountain

More...
Croydon Peak Fire Tower, Newport New Hampshire

Croydon Peak Fire Tower, Newport New Hampshire

This Fire Lookout, Located in Blue Mountain Forest and Game Preserve, was Built in 1938

The Croydon Peak Fire Tower is one of 15 active fire towers owned and operated by the State of New Hampshire, through the New Hampshire Division of Forests & Lands, as part of a statewide fire tower system. Croydon Peak is the highest summit in the Blue Mountain Forest Association's Corbin Park (or Blue Mountain Forest and Game Preserve), a private, exotic game preserve that covers over 24,000 acres in the towns of Croydon, Cornish, Plainfield, and Grantham. Corbin Park was established in 1889 by banking and railroad businessman Austin Corbin II (1827-1896). In 1891, the nonprofit Blue Mountain Association was founded to manage the park. The park was stocked with exotic species, including bison, mountain goats, elk, and wild hogs.

More...
Pack Monadnock Fire Tower, Peterborough New Hampshire

Pack Monadnock Fire Tower, Peterborough New Hampshire

This Active Fire Lookout is Located in Miller State Park

The Pack Monadnock Fire Tower is one of 15 active fire towers owned and operated by the State of New Hampshire, through the New Hampshire Division of Forests & Lands, as part of a statewide fire tower system. Prior to its use for fire prevention and observation, Pack Monadnock was a popular hiking destination in the late nineteenth century. Miller State Park is the oldest state park in New Hampshire and occupies the summit of Pack Monadnock. It was first established in 1891 when Charles F. Melendy and Autin A. Spofford deeded a three-acre tract of land on the summit of Pack Monadnock to the state. In 1892, it was officially dedicated in memory of General James Miller, a hero of

More...
Mount Cardigan Fire Tower, Orange New Hampshire

Mount Cardigan Fire Tower, Orange New Hampshire

This was One of 90 Fire Lookouts that Once Protected NH State Forests

The Mount Cardigan Fire Tower is one of 15 active fire towers owned and operated by the State of New Hampshire, through the New Hampshire Division of Forests & Lands, as part of a statewide fire tower system. Mount Cardigan is notable for its exposed granite summit, which is the result of a massive fire in 1855. The fire burned all the vegetation, leaving the summit exposed but benefiting surrounding farmland. Prior to its use for fire prevention and observation, Mount Cardigan (also Cardigan Mountain) was a popular hiking destination for summer tourists in the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. Agriculture and mica mining was the primary industry in the region until the late nineteenth century. The region's rugged terrain,

More...