Historic Structures

O.G. Bradshaw Grain Elevator, Kimball South Dakota

Oscar George Bradshaw came to Kimball around 1908 and built the wooden 20,000-bushel capacity elevator that year on the far western end of the established elevator row. The structure went up to thirty-six feet on the main section and to forty-eight feet at the top of the cupola. It used both heavy, post-and-beam construction with large timbers as structural elements and also used processed and standardized dimension lumber for sheathing and the cribbed bins. The elevator had nine bins and a wooden leg with motorized belt, a drive bay with scales below, and a connected office that housed the six-horsepower gasoline engine below. By 1917, the Bradshaw Elevator had cleaning machinery and converted from the gasoline engine to a five-horsepower electric motor in the headhouse, likely around the time that the town's light company began operations in 1914. Sometime between 1917 and 1928, an adjoining rectangular building was constructed on the eastern side to store additional grain, although it was later removed. In 1956, the elevator had its shingles and siding replaced in-kind by R.P. Korzan (who had an active local construction company in the mid-twentieth century), Tom Lutz, and George Gross. The Bradshaw Elevator is rare in that it was never modified from its original wood construction to metal siding, and that its office is also wood frame and attached to the elevator through the drive bay. Bradshaw was born in 1872 in the Rochester area in Olmstead County, Minnesota and, in 1898, had worked in a wheat mill in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota. In 1902, he came to South Dakota and gained experience operating elevators in Marion Junction, Ethan, Corsica, and Armour (all in assorted southeastern counties). He returned to Rochester in 1907 to marry schoolteacher Mary Lucia Moran and brought her to Kimball in 1909. Bradshaw was an active participant in civic affairs in Kimball's development; he served on the city council and school board, served as a trustee of St. Margaret's Catholic Church, belonged to several social organizations, and for a time served the agricultural community by recording official rainfall. In one news article, he was also described as a mechanical engineer by profession, but buys grain to pass away the time. Bradshaw operated the elevator as an independent proprietor until his death in 1956, and a county history described him as the oldest active grain dealer in the northwest, having been in the business fifty-eight years. Joe Plachy also worked at the elevator for many years.

Harley Davidson Motorcycle Factory, Milwaukee Wisconsin

The company began inauspiciously enough in 1903 when Bill Harley, Art Davidson and Walt Davidson began to tinker in the 10' x 15' shed behind the Davidson family home at 38th Street and Highland Boulevard. That year the three men produced their first motorcycle, a glossy black machine with a three horsepower DeDion type single cylinder engine. Arthur Davidson, pattern maker, and Bill Harley, engineer, had become acquainted with each other from working together at the Barth Manufacturing Company. Brother Walter Davidson added his expertise as a machinist. The three men were among many across the country who were experimenting with motorcycles at the time. Unlike many of their would-be competitors, however, they hit upon the right internal dimensions for a reliable engine. Ole Evinrude, who lived in the area, also added his invaluable expertise on carburetors. The company grew slowly in the early years. In 1904, the three men sold two of their machines while in 1905, eight were produced. In 1906 the production figure jumped to 50 and the firm's first employee was hired. On September 17, 1907 the group added another Davidson brother, William, and incorporated. By 1908 the business launched into the mass production of 450 cycles. By this time there were 18 employees working for the firm and a 2,380 square foot brick building was built for production. None of these first production buildings are extant.

New London Harbor Lighthouse, New London Connecticut

New London Harbor Lighthouse is highly significant in the history of aids to navigation in Long Island Sound: the first lighthouse on the Sound was established on that site in 1760. New London Lighthouse was established as the fourth lighthouse in the United States, following the Boston (1716), Brant Point (1746), and Beavertail (1749) Lighthouses. The original lighttower was one of the 12 colonial lights taken over by the newly-formed federal government in 1789. George Washington signed the contract with the lighthouse supplier in New London in 1791, indicating both the interest taken in the Lighthouse Service by the leaders of the new country, and the small size of the federal government in that period. Constructed in 1801 as a replacement for the deteriorated colonial structure, the present tower is the oldest lighthouse remaining in Connecticut, and typifies the federal government's standardized format for masonry light towers which continued as a model into the mid-nineteenth century. New London Harbor Lighthouse also is significant as the site of numerous tests for improvements in lighting apparatus and fog-signal devices used by the federal lighthouse service, from the earliest incorporation of Lewis's parabolic reflecter and Argand lamp system in a chandelier to the thousands of candlepower of the twentieth century acetylene gas lamp and electrical equipment.

Falkner's Island Lighthouse, Falkner Island Connecticut

Falkner Island Lighthouse, established in 1802, is the second oldest of twelve lighthouses in Connecticut still under Coast Guard jurisdiction, and the only one which has an island setting. Falkner Island is a later typical example of the masonry lighttower design codified by the Treasury Department during the first half of the nineteenth century and was the site of early fog-horn experiments carried out by Joseph Henry, head of the Smithsonian Institution and Chairman of the Lighthouse Board. The external spiral stair connecting the watchroom and the lantern deck at Falkner Island appears to be a unique feature in the Third Coast Guard District.

Katy Depot - MKT Railway Passenger Station, Greenville Texas

The 1896 Katy Depot, named after the nickname of the railroad company that built it, played an important role in the lives of Greenville residents for nearly 70 years. In an era when intercity travel usually involved taking the train, the Katy Depot functioned as the point of arrival and departure of ordinary citizens as well as visiting celebrities. The station, completed in 1896, while conforming to the long, narrow plan common to many trackside passenger depots, featured a distinctive 2-story rotunda over the main waiting room, making the building unique in this part of the country. Despite the 1951 removal of the rotunda, the depot still possesses most of its original elements that identify it with the period when it played an important part in the history of rail travel in Greenville. Prior to the arrival of the first railroad in 1880, Greenville was a quiet little settlement, without much commerce. Lack of transportation outlets constituted the primary inhibiting factor to growth and development. Without any navigable rivers or a railroad, ox-drawn wagons hauled building materials and trade goods from Jefferson, 120 miles to the east.

Lynde Point Lighthouse, Old Saybrook Connecticut

Lynde Point Lighthouse, built in 1838, is a typical example of the masonry tower lighthouses built in the first half of the nineteenth century to specifications of the U.S. Treasury Department. Containing a well-preserved wood spiral stair of early date, which is unique in the group of twelve Connecticut lighthouses, Lynde Point exhibits superior stone work in the tapering brownstone walls. Of the three early masonry light towers in Connecticut, Lynde Point is the latest and its construction is the best documented: two advertisements for construction proposals survive containing the government's specifications, and the construction contract as well. Lynde Point also was part of the federal government's early efforts to improve aids to navigation to Long Island Sounds when the mouths of important harbors and rivers were among the first sites chosen for lighthouse appropriations. Lynde Point marks the mouth of the Connecticut River. Although deed records indicate that a lighthouse was established at Lynde Point in 1802 on land purchased from William Lynde, the present lighttower is not the original structure. On April 6, 1802, Congress authorized the construction of a sufficient light-house to be erected on Lynde's Point, at the mouth of the Connecticut River; Abishat Woodward, Master Carpenter of New London, was awarded the contract at the end of November 1802, to build a wood shingled octagonal tower, 35 feet high, with an iron octagonal lantern and a stone foundation. Thirty-five years later, this lighthouse was found to be inadequate. In April, 1837, the federal government published in the Connecticut newspapers advertisements for proposals from contractors to build a granite or freestone lighttower, 45 feet high. The old lighthouse was to be moved a short distance away and was to continue in operation while the replacement tower was under construction at the old site. Alternate proposals for a tower 65 feet high also were requested, the builder to receive the old lighthouse, its lantern, lamps and reflectors as partial payment.

JJ Deal and Son Carriage Factory - Kiddie Brush and Toy Company, Jonesville Michigan

Jacob J. Deal arrived in Jonesville in 1857 where he opened a blacksmith shop along with making a few lumber and heavy wagons. In 1865 he sold the blacksmith shop and started to construct buggies and wagons as well as making repairs. The 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the Deal factory occupying four two-story buildings and a lumber shed at the southeast corner of West and South Streets. During 1887 the company made twelve hundred carts, three hundred wagons and carriages, and three to four hundred sleighs. Carts were sold in Indiana and adjacent areas. In 1891 Jacob's only surviving son, George V. Deal, became a partner in the company and was named manager. The firm was renamed J.J. Deal and Son. George had started as a bookkeeper with his father in 1884, and by 1890 was starting to lead the company to produce delivery trucks. In 1892 the company erected an office and display building at the southwest corner of Chicago Road (US-12) and West Street in downtown Jonesville. The new building joined the larger complex to the southeast across West Street. In July of that year residents were invited to the grand opening to tour the building and hear an orchestra. The 1892 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the now altered large office building and showroom at the southwest corner of Chicago Road (US-12) and West Street. Lumber drying areas are located to the south of the office building. Tiffany Brothers Carriages was located to the south on the west side of West Street. The J. J. Deal and Son Carriage Factory complex is located on the east side of West Street. It was comprised of four adjoining two-story buildings that housed a wood shop, engine room, iron room, blacksmith and painting shops. A two-story warehouse and painting building is connected by a raised walkway, and two lumber sheds are located on the site.

Pickle Barrel House, Grand Marais Michigan

The Pickle Barrel House was built at the north end of Grand Sable Lake in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the summer of 1926. Chicago food products manufacturer and distributor Reid, Murdoch and Company commissioned Harold S. Cunliff of the Pioneer Cooperage Company of Chicago and St. Louis to design and build the house as a summer cottage for Chicago Tribune cartoonist William Donahey and his wife Mary Dickerson Donahey. William Donahey's cartoon strip the Teenie Weenies ran in the Tribune from 1914 until Donahey's death in 1970 and was widely syndicated, and its popularity inspired Reid, Murdoch to launch a line of Teenie Weenie brand food products, including pickles, for which Donahey was retained to design labels, packages, and advertisements. The Pickle Barrel House was so popular as a tourist attraction despite its isolated location four miles from Grand Marais that, after ten years of enduring summertime hoards of visitors, the Donaheys gave it to a grocery store owner who sold Reid, Murdoch products. In about 1937 it was relocated to Grand Marais, where it was operated as a tourist information booth until recent times. The Pickle Barrel House is an example of Pop architecture from the 1920s designed to look like the product it advertised or sold - in this case, Reid, Murdoch's Monarch Teenie Weenie brand pickles, that, packed in miniature oak casks, were one of the company's staples. As early as 1658, the Grand Marais area was noted for its natural beauty. The French fur traders Pierre Esprit Radisson and Sieur de Groseilliers were the first recorded Europeans to describe the area. In the summer of 1658 Radisson wrote that the Grand Marais area was most delightful and wondrous, for its nature that made it so pleasant to the eye [and] the spirit. The nearby Pictured Rocks and Grand Sable Dunes, located west of Grand Marais along the Lake Superior coast, would be described in detail by virtually every explorer and traveler who coasted along the southern shore of the lake from the French in the 1600s to the Americans in the 1800s. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, a scientist on the 1820 Cass expedition to Lake Superior, extensively noted the geology of the Grand Sable Dunes and Pictured Rocks, and his collection of Native American lore about the locality inspired Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to pen The Song of Hiawatha in 1855. Grand Marais was an ideal stop for maritime travelers along the southern shores of Lake Superior due to the geological formations along the lake. Maritime travelers embarking from the east (by far most travelers came from Sault Ste. Marie) often stopped at Grand Marais to judge weather conditions before passing the Pictured Rocks' area, where there were few stretches of sandy beach.

Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Station - Big Four Depot, Mattoon Illinois

The Big Four Railroad Station and the Illinois Central Railroad Station were the last two remaining foremost buildings in Mattoon which recall the era when railroads played a major role in the development and economics of this thriving city. The Big Four Railroad Station was located at the hub of local commercial development and thus was an important local landmark and a valuable resource to the people of Mattoon. The earliest settlements in western Coles County were several miles south of present day Mattoon. When rail traffic began in June of 1855 on the east/west Big Four line, which intersected on the east central edge of Section 13, Mattoon Township, with the north/south Illinois Central line, land prices in the area skyrocketed from $.69 per acre to $25.00 in one year's time. The City of Mattoon, platted in 1855, developed around the point of the crossing of these major rail lines and by 1870 the population had grown to 5,000 people. At this time, the Big Four moved its railroad repair shops and round-house from Litchfield to Mattoon, as Mattoon was located near the center of the line running between Indianapolis and St. Louis. The population continued to increase to 10,000 people by the turn of the century.

Woonsocket Opera House - Park Theatre, Woonsocket Rhode Island

When built, the Woonsocket Opera House was the largest theatre in Rhode Island. It was the center of the theatrical, and later of motion picture entertainment in northern Rhode Island for a quarter century. It is the only legitimate theatre ever built in the area. It was the sole remaining large nineteenth century theatre in the state, the Woonsocket Opera House had particular social and architectural significance. In the second half of the nineteenth century Woonsocket was a prosperous manufacturing city, a center for the cotton, woolen and later the rubber industries. It was a city of factory workers and tradesmen. This is the audience the Woonsocket Opera House was built to serve.

Radio Central Complex, Rocky Point New York

Radio Central, the first commercial overseas radio transmitting station in the world, is of profound significance to the history of electrical engineering and the development of international wireless communication. Established by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1921, the Radio Central Complex at Rocky Point was the seat of many pioneering experiments in long-wave radio transmission, and the world's largest transmitting station. The advent of microwave and satellite transmission led RCA to cease operation of the huge complex in 1978. Soon after the General Electric Company established its fully independent communications subsidiary, the Radio Corporation of America in 1920, RCA began construction of a centralized radio transmitting and receiving system designed to command international wireless communication. Dubbed Radio Central, the RCA transmitter complex was the chief element in the RCA system. From a traffic control center located at 64 Broad Street, New York City, operators relayed radiotelegraphic messages to the huge multiplex transmitting center at Rocky Point, Long Island, some seventy miles away. Incoming overseas messages were beamed to the Riverhead, Long Island receiving station, then transferred automatically via land lines to RCA's traffic control office in Manhattan. Radio Central at Rocky Point was the most visually dramatic, as well as the most technologically sophisticated element of this system.

Appleby Atlas Grain Elevator, Watertown South Dakota

For over seventy years the Appleby Atlas Elevator served local farmers as a principal buying and transportation station for their cash grain crops. As a country elevator, its was the initial link in the network of moving raw grain from the producer to large processing and marketing centers. Built in circa 1883 by the Atlas Grain Company, the property was one of the few 19th-Century all-wood elevators in the region to survive in fair, unaltered condition at its original location. The first grain buying centers in the midwest during the 19th Century were simple flat houses (flat floored warehouses), which at the time permitted the storage and distribution of only sacked grain. Railroad companies found it much easier to handle bulk grain and generally insisted on receiving shipments from facilities where grain could be elevated into bins and from there poured through spouts into railroad cars. Therefore, during the last half of the century, the influence of railroads in the west combined with the farmers' growing need for adequate markets caused the construction of a plethora of grain elevators alongside an expanding railroad infrastructure. Two functional types of elevators emerged, the terminal elevator and the country elevator. The terminal elevator is a large transport hub that receives commodities in railcar lots and transfers the grain to processing plants or other terminals in even larger units (such as in barges or ships). On the other hand, the country elevator receives grain in wagon or truck lots and ships it to terminals often via the railroads.

Richter Brewery - Delta Brewery, Escanaba Michigan

The Richter Brewery was constructed in 1900-1901 by a then newly established firm comprised of local businessmen who saw an opportunity to provide a local product to serve a market in the growing city that was then being served largely by out-of-town brews. Enlarged in the 1910s, the building served as the company's brewery from its 1901 completion until 1918, when Michigan's own Prohibition took effect. After serving primarily as a manufacturing and bottling plant for non-alcoholic beverages during the Michigan and national Prohibition years, the building resumed its original brewery function under a new firm name, the Delta Brewing Company, in 1933 and operated until 1940. The new brewery celebrated its formal opening in September 1933 with the largest party in Escanaba's history. A parade featured area bands and many novel commercial floats, and the brewery provided free beer, forty-five barrels worth, and sandwiches to an estimated 15,000 persons who jammed the downtown. Escanaba was established in the early and mid 1860s. Nelson Ludington, Daniel Wells, Jr., Perry H. Smith, and George L. Dunlap purchased the site in 1862 and the following year had the first part of the town site platted. The platting of a town at this site on the Little Bay De Noc coincided with plans to construct a railroad to carry iron ore from the developing iron mines in the Negaunee area to port facilities to be constructed here, from which the ore could be shipped to Chicago and other Great Lakes cities. The Peninsula Railroad was built from the Escanaba site to Negaunee in 1863-64 and carried its first ore shipments in 1865. Escanaba was incorporated as a village in 1866 and had a population of 1200 by 1870. City government was established in 1883, and by 1890 the population had grown to about 8000. By then the city was served by both the Chicago & North-Western Railroad and Escanaba, Iron Mountain & Western Railway, which hauled iron ore from both the Marquette and Menominee iron ranges and shipped it downlake from four ore docks (a fifth was then under construction). Sawmills along with the railroad yards and docks were the mainstays of the local economy.

Airplane Gas Station - Nickle Service Station, Knoxville Tennessee

The 1930 Airplane Service Station is located on a major transportation corridor in East Tennessee, an easy pull-off for travelers. Designed by brothers Henry and Elmer Nickle, the building's unique shape was ideal for its location and a novel way to catch the eye of the driver. In 1930, Henry and Elmer Nickle opened this gas station to coincide with the widening of US Highway 25. The gas station quickly drew the attention of both locals and tourists passing by on the highway. It is an unusual example of pre World War II mimetic architecture in Tennessee. At the time of construction of the Airplane Service Station, many gas stations were using programmatic or mimetic architecture as an easy way to differentiate themselves from their competition. As the price of automobiles decreased, more individuals were able to afford automobiles and automobile tourism became a reality for families. Gasoline, originally sold only at hardware and grocery stores, began to appear in specialized stations along the roadways. The number of gas stations grew to meet the demand of increased mobility. With the increase in the number of gas stations, competition between gas stations increased, as well.

National Clothespin Factory, Montpelier Vermont

The clothespin industry in the United States was historically comprised of small, family-run factories, located primarily in the Northeast, of which National Clothespin Factory is an excellent example. Due to a decline in clothespin demand and the low cost of foreign imports, the Montpelier factory was the last of its kind in the United States. Montpelier, the capital city of Vermont and the seat of Washington County, lies approximately ten miles northeast of the geographic center of the state. The city is bounded northerly by Middlesex and East Montpelier, easterly by Berlin, separated by the Winooski River, southerly by Berlin, and westerly by Berlin and Middlesex. The township was granted on October 21, 1780, and was chartered on August 14, 1781, by Timothy Bigelow and fifty-nine associates, to contain 23,040 acres and given the name Montpelier.

Bradley's Covered Bridge - Long Cane Covered Bridge, Troy South Carolina

Long Cane Covered Bridge was one of three remaining covered bridges in South Carolina. One of the foremost enemies of wooden bridges in the 19th Century was weather. Bridges therefore began to be covered largely to protect their main structural timbers and to insure greater stability. The Long Cane Bridge was a covered bridge built in the Howe style -- a type of construction which introduced iron rods into the bridge trusses. This design proved to be both popular and influential and served as a means of transition from wooden bridges to those built of iron and steel.

Prather's Covered Bridge, Westminister South Carolina

The Prather's Bridge, located ten miles southwest of Westminister was constructed prior to the Civil War and was one of three remaining covered bridges in South Carolina maintained by State Highway Department, Noteworthy construction using cross-timbers and wooden pegs. The bridge spanned the Tugaloo River and connected South Carolina to Georgia. The Bridge consisted of two spans, 158 feet long with town lattice truss, over river. There were two uncovered approach ramps, the South Carolina ramp was 90 feet long, and the other was 48 feet long.

Belk-Hudsons Department Store - Fowlers Store, Huntsville Alabama

El Garces Hotel - Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Depot, Needles California

In 1883 the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Needles established a West Coast link for the critical railroad freight line, and founded the City of Needles. One of the first buildings erected was the original Southern Pacific Railroad depot, considered to be a major stop on their Mojave to San Francisco line. Conducive with the design parameters of other first generation railroad depots, the depot was a single story wood frame construction. Often there was little distinction between the design of a depot and other auxiliary buildings used throughout the railroad lines, so the design primarily reflected the utilitarian and functional spaces dictated by the usage. In 1884, the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad line bought the rights to the Southern Pacific Railroad line through Needles, as part of their Arizona line, and the Southern Pacific Railroad discontinued its service along that portion of the line. Once established, the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad added second story hotel rooms and a Harvey House to the original building in 1898. The need for a significant number of hotel accommodations stemmed from the steady stream of weary travelers, as well as the permanent staff of the Harvey House and hotel. Unfortunately, the wooden buildings such as these were particularly susceptible to fire and often destroyed by errant sparks or cinders from the steam-powered locomotives. The original depot in Needles followed the fate of many others, as it was destroyed by fire on September 6, 1906 and claimed two lives. As the wood construction depots were eventually rebuilt or replaced, the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad turned toward architectural tradition for their design inspiration. The image of the railroad depot began to change from that of a utilitarian structure to an important public building. As passenger rail travel increased, many travelers embarked on recreational trips and were therefore able to see towns and locations that were previously inaccessible to them. Accordingly, these towns wanted to make a good first impression and so, wanted a prominent railroad depot. There was a time in the not so distant past, before buses, planes, and trucks replaced railroads as the principle transporter of travelers, freight, and mail, when the railroad depot was considered an important building in the community as was the city hall, general store or post office.

Dinosaur Park, Rapid City South Dakota

Settlement in the Black Hills began in the mid-1870s when confirmed rumors of the presence of paying quantities of gold incited a great gold rush. Much of the economic development of the region during the nineteenth century relied upon mining, ranching, or related activities. Rapid City, located at the eastern edge of the Black Hills, was founded in 1876 to serve as a commercial and transportation center. The city grew to be second largest city in the state largely due to the installation of nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base. In addition, from the 1930s on, many of the city's entrepreneurs nurtured a blossoming regional and statewide tourism industry. In 1923, State Historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea of a roadside sculpture in the likenesses of western heroes somewhere in the Black Hills to attract tourists to the state. His intent was to symbolize the westward expansion of America and the growth of democratic ideals. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum expanded the idea to national figures. He chose four presidents, who played a major role in westward expansion. Both Robinson and Borglum were impressed with the bigness of the west and insisted that the sculpture be colossal in scale. Thus emerged the carving of Mount Rushmore in the east-central part of the Black Hills about twenty miles southwest of Rapid City.

Davies' Chuck Wagon Diner, Lakewood Colorado

Davies' Chuck Wagon Diner is a particularly well preserved example of a streamlined, prefabricated stainless steel diner, a specific diner type that enjoyed considerable popularity during the middle years of the 20th century. Historically found in greater numbers in the eastern United States, even at the time of its completion in 1957, Davies' Chuck Wagon Diner represented a rare western example of the type. Today, it is believed to be the only extant example in Colorado. The diner, with its contributing sign, stands as a prominent and well known landmark along the West Colfax Avenue commercial corridor. Completed in 1957, on Colfax Avenue (US Highway 40), then the main east/west highway through the Denver metropolitan area, the diner quickly became a popular and profitable eating place. The property was under the ownership and operation of the Davies family from 1957 to 1977. Until 1971, the diner was open 24 hours a day. As was typical of diner operation, members of the Davies family all took part in sharing the workload. Of particular interest, is the fact that in 1958 Col. Harland Sanders awarded the Davies what is believed to be the first Colorado franchise for Kentucky Fried Chicken.