Tag Archives: Historic preservation

See, Save, and Celebrate!

Posted on by
Reply

historic preservation

May is National Historic Preservation month and this year’s theme is See, Save, and Celebrate!  Having completed my masters in August and not currently working in a traditional historic preservation job- I’ve been feeling a little out of the historic preservation loop lately. It seems fitting that today I realized that it is National Preservation Month.

Reading the National Trust Organization’s press release about #presmonth reminded me that it doesn’t really matter if you are a “Preservationist” (proper), to make an impact. Usually the people that cause the most change or have the biggest impact are citizens with a genuine interest or passion for a historic building or landscape. One of the reasons I started this blog was to share interesting historic buildings and sites I discover on the road and to remind myself and others of how much there is to see in our own “backyards.”  If one person sees something they like on the blog and shares it with someone else then I am accomplishing my goal (slowly but surely).

Needwood Baptist Church

Needwood Baptist Church- Brunswick, GA

Needwood Baptist Church is one of my favorite buildings near my hometown of St. Simons Island, Georgia.

needwood baptist

This site is intriguing to me because so few of the vernacular structures of this era are still standing in Glynn County.  It’s amazing to me that this church and the neighboring school house are mostly unharmed except for damage due to age and neglect.  I love double tower church types too- the asymmetry is so unique.  I’m not sure what the solution is to “save” this site but I’m sharing it with y’all in hopes that you can see it.

There are so many beautiful and unique historic places in the South and beyond; if people don’t know about them, then they can’t celebrate them, and ultimately they can’t save them.  So this month- get out there and see, save, and celebrate!

Here are some #presmonth ideas proposed by the National Trust to get you goin’

Community Service Opportunities: Possible projects might include a clean-up day at a local house museum or along a historic Main Street. Consider partnering with other local nonprofit organizations in your area to sponsor the event. This will allow you to forge new relationships to build on in the future and will also provide an opportunity to attract new volunteers that may not be familiar with your organization or site.

Demonstration Projects: Many people who own a historic property enjoy learning more about restoration techniques and new products. Consider hosting lectures, workshops, or demonstrations for historic home owners. Topics might include how to select appropriate paint colors, proper methods to repair older windows, plant choices for historic garden styles, or ideas for improving energy efficiency in older homes.

Special Events: Host building tours, open houses, living history events, and special exhibits for your members and potential new members or supporters. Sponsor a photography contest and post the photos on your website or ask folks to send in letters about their favorite local landmark. Don’t forget to take advantage of social media. Encourage attendees to use Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter to share photos or spread the word. The official hashtag for Preservation Month 2013 is #presmonth.

Related articles
About these ads

Sunday funday

Posted on by
3

Switching it up a little today with a video!  Had a great time hangin’ at the Avondale Brewing Company in Birmingham this weekend.  Historic preservation, neighborhood revitalization and beer… of course they go together.  Stay tuned for more!

Maison Blanche

Posted on by
2

I am a newlywed.  It is still strange saying it or typing it.  You plan and talk about this event everyday for months and then when the time comes…it flies by.  I never actually believed people when they said it goes by fast but wow!  During these past few weeks I’ve been oogling our wedding photos done by the amazing Sarah DeShaw.  They are so beautiful and I have enjoyed reliving all the little moments that are such a blur to me now.

bridesmaids

As one of my “something borrowed” and “something old” pieces I wore my great grandmother’s mink stole during the ceremony over my gown.  I noticed in one of the photos the label in the mink read, Maison Blanche New Orleans.  Having an affinity for the “finer things” like antiques and vintage clothing, I had to do some digging about this store.

mink stole

Image Sarah DeShaw Photography

I found out quite a bit!  New Orleanians flocked to Maison Blanche for its opening day on Oct. 30, 1897. The grand department store on Canal Street employed 600 workers and had a selling space of 60,580 square feet, according to The Daily Picayune.

Original Maison Blanche building

Located at the corner of Canal and Dauphine streets, the original Maison Blanche building was heralded as a palace by The Daily Picayune, which dubbed it “the finest department store in the South.” The paper reported that the store was executed “with more daring and on a more superb scale than anything yet attempted in this city or in any Southern city.”
Maison Blanche

Image: New Orleans Magazine
Original Maison Blanche building

After doing more research, I found out that the ornate original 2nd Empire building was merely a placeholder on the block for the owners of the Maison Blanche Department store owners- the Shwartz-Isaacs company.  They envisioned a modern skyscraper- creating a massive and comprehensive shopping experience that would entice travelers to choose New Orleans, rather than New York, as a shopping destination.  The original Maison Blanche store opened on Canal Street in 1897.  Construction on the new building began in 1906 and lasted until 1909.

After the original building was replaced by a gleaming new Beaux-Arts building in the early 20th century, the store housed non-retail ventures as well. New Orleanians grew up going to the doctor’s or dentist’s office in the Maison Blanche building. The city’s first radio station, WSMB, was founded in 1925 and made its home on the 13th floor.

Maison Blanche

new Maison Blanche building constructed in early 1900s

Maison Blanche

Easter Hat window display

The owners of the department store had accomplished their goal of creating an enormous department store that rivaled the opulence and extravagance of the famed Bergdorff Goodman store in New York.  Maison Blanche was sold to several chains over its history, until it was acquired by Dillard’s. The store was shuttered for good soon after, in the summer of 1998. In 2000, the Ritz-Carlton hotel moved into the building and is still there today.

Although the gorgeous original building did not survive, it is encouraging that its predecessor is still in the flagship location and is still being used today.

I’ve often thought about what it would be like to spend time with my great grandmother as an adult…how fun it would be to step back in time and go peruse the designer millinery shop on the second floor and have lunch with her at the MB Rendevous Restaurant.  Those days of extravagance are long gone for most but it is fun to daydream about shopping in such a store.

Sources and Related articles

Sunday funday photo

Posted on by
Reply

crawford long museumJefferson, Georgia’s town mural: celebrating the first use of anesthesia and its inventor, local Jeffersonian Crawford Long.  Quite possibly the strangest town mural in existence…

crawford long museumEther bunny anyone?  If you’re ever in Jefferson- check out the Crawford Long Museum gift shop :)

Historic School Houses

Posted on by
Reply

“Historic schools link generations within a community.  Schools are also local landmark buildings–like county courthouses, city halls, and libraries,– which are monumental in architecture and rich in associative memories.” – W. Ray Luce

Woodlawn High School

Woodlawn High School, 1925
photo courtesy Birmingham Public Library

A recent resurvey trip to John’s Creek, Georgia to locate two historic school houses got me thinking about this unique building type.  Schools play an important role in our lives.  They are the buildings in which we learn to read, write, dream about what we will be when we grow up, and make life long friends.  Memories from our formative years are important and preserving the buildings associated with these memories can provide significant anchors for individuals and the community.

Historic schools are one of my favorite building types.  I’m intrigued by the uniqueness of each one, whether a high style or vernacular example, and the feelings of nostalgia brought about by their presence.

Woodlawn High School

Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama
image courtesy Oocities.org

The image above is a recent photo of Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama.  This impressive building was completed in 1922 and still serves the community as a magnet school.  Woodlawn High also contains the largest WPA mural surrounding the proscenium arch in the high school’s auditorium.  It was painted between 1934 and 1939 by Sidney van Sheck and Richard Blauvelt Coe for the Works Progress Administration.  The mural is currently undergoing a restoration and more information about the effort can be found here.

Woodlawn High School

Section of the mural
image courtesy Birmingham Library Archives

Deferred maintenance is the main culprit for the decline and abandonment of historic schools.  Continual use of these buildings is also a challenge that communities often face; historic schools located in the city core or town center are often outgrown and abandoned, and new facilities are built on the outskirts of town.

Old school House

abandoned school house in the Scottsboro community in Baldwin County, Georgia

By abandoning these existing facilities, children have to be transported by bus and car to the new facilities, adding to traffic congestion, traffic time, decreasing neighborhood cohesiveness, and expenses.  In addition to these effects, farmland and forests are destroyed to make room for new school and infrastructure needed to support it.

Not all schools can continue to be used for their original purpose, but they can often be successful adaptive reuse projects that can serve their community.  For example, the NewTown School building and the Warsaw School building in John’s Creek, Georgia are both successful adaptive reuse projects in the community.

Newtown School NewTown School in John’s Creek, Georgia is a recent adaptive reuse project.  This 1929 school house went through a major renovation in 2010 and is now called Park Place and serves the community as an active senior center.  The building retained the original shape of the building with some new materials like the roof and windows.  The interior of the school house features historic photographs from the NewTown School years.

national registerThe Warsaw School also located in John’s Creek was dedicated in 1933, experienced a major renovation (including a mid-century modern cafeteria addition).  The last school term at the Warsaw School was in 1980s.

warsaw schoolmidcentury additionShortly after its days as a school, the Warsaw building was renewed as an office building.  Although the historic context no longer exists, the property owners did an incredible job maintaining the historic character and materials of the Warsaw School.

warsaw schoolWith some creative thinking, historic school houses can prove to be valuable and useful  long after their days as educational facilities.

Related articles

Resources: Preserving Historic Schools (Georgia Historic Preservation Division)

Paradise Garden

Posted on by
Reply

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

“I never met a person I didn’t love.” Howard Finster

This past Sunday I made the trek to Summerville, Georgia for Finster Fest with some friends to see Howard Finster’s legendary Paradise Garden.  Formally known as Finster Day, Finster Fest is now a celebration of the visionary artist’s life and work.  Each year people come from around the world to Dowdy Park in downtown Summerville and enjoy live music, crafts, and tours of the garden.

If you’ve never heard of Howard Finster, here’s a crash course…

He began his career as a reverend turned visionary folk artist when in 1976 the vision of a face in a paint smudge on his finger directed Howard to “Paint Sacred Art”.  Nearly 50,000 paintings later Rev. Finster’s vision has placed his artwork in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the American Folk Art Museum in NYC, the Library of Congress and major museums and collections around the world.  His artwork became of interest to several nationally known bands like R.E.M. and The Talking Heads; Finster created album covers for both of these bands and several bands have filmed videos in the garden.  The honesty and humility portrayed in his work is refreshing and continues to inspire generations.

His home and gardens are an incredible, living art instillation with so much activity and color everywhere; when you see it for the first time it is a complete sensory overload…Luckily when we entered the garden, we were greeted by a friendly Paradise Garden Foundation volunteer and they provided us with a map and interpretive brochure. The foundation has done an incredible job stabilizing the structures and reopening the property.  Thanks to the foundation, local, and state support Paradise Garden is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

First Stop: Howard’s Studio and Workshop

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

house mural

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

front stoop

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

finster fans

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

This site fostered Finster’s creative spirit and is where he created over 40,000 works of art.  The structures themselves are works of art, adorned with brightly colored characters, antique chandeliers, flower pots, and sculptures, and everything is strategically placed so visitors flow through the property with ease.  As we continued around the side of the house, I looked up and saw the shiny steeple that I have seen several times only in photographs.

#2 World’s Folk Art Chapel

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

World’s Folk Art Chapel

This piece began in 1982 when Howard Finster received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to build a folk art chapel.  Finster bought and converted Rev. Billy Wright’s church building and turned it into the heavenly inspired chapel that is still stands.  The original roof was cut out and built it up and up adding “reflectors,” other art, and inspiration.  It is full of supplies now, but maybe one day it will hold weddings and other events as it once did.

After the Chapel, we walked down the sculpture walk designed by Finster.  At the beginning of the trail is Howard’s car complete with a portrait of his family, friends, and travel memories.

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

sculpture walk

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

Keith Haring

One of my favorite sculptures on the whole property is this one by Keith Haring.  Haring was a frequent visitor to the gardens and was inspired by Finster.  I love this one because it appears to be a collaborative piece: notice the Coke bottles (Finsteresque) on the base and the characteristic Haring graffiti/pop illustrations.

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

I love a self guided tour…we were free to roam around and explore the grounds to attempt taking it all in.  The sculpture and mosaic gardens were my favorites…so much to see!  Enjoy!

Howard Finster Paradise GardenHoward Finster Paradise GardenHoward Finster Paradise Garden

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

Coca Cola bottle house

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

side view of rolling chair ramp gallery

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

timeline for Finster’s press appearances

Howard Finster Paradise GardenHoward Finster Paradise GardenHoward Finster Paradise GardenHoward Finster Paradise Garden

After winding through the mosaic garden, we made our way into the Meditation House.  It is a small room full of inspirational art, Finster’s writings, and old church pews for you to rest.

Howard Finster Paradise GardenHoward Finster Paradise GardenHoward Finster Paradise GardenHoward Finster Paradise GardenThe last stop was the Howard Finster memorial located the side of the chapel.  It is a tribute to this uniquely American artist.

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

Howard’s memorial

Howard Finster Paradise Garden

howard finster memorial

So glad I finally got to see this place!  Howard Finster’s art and life has always been intriguing to me and I see why he has so many fans and “disciples.”  The gardens will be open all summer so if you are ever near Summerville or want something different to do on a weekend you should go!  It’s definitely worth it!