Would a small town be able to install a bare-breasted fountain in this day and age?

This lovely lady can be found in the little town square in Chestertown, Maryland.  Downtown Chestertown is a National Historic Landmark District.  On a personal note, we like going to the farmer’s market (where my dad, a master beekeeper, sells honey at the end of the summer, and we visit Paul’s Shoes when it’s back-to-school time.  Support small town America, folks!

Photography fan?

Dedicated traveler?

Neighborhood explorer?

The steward of a National Historic Landmark?

Grab your camera and visit National Historic Landmarks in your community or anywhere you travel.  (You can check this updated list that includes the most recently designated sites.)

Discover unexpected places and things that are NHLs – railway buildings, a recording studio, college stadiums, submarines, a giant antenna array, cemeteries, a water pumping station, a space simulator, and at least one giant wooden elephant.

The 2012 National Historic Landmark Photo Contest page on Flickr will accept entries until Wednesday, June 13, 2012 (midnight EST).

This year, photographers are challenged to add some insight about their experience. So along with the photo, respond to one of the following prompts.

Guggenheim Museum in New York City. (Photo by Sabra Smith, 2011)

I learned…

or

I loved…

or

I met…

or

I discovered…

Need to confirm a place is an NHL?  Check here.

Only ONE photo per NHL, with a total of up to 10 NHL images per photographer.

Do you have a favorite National Historic Landmark?  Do tell.

National Historic Landmarks are nationally significant historic places designated by the Secretary of the Interior  in recognition of their exceptional value in illustrating or interpreting our nation’s history.  Today, just 2,500 historic places bear this national distinction.

Working with citizens throughout the nation, the National Historic Landmarks Program draws upon the expertise of National Park Service staff who work to identify and nominate new landmarks and to provide technical assistance to existing landmarks.

Check out the National Historic Landmarks Program on Facebook.

Photo by A. Palewski

Update from Plan Philly here.

The story, by Alan Jaffe, recaps the May 10 meeting about the ongoing debate over the future of the Church of the Assumption.  It says, in part:

The battle over the future of a Spring Garden church building moved into the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas this morning, with the focus on the power of one city department versus another.

Does the Board of License and Inspection Review have the right to hold a full hearing on a preservation case already decided by the Philadelphia Historical Commission, and then reverse the Commission’s decision?

The Court of Common Pleas will hear the case on the demolition of the Church of the Assumption in two weeks. Oral arguments are scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 10 at 10:00 AM in Court Room 426 of City Hall. Please attend the hearing if you are available.

So far….

1. The church was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places on May 8, 2009.

2. The owner of the church, Siloam, applied for financial hardship in order to pursue the demolition of the structure. The Philadelphia Historical Commission granted financial hardship on September 10, 2010, allowing demolition.

3. The Callowhill Neighborhood Association and several neighbors appealed the ruling and the case was heard by the Board of License and Inspection Review. The Board overturned the ruling on May 17, 2011, prohibiting demolition.

4. Siloam filed for appeal of the Board’s decision. The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas heard the appeal on May 10, 2012.

It’s springtime and the blossoms are bursting forth.

My cherry tree is the first bit of color in my neighborhood.  Then the dogwoods begin to wake.  When the crocus begin to fade, the daffodils leap in to the color fray.  The giant sycamore up the street has a blanket of Virginia bluebells spread out around its trunk.  So pretty.

I haven’t been back to New York City to check, but I”m guessing that the bluebells, daffodill and tulip bulbs I helped plant as a volunteer with the Central Park Conservancy are probably busting out all over — including over at Gracie Mansion.  (See if you can find me in the group above; I”m standing next to SaraLevine, the wonderfully inspiring manager of the L.I.V.E. — Learning/ Involvement for/Volunteers in the /Environment — program as part of the nascent Central Park Conservancy.  And, yes, that’s the inimitable Ed Koch in the middle of the group.  I have also hit him up for a donation when I was a Central Park gatekeeper during the annual park clean up/fundraiser day — he pulled his pockets inside out to show that he had no cash on him.)

You can check on my posies at this historic mansion by taking a tour – available  most Wednesdays at 10 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM and 2 PM. (General admission is $7 for adults, $4 for seniors, and students are admitted free of charge. Tours last approximately forty-five minutes.)

A more special treat would be the Tea Time Tour, where you get to experience the residence and enjoy a delicious assortment of homemade tea sandwiches, teacakes, and scones, plus the House Tea — a blend with a twist of mandarin and safflower (for groups of 25-50 people on Tuesdays and Thursdays at $25 per person).

Haven’t ever heard of Gracie Mansion?  Let the brief history below lure you to its location in Carl Shurz Park on the Upper East Side along the East River.  For more information or to book a tour, contact the Gracie Mansion Conservancy.

In 1799, a prosperous New York merchant named Archibald Gracie built a country house overlooking a bend in the East River, five miles north of the City. Financial failure forced Gracie to sell his house to Joseph Foulke in 1823, and in 1857, the house came into the possession of Noah Wheaton. The City of New York appropriated the estate in 1896, incorporating its 11 acres of grounds into the newly-formed Carl Schurz Park.

After decades of use as a concession stand and restrooms for the park, Gracie Mansion was restored and became the first home of the Museum of the City of New York. When it moved to a larger building, Gracie Mansion became a historic house museum run by the Parks Department. Parks Commissioner Robert Moses convinced City authorities to designate it as the official residence of the Mayor, and in 1942, Fiorello H. La Guardia moved in.

The house was enlarged in 1966 with the addition of the Susan E. Wagner Wing, which includes a grand ballroom and two intimate reception rooms. The Gracie Mansion Conservancy was established in 1981, and under its guidance, the first major restoration was undertaken between 1981 and 1984.

In 2002, the interior and exterior were again restored, and the house was transformed into the “People’s House” with increased accessibility to the public and to City agencies. It has also been used to accommodate visiting officials and dignitaries, such as former guests First Lady Rosalynn Carter and President Nelson Mandela.

The Gracie Mansion Conservancy is a private not-for-profit corporation established in 1981 to preserve, maintain and enhance Gracie Mansion – one of the oldest surviving wood structures in Manhattan and a member of The Historic House Trust. The Conservancy’s mission is to raise funds to restore the historic structure and acquire furnishings that illustrate the rich history of New York; improve the surrounding landscape and gardens; and provide educational services, including publications and tours.

Photo by Sabra Smith, see Creative Commons License in sidebar

Once upon a time we thought asbestos was a marvel of a building material.  Then we found out otherwise.  The factories that manufactured asbestos-related materials shut down.  Seen above is what’s become of a place that was once considered the world capitol of asbestos production.

Rambo House, Swede Street, Norristown, Pennsylvania

Here’s a sneak peek at an upcoming post (I’ve got a lot of work to do before I’m ready to share it with you).

Above is Rambo House, a hotel once located on Swede Street in Norristown, Pennsylvania, across from the County Courthouse. Nathan Rambo, a onetime owner of the property, is a cousin (something removed) of mine.  I pulled his will and the inventory of his belongings for a research project.  In trying to build the context for his properties, his community, his life and times, I discovered a fire insurance survey for Rambo House.

Rambo House

Cor. Swede & Penn Sts.,

(Opposite Court House)

Norristown, Montg. Co.

House Large & Commodious

Well Ventilated,

Good Stabling

and

Careful Ostlers,

Table Well Supplied,

And the Bar always Stocked with the

Best Brands of

Liquor and Segars.

Fire insurance surveys are wonderful research tools, providing detailed descriptions of a building from top to bottom.  To read the  Rambo House survey, click here for a downloadable pdf file or simply scroll down.  The image and this document is all that is left of Rambo House.   It was demolished in the 1970s.   (A bill for wallpaper discovered in my research, allowed me to suppose that Nathan Rambo’s residence, across the river in Bridgeport, probably also featured wallpaper in its public rooms.)

Franklin Fire Insurance 0/23260

Survey made and reported to the Franklin Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia for Nathan Rambo of his three story brick dwelling & tavern house with back buildings on the northwest side of Swede Street on the Lot North corner of Penn and Swede Street, Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Building 51 feet front by 34 feet deep

Back building 22 feet wide by 30 feet deep

Cellar under front house divided by walls into three parts (A roadway in basement 10 feet wide for carriages to pass through into Tavern Yard not dug out under)

Ground floor, joists of Basement floor 3 by 8 inches, 18 inches apart

3 small windows 3 lights each. Steep stairs up to first floor. Basement story walled with stone.

Basement, divided into three rooms and Roadway. 8.6 feet high in the clear. Ceiled, plastered & painted. W. pine floor narrow. Washboard. SW office, 2 windows front, 12 lights: 8 by 16 inches and one window back 12 lights: 10 by 16 inches, all double hung on weights. Double paneled Shutters 1 1⁄2 inch thick. Iron strap hinges and bolts.

Out door front 2 inch thick knob lock. Two lights over in square head. Large closet with two doors. Board partitions across office with double doors in knob lock. Hatchway door over cellar stairs. Middle office same. NE office has no partitions, is otherwise alike.

4 in. Grecian moulding finish

First Story – One Room, 10.6 feet high in the Clear. Ceiled, plastered & painted. Yellow pine floor narrow, washboard. Five windows front and 4 back. 12 lights: 10 by 18 inches, double hung on weights. Double panel shutters 2 inches thick. Iron strap hinges and bolts. Middle window front with 2 small doors under to open (shutters down the whole length) onto a piazza 3 1⁄2 feet wide the length of house. Resting on cast iron brackets every 4 feet. Three wooden joists 3 by 4 inches with yellow pine floor. Iron Railing 36 inches front and sides. Heavy pattern. Two doors two inches thick, knob lock, to steps down to Bar Room.

Door to back part 2 inches thick. Knob lock. 4 inch Grecian moulding finish.

Second story – front part 9.4 feet high in the clear. Ceiled, plastered and painted. White pine floor narrow. Washboard. Divided by entry 5 1⁄2 feet wide through the middle of house the whole length. Five rooms front and four back with back entry, one window to each room, 12 lights: 10 by 16 inches double-hung with weights, double-paneled blinds 1 3⁄4 inch thick. Iron strap hinges and bolts. Door to each room and back entry 2 inches thick, knob lock, transom over, one light hung on pivots.

In Back Entry is Close Winding Stairs to Third Story. Stair door 1 1⁄2 thick, knob lock, large closet under stairs, large door, door from back part double, 2 inches thick, knob lock.

4 inch Grecian moulding finish to this story.

Third story front part 8.83 feet high. Ceiled, plastered & painted. White pine floor, narrow. Washboard. Divided as below into 2 entries and nine rooms. Eleven windows, 12 lights: 10 by 14 inches hung and Blinds as below. 10 doors 1 3⁄4 inch thick. Knob lock and pivot transom over. Close winding stairs in entry. Two stair doors. Knob lock 1 1⁄2 inch thick. Narrow closet.

3 1⁄2 inch Grecian moulding finish.

Garret beam nothing Peak 9 feet high. Double pitch.

Rafters 3 by 5 and 6 inches — 18 inches apart from center to center, Supported by Purluns[?] The whole length 8 by 6 inches resting on end walls and 5 truss. String piece 8 by 7 inches, Main braces 8 by 6 inches, 2 posts 8 by 6 inches cross brace 8 by 6 inchyes and back braces 4 by 6 inches Pinned together with iron bolts. Covered with slate 7 2/3 inches to the weather. Not floored. One window in end, 12 lights: 10 by 12 inches, with blinds as below. Walls of front and back are 1.3 inches thick in basement stories, through residence 9 inch walls. Walls in basement, between the offices and roadway 9 inches thick. All of good hardburned brick, the front pressed brick laid in white mortar. Marble facings to the basement front. Partitions in 2nd and 3rd Stories are lathed and plastered studding. Doors are all paneled in back part. Cellar 7 1⁄2 feet deep. Walled with stone. Ground floor, 3 windows, 3 lights. Winding stairs to basement above joists 3 by 10 inches, 16 inches apart from Center to Center.

Basement, kitchen, one room. Ceiled, plastered and painted. White pine floor, narrow. Washboard. Out door 1 3⁄4 inch thick, knob lock and lights over. Door from foot of stairs going up and at head of stairs door 1 1⁄2 inch thick, knob lock. Four windows, 12 lights: 10 by 14 inches, hung and shutters as front. Dresser closet, 4 doors large shelved closet with door, large dumb waiter box, and brick oven projecting into room, about 6 feet square.

3 inch Grecian moulding finish.

First story – 9.4 feet high in the clear. One room, 4 windows, 12 lights: 10 by 16 inches hung and shutters as front. Door from front, and out door 2 inches thick. Knob lock. Dumb waiter, range large, dresser closet 4 doors. Shelved closet, large door. Wooden mantle.

4 inch Grecian moulding finish.

Second story. 8 2/3 feet high in the clear. 2 rooms. Ceiled, plastered & painted white pine floor narrow. Washboard. Back room larger? 3 windows, 12 light: 10 by 14 inches hung and blinds as front. Door from small entry 1 1⁄2 inches thick. Knob lock. 4 wardrobe closets large doors, wooden mantle. Bath room small, one window and door as before. Bath tub hot and cold water pipes. One window in entry as others. Hatchway through ceiling to garret above.

Roof double pitch. Peak 6 feet high. Rafters and slate as front. Tin gutters to roofs and tin conductors down front and back. Partitions are lathed and plastered. Studding – Doors are all paneled. Walls are all of brick. Well-burned, 9 inches thick.

An old house adjoins this on South West side.

L.E. Corson

Wishing each and every one of you a very happy Valentine’s Day! (If you are one of those unfortunate people who rejects the holiday based on commercial cynicism or traumatic experience, may I suggest you make it about someone else?  Leave a secret admirer surprise for someone who doesn’t have a valentine of their own this year. Spread the love, so to speak.)

This card was never mailed, but is copyrighted J. Baumann, 1910, series 2282, and printed in Germany.  The reverse indicates postage required: Domestic One Cent, Foreign Two Cents.