Viewing the Mill City Museum and elevators through the Stone Arch Bridge on the Mississippi River, Minneapolis, MN.
Tag: SIA
The Traveling Flamingo
Mr. Stilts is still out and about in the Midwest, making the rounds through St. Paul and Minneapolis. Here are a few photos so far, with tales of conferences, adventures, and sights to come.
SIA Vermont Tour: Part Two
A recap of the Saturday tour of the Society for Industrial Archaeology’s Vermont 2010 Fall Tour. Read Part One.
To recap, the day began bright and early (well, more like dreary and foggy, but the sun soon appeared) with visits to the Green Mountain Power Plant No. 19, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne Farms, and a jaunt over to Magic Hat Brewery. Those stops comprised the Burlington/Shelburne portion of our day, and then we were Montpelier bound once more.
On the return trip along I-89, we turned off at exit 11 towards Richmond to visit the East Monitor Barn, sister to the restored/reconstructed West Monitor Barn. Thanks to our wonderful tour organizer, Seth, we were able to stop for a while, walk in and around the barn to explore and gaze at the construction, take pictures, and enjoy the gorgeous Saturday afternoon. For me, it was the highlight of the trip. On how many tours do you get to just traipse [gently] through a historic barn? We had to bushwhack a bit to get to the rear of the barn, which made it all the more fun.
The East Monitor Barn in Richmond, VT.
The interior of the main floor of the East Monitor Barn.
The ground level of the barn, a former dairy stable.
The East Monitor Barn -- check out the ghost lines.
Looking up the monitor.
After we’d been entertained by our barn explorations, the bus headed back to Montpelier. Later that evening we all gathered at the Socialist Labor Party Hall in Barre, VT for a banquet and lecture. The hall is a National Historic Landmark, built by the Italian immigrants of Barre. The building is fascinating and undergoing restoration work (donations appreciated!). While the dinner was in the main hall, we had the opportunity to stroll through other spaces of the buildings on the first floor and in the basement.
Old Labor Hall in Barre, VT.
The Labor Hall in the evening.
{Sorry for the blurry Labor Hall photos!} The lecture was given by Ilaria Brancoli Busdraghi of Middlebury College. She gave a wonderful talk about the immigration of Italian granite workers to Barre.
Additionally, dinner was fabulous, catered by JDC’s Just Delicious Catering, which is a part of the Vermont Fresh Network. As an added bonus, the coffee served was my absolute favorite: Vermont Coffee Company, Dark Roast. And the company of fellow SIA members was terrific. Everyone is extremely welcoming, friendly, and knowledgeable. Seriously, these industrial archaeologists have an overwhelming amount of knowledge. There is always an interesting conversation, no matter which direction you turn.
Credit for this amazing day of tour is due to Seth DePasqual, the organizer of the event and fellow SIA member. He planned the tour from all the way from Michigan! Great job, Seth. I only wish I would have more time than just Saturday. Maybe next time.
Young professionals and students, you should really think about joining! The SIA rocks!
Preservation Photos #51
Interior of the 1917 Green Mountain Power Plant No. 19 in Essex Junction, VT.
Photo taken a day of tour with the Society for Industrial Archaeology (story to follow!)
Friday Links
The Brooklyn Bridge Forest project brings yet another link to preservation + sustainability. The general idea? Growing and responsibly maintaining a tropical hardwood forest to replace the 11,000 planks of tropical hardwood on the Brooklyn Bridge when necessary, rather than using uncharacteristic synthetic wood.
Love Route 66? Scott Piotrowski has picked up his blogging again (hooray!) about Historic Roads in Los Angeles County, CA. He plans to uncover the final 66 miles of Route 66 in 66 different blog entries leading up to 2012 Route 66 Festival in Santa Monica. That sounds like quite the task – and interesting one at that! Leave a comment on his blog with suggestions & encouragement.
Speaking of Route 66, who wants to buy the NR listed Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico? It’s for sale!
And, if you’re a fan of the movie Cars you may know that Disneyland is opening “Cars Land” in summer 2012. Scroll down for a bit info and some pictures.
Anyone attending the Society for Industrial Archaeology’s Fall Tour in Vermont this September? I’ll be there, helping out with the Saturday Burlington tour.
Looking for a job? Many have been appearing on PreserveNet lately, many more than earlier in the summer.
Is anyone taking the Ivy Tech (Madison, IN) online course: Introduction to Historic Preservation? I’d be interested to hear about your experiences.
Any starting your undergrad major or graduate degree in preservation? Please share!
Happy weekend; hope the last one of August treats you well! Get out and about while it’s still warm and sunny!
Gold in Them Thar Hills: Part Four
SIA 2010 Overview. Part One. Part Two. Part Three.
The SIA tour led our group to the Mollie Kathleen Mine, the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad, and Victor, Colorado. Our last stop of the day was a part of the Cripple Creek & Victor Mine: American Eagles Scenic Overlook. It is an 1895 mine complex with a shifter’s office, a superintendent’s house, a blacksmith shop, and the headframe and hoist from the mine. The buildings are weathering away, in that picturesque sort of way. It provides an opportunity for visitors to see (a sort of) ghost town. It overlooks the continental divide, the wind blows strong, and the view is breathtaking.
The trail to the overlook is a long stairway.
From the overlook. The foreground is the currently operating open pit Anglo Ashanti mine.
Miles upon miles beyond the mine.
The superintendent's house.
Looking inside the superintendent's house.
Another view of the house.
Floorboards of the shifter's house.
Time at work.
As you can tell by the pictures, I spent most of my time around the buildings, as a true building lover would, but the industrial archaeologists, true to themselves, spent most of their time around the mine structures. Thus, I cannot explain much about the mine itself. This was the case for much of the day, which amused me. However, we all gazed across the continental divide. How beautiful. Another must see spot.
Gold in Them Thar Hills: Part Three
SIA 2010 Overview. Part One. Part Two.
In order to not overwhelm one post with images, there will be three (or four) posts about Gold in Them Thar Hills.
So far our tour consisted of the Mollie Kathleen Mine and the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad. The giant tour bus ventured on windy Colorado roads to Victor, CO. Victor felt more authentic than Cripple Creek; with ghost signs, tired buildings, and that western feeling (without the Hollywood effect). In Victor we all ate lunch in the park and had some time to wander around the unique & interesting Victor Lowell Thomas Museum. The museum featured local history exhibits, mining history exhibits, and furnished rooms upstairs. Our visit was short, and I would have liked more time to wander around Victor.
Ah, I loved Victor, CO.
Neat signs and buildings on the small business strip.
Victor's streetscape.
Merchant's Cafe. Great coffee, great owner with entertaining stories, great atmosphere. It totally made my day. Go there and say hi to Alex, the baker in the back. In the 1970s, Alex owned an organic bakery in Putney, VT. What a small world! Visit the website.
The tour continued just outside of Victor, but that’s an entirely different set of photographs.One more from Victor:
Another shot in Victor; the town could use a spruce (but it's still lovely!)
Gold in Them Thar Hills: Part Two
In order to not overwhelm one post with images, there will be three (or four) posts about Gold in Them Thar Hills.
After leaving the Mollie Kathleen Mine, our tour group headed to the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad. The train departed from a historic depot for a four mile round trip to the ghost town of Anaconda, CO. Along the way the train stopped to allow us to gaze at the mountain scenery and experience Echo Valley. Enjoy this flood of images!
Historic depot at the Cripple Creek & Victor Railroad, the former depot of Anaconda.
Leaving Cripple Creek.
Such fun on the steam engine!
View from the train.
Just how many miles is that? Echo Valley.
Ghost town across the way!
The blacksmith shop in Anaconda; it is one of the few buildings that survived a fire.
Highway 67.
On our way back to Cripple Creek.
A water tank next to the train. The steam engine needed a water source!
A better view.
I thoroughly enjoyed this forty minute train ride; what perfect weather!
Gold in Them Thar Hills: Part One
In order to not overwhelm one post with images, there will be three (or four) posts about Gold in Them Thar Hills.
Friday June 4 was the tour day of the conferences, of which I chose to attend “Gold in Them Thar Hills.” (Okay, the title got me hooked and it’s fun to say.) The tour bus departed Colorado Springs at 7:30am and headed up Highway 24 and Highway 67 to Cripple Creek, CO. The scenery on the way was spectacular: mountainous, green, vibrant brown rock, shrubs, and Pike’s Peak in site for much of the time. Oh, and we saw the world’s highest ferris wheel (highest as in elevation, not tallest).
The aforementioned world's highest ferris wheel.
Pike's Peak in the distance, somewhere around Divide, CO.
Our first stop was the Mollie Kathleen Mine in Cripple Creek, which is a family owned active gold mine in the winter months with tours open to the public in the warmer months. The surface of the mine overlooks the town of Cripple Creek. At the mine visitors travel 1000′ (10 stories!) below the surface. Hard hats and closed-toe shoes are mandatory and warm jackets are recommended. To enter the mine, you have to squeeze into the mine shaft cage. The descent takes about two minutes during which time you cannot see your hand in front of your face. A guide takes about 8-9 people on each one hour tour, where the guide tells and shows the history of mining at different exhibits, demonstrating the tools and techniques used. It is such an interesting tour! On the surface there are cars, machines, mining cars and other vehicles to explore (not to mention an awesome giant hat). The views are also incredible.
Welcome to the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine.
View from the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine.
In the mine: miner's tools, railroad tracks, and the homemade rail bicycle (no brakes!)
In the mine!
Miner's hat!
Uniform bell signals were invented for all of the Colorado mines to insure safety and understanding when workers changed mining operations.
"View from the top of the world only 25 cents." This sign was just sitting on the ground, but I loved it.
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Side note: This is post #500 on Preservation in Pink!
Preservation Photos #35
Dust blown, worn by the climate, and left to deteriorate at the American Eagles (abandoned) mine overlook near Victor, CO. One of my favorite pictures from the SIA tour.
Preservation in Pink 