Posted February 13, 200817 yr Here is a new thread where you can post pictures of your city (building, street, whatever) today, and back in the days. Feel free to use a drawing / postcard instead of a picture if necessary. This is a drawing of the office building where I work in downtown Cincinnati, back when it was the Crown Overall Manufacturing Company Building... making overalls for slaughterhouses in Cincinnati. Same building today, now producing services instead of goods, and with a 3-story addition on the top.
February 16, 200817 yr Here is the Clyffside Brewery sometime in the 1930s. Same building in late 2007. The house that used to be on its right side belonged to the owner; it was razed when the brewery was expanded. The building on the left side is the same as on the old picture, but it has been raised and its facade altered.
March 11, 200916 yr A sad Toledo then and now: WILLYS-OVERLAND ADMINISTRATION BUILDiNG North Side of Wolcott Blvd. (now Jeep Pkwy) Mills, Rhines Bellman & Nordhoff, Architects Neoclassical 1915-1979 Then Now In 1915, Willys-Overland ranked second only to the Ford Motor Company in number of cars produced. Completed in 1915, the Willys Administration was a longtime Toledo landmark. The Willys Building's neoclassical style reflected federal buildings built in the nation's capital during the early twentieth century. Its imposing columned exterior was matched by an impressive lobby and elegant offices. According to one postcard, the Willys Building was one of the world's largest industrial office buildings of its time. Financial and commercial success in the 1920s soon changed to bankruptcy in the 1930s, and Ward M. Canaday took over the company. Willys Overland bounced back when production of the famous "Jeep" bolstered profits and helped win World War II. During Cold War, the roof of the administration building was used for the "Operation Sky Watch" civil defense program. When American Motors bought the company and moved its headquarters from Toledo in 1969, the administration building was dynamited for "much needed parking space." http://www.toledosattic.org/details_item.asp?key=221&did=23
March 12, 200916 yr Some outstanding stuff in this thread. Going back to the Willys Building, their automobiles' most memorable claim to fame was the sleeve-valve engine. One of my uncles was an auto mechanic whose working experience went back to a time when a lot of cars from the Model-T Ford era were still on the road, and he was a great admirer of the Knight-designed engine for its smoooth, quiet operation and advanced technology. The drawback was the high-cost of building it and of overhauling it after it had many miles of wear, compared with the ubiquitous poppet-valve engines used by other makers. A link to the tech stuff on the Knight engine: http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/wokr/gallery/wk_eng.htm Willys built some mighty sexy vehicles for their time. http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/wokr/gallery/gallery.htm
March 12, 200916 yr Shaker and Coventry 1922 1968 Today Shaker Square (Moreland Circle Then) Shaker Square Now (the last two photos are copied from another thread here on UO)
March 12, 200916 yr That is just a gorgeous neighborhood. I can see why you talk it up all the time! Thanks :cool2:
March 12, 200916 yr Yeah, Shaker Square looks awesome. If I ever get back up to Cleveland (3-C Corridor trains would help the probability of that), I'm definitely checking it out. My only question is that since it looks like there is a pretty big divide right down the middle of the Square with 2 roads and a set of rails, does the Square feel coheseive, or does each corner just feel like an independent node?
March 12, 200916 yr My only question is that since it looks like there is a pretty big divide right down the middle of the Square with 2 roads and a set of rails, does the Square feel coheseive, or does each corner just feel like an independent node? From the few times that I have been there, I think that it feels pretty cohesive.
March 12, 200916 yr Very cohesive. Vehicles pass through haltingly because of all the crosswalks. The tracks become more of a problem going west from the square, toward downtown, because they drop below grade and it's just a big chasm. That end of the neighborhood suffers for it.
March 12, 200916 yr It is so well designed, that it really feels like a cohesive unit. You would think that normally someone would feel the need to "cut across" the lawn and tracks in the middle if they wanted to get to the opposite quandrant... shortest path from a to b like you would at a traditional strip mall. But the square is so well designed for pedestrians, that the walk does not feel like you are taking a long route. It is very intimate and makes you want to stroll to your destination. Also add to that that cars really do respect pedestrians in that part of Cleveland, so it is almost liberating and refreshing to stroll so freely...not as an afterthought of the developer, but as an integral part of the square. Add to that it is a great to be see and be seen! By far it is one of the best urban spaces I have ever lived. I wrote a paper on it in college, and one of the items was an ad for the square at christmas time (1940's I think) that had a list of stores. The one I remember most is that there was an FAO Schwarz. I'll have to try and dig that up.
March 12, 200916 yr Yeah, Shaker Square looks awesome. If I ever get back up to Cleveland (3-C Corridor trains would help the probability of that), I'm definitely checking it out. My only question is that since it looks like there is a pretty big divide right down the middle of the Square with 2 roads and a set of rails, does the Square feel coheseive, or does each corner just feel like an independent node? No coheseive, because there are benches, in each quadrant, around the square. People are walking from busines to business, or from the train, or just sitting at a table at a restaurant. This is one neighborhood where it's pedestrians first then vehicles. The lights are all timed so that pedestrians have the right of way. In winter its a bit different, as seen here in a picture of the old Shaker Square "station". If you look to the left, you'll notice Mikes Diner (AKA the Shack on the Track) in it original form.
March 12, 200916 yr Since no one so far seems to be representing small town Ohio, let me be the first. Though I couldn't find the date, you first see a scene from downtown Painesville from what must be well over a hundred years ago (1890's?), and the same scene from a recent photo, and well…uh…nothing has changed, except for the fact that the building on the near corner is missing, and there's less pedestrian activity. In other words, Painesville's "Golden Age" is long over--LOL…(I would have shown other blocks but the awful new buildings and parking lots are too grotesque) movin' right along… On a mixed note (and maybe this is more appropriate for the Architecture/Pres thread) the bottom 3 pictures show the old public library--Morley Library--and the new one, built a few years ago. The new one--just about a couple of hundred feet from the old location on the same short block downtown--doesn't look half bad; and one saving grace is that the architects salvaged several elements from the old one: in the last picture, the leaded glass windows and the fireplace, which I remember from my youth, were incorporated into the room shown. Old library... New library http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
March 13, 200916 yr Originally the Schwartz-Hexter Co. building. Then Now via Google...the picture isn't good though. https://www.instagram.com/cle_and_beyond/https://www.instagram.com/jbkaufer/
March 14, 200916 yr RE: http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/TREO123/Cleveland%20-%20Shaker%20Square%20%20II/SSFan1.jpg MTS, have you ever been down Madison in Cincy? When I drove down the street with ColDayMan in the pic posted above, that's the first thing that came to mind (aside from the fact that there's no LRT going down the middle of Madison :( )
March 14, 200916 yr RE: http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/TREO123/Cleveland%20-%20Shaker%20Square%20%20II/SSFan1.jpg MTS, have you ever been down Madison in Cincy? When I drove down the street with ColDayMan in the pic posted above, that's the first thing that came to mind (aside from the fact that there's no LRT going down the middle of Madison :( ) No when in Cinci, it usually airport to downtown and back.
March 15, 200916 yr no old tornado excuses here -- get out the barf bag... :-P :x :whip: 1940's -- lorain central bank -- broadway & 20th street (and it was there into the 'oughts!) july, 2007
March 16, 200916 yr Sort of like the old Union Station entrance in Columbus. Designed by Daniel Burnahm in 1898, the Beaux Arts building featured a series of columns and arches along High Street as part of an arcade over the sidewalk and grand entrance to the station. In 1976, demolition began suddenly on a rainy Friday night after rush hour, which led to creation of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation. All that remains is one of the arches -- and even that was moved a couple of times. It's now part of a park across from Nationwide Arena -- a half mile or so from where it origininally stood. ]
March 16, 200916 yr Painesville Fire Chief from 1898-1917 Fire Chief during the 1960’s (his daughter was a classmate in kindergarten so we got a tour of the fire house) Current Fire Chief http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
March 16, 200916 yr Is that the same person? sheesh. The look related. You're right; I think there's a lot of nepotism there! It's a small town--lol (though their last names, which I chose not to include, are different. The current chief's brother was in my high school class, and I can't for the life of me remember if he was an older or younger brother; Must be dementia setting in) http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
March 16, 200916 yr Is that the same person? sheesh. The look related. You're right; I think there's a lot of nepotism there! It's a small town--lol (though their last names, which I chose not to include, are different. The current chief's brother was in my high school class, and I can't for the life of me remember if he was an older or younger brother; Must be dementia setting in) 8) Well you do live in the EV, God only knows what you've been exposed to! HA! LOL
March 16, 200916 yr Is that the same person? sheesh. The look related. You're right; I think there's a lot of nepotism there! It's a small town--lol (though their last names, which I chose not to include, are different. The current chief's brother was in my high school class, and I can't for the life of me remember if he was an older or younger brother; Must be dementia setting in) 8) Well you do live in the EV, God only knows what you've been exposed to! HA! LOL I'm sure it hasn't been nearly as much as you've been exposed to!!! :wink2: :wink2: :wink2: http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
March 16, 200916 yr Is that the same person? sheesh. The look related. You're right; I think there's a lot of nepotism there! It's a small town--lol (though their last names, which I chose not to include, are different. The current chief's brother was in my high school class, and I can't for the life of me remember if he was an older or younger brother; Must be dementia setting in) 8) Well you do live in the EV, God only knows what you've been exposed to! HA! LOL I'm sure it hasn't been nearly as much as you've been exposed to!!! :wink2: :wink2: :wink2: LMAO!
March 16, 200916 yr ^omg!!!!!!!! Agreed! They only kept the columns? WTF? and the stained glass was repurposed.
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