Every historic building has a story to tell
It’s been a exhaustively hot summer in Kentucky this year. Although graced by the technology of central air conditioning, I’ve thought with longing about children’s books I read decades ago that described the decampment from urban cores to shady mountain retreats (I believe the Bobbsey Twins series even had a “fresh air camp for children” (read more)
My first Frank Lloyd Wright experience was shortly after college, when my mother and I visited Fallingwater, the iconic house he designed for Edgar Kaufmann, and Wright’s nearby Kentuck Knob, both in rural southwest Pennsylvania. I’ve since returned to both sites, my enchantment with the architecture, site development, and every intricacy that Wright controlled not (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Historic Preservation, Landscapes, Other Places, Tourism
Tags: Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright, Kentuck Knob, Prairie School, Taliesin, Wisconsin
A true vacation for me, one in which I completely relax, can only be at the beach. I find, though, that I prefer the lazy rhythm of days walking on the sand, swimming, and copious amounts of reading, to occasionally be peppered with a bit of sightseeing. Florida’s forgotten coast, a place I’d never visited (read more)
Tourism – especially heritage tourism – can be a tough business for some communities. Small towns find their tourism dollars cut, if not eliminated, and spending money to highlight a town’s history might seem like a poor allocation of funds. I would argue the exact opposite, and there are many people who can quote the (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Historic Preservation, National Register of Historic Places, Other Places, Railroads, Theaters, Tourism, Virginia history
Tags: C&O Railway Heritage Center, Chesapeake and Ohio, Clifton Forge Virginia, CSX Railroad, Frye and Chesterman, Heritage Tourism, Historic Masonic Theatre
In my family lore, there is a not-so-mythical place known as “back seat land.” As a frequent occupant of this space, landscapes and buildings that filter through my memory are most often framed by the dimensions of the back seat car window, and many a long winding road trip was enlivened by peeks of historic (read more)
Ever since my first trip out west in 2008, when I tormented my family with requests to stop and photograph old motels, gas stations, and historic neon, I’ve been enamored of roadside architecture. I am far from the only fan, and numerous websites and apps will ply you with oddities and curiosities to see along (read more)
I never embraced cafeteria food during my primary and secondary school years (and was always baffled by the combination of square pizza slices, corn, and applesauce). But perhaps the problem was all in the setting – as I stood outside the S&W Cafeteria Building in downtown Asheville, North Carolina – I was quite sure I (read more)
The interstate highway system transformed America. I frequently bemoan the sterility of the interstate, but if I lacked this soulless and fast travel option, I would never get anywhere…because the side and back roads hold so much history and wonderful architecture (and I want to photograph all of it!). This past fall, I traveled through (read more)
I have a soft spot for small churches – those on prominent corners in small towns, or rural churches, tucked down a country road, often adjacent to a cemetery. Both types could be considered endangered – the churches in town replaced by larger centers of worship (often more community center or gym than church), flanked (read more)
Montpelier (Virginia) is best known as the historic home of our country’s fourth president, James Madison, the 20th century tenure of the wealthy du Pont family, and the 21st century restoration of the main house (an enormous undertaking, and one much debated by preservationists and historians). My favorite thing at Montpelier? The slightly forlorn train (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Historic Preservation, Other Places, Tourism, Vernacular, Virginia history
Tags: duPont, In the Time of Segregation, James Madison, Montpelier, Montpelier depot, Montpelier train station, Montpelier Virginia, National Trust for Historic Preservation, segregation, train depot
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