Stone, Brick, and an SRT

[Olypen]

Living off and on in St. Paul from 1955 to 1967 and continuously since then has made me appreciate the folks who made things to look grand and to last: St. Paul has a good number of buildings like that which are still going strong, even if they have been "repurposed".   Here are a few pictures that I made on a chilly Sunday afternoon downtown on Kellogg street where James J. Hill built his headquarters for the Great Northern Railroad in 1888; the building is now named "Great Northern Lofts"and you can buy a condo there for $400,000 and up.  I took the photos with a Minolta SRT and a 28mm f/3.5 lens, a combination that was, I think, made to last, too.


     The East Side of the GN tells the basic (pun intended) story.


     On the West a side entrance keeps up appearances very well.


     On the South Side, the main entry makes a grand statement.


     This Great Northern "goat" has a lot more dignity than the "Rocky" we saw in 50's TV ads; but, I don't know
     when this particular image dates from.

[br1078lum]

That's a great way to keep a building going into perpetuity.  The old N&W headquarters here in Roanoke have been turned into apartments, and I might check them out again one of these days, so I'll have an excuse to be lurking around downtown.

PF

[radiophoto]

Beautiful!  There's an old building downtown here that's got very nifty decorations on the outside, I'll take a trip downtown and shoot some pics.  Cool idea!

[jamesmck]

Bill - Sharp as a tack, and wonderful muted colors.  Well done.  I love these old buildings.

James

[lesged]

Bill,

Wonderful thread about an impressive building that was constructed with  sturdy components that also had an attractive style, albeit massive. The camera you chose to use has the same qualities. Both meant to last.

I was going to post a photo of another fine edifice I posted in NFF years ago. It was built about the same time as James J. Hill's headquarters for his Great Northern Railroad in 1888. I thought I could find it with  some key words in NFF files, but came up with nothing.

Coincidently, the building I had in mind was made for another railroad magnet, Henry Flagler. It’s initial purpose was to attract wealthy people to Florida and stay at his exclusive hotel. It reflects the Spanish origin of St. Augustine. The photo is in b&w taken here with an Oly 35EC ~4 years ago.

It is now Flagler College and is a handsome building set right in the center of St. Augustine, discovered and founded in 1565 by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, which became the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent.

Before we leave St. Augustine this month, I’ll go downtown and take some detailed shots of the building and post them here in your thread.

You did an excellent job covering your tiltle subject: "Stone , brick and SRT." Bravo! Keep those good posts coming. We need all we can get.

[lesged]

Flagler College, Olympus 35EC, f2.8 E. Zuiko 42mm, APX100, Rodinal 1:50

Above is the photo of Flagler College that I was looking for. The reason I couldn't find it in NFF files is it preceded the then imminent self exile of many Photoneters to the newly starting up Nelsonfoto forum. It was posted on Aug 8, 2005 in Photo.net. Several of the responders to the photonet link below are some of the core NFFers that jumped ship.

http://photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00BQVr?start=0

[LarryD]

Out standing. Old is not bad.

[Ronald Bishop]

We May have some Big 'G' stuff here in Spokane? I'll take a look.
   I worked on the GN telegraph crew in 1951, I was 16 YO. I mostly dug holes to re-set poles, but was training to be a climber till they caught up on my age.
  We lived in converted pullman cars made up into bunk houses out on the job, only free to go to town on weekends.
  Ron B

[Len Robertson]

We May have some Big 'G' stuff here in Spokane?

Ronald - I'll be interested if you can find many former GN buildings in Spokane. The "Clock Tower" down in Riverfront Park is all that is left of the original GN depot (and I'm still mad the rest of the building was torn down in the interest of "Progress"). I believe all the shop buildings, and most of the tracks are gone in Hillyard. There may be a building or two along N. Market that were part of an ice plant or something, but I don't know if they were GN owned, or private companies. The current BNSF shops in the valley were originally Northern Pacific. Just southwest of the intersection of Sprague and Argonne is a wood depot building. I think that was GN, since I remember it always being painted white, what GN painted their buildings.
I hope you can think of a bunch more.

Len

[Ronald Bishop]

Well this isn't the Big 'G' but here is a go at the 'UP' . Aught ta be for good chuckle anyhows?



Union Pacific Depot--Wallce Idaho by Tobacco Road, on Flickr

[Olypen]

PF, Pete, James, Les, and Larry:  Thanks for your comments.  Les-- Thanks for looking up those wonderful photos of the Flagler buildings.  Sounds like he had a similar history to Mr. Hill.

Ron & Len:  thanks for the comments about the GN in your area.  Here in St. Paul, I know that the NP shops buildings have been preserved (Bandana Square) and the GN Jackson Street Roundhouse is a Transportation Museum.  I only have this cluttered photo of Jackson Street which I'll post;  I need to get down there on a Wednesday or Saturday when they're open.

[br1078lum]

Ronald, these were the two main office buildings for the Norfolk & Western Railway in Roanoke , VA.  The GOB South was built on the same ground that the original building had been on until it burnt down in the 1890's.  The GOB North was built during the Art Deco era.  The GOB South is now apartments, and the the North is a higher education center, offering courses from area colleges and universities.

PF


N&W GOB South 3 by br1078phot, on Flickr


N&W GOB South 4 by br1078phot, on Flickr


N&W GOB North 3 by br1078phot, on Flickr

[Olypen]

I mentioned in an earlier post that there were quite a few Hill/Great Northern remnants left in St. Paul.  In the Saturday chores today I had to go to the Ramsey County Hazardous Waste Facility which is located in Empire Builder Business Center-- one of, I think, three, business centers that were established on former GN sites.  I took a few quick photos to add to this thread.  These shops are just east of the Jackson Street Roundhouse; when I get to that site I'll see if there are enough pictures to make a new thread-- can't get there today.

Building at East side



Building to the West



A man who does business with the company that's in there said that the interiors of the East bldg. are very impressive-- as much of the original kept as possible.  Because of the height, they evidently added a second floor.

[Ronald Bishop]

Olypen, this about all that is left of the Big 'G' here in town.
    I wonder if this section of town was named after the same Hill that you refered to earlier?
They named it Hillyard.
     The best  I could do, the parking lot was full.


Panorama by Tobacco Road, on Flickr


A Big 'G' Relic by Tobacco Road, on Flickr

[Olypen]

Ron:

That's a good wall painting of Hill and the railroad yard.  From what I read online, there were quite a few of the buildings preserved there from the railroad town days.  That's a fine looking GN caboose too, isn't it?  Thanks for the pictures.

Bill