History

A White Christmas at Limeville

It’s been a long ten years since we had a white Christmas down in northeast Kentucky. I took advantage of the serenity and beauty to stop at Limeville.

Totuskey Creek Store

The Totuskey Creek Store is an abandoned mercantile stand along the still waters of Totuskey Creek near Warsaw, Virginia.

Kentucky’s Gingerbread Houses

Victorian-era adornments, often referred to as “gingerbread” details, are among my favorite architectural features, as they transform simple designs into elaborate and ornate structures.

Ashland’s Field Department Store and Sears

The Millard F. Field Building, located at Winchester Avenue and 16th Street in downtown Ashland, Kentucky, was home to the Field Department Store and Sears.

Friars Club Mural by Lumen Martin Winter

While living in the now-demolished Friar’s Club in Cincinnati, Ohio between 1941 and 1944, Lumen Martin Winter painted murals on the walls of the residents’ lounge. The 1,600 square-foot scenes, painted in tempera emulsion on a casein ground, depicted regional highlights of industry, music, religion, and literature.

Palmer Park

The Palmer Park Apartment Building Historic District, well regarded for its ornate and varied examples of active and abandoned apartment buildings, is located in the Palmer Park neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan.

Old Hickory Renovations

I couldn’t believe my eyes. After driving for many miles in lake effect snow, I came upon Old Hickory in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. Work has started to restore this long-neglected landmark into a bed-and-breakfast.

Exploring Wheeling Steel’s Benwood Works

The factory that produced the first welded steel pipe is partially abandoned. Wheeling Steel’s Benwood Works dates to 1884 when Riverside Iron Works, its earliest predecessor, became the second mill in the area to produce steel.

Friends in Sang Run

The historic community of Sang Run is located along the Youghiogheny River in the mountains of western Maryland. The drive to this remote pocket of the state is not the easiest, with twisty blacktop roads alternating between forested hillsides and open valleys.

With Respects to The Old Hickory

An outstanding residence in the center of Coudersport, Pennsylvania, Old Hickory, has been abandoned for nearly 30 years.

Raceland

Growing up in Raceland, Kentucky, I knew some of the significance behind the town’s name. It was named for the “Million Dollar Oval,” a horse racing track.

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