Found Drawings

While emptying a room of clutter, I found these old measured drawings of the Gamble House. I know the guy who measured and drew these (back in the 80s?), and he was a very good draftsman. I'm not sure where the originals are, and these copies are not so great, resulting in inferior scans. I have more of them... and for posterity sake, I will scan those soon and add them here.

 Longitudinal Section

North Elevation

East Elevation

St Paulus Tower Removed

Today the contractor that is stabilizing St Paulus Kirche removed the remnants of the tower that have been exposed to the weather for 2 years. I have no idea how 3CDC is paying for this stabilization, but I am thankful that they have taken on this important project. Unfortunately, the contractor removed the metal roof about a month ago, and it then proceeded to rain every day for 3 weeks! I would think they could have waited until May. The interior had original canvas applied to the plaster, and the ceiling had unique decorative medallions. The reuse of this structure will be very difficult and probably very expensive. But since it is the oldest extant protestant brick structure in the city (ca 1850) and is so prominent in OTR, I think it is necessary.

View of whole north side of church with top of tower removed
 

The clock level of the tower... on the ground
 

mortise VI
 

XIII
 

This huge timber was vertical in the center of the tower for 160 years, and once extended up into the steeple. Even the remnant of it is huge.
 

But what is really fascinating, is this, a close-up of the huge central timber, where you can see the gears that drove the 4 clock faces! Unfortunately, all this is in a dumpster:
 

Someone with a big truck and more energy and space than I have should rescue some of this!

See here for a 2008 post on this building.

Photos from the hurricane Ike here.

Second National Bank and Moser Paint Factory

A while back I posted a faded picture of a wall sign that said "PAINTS". A productive visitor researched the address and left the following comment:

Sanborn map says it was the Charles Moser Co. Paint Factory and Warehouse.From 215-227 East 9th st. Also on the Cincinnati Historical Society Library website in their photograph selection.....if you look at the pics for the Second National Bank Building,there are three of them, two from 1914 and one from 1911.For the 1911 pic if you enlarge it (enlarge by 400%)....you can see plain as day your GHOST SIGN...."PAINTS"...on the side of this same building, probably not many years old at the time of the pic was taken. Pretty cool its still there 100 YEARS Later.

So following this lead, I went to the Historical Society website and found the photo:

Second National Bank:

Here is what it looks like today:

Unfortunately I could not replicate the exact angle of the shot because the original was taken from a window of a building that is now just a parking lot.

Here is the ground floor today

And here is a close-up of the old street scene:

[where: 830 Main Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202] SEC Main and Ninth

Fire on New Years Eve

This building was engulfed in fire Dec 31, 5:30 am. The interior had been gutted of plaster, and the wood was dry and very combustible. Cause is undetermined, but this is located right behind the roughest part of Vine Street, the 1600 block, and it is likely that someone broke in so they could shoot-up or sleep inside.
[where: 1616 Pleasant Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202]

Click on photos for larger views:

Fire still smoking at about 10am:

Burned building, later that day, with Greg Spring, the city's favorite demolition contractor fast at work. Note they also demoed the short building to the north, 1618 Pleasant:

The odd, one-story, zee-brick building, 1618 Pleasant Street from a few years ago. 1616 is just south across Levi Alley

Picture of area 2 years ago. Only the top of 1616 Pleasant is visible in this photo, as it is set-back from the street by a few feet:

UPDATE:
From the auditor's website, here is a photo of 1616 Pleasant 10 years ago, when it was last occupied. It is the red building on the left.
 

2009 auditor's photo
 

WH Taft Museum

We recently visited the Taft Home on Auburn Avenue, the only National Park site in the City limits as far as I know. It was educational, and the kids got a kick out of it. It is great to have these kinds of cultural attractions right next door.

Neat Street vs Color

I love the children's book "The Big Orange Splot" by Daniel Pinkwater:

It is the story of a man who lives on a "neat street" in which all the houses are the same. Then one day he dramatically changes his house. His neighbors try to get him to change it back, but he responds "My house is me and I am it. It is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams". Eventually the other neighbors also change their houses to look like their dreams. It is a wonderful story.

I was reminded of the book while reading a recent article about a man who painted his historic house orange:

Many of Ruben Jones' neighbors are not pleased with his color selection, or that his house is being painted at all, since the paint covers the original, unpainted gray surface of the house designed by Neel Reid. Jones said the color is meant to replicate the look of an Italian villa and will fade.

Frankly, I like the orange and I don't think something as transitory as a thin film of paint should be regulated at all, even in an historic district.

Disagree?

Donna's Stop and Shop

This post is triggered by an online discussion at Victorian Antiquities about the nearest building in the photo below. It is 24 West Elder Street, and the City recently added it to a list of building's that they propose to demolish:

My earlier post on 1974 Findlay Market included this photo of these buildings:

A map of the area, there once was a school in the north half of the Findlay Playground:

Following are some photos from this weekend:

The owners of this building are completely unreachable or maybe even deceased. The tax mailing address is a housing project in the West End that was demolished years ago. The OTR Foundation included this building in a proposed receivership proposal to the City in 2008. As far as I know the receivership plan has not progressed beyond talk. The side, front:

Alianthus tree growing out of window:

Rear of the building, where two alleys meet, and across the street from the Findlay Baseball field:

Deteriorated side porches:

This corner of OTR is interesting. It is more abandoned than the rest, and many of these buildings have unreachable or stubborn owners who do nothing. These two buildings are just north of the Findlay Playground on a stub of Republic Street, near Schwarz's Point. Seems like this owner was in the news for criminal resale of baby formula or some such scandal:

More vacancy along Goose Alley. The other side of these buildings face Race Street:

Republic Street, just south of the park. The pink building on the left is a really cool lot with buildings that face both Republic and Vine Street. Not surprisingly, this is another vacant building owned by longtime slumlord Sondra Walls:

The north wall of the Sondra Wall's buildings:

Stone House East Price Hill

 

I've been exploring a bit on the near west side and this is the second house I have seen made wholly from found limestone. This one is on very high ground, up behind the Cincinnati Christian University and is obviously older than everything else around it. It has ugly replacement windows and is chopped up into apartments.

The side has these buttresses, which I suppose were added when the wall started bulging or cracking. They give it a medieval feel:  

[where: 2935 Lehman Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45208]

Vine and Sixth OMI to Terrace Plaza

I had to visit the old Edgecliff College in Walnut Hills for business last month. It is currently the home of UC's College of Applied Sciences (OCAS). But since OCAS has merged with the College of Engineering, OCAS may move to UC's main campus sometime in the next few years, (at least that is the scuttlebut). The site, overlooking the Ohio River from Victory Parkway is dramatic, but the Edgecliff buildings are pretty blah, and remind me of a 1960 Catholic School (which it was).

Anyway, OCAS has had a notable history in Cincinnati. Starting in 1828 as the Ohio Mechanic's Institute, or OMI, it was a significant place of learning during the industrial revolution. A young Thomas Edison studied in their library, and OMI hosted fabulous Industrial Exhibitions every year during the last decades of the nineteenth century. Some of the old posters from the exhibitions are hanging in the hallway, and I would love to get a full copy of one of them.

The Greenwood Building, named for Miles Greenwood, president of the OMI Board from 1847-1854 was the owner of Eagle Iron Works. This building was the home of OMI from 1850 to 1911. It was originally 4 stories tall. In 1900, 2 stories were added as shown in this crummy model. This stood at the SW corner of Sixth and Vine until 1945 when it was demolished to build the Terrace Plaza.:

SW Cor 6th and Vine when it was OMI:

They also had a model of the Emery Building, which was the OMI/OCAS home from 1911 to

Francis Trollope Bazaar building. Apparently this was the first home of OMI:

The Bartlett Building

The Bartlett building was dedicated on New Year's Day 1901. At the time, it was the tallest building in Cincinnati (surpassed in 1904). It was designed by Daniel Burnham and you can find further information at a web site called Emporis.



The building is 19 stories high, the top is 252 feet.



The detail that was your clue figures prominently over the main entrance.



The entrance has a lot of very interesting detail including the rotating door.



The details include a pair of eagles and some intricate design.



I am always amazed at the detail you can find up near the top of buildings. Even 250 feet in the air they took care of the details.

Of course, it has been in the news lately as it has finally evicted its last tenants due to financial difficulties. I have not looked inside, but certainly hope someone finds a use for this building.