Interesting things out and about in town.

scout24

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While out and about walking through town with my Wife, we keep a running commentary about the local architecture and decorating. Today's finds are below. Show us what's cool in your neck of the woods!!!


A turn-of-the-20th century shoe factory that has finally gotten decrepit enough to warrant a teardown. Wonderful old brickwork, I'd love to sneak in and look around. Too many people keeping an eye on it though. If you look close, starting about a third of the way down the building, you'll see big metal stars between the first and second, and second and third floors. They hold metal rods that span the building side-to-side. I want a star when they finally demo the building. :)
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Gargoyles! :) There is a second one on the smaller chimney to the right rear of the obvious one. :thumbsup:
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bykfixer

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Very cool thread.

I'm working a street scape project this year and was enjoying the old architecture as well. And the old painted on billboards, the old churches with fake owls (which btw seems to work) and the stars.

It's in a now 1 horse town that was a half way point between Henderson NC and Petersburg Va (which are also becoming 1 horse towns).

You know you're in a small town when 2 police cars show up at a fender bender in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot.

 
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127.0.0.1

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it will be hard to take those wall washers (stars) they go for 64 to 257 'old house parts'
dollars depending on size and condition

they are definitely already spoken for
 

MrJino

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While I have spotted a mountain lion no too far from where I live, taking a picture was the last thing on my mind.
Here's my backyard... it connects to a hiking trail. Dangerous at night with the lion and coyotes.
 

scout24

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Beautiful area, Mr.Jino. No mountain lions here, just packs of coyotes.

127.0.0.1- Thanks for the info about the stars, I had no idea they fetched so much. Figured they'd have some interest, but Dang!

Edit- Nice alloys on the Chargers. Those would never survive at my job, guys bounce off curbs regularly...
 
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bykfixer

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I've been observing from afar this water tank being restored in the 1 horse town.
A million gallon tank that they wanted to reverse logos on. There was a US flag on this side, and town logo on the other.
As time went by they recoated it. Then they applied appliques. Two fellas.


^^ the 2 have nearly finished.
As you can see one was a great big so n so.
Those letters in the word VIRGINIA are over 2 feet tall.

You can see the darndest things all around you by just slowing down and taking the time to look.
My grandma refered to it as 'taking time to smell the roses.'
 
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P_A_S_1

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In upper Manhattan the building between 168th & 169th St. along Broadway (west side of b'way) had some interesting architectural trim around the building above the first floor, it was pointed out to me one night by a co-worker. The trim consisted of interlocking swastikas with single swastikas on the corners of the building. Apparently these symbols, Hindu in origin (not German), were not uncommon on old building prior to the 1930s, they were decorative and symbolized good luck. Regardless seeing the trim was a peculiar sight.
 
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scout24

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Starhalo- Your picture has disappeared for me... Not sure why. Here's a quick snap from last night here in the Northeast... No palm trees! :)

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StarHalo

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Starhalo- Your picture has disappeared for me... Not sure why. Here's a quick snap from last night here in the Northeast... No palm trees! :)

Ty for the heads up, Amazon Cloud isn't really meant for posting images, still working it out. Great pic, that kind of "driving around town" setting really captures the place. I'll have to put my clamp mount to use..
 

scout24

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...and now it's back! Good deal. I need to carry my point and shoot around with me more, my phone hates taking night pics... :sigh:
 

bykfixer

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Boy the modern p&s can sure get it done once you and it learn to play together.

What I mean is when Panasonic, Canon or whoever builds an auto camera that thinks for you, it's like google...wrong 60% of the time at predicting what you're looking for.

Coming from an SLR background I found that frustating at best...give the camera flying lessons at worst.
Yet with patience and a little imagination you can get it to take good night pix without a lot of hassle.

For work pics I use a little Canon that shoots wide angles. It's either program or auto. That's it. Well at night on road projects there are flood lights galore. Just beyond that is total darkness. A cameras worst nightmare. And an auto camera just plain ole gets it wrong. So I learned to shade my p&s with my hard hat and suddenly it would meter pretty close to what I wanted.
A baseball cap will do nicely.

By the time you get the shade right with a phone cam your photo includes a ball cap at the top. lol.
 

scout24

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Update from my first post - The building is finally gutted and coming down. Should be an empty lot tomorrow.

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And another tidbit- Across town, older building still in use. Barely legible, but it says "Furniture and Undertaking" on the brick. Must have been good business back in the day!

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StarHalo

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My neighborhood, standing partway up the San Bernardino mountains looking SW over the Inland Empire; workplace is the massive white building near center, house is somewhere up against the mountains on the left.
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Where I get my morning joe; Augie's Coffee, deep in one of the social hubs of the area. A tiny building with a few tables and chairs within, but there's a $10,000 roaster in the back..
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Olive Street Market, a cozy little mountain-style shop with snacks and refreshments, a few couches. They sell cans of Oskar Blues beer singly from the cooler, bottles of sarsaparilla too.
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Tixx

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Update from my first post - The building is finally gutted and coming down. Should be an empty lot tomorrow.

IMG_0366.jpg


IMG_0367.jpg


And another tidbit- Across town, older building still in use. Barely legible, but it says "Furniture and Undertaking" on the brick. Must have been good business back in the day!

IMG_0369.jpg


Cool old section of town there! Love that stuff! Did you get a star?
 

scout24

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Nope, no star... Too many folks around. Didn't want to have my first arrest at 47! :) StarHalo- beautiful valley views! I like the small coffee shop. :thumbsup:
 

Poppy

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Nope, no star... Too many folks around. Didn't want to have my first arrest at 47! :) StarHalo- beautiful valley views! I like the small coffee shop. :thumbsup:
If the stars are still there, and you buy coffee and donuts for the men doing the demo someone may scamper over and pull one out of the rubble when they pull it down. Just maybe.
IMO, it is worth a $10 try.

Oops! maybe I am a day late?
 

bykfixer

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Update from my first post - The building is finally gutted and coming down. Should be an empty lot tomorrow.

IMG_0366.jpg


IMG_0367.jpg


And another tidbit- Across town, older building still in use. Barely legible, but it says "Furniture and Undertaking" on the brick. Must have been good business back in the day!

IMG_0369.jpg

Dat giant chimney!!!

Like Poppy said...
Or maybe an old horse shoe or hitching post that got covered during some sort of urban renewal when the horse-less carriage took over.

At my current project we've found those, an old bottle here n there and the occasional old brass button, old silverware or who knows when demo-ing old sidewalks.

We're re-vamping an old city block that was built between the 1830's and 1930's. When cars took over they widened things, added sidewalks and paved over the dirt road with concrete in the 30's..then asphalt later.
And from what we've found if it was laying there, it got covered with concrete. lol
 
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