Driving & Dining

From Pete Zarria:

(Tomahawk, Wisconsin: Dog & Suds)

Well Reserved

From Dave Brigham:

Out and about in Arlington, Mass., recently, I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this beautiful building on a hill with a view of Boston.

Known as the Arlington Reservoir or the Park Circle Water Tower, it was built between 1921 and 1924, and is an exact copy of the rotunda of the Samothrace temple complex in Greece, according to Wikipedia.

It's pretty damn impressive.

Unwelcome

From Kristen Smith:

(Fitchburg, Mass.)

The sign to the right says "Any person who enters the premises of this facility hereby acknowledges and consents without limitation to be monitored live through the use of Infra-red SATELLITE VIDEO TECHNOLOGY managed continuously by our Security Alarm Data Division."

Wow. Pretty good for a former furniture factory. I have no idea what these Nockege people did, but they sure thought it was pretty important.

Girlschool

From James M. Surprenant:

(Bennett School for Girls, Millbrook, NY)

For those who don't get why I gave this the title I did, here's why:

Better Than Great

From Pete Zarria:

Superior Warehouse Co., Duluth, Minn.

Nuclear Dump Playground: UPDATE

From Dave Brigham:

For decades, there was a site in Watertown, Mass., that seemed like it would never get cleaned up. While much of the former Watertown Arsenal complex was converted to offices, restaurants and even theater space, the place where workers dumped radioactive material generated at the arsenal took quite a bit more effort to clean up.

When I wrote about this site in May 2010 (see May 19, 2010, "Nuclear Dump Playground?"), there was a plan afoot to restore the spot back to wetlands and to install a walking trail through it.

I was dubious about that plan, but I'm glad to say I was wrong. The buildings have been knocked down, and the project is moving forward.

Read this article for more information on the site and its future.

Here are some before and after pictures.

Before.

After.

Before.

After.

No Mod Cons

From Pete Zarria:

John's Modern Cabins, Newburg, Missouri. Bypassed by Route 66, the place is returning to the earth slowly.

Jesus Saves

From James M. Surprenant:

(Eden, North Carolina)

Pump It Up

From Dave Brigham:

In the spring of 2010, the town of Lexington, Mass., acquired land known as the Cotton Farm. There's not a lot on this property -- a small apple orchard, a quaint pond and some paths through the woods that connect to other conservation land.

But still, I found the property's former pump house to be a nice little subject.

(Pump house)

(Pump house roof)

Trail of Tears

From Pete Zarria:

(Near Route 66, somewhere in Missouri)

For information about the Trail of Tears, see these sources:

Wikipedia

National Park Service

The History Channel

Trail of Tears Association

Rebuilding the Lost City: SECOND UPDATE

From Dave Brigham:

Twenty years after the Haartz-Mason coated fabrics factory in Watertown, Mass., was shuttered, the site is in full redevelopment. Abandoned, covered with graffiti and a serious blight on the environment and neighborhood, the buildings were torn down in the summer of 2011 (see August 10, 2011, "Rebuilding the Lost City: UPDATE").

A massive apartment complex is rising on the ashes of the company that for 70 years made roofing and auto-top fabrics. This new development, along with another one about a half-mile east on the same street, is helping to remake the area of Watertown that my wife's brother-in-law dubbed The Lost City several years ago.

I wrote about the site in the summer of 2010, because I was fascinated about these ruins located less than a mile from my house, right along the Charles River and close to thriving Watertown Square (see July 5, 2010, "Rebuilding the Lost City").

Here's what the site looks like now:

Here's a shot from roughly the same area, taken nearly three years ago:

Here's the current view from the street:

Here's what the place looked like for too many years:

I'll post again once the place is complete. Stay tuned for a future post about another old factory/warehouse building around the corner from this one.