Photo Phriday - 2015 07 17

Market Street in Denver, taken in May after a few weeks of heavy rain.  At that time, Confluence Park was heavily flooded.  Photos of the flooding are available on my Flickr.

Photo Phriday - 2015 07 09

Lots going on lately, so I missed Photo Phriday last week again... sorry! I hope this cool shot of a basement speakeasy-esque bar makes up for it!

Photo Phriday - 2015 06 19

A Doc Martens sign on the side of the former FasioNation store. They recently left Capitol Hill after 30-some years and moved to South Broadway due to rapidly increasing rent; a common story in Denver these days. Glad they found a new location!

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 29

The garden at Domo Japanese Country Foods, a restaurant/museum in Denver.

Welby Manor: An Old Building Just North of Denver

One evening, driving around the northern Denver metro area, I drove past a really cool old house.  I always enjoy seeing interesting old buildings; remnants of days past.  My excitement turned to sadness when I saw a notice posted on the door.  It was dark and the house was set back pretty far from the road, so I couldn't read the notice.  I assumed it was a demolition permit or something similar.  I picked up my phone* and started searching for nearby addresses to see what was going on.  Why would someone tear down such a cool building?!  I know it's often cheaper and easier to scrape a lot and build some new, trendy, giant mixed-media thing, but... I prefer the character of old buildings.  They tell a story of the people who lived in the community.

As it turns out, the family that owns the building and surrounding land have been in that area since the late 1800s.  They aren't demolishing the building, they are renovating it and turning it into a focal point of the Welby community!  They are even hoping to turn it into a local museum.  Great news!

I went back a few weeks later and took some photos:

You can read more about Welby Manor here.  I'm glad that this building is being preserved, and I can't wait to see how the renovation progresses!

*I wasn't driving; I was a passenger. Drive safe!

Photo Phriday - 2015 05 22

Uphostery.  East Colfax, Denver, CO.

Lumpy Brick Facades

Denver seems to love an architectural "style"* that I had never noticed prior to moving here.  Lumpy-looking brick facades!  Particularly on 1960s and 1970s apartment buildings.  Ready for some examples?

Examples
1270 Marion St, built 1965

252 Pennsylvania St, built 1971

1265 Downing St, built 1970

1783 Hudson St, built in 1928 (Bonus: a single-family home!)

Clinkers
So what is the deal with all of these lumpy-looking buildings?  After much searching, and thanks to ReadReidRead's blog post, I now know.  They're called clinker bricks, also known as "eccentric brickwork".  Deformed bricks used to be discarded, but then in the early 1900s someone had the brilliant idea to use them in actual building facades.  I'm all for using waste and byproducts, but let's just say the execution on this style isn't my favorite.  Used sparingly, clinker bricks can draw your eyes to different parts of a building.  But when a majority of the facade is made with clinker bricks?  It kind of looks like an inebriated person built your home.

It appears as though this trend didn't make its way to Denver until the 1960s, and fell out of favor by the end of the 1970s.  While there are a few homes built with clinker bricks from earlier (see the single-family example above), the apartment buildings made with clinkers are all from the 1960s and 1970s.

Thanks to automated manufacturing, there are fewer clinkers being made today by accident.  Unfortunately, it appears as though some companies actually make clinker bricks on purpose.

Sources and More Examples

• https://readreidread.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/what-are-clinker-bricks/ 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinker_brick
• http://www.oldhouseonline.com/guide-to-clinker-bricks/
• http://www.historicalbricks.com/products/antique-building-materials/clinker-brick
• http://www.oldhousejournal.com/exteriors_savvy_clinker_bricks/magazine/1495
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/pnmaryf/5193648485/
• http://www.berkeleyside.com/2010/07/14/where-in-berkeley-24/
• http://planetreuse.com/collections/price-asc-building-material/products/74#.VQm5dOH-mpQ

 *I put style in quotes, because I am not sold on their execution of such.

Photo Phriday - 2015 04 24

A hike at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument near Pikes Peak.  I love the warm colors my old camera provided. :)

Photo Phriday - 2015 02 06

A dreary winter day in Denver's Uptown neighborhood, with a Downtown skyscraper (Wells Fargo Center, AKA "the Cash Register Building") in the background.

Interesting tidbit: when I looked up the Cash Register Building to find out its official name, Wikipedia told me that the building was originally intended for Texas and that "a heated roof is necessary to prevent snow from accumulating and sliding dangerously off the curved crown".

Photo Phriday - 2015 01 30

Alpine flowers at Summit Lake on Mount Evans.

Photo Phriday - 2014 11 21

1990 or 2014?  There's one dead giveaway in the photo.  Does anyone see it?

Photo Phriday - 2014 11 14

Brrr, it's cold out there!  As I type this post it is 7°F.  So in the spirit of winter, here's a photo from Breckenridge last winter!  Breckenridge may be very touristy, but there are some really interesting old buildings right on Main Street.

Photo Phriday - 2014 10 31

Apologies for not posting last Friday; I've been away from my computer(s) much more than usual.  I hope this one makes up for it?!


I really like the variety of light sources in this photo!  A garage in the Sunnyside neighborhood in Denver.  It's on W 39th Ave, despite CO-39 actually being in northeastern Colorado.  Perhaps a Coloradan knows the story behind this garage door mural?

Exploring Rural New Mexico: Raton, Capulin Volcano, Folsom, and Clayton

As some of you may know, I recently bought a new camera (comment below if you want the backstory).  What better way to learn and test the new camera than a road trip?  The boyfriend has recently been working on a project regarding the Santa Fe Trail, and heard about an extinct volcano in northeastern New Mexico.  Let's go!

We left Denver Friday evening, stopped at our favorite Jamaican restaurant in Colorado Springs (Jamaican Flavor, go there!) for dinner, and spent the night in Trinidad, CO.  Saturday morning we left Trinidad in search of breakfast in Raton, NM.  It appears as though Raton has seen better days.  Most restaurants and businesses along the main drag are either out of business, boarded up, or open with very limited hours.  Fortunately, there is one place that is definitely open: the Oasis Restaurant.  The Yelp reviews may be iffy, but I will tell you that breakfast is delicious!  Homefries, egg sandwich, ham, green chile*... all good!  The staff is very friendly.  Next time I'm in NM I'd like to spend some time in Raton learning about its history.

*Colorado likes to pretend that it knows what's up with green chile, but the truth is that green chile is a New Mexican dish.  I'm just going to throw this out there: New Mexico makes better green chile.  Now you know.  :)


Capulin Volcano National Monument

Full of delicious breakfast we set out towards the Capulin Volcano.  A volcano in New Mexico?  Yes!  It is very well preserved, thanks in part to the plants that now live on the volcano and help prevent erosion.  There are trails around the rim of the volcano and down into the vent (remember: extinct volcano).  The rim trail provides an excellent view of other volcanoes in the area, as well as nearby towns, roads, and railroads.

Approaching the volcano	Inside the vent!
Volcanic New Mexico	Lichen on volcanic rock
Grasslands on the extinct volcano	Baby Capulin

If you are at all interested in geology, volcanoes, or historic land forms, check out Capulin!


Folsom, NM

After spending some time at Capulin we decided to drive through Folsom, just to see what was there.  We heard it was a ghost town, but there was a lot going on!  We stopped at the Folsom Museum to learn about the town's history.  For a town that might fit the description "the middle of nowhere", there's actually a lot of history.  There was also an arts/crafts sale going on outside of the historic Folsom Hotel, and they were preparing for a concert later in the evening.  As with any town of this size (56 people!), the locals quickly noticed that we were outsiders.  We talked to a few people, all of whom were very friendly and wanted to share their town's history with us.  Several people asked what brought us to town, and we told them that we stopped because we heard about the old historic district and were curious.  We were told that one resident volunteered to fix up (paint, rebuilt, clean, etc) the historic district.  If you compare my photos to others on flickr, you can see that she has done a great job!

A train in Folsom	Switchboard used to warn residents of the deadly 1908 flood
The Folsom business  district is looking good!	The Folsom Hotel

For comparison, here is a photo (by Flickr user CourtHouseLover) of the Folsom business district in 2009:

To read more about Folsom's history, check out this site: Folsom Museum - Folsom Area History and these Wikipedia articles about George McJunkin and Black Jack Ketchum.


Clayton, NM

Our next stop was in Clayton, which is about an hour away from Folsom.  With a population of nearly 3000 people, Clayton is much larger than Folsom.  We weren't planning to stop, but decided to check it out when we saw the Herzstein Museum in an old church.  The museum's curator was very friendly, and told us about some of the exhibits.  The museum covers Clayton's shared history with Folsom as well as some things unique to Clayton.

The Herzstein Museum	Hooray for New Mexico!
A shorthand dictionary	East of Clayton

The Rest of the Trip

From Clayton we continued on to Amarillo.  We visited Cadillac Ranch, Palo Duro Canyon, and made friends at a restaurant/wine bar called Crush.

On Sunday we headed north, stopped at the TX/OK state line, visited a grocery store in Boise City OK, and continued onward.  Of course we had to stop at my favorite restaurant in Lamar (List: Things I Never Thought I'd Say): Thai Spicy Basil.

Overall, a fun weekend of exploring!


Map

Typically I'd embed a map here, but the new Google Maps won't allow me to do so without changing my map to "Public".  So instead here is the not-public-but-viewable-by-anyone-with-the-link map.  Sorry it isn't embedded; go complain to Google.

Photo Phriday - 2014 10 10

A bit later than usual, but here is the photo!


Taken on the 16th Street Mall in Denver.  I was going to take a photo of the sidewalk under the scaffolding, but this guy and his dog ended up being a nice addition!

Buildings That Aren't What They Seem

Brooklyn Subway Vent

Back in 2011 I read BLDGBLOG's article about a house in Brooklyn that is a disguised subway vent.  It was a residential brownstone that was converted into a subway vent and emergency exit in the early 1900s.

As luck would have it, I was scheduled to be on the east coast a few months later and built a visit into my itinerary.  We found the house, and it was as odd as I'd imagined.  Hidden in plain view.  How much of the neighborhood is really aware of what lurks behind those doors?


As I walked up to the front door a lady walking down the street said to me, "they make it look so real, don't they".  She knows!


Denver Chilled Water Center

I wasn't planning to blog about the Brooklyn brownstone/vent because BLDGBLOG and others have already done so, and I have no additional information to provide.  But then I read about a building in downtown Denver.  Disguised as an office building, it is really a facility that serves cold water to nearby buildings.

An excerpt from District Energy - Denver’s Historic System: Still Full Steam Ahead:

"A dedicated Chilled Water Center was built in the heart of downtown Denver, ‘disguised’ to look like an eight-story office building. The first cooling customer was served in August 1998. The Chilled Water Center incorporates two ice tanks with storage capacity of 75,000 ton-hrs of cooling. Ice is made at night and melted during the day to provide cold-water service to the buildings, while reducing the electrical requirements on the downtown grid during the peak daytime hours."

In addition to the Chilled Water Center, Xcel Energy also owns/operates Denver's steam system, which is the "oldest continuously operated commercial district-heating system in the world" and has approximately 130 customers.  For comparison, ConEd's steam system in New York City serves approximately 2000 customers.  Denver's Chilled Water Center serves approximately 40 customers.

Unlike the brownstone/vent in Brooklyn, the Chilled Water Center was built for its current purpose.  Prior to the Chilled Water Center, the Ghost Building occupied the space at 15th & Glenarm.  In 1979, it was dismantled so the Chilled Water Center could be built, and re-built in 1985 at 18th & Stout.

Sources

Brooklyn Brownstone Subway Vent: http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/brooklyn-vent.html

ConEd's Steam System: http://gothamist.com/2005/11/28/superhot_steam.php

Xcel's Chilled Water Center in Denver:

• District Energy - Denver’s Historic System: Still Full Steam Ahead 
• http://www.xcelenergy.com/staticfiles/xe/Regulatory/Regulatory%20PDFs/CO-Rate-Case-2012/3/Exhibit-No-JW-1.pdf
• Xcel Energy XTRA - District Heating and Cooling 
• http://www.xcelenergy.com/staticfiles/xe/Corporate/Corporate%20PDFs/Xtra_May2012.pdf

Denver's Ghost Building: 

• DPL - Ghost Building 
• http://creatingcommunities.denverlibrary.org/content/ghost-building
• Denver Post - Ghost Building Made Its Way To 18th Street 
• http://www.denverpost.com/pennyparker/ci_17446853
• Railroad Glory Days - Denver's Ghost Buildings
• http://railroadglorydays.com/GhostBldgs/

Photo Phriday - 2014 09 26

This one is for the local crowd:


Denver!  Taken on a recent rainy evening at 16th & Blake.  It doesn't rain a lot here, but it sure brings out the colors in the city!

PS: I am working on an actual real blog entry about a recent road trip.  STAY TUNED!

Photo Phriday - 2014 08 29

At the Colorado Railroad Museum: old tracks are home to a Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway engine, at the end of some other old tracks.

Airmail Beacons

If you've been on the internet in the past week or so, you've probably seen one of the following stories:

• Dead Media Beat: US Mail airmail arrows (Wired)
• These concrete arrows point the way across America (io9)
• This Really Exists: Giant Concrete Arrows That Point Your Way Across America (CN Traveler)
• The 80-year-old concrete arrows hat helped deliver the mail (The Verge)
• The Forgotten Giant Arrows That Guide You Across America (Messy Nessy Chic)

My first thought?  Road trip!  Fortunately, there is a great website that catalogs the locations (and former locations) of these beacons.  Since I live in Denver, I looked at nearby counties in Colorado and Wyoming, and was pretty happy to find two arrows that still exist nearby, according to Google's satellite view!  Here's the map (red = gone, blue planes = still visible):

View Air Beacons Near Denver in a larger map

A comment on PlanetZhanna said that MO1218 is on private land, so I figured I'd give MO1245 a try.  Not too far off of I-80, and not too far from Denver.  Let's go!

Airmail Beacon MO1245

About 1 mile down a dirt road (W Pilot Peak Rd) and a little further down USFS Road 703B (not 703A!) we found the site.

W Pilot Peak Rd

Where's the arrow?!

Look closely!

Oh, there it is!

Generator building

What a view!!

The site itself was beautiful!  The beacon arrow was still there, and though the tower was gone, the generator building was also still standing.  Definitely one of the better remaining sites!  Very cool!

More Beacons?  More Arrows?
Of course since I'm from PA, I had to see if there were any of these concrete arrows still around there.  I went back to PlanetZhanna's site and mapped all of the locations in PA.  Here's the map (red = gone, yellow = couldn't tell from satellite view):



View Air Beacons - PA in a larger map

Sadly, it appears as though there are no remaining beacon arrows in PA.  Several were on roads named "Beacon Rd" or similar.  I always wondered where these roads got their names!  One of my favorites was KX2026, located on "Old Airport Rd" with no airport nearby.  It's fascinating to see how much the landscape can change in 50 years, when many of these were still visible!

Limon, CO: That place on all of those I-70 signs in Denver!

All of the I-70 signs in Denver say "I-70 E to Limon".  So we decided to go to Limon to see what's there!


View Larger Map
Limon is about 1.5 hours southeast of Denver, and I-70 passes just north of town.  Wikipedia states that 1880 people live in Limon (2010 Census), and it is the most populous town in Lincoln County.  Before we get too far, here are some photos of the drive out there:


In Town 
Limon is apparently referred to as the "Hub City of Colorado", due to many highways (I-70, US-40, US-24, US-287, CO-71, CO-86) and railroads (Union Pacific, Kyle Railroad) passing through the town.  Their pride in this is shown via a mural on Main St:


We chatted with a few locals while in Limon, including a nice lady at a gift shop (we bought magnets for some lucky friends!), and a waitress at a local bar/restaurant.  Sadly, the bar had violated a liquor law of some sort, and were thus alcohol-less until 2/1/2012.  The waitress told us that the local prison was featured in a special on the National Geographic Channel, but that she hadn't seen it yet.  Interesting!

The lady at the gift shop told us about the local museum, but that it's only open between Memorial Day and Labor Day.  Looks like we'll need to stop in Limon again this summer when we conquer Mt Sunflower, KS!  Until then, here are two more photos: