FOLKWAYS NOTEBOOK: BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Showing posts with label BUILT ENVIRONMENT. Show all posts

Sunday, January 19, 2014

SO WHAT'S UP WITH OLD BUILDING TILES

Alleyway. Camas, Washington -- two-story exterior tile wall

Hollow building tiles were used in this country from the late 1800s on through the early 1950s. What few tile structures we see today are left from that time period. As a result we are seeing less and less of them as our built environment undergoes scraping of old buildings for other uses such as strip malls and housing subdivisions.

In the photo above is a shot of a building exterior using hollow brick tiles. The wall is in excellent shape even though it is anywhere from sixty to a hundred years old.

The tiles were durable and displayed a fine earthy patina. Several U.S. companies manufactured them -- see below ad for NATCO HOLLOW TILE.

Source: Wikipedia

The tiles were popular building materials in both housing and commercial structures during the early twentieth century or late nineteenth century. Perhaps you might even live in one today or know of a building in your town that is built with them.

If you have some interest in this early trade check out this book online from the JSTOR archives. Fun to page through their entire book here titled History of Structural Hollow Clay Tile in the United States.

Monday, February 25, 2013

TWO HISTORIC BUILDINGS BITE THE DUST

Two buildings, the Old Creamery Building and the Miller Building, have been living next to each other since the 1800s. In fact, according to the local newspaper they are among some of the oldest buildings in the county. The Miller Building was located inside the city of Richmond's Downtown Historic zone.

I was able to capture some "before demolition" photos of the two buildings a day before they met their demise . Sarah Hogsed caught the demolition action on a YouTube video which you can see below.

Always a sad occasion to see our historic built environment disappear.

My general question is -- who are we really and where are we going?

Here are the before demolition photos that are followed up by the demolition video.

THE OLD CREAMERY BUILDING

THE MILLER BUILDING

THE DEMOLITION VIDEO

WELCOME

Recently lived in the Appalachian area of the U.S. -- I have now moved to the Pacific Northwest. My blog has covered several years of Appalachian folkways and beginning this year of 2013 will begin to cover the Pacific Northwest. Therefore, there will be a potpourri of Appalachian and Pacific Northwest ways reflected in my posts. I'm an observer of cultures and nature both here and beyond and will bring those observations to you through my writings and photography. Please feel free to leave comments. ~~ barbara. -- http://folkwaysnotebook.blogspot.com/ All photos on this blog are mine unless otherwise designated -- use of photos or text should carry FOLKWAYS NOTEBOOK credit designation.

Much of the Pacific Northwest is forested. The Georgia Strait–Puget Sound basin is shared between British Columbia and Washington, and the Pacific temperate rain forests ecoregion, which is the largest of the world's temperate rain forest ecozones in the system created by the World Wildlife Fund, stretches along the coast from Alaska to California. The dryland area inland from the Cascade Range and Coast Mountains is very different from the terrain and climate of the coastal area due to the rain shadow effect of the mountains

BLOG THEMES - - -

Sunday, January 19, 2014

SO WHAT'S UP WITH OLD BUILDING TILES

Monday, February 25, 2013

TWO HISTORIC BUILDINGS BITE THE DUST