Elfreth's Alley
Elfreth's Alley is a historic street in Philadelphia, dating to 1702. As of 2012, there are 32 houses on the street, which were built between 1728 and 1836; the Elfreth's Alley Museum is located at #124 and 126. The alley is a National Historic Landmark. Located in the Old City neighborhood, it is between North 2nd Street and North Front Street, in the block between Arch and Quarry Streets. Elfreth's Alley is named for an 18th-century blacksmith and property owner. Among the alley's residents were tradesmen and their families, including shipwrights and pewter smiths and furniture builders. In the 1770s, one-third of the households were headed by women; the Georgian and Federal-style houses and cobblestone pavement of the alley were common in Philadelphia during this time. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, industry began to change the street; the first was a stove factory that in 1868 took its place in a row of residential houses. Factories surrounded Elfreth's Alley; the city's waterfront was only a few blocks away.
Industry changed more than the architecture. In 1934, the Elfreth's Alley Association was founded to preserve the alley's historic structures while interpreting the street's 300-year history; the EAA helped save the street from demolition, lobbied the city to restore the alley's name to "Elfreth's Alley". Present-day Elfreth's Alley is the product of cycles of urban renewal and decay as well as historic preservation efforts; the alley is a tourist attraction and a rare surviving example of 18th-century working-class housing stock. The site stands in sharp contrast to the more preserved grand mansion houses of Philadelphia's Society Hill neighborhood. Elfreth's Alley Museum, located in 124-126 Elfreth's Alley, preserves the 18th-century home of a pair of dress-makers. Restored to a Colonial-era appearance, exhibits in the house and tour guides interpret the life of the house and alley's residents in that era. Guides discuss other houses on the alley and their inhabitants; the Elfreth's Alley Association holds several holiday celebrations each year, whose proceeds support the upkeep and restoration of older homes.
For more than 70 years, Elfreth's Alley has celebrated "Fête Day" in early June, which celebrates the Alley's diverse ethnic heritage. Residents open their private homes to the public, are accompanied by historical reenactments and festivities; the Brandywine Heights High School Band and their Fife and Drum Corps perform 18th-century fife tunes as they parade through the alley. For about 10 years, Elfreth's Alley has held "Deck the Alley," an annual self-guided tour of 13 private homes festooned with Christmas and holiday decorations, includes caroling; the Alley hosts events for Fourth of July and Halloween. Philadelphia portal List of National Historic Landmarks in Philadelphia National Register of Historic Places listings in Center City, Philadelphia Elfreth's Alley Association Historic American Buildings Survey No. PA-1103, "Elfreth's Alley", 10 photos, 19 measured drawings, 1 photo caption page Historic American Buildings Survey No. PA-1413, "Jeremiah Elfreth House", 6 photos, 1 photo caption page
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is a west–east street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district; the street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but, once a major center for American bohemia. The street is named after the family name of Anthony Lispenard Bleecker, a banker, the father of Anthony Bleecker, a 19th-century writer, through whose family farm the street ran. Bleecker Street connects Abingdon Square to the East Village. Bleecker Street is named by and after the Bleecker family because the street ran through the farm of the family. In 1808, Anthony Lispenard Bleecker and his wife deeded to the city a major portion of the land on which Bleecker Street sits. Bleecker Street extended from Bowery to Broadway, along the north side of the Bleecker farm as far west as Sixth Avenue. In 1829 it was joined with Herring Street. LeRoy Place is the former name of a block of Bleecker Street between Greene Streets; this was.
The effect was accomplished by making the central houses taller and closer to the street, while the other houses on the side were set back. The central buildings had bigger, raised entrances and lantern-like roof projections; the houses were built on both sides of Bleecker Street. To set his project apart from the rest of the area, Pearson convinced the city to rename this block of the street after the prominent international trader Jacob LeRoy. Bleecker Street is served by the 4, 6, <6>, B, D, F, M trains at Bleecker Street/Broadway – Lafayette Street station. The 1 and 2 trains serve the Christopher Street – Sheridan Square station one block north of Bleecker Street. Traffic on the street is one-way. In early December 2007, a bicycle lane was marked on the street. Bayard–Condict Building Bleecker Street Cinemas, closed in 1991 Lynn Redgrave Theater known as Bleecker Street Theater Our Lady of Pompeii Church, Carmine Street Washington Square Park Federal architecture-style row houses at 7 to 13 and 21 to 25 Bleecker Street.
21 Bleecker Street's entrance now bears the lettering of the Florence Night Mission though the Mission first began at 29 Bleecker Street, described by the New York Times in 1883 as "a row of houses of the lowest character". Bleecker Sitting Area won a Village Award; the Bitter End at 147 Bleecker Street Cafe Au Go Go was in the basement of the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre at 152 Bleecker Street Poisson Rouge at 158 Bleecker Street The Village Gate was at 160 Bleecker Street John's of Bleecker Street, famous pizzeria established in 1929 Kesté rated Neapolitan style pizzeria established in 2009 Quartino Bottega Organica, or "Quartino" for short, at 11 Bleecker Street Music venue Cafe Wha?, where Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, Kool & the Gang, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, many others began their careers The CBGB club, which closed in 2006, was located at the east end of Bleecker Street, on Bowery Bleecker Bob's record shop started at 149 Bleecker street James Agee lived at 172 Bleecker Street, above Cafe Espanol Mykel Board Robert De Niro grew up on Bleecker Street Robert Frank Mariska Hargitay Alicia Keys Cookie Mueller lived at 285 Bleecker Street, above Ottomanelli's John Belushi lived at 376 Bleecker Street Evelyn Reilly, lives at 21 Bleecker Street Craig Rodwell lived at 350 Bleecker Street, from which he organized New York's first gay pride parade.
James Roosevelt at 58 Bleecker Street Edward Thebaud Mark Van Doren Dave Winer Literature Valenti Angelo's 1949 novel The Bells of Bleecker Street is set in the Italian American community in that neighborhood. Nobel laureate Derek Walcott wrote a poem about Bleecker Street entitled "Bleecker Street, Summer". In Marvel Comics, 177A Bleecker Street is the location of Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. Film and television The Kate & Allie television show from the 1980s depicted two single mothers living on Bleecker in a basement apartment; the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is set on Bleecker Street according to the set designers. In one instance, it is mentioned that April's apartment is located on Bleecker. Much of the film No Reservations, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart, is set in a restaurant on the corner of Bleecker and Charles Streets; the name of their fictitious restaurant is 22 Bleecker. In The WB series What I Like About You and Valerie live in an apartment on Bleecker Street.
The Matthews family in Girl Meets World live near Bleecker Street and frequent the Bleecker subway station. New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre at 152 Bleecker Street In the Friends episode "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry", an adult-video store "on Bleecker" is mentioned. Music Menotti wrote an opera The Saint of Bleecker Street Japanese pop star Ayumi Hamasaki visited Bleecker Street during recording of her understood album; the pictures were published in Hamasaki's famous "Deji Deji Diary", published in each issue of ViVi Magazine. Iggy Pop discusses dying on Bleecker Street in his song "Punk Rocker"; the Simon & Garfunkel album Wednesday Morning, 3 A. M. contains a song called "Bleecker Street". In the sea shanty "New York Girls", 44 Bleecker Street is referenced as a house of ill repute. "Growing Old on Bleeker Street" is a song featured on the debut album, Living Room, of pop trio AJR. Joni Mitchell references Blee
Herculaneum
Located in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in 79 AD. Its ruins are located in the comune of Ercolano, Italy. Herculaneum is one of the few ancient cities to be preserved more or less intact, with no accretions or modifications. Like its sister city, Herculaneum is famous for having been buried in ash, along with Pompeii, Stabiae and Boscoreale, during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Unlike Pompeii, the pyroclastic material that covered Herculaneum carbonized and thereby preserved wood in objects such as roofs and doors as well as other organic-based materials such as food. Although most of the residents had evacuated the city in advance of the eruption, the first well-preserved skeletons of some 400 people who perished near the seawall were discovered in 1980. Although it was smaller than Pompeii, Herculaneum was a wealthier town, possessing an extraordinary density of fine houses with, for example, far more lavish use of coloured marble cladding.
Ancient tradition connected Herculaneum with the name of the Greek hero Heracles, an indication that the city was of Greek origin. In fact, it seems that some forefathers of the Samnite tribes of the Italian mainland founded the first civilization on the site of Herculaneum at the end of the 6th century BC. Soon after, the town came under Greek control and was used as a trading post because of its proximity to the Gulf of Naples; the Greeks named Heraklion. In the 4th century BC, Herculaneum again came under the domination of the Samnites; the city remained under Samnite control until it became a Roman municipium in 89 BC, having participated in the Social War, it was defeated by Titus Didius, a legate of Sulla. After the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the town of Herculaneum was buried under 20 metres of ash, it lay hidden and intact until discoveries from wells and underground tunnels became more known, notably following the Prince d'Elbeuf's explorations in the early 18th century. Excavations continued sporadically up to the present and today many streets and buildings are visible, although over 75% of the town remains buried.
Today, the Italian towns of Portici lie on the approximate site of Herculaneum. Until 1969 the town of Ercolano was called Resina, it changed its name to Ercolano, the Italian modernisation of the ancient name in honour of the old city. The inhabitants worshipped above all Hercules, believed to be the founder of both the town and Mount Vesuvius. Other important deities worshipped include Venus and Apollo, who are depicted in multiple statues in the city; the catastrophic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius occurred in October or November AD 79; because Vesuvius had been dormant for 800 years, it was no longer recognized as a volcano. Based on archaeological excavations and on two letters of Pliny the Younger to the Roman historian Tacitus, the course of the eruption can be reconstructed. At around 1pm, Vesuvius began spewing volcanic material thousands of metres into the sky; when it reached the tropopause, the top of the cloud flattened, prompting Pliny to describe it to Tacitus as a stone pine tree. The prevailing winds at the time blew toward the southeast, causing the volcanic material to fall on the city of Pompeii and the surrounding area.
Since Herculaneum lay to the west of Vesuvius, it was only mildly affected by the first phase of the eruption. While roofs in Pompeii collapsed under the weight of falling debris, only a few centimetres of ash fell on Herculaneum, causing little damage but nonetheless prompting most inhabitants to flee. During the following night, the eruptive column which had risen into the stratosphere collapsed onto Vesuvius and its flanks; the first pyroclastic surge, formed by a mixture of ash and hot gases, billowed through the evacuated town of Herculaneum at 160 km/h. A succession of six flows and surges buried the city's buildings, causing little damage in some areas and preserving structures and victims intact. However, in other areas there was significant damage, knocking down walls, tearing away columns and other large objects. Recent multidisciplinary research on the lethal effects of the pyroclastic surges in the Vesuvius area showed that in the vicinity of Pompeii and Herculaneum, heat was the main cause of the death of people, thought to have died by ash suffocation.
This study shows that exposure to the surges, measuring at least 250 °C at a distance of 10 kilometres from the vent, was sufficient to cause the instant death of all residents if they were sheltered within buildings. In 1709 the digging of a deep well revealed some exceptional statues at the lowest levels, found to be the site of the theatre; the Prince d'Elbeuf purchased the land and proceeded to tunnel out from the bottom of the well, collecting any statues they could find. Among the earliest statues recovered were the two superbly sculpted Herculaneum Women now in the Dresden Skulpturensammlung. Major excavation was resumed in 1738 by Spanish engineer Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre; the elaborate publication of Le Antichità di Ercolano under the patronage of the King of the Two Sicilies had an effect on incipient European Neoclassicism out of all proportion to its limited circulation.
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a historic coastal city in Essex County, located in the North Shore region. It is a New England bedrock of history and is considered one of the most significant seaports in Puritan American history; the city is home to the House of Seven Gables, Salem State University, the headquarters of The Satanic Temple, Salem Willows, Pioneer Village, Salem Maritime National Historic Site, the Peabody Essex Museum. It features historic residential neighborhoods in the Federal Street District and the Charter Street Historic District. Salem is a residential and tourist area which includes the neighborhoods of Salem Neck, Downtown Salem District, the Point, South Salem, North Salem, Blubber Hollow, Witchcraft Heights, the McIntire Historic District named after Salem's famous architect Samuel McIntire. Much of the city's cultural identity reflects its role as the location of the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692, as featured in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Police cars are adorned with witch logos, a public elementary school is known as Witchcraft Heights, the Salem High School athletic teams are named the Witches.
In 2012, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts chose Salem for their inaugural "Best Shopping District" award. On January 10, 2013, President Obama signed executive order HR1339 designating Salem as the birthplace of the U. S. National Guard; the city's population was 41,340 at the 2010 census. Salem is located at the mouth of the Naumkeag River at the site of an Indian village and trading center. European colonists first settled it in 1626, when a company of fishermen arrived from Cape Ann led by Roger Conant. Conant's leadership provided the stability to survive the first two years, but John Endecott replaced him by order of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Conant graciously was granted 200 acres of land in compensation; these "New Planters" and the "Old Planters" agreed to cooperate, in large part due to the diplomacy of Conant and Endecott. In recognition of this peaceful transition to the new government, the name of the settlement was changed to Salem, a hellenized form of the Hebrew word for "peace".
In 1628, Endecott ordered that the Great House be moved from Cape Ann, reassembling it on Washington Street north of Church Street. Francis Higginson wrote that "we found a faire house newly built for the Governor", remarkable for being two stories high. A year the Massachusetts Bay Charter was issued creating the Massachusetts Bay Colony with Matthew Craddock as its governor in London and Endecott as its governor in the colony. John Winthrop was elected Governor in late 1629, arrived with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, one of the many events that began the Puritan Great Migration. In 1639, Endecott was one of the signers on the building contract for enlarging the meeting house in Town House Square for the first church in Salem; this document remains part of the town records at City Hall. He was active in the affairs of the town throughout his life. Samuel Skelton was the first pastor of the First Church of Salem, the original Puritan church in America. Endecott had a close relationship with Skelton, having been converted by him, Endecott considered him as his spiritual father.
One of the most known aspects of Salem is its history of witchcraft allegations, which started with Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, their friends playing with a Venus glass and egg. The Salem Witchcraft Trials began in 1692, 20 people were executed as a result of the accusations of witchcraft. Salem is significant in legal history as the site of the Dorothy Talbye Trial, where a mentally ill woman was hanged for murdering her daughter because Massachusetts made no distinction at the time between insanity and criminal behavior. William Hathorne was a prosperous businessman in early Salem and became one of its leading citizens of the early colonial period, he led troops to victory in King Philip's War, served as a magistrate on the highest court, was chosen as the first speaker of the House of Deputies. He was a zealous advocate of the personal rights of freemen against royal agents, his son Judge John Hathorne came to prominence in the late 17th century when witchcraft was a serious felony. Judge Hathorne is the best known of the witch trial judges, he became known as the "Hanging Judge" for sentencing witches to death.
On February 26, 1775, patriots raised the drawbridge at the North River on present-day North Street, preventing British Colonel Alexander Leslie and his 300 troops of the 64th Regiment of Foot from seizing stores and ammunition hidden in North Salem. Both parties came to an agreement and no blood was shed that day. A few months in May 1775, after war broke out at Lexington and Concord, a group of prominent merchants with ties to Salem, including Francis Cabot, William Pynchon, Thomas Barnard, E. A. Holyoke, William Pickman, felt the need to publish a statement retracting what some interpreted as Loyalist leanings and to profess their dedication to the American cause. During the American Revolutionary War, the town became a center for privateering. Although the documentation is incomplete, about 1,700 Letters of Marque, issued on a per-voyage basis, were granted during that time. Nearly 800 vessels were commissioned as privateers, are credited with capturing or destroying about 600 British ships.
During the War of 1812, privateering resumed. Following the American Revolution, many ships used as privateers were too large for short voyages in the coasting trade, their owners determined to open new avenues of trade to distant countries; the young men of the town, fresh f
Robert Mills (architect)
Robert Mills, a South Carolina architect known for designing both the first Washington Monument, located in Baltimore, Maryland, as well as the better known monument to the first president in the nation's capital, Washington, DC. He is sometimes said to be the first native-born American to be professionally trained as an architect.} Charles Bulfinch of Boston has a clearer claim to this honor. Mills studied in Charleston, South Carolina, as a student of Irish architect James Hoban, worked with him on his commission for the White House; this became the official home of US presidents. Both Hoban and Mills were Freemasons. Mills studied and worked with Benjamin Henry Latrobe of Philadelphia, he designed numerous buildings in Philadelphia and South Carolina, where he was appointed as superintendent of public buildings. His Washington Monument in Washington, DC was not completed until 30 years after his death. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, to Ann and William Mills, Robert received private education as a child.
He attended the College of Charleston, where he graduated at age 19. He had studied with Irish architect James Hoban. Mills followed his mentor Hoban to Washington, DC, as he had gotten the commission for design and construction of the White House in the new capital. During this time, Mills met Thomas Jefferson, who became the first full-term resident of the new presidential residence. In 1802 Mills moved to Philadelphia, where he became an associate and student of Benjamin Henry Latrobe; some Philadelphia buildings that Mills designed are Washington Hall, Samson Street Baptist Church, the Octagon Church for the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. He designed the Upper Ferry Bridge covering. Mills designed the First Presbyterian Church in Augusta, Georgia in 1807, built between 1809 and 1812. In 1808 Mills created blueprints for a prison to be used for reform of prisoners. In 1811 the prison was constructed in New Jersey. "With the possible' exception of Eastern States Penitentiary in Philadelphia, it is considered "the most significant prison building in the United States", according to the Historic Burlington County Prison Museum Association.
In 1812, Mills designed the Monumental Church in Virginia. It was built to commemorate the deaths of 72 people in the Richmond Theatre fire. Moving to Baltimore, Mills designed St. John's Episcopal Church, the Maryland House of Industry, the First Baptist Church of Baltimore in 1817, a Greek Revival mansion at the northeast corner of West Franklin and Cathedral streets; the mansion was occupied from 1857 to 1892 by the Maryland Club, a dining and leisure society of Southern-leaning gentlemen. Mills is noted for designing the nation's first Washington Monument, located in Baltimore with four surrounding park squares; these were named Washington Place along the north-south axis of North Charles Street, Mount Vernon Place along East and West Monument streets. This development took place in the new Mount Vernon-Belvedere neighborhood; this land had belonged been part of Howard's Woods, the country estate and mansion "Belvedere" of Col. John Eager Howard, north of old Baltimore Town. Howard was a Revolutionary War commander of the famed "Maryland Line" regiment of the Continental Army.
Construction on Baltimore's signature landmark began in 1815 and was completed in 1829. In 1820, Mills was appointed as acting commissioner of the Board of Public Works in South Carolina. In 1823, he was the superintendent of public buildings. In the next few years, he designed numerous buildings in South Carolina, including court houses, the campus of the University of South Carolina and the Fireproof Building in Charleston. In 1825, he wrote an Atlas of the State of South Carolina. One year he published Statistics of South Carolina, he reputedly designed the Old Horry County Courthouse, Union County Jail, Wilson House, which have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1836 Robert Mills won the competition for the design of the Washington Monument on the future Mall of the National Capital, Washington D. C; this is his best known work. Construction began in 1848, but was interrupted in 1854 and postponed by the outbreak of the American Civil War. Construction of the monument resumed in 1879 after the Reconstruction era.
It was dedicated in thirty years after the architect's death. He designed the Department of Treasury building, east of the Executive Mansion, several other federal buildings in Washington, D. C. including the U. S. Patent Office Building, patterned after the Parthenon, it has been renovated and adapted as two adjoining museums of the Smithsonian Institution: the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery). He designed the old General Post Office. In South Carolina, Mills designed county courthouses in at least 18 counties, some of the public buildings in the capital Columbia, a few private homes, he designed portions of the Landsford Canal in Chester County, on the Catawba River in South Carolina. Mills was an early advocate of fireproof construction; when a fire broke out in the Kingstree, South Carolina Building, which he designed, the county records on the first floor were protected due to his fireproofing measures. But a fire destroyed much of his Lancaster County, South Carolina Courthouse in August 2008.
Mills died in Washington, D. C. in 1855. He was buried there at the Congressional Cemetery. Mills was inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 2007; the broadest context for Mills' architecture wa
Bald eagle
The bald eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle, its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, northern Mexico. It is found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting; the bald eagle is an opportunistic feeder which subsists on fish, which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest tree nests recorded for any animal species, up to 4 m deep, 2.5 m wide, 1 metric ton in weight. Sexual maturity is attained at the age of four to five years. Bald eagles are not bald; the adult is brown with a white head and tail. The sexes are identical in plumage; the beak is hooked. The plumage of the immature is brown; the bald eagle is both the national bird and national animal of the United States of America. The bald eagle appears on its seal. In the late 20th century it was on the brink of extirpation in the contiguous United States.
Populations have since recovered and the species was removed from the U. S. government's list of endangered species on July 12, 1995 and transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the Lower 48 States on June 28, 2007; the plumage of an adult bald eagle is evenly dark brown with a white tail. The tail is moderately long and wedge-shaped. Males and females are identical in plumage coloration, but sexual dimorphism is evident in the species, in that females are 25% larger than males; the beak and irises are bright yellow. The legs are feather-free, the toes are short and powerful with large talons; the developed talon of the hind toe is used to pierce the vital areas of prey while it is held immobile by the front toes. The beak is hooked, with a yellow cere; the adult bald eagle is unmistakable in its native range. The related African fish eagle has a brown body, white head and tail, but differs from the bald in having a white chest and black tip to the bill.
The plumage of the immature is a dark brown overlaid with messy white streaking until the fifth year, when it reaches sexual maturity. Immature bald eagles are distinguishable from the golden eagle, the only other large, non-vulturine raptorial bird in North America, in that the former has a larger, more protruding head with a larger beak, straighter edged wings which are held flat and with a stiffer wing beat and feathers which do not cover the legs; when seen well, the golden eagle is distinctive in plumage with a more solid warm brown color than an immature bald eagle, with a reddish-golden patch to its nape and a contrasting set of white squares on the wing. Another distinguishing feature of the immature bald eagle over the mature bird is its black, yellow-tipped beak; the bald eagle has sometimes been considered the largest true raptor in North America. The only larger species of raptor-like bird is the California condor, a New World vulture which today is not considered a taxonomic ally of true accipitrids.
However, the golden eagle, averaging 4.18 kg and 63 cm in wing chord length in its American race, is 455 g lighter in mean body mass and exceeds the bald eagle in mean wing chord length by around 3 cm. Additionally, the bald eagle's close cousins, the longer-winged but shorter-tailed white-tailed eagle and the overall larger Steller's sea eagle, may wander to coastal Alaska from Asia; the bald eagle has a body length of 70–102 cm. Typical wingspan is between 1.8 and 2.3 m and mass is between 3 and 6.3 kg. Females are about 25% larger than males, averaging as much as 5.6 kg, against the males' average weight of 4.1 kg. The size of the bird varies by location and corresponds with Bergmann's rule, since the species increases in size further away from the Equator and the tropics. For example, eagles from South Carolina average 3.27 kg in mass and 1.88 m in wingspan, smaller than their northern counterparts. One field guide in Florida listed small sizes for bald eagles there, at about 4.13 kg. Of intermediate size, 117 migrant bald eagles in Glacier National Park were found to average 4.22 kg but this was juvenile eagles, with 6 adults here averaging 4.3 kg.
Wintering eagles in Arizona were found to average 4.74 kg. The largest eagles are from Alaska, where large females may weigh more than 7 kg and span 2.44 m across the wings. A survey of adult weights in Alaska showed that females there weighed on average 5.35 kg and males weighed 4.23 kg against immatures which averaged 5.09 kg and 4.05 kg in the two sexes. An Alaskan adult female eagle, considered outsized we
Alexander Jackson Davis
Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis, was an American architect, known for his association with the Gothic Revival style. Davis was born in New York City and studied at the American Academy of Fine Arts, the New-York Drawing Association, from the Antique casts of the National Academy of Design. Dropping out of school, he became a respectable lithographer and from 1826 he worked as a draftsman for Josiah R. Brady, a New York architect, an early exponent of the Gothic revival style: Brady's Gothic 1824 St. Luke's Episcopal Church is the oldest surviving structure in Rochester, New York. Davis made a first independent career as an architectural illustrator in the 1820s, but his friends painter John Trumbull, convinced him to turn his hand to designing buildings. Picturesque siting and contrasts remained essential to his work when he was building in a Classical style. In 1826, Davis went to work in the office of Ithiel Town and Martin E. Thompson, the most prestigious architectural firm of the Greek Revival.
From 1829, in partnership with Town, Davis formed the first recognizably modern architectural office and designed many late Classical buildings, including some of public prominence. In Washington, Davis designed the Executive Department offices and with Robert Mills the first Patent Office building, he designed the Custom House of New York City. Bridgeport City Hall, constructed in 1853 and 1854, is a government building Davis designed in the Classical style. A series of consultations over state capitols followed, none built as Davis planned: the Indiana State House, elicited calls for his advice and designs in building other state capitols in the 1830s: North Carolina's, the Illinois State Capitol attributed to the Springfield, Illinois architect John F. Rague, at work on the Iowa State Capitol at the same time, in 1839, the committee responsible for commissioning a design for the Ohio Statehouse asked his advice; the resulting capitol in Columbus, Ohio attributed to the Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole consulting with Davis and Ithiel Town, has a stark Greek Doric order colonnade across a recessed entrance, flanked by recessed window bays that continue the rhythm of the central portico, all under a unique drum capped by a low saucer dome.
With Town's partner James Dakin, he designed the noble colossal Corinthian order of the Greek Revival "Colonnade Row" on New York's Lafayette Street, the first apartments designed for the prosperous American middle class. He continued in partnership with Town until shortly before Town's death in 1844. In 1831, he was elected an associate member of the National Academy. From 1835, Davis began work on his own on Rural Residences, his only publication, the first pattern book for picturesque residences in a domesticated Gothic Revival taste, which could be executed in carpentry, containing the first of the Italianate style "Tuscan" villas, flat-roofed with wide overhanging eaves and picturesque corner towers; the Panic of 1837 cut short his plans for a series of like volumes, but Davis soon formed a partnership with Andrew Jackson Downing, illustrating his read books. Additions to Vesper Cliff were built in 1834; the 1840s and 1850s were Davis's two most fruitful decades as a designer of country houses.
His villa "Lyndhurst" at Tarrytown, New York, is his single most famous house. Many of his villas were built in the scenic Hudson River Valley— where his style informed the vernacular Hudson River Bracketed that gave Edith Wharton a title for a novel —but Davis sent plans and specifications to clients as far afield as Indiana, he designed Blandwood, the 1846 home of Governor John Motley Morehead that stands as America's earliest Italianate Tuscan Villa. Innovative interior features, including his designs for mantels and sideboards, were widely imitated in the trade. Other influential interior details include pocket shutters at windows, bay windows, mirrored surfaces to reflect natural light; the Greek Revival style William Walsh House was built at Albany, New York, Gothic Revival style Belmead was built near Powhatan, Virginia, in 1845. Two smaller but well known structures designed by Davis include one built for John Cox Stevens in 1845; this building, fondly called "Station 10", still can be found in Newport.
Davis built a similar pavilion for his colleague and fellow NYYC founder, John Clarkson Jay, on Jay's Long Island Sound waterfront property in Rye, New York, in 1849. Although this building was taken down in the 1950s, the original setting and garden where it was once located is part of a National Historic Landmark site and open to the public. Inspired in part by friend Andrew Jackson Downing, Davis constructed several Gothic Revival cottage-style homes in Central New York, including the 1852-completed Reuel E. Smith House, included in the National Register of Historic Places. In 1851, Davis completed Winyah Park, one of eighteen or more Italianate houses he designed in the 1850s. Winyah was built for Richard Lathers, who had studied architecture with Davis in New York in the 1830s, it was situated on Lathers's estate in the town of New Rochelle in New York. For this design Davis won the first architectural prize at the New York World's Fair of 1853–54
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