1.
National Register of Historic Places
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The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
2.
Water tower
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In some places, the term standpipe is used interchangeably to refer to a water tower, especially one with tall and narrow proportions. Water towers often operate in conjunction with underground or surface service reservoirs, other types of water towers may only store raw water for fire protection or industrial purposes, and may not necessarily be connected to a public water supply. A water tower serves as a reservoir to help with water needs during peak usage times. The water level in the tower typically falls during the peak hours of the day. This process also keeps the water freezing in cold weather. Standpipes also provided a convenient fixed location to measure flow rates, designers typically enclosed the riser pipes in decorative masonry or wooden structures. By the late 19th-Century, standpipes grew to include storage tanks to meet the demands of growing cities. Many early water towers are now considered significant and have been included in various heritage listings around the world. Some are converted to apartments or exclusive penthouses, in certain areas, such as New York City in the United States, smaller water towers are constructed for individual buildings. In California and some states, domestic water towers enclosed by siding were once built to supply individual homes. The reservoir in the tower may be spherical, cylindrical, or an ellipsoid, with a height of approximately 6 metres. A standard water tower typically has a height of approximately 40 m, pressurization occurs through the hydrostatic pressure of the elevation of water, for every 10.20 centimetres of elevation, it produces 1 kilopascal of pressure. 30 m of elevation produces roughly 300 kPa, which is enough pressure to operate and provide for most domestic water pressure, the height of the tower provides the pressure for the water supply system, and it may be supplemented with a pump. The volume of the reservoir and diameter of the piping provide, however, relying on a pump to provide pressure is expensive, to keep up with varying demand, the pump would have to be sized to meet peak demands. During periods of low demand, jockey pumps are used to meet these lower water flow requirements, very high volumes and flow rates are needed when fighting fires. Using wireless sensor networks to monitor water levels inside the tower allows municipalities to automatically monitor, Water towers can be surrounded by ornate coverings including fancy brickwork, a large ivy-covered trellis or they can be simply painted. Some city water towers have the name of the city painted in large letters on the roof, as an aid to aviators. Sometimes the decoration can be humorous, an example of this are water towers built side by side, labeled HOT and COLD
3.
George W. Maher
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George Washington Maher was an American architect during the first-quarter of the 20th century. He is considered part of the Prairie School-style and was known for blending traditional architecture with the Arts & Crafts-style. According to architectural historian H. Allen Brooks, His influence on the Midwest was profound and prolonged and, compared with the conventional architecture of the day, his work showed considerable freedom and originality, and his interiors were notable for their open and flowing. space. Maher was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1916, while in his early teens the family moved to Chicago. At the age of 13 he was apprenticed at the Chicago architectural firm of Augustus Bauer, in 1887 he joined the office of architect Joseph L. Silsbee, in Chicagos Lakeside Building, as a draftsman where he worked with Frank Lloyd Wright and George Grant Elmslie. While working for Silsbee, Maher had first-hand experience in designing residences in the Shingle Style, Richardsonian Romanesque and he was inspired by the work of Henry Hobson Richardson. In 1888 Maher formed a partnership with Charles Corwin which lasted for only a time before he began his own practice. Maher married Elizabeth Brooks in 1893 and moved to Kenilworth, Illinois and he designed his own home in Kenilworth, built there in 1893. It was one of about 40 homes he designed in the area, along with the homes he also designed the entrance to the village as well as a number of other public embellishments. In addition to Kenilworth, one of the largest concentrations of his work is along Hutchinson Street, from the start of his career, Maher wrote about his views on architecture and was active in organizations interested in exploring new ideas in architecture and design. In 1887 Inland Architect published a paper he had written titled Originality in American Architecture, in 1895 an interest in the English Arts and Crafts Movement lead him to become one of the founding members of The Chicago Arts and Crafts Society. Mahers early work during the 1890s reflected the influence of Silsbee and H. H. Richardson as well as Louis Sullivan, in 1893 Maher met J. L. Cochran who was developing the community of Edgewater which would ultimately become part of Chicago. During the next several years Maher designed a series of houses for Cochran which helped establish Mahers career, commissioned in 1897, one of Mahers most important designs is the John Farson House in Oak Park, Illinois, also known as Pleasant Home. In this house, Maher synthesized his own version of what would come to be called the Prairie School style of architecture. One of the earliest Prairie style buildings, its design proved to be extremely influential in its time and was widely copied throughout the Midwest. Over the years Maher designed numerous houses for clients ranging from middle class businessmen to wealthy society figures, the success of the Farson house led to a number of large commissions. Among his clients was James A. Patten for whom he built a mansion in 1901. Patten was also responsible for getting Maher the commission to design the original Patten Gymnasium at Northwestern University where Maher also designed the Swift Hall of Engineering, also in 1901, Maher was hired to remodel the Nickerson House which currently houses the Driehaus Museum
4.
Great Chicago Fire
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The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10,1871. The fire killed up to 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles of Chicago, Illinois, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. The fire started at about 9,00 p. m. on October 8, the shed next to the barn was the first building to be consumed by the fire, but city officials never determined the exact cause of the blaze. There has, however, been much speculation over the years, the most popular tale blames Mrs. OLearys cow, who allegedly knocked over a lantern, others state that a group of men were gambling inside the barn and knocked over a lantern. Still other speculation suggests that the blaze was related to fires in the Midwest that day. The fires spread was aided by the use of wood as the predominant building material in a style called balloon frame. More than two thirds of the structures in Chicago at the time of the fire were made entirely of wood, with most of the houses, all of the citys sidewalks and many roads were also made of wood. In 1871, the Chicago Fire Department had 185 firefighters with just 17 horse-drawn steam engines to protect the entire city. The initial response by the department was quick, but due to an error by the watchman, Matthias Schaffer. These factors combined to turn a small barn fire into a conflagration, when firefighters finally arrived at DeKoven Street, the fire had grown and spread to neighboring buildings and was progressing towards the central business district. Firefighters had hoped that the South Branch of the Chicago River, all along the river, however, were lumber yards, warehouses, and coal yards, and barges and numerous bridges across the river. As the fire grew, the southwest wind intensified and became superheated, causing structures to catch fire from the heat, around 11,30 p. m. flaming debris blew across the river and landed on roofs and the South Side Gas Works. With the fire across the river and moving rapidly towards the heart of the city, about this time, Mayor Roswell B. Mason sent messages to nearby towns asking for help. When the courthouse caught fire, he ordered the building to be evacuated, at 2,30 a. m. on the 9th, the cupola of the courthouse collapsed, sending the great bell crashing down. Some witnesses reported hearing the sound from a mile away, as more buildings succumbed to the flames, a major contributing factor to the fire’s spread was a meteorological phenomenon known as a fire whirl. As overheated air rises, it comes into contact with cooler air and these fire whirls are likely what drove flaming debris so high and so far. Such debris was blown across the branch of the Chicago River to a railroad car carrying kerosene. The fire had jumped the river a second time and was now raging across the north side
5.
Chicago Public Library
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The Chicago Public Library is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in the U. S. state of Illinois. It consists of 80 locations, including a library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the citys 77 Community Areas. The Chicago Public Library is the second largest library system in Chicago by volumes held, the library is the second largest public library system in the Midwest, after the Detroit Public Library. The Chicago Public Library was created directly from the ashes of the great Chicago Fire, after circulating requests for donations throughout English society, the project donated 8,000 books. Private donors included Queen Victoria, Benjamin Disraeli, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, John Stuart Mill, John Ruskin, in Chicago, town leaders petitioned Mayor Joseph Medill to hold a meeting and establish the library. The meeting led to the Illinois Library Act of 1872, which allowed Illinois cities to establish tax-supported libraries, in April 1872, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance establishing the Chicago Public Library. In the rebuilding section of the city, on January 1,1873, the water tank was 58 feet in diameter,21 feet high and with a 30-foot foundation. A two story building was soon built around it to hold city offices, and a third floor reading room was built for the library. On October 24,1873, William Frederick Poole was elected the first head librarian by the librarys Board of Directors, Poole was mainly concerned during his tenure on building the circulation. In 1874, circulation services began with 13,000 out of 17,533 available for lending, the library moved from place to place during its first 24 years. Eleven years it spent on the floor of city hall. In 1887, Poole resigned to organize the Newberry Library of Chicago, on October 15,1887, Frederick H. Hild was elected the second Librarian of the Chicago Public Library and securing a permanent home was his primary drive. Ten years later, the Central Library was opened, logan, a Civil War General and U. S. In return for the land the Library was to maintain a Civil War collection, room until the last northern Civil War veteran died. The library would remain on site for the next 96 years. It is now the Chicago Cultural Center, henry Eduard Legler assumed the leadership of the Chicago Public Library on October 11,1909. Previously a Wisconsin Progressive, he was known as an aggressive advocate of the expansion of library service. In 1916, Legler presented his Library Plan for the Whole City, a landmark in library history, the plan called for an extensive network of neighborhood library locations throughout Chicago
6.
Parking meter
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A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. An early patent for a meter, US patent, was filed by Roger W. Babson, on August 30,1928. The meter was intended to operate on power from the battery of the parking vehicle, holger George Thuesen and Gerald A. Hale designed the first working parking meter, the Black Maria, historys Lost and Found documents their success in developing the first working parking meter. The worlds first installed parking meter was in Oklahoma City on July 16,1935, magee received a patent for the apparatus on 24 May 1938. Industrial production started in 1936 and expanded until the mid-1980s, the first models were based on a coin acceptor, a dial to engage the mechanism and a visible pointer and flag to indicate expiration of paid period. This configuration lasted for more than 40 years, with only a few changes in the design, such as a double-headed design. Rhodes Inc. of Hartford, Connecticut started making meters for Mark-Time Parking Meter Company of Miami, upon insertion of coins into a currency detector slot or swiping a credit card or smartcard into a slot, and turning a handle, a timer is initiated within the meter. Some locations now allow payment by mobile phone, a dial or display on the meter indicates the time remaining. In many cities, all parking meters are designed to use one type of coin. Use of other coins will fail to register, and the meter may cease to function altogether, for example, in Hackensack, New Jersey all parking meters are designed for quarters only. In 1960, New York City hired its first crew of meter maids and it was not until 1967 that the first man was hired. In the mid-1980s, a version was introduced, replacing the mechanical parts with electronic components, boards, keyboards. This allowed more flexibility to the meter, as an EEPROM chip can be reconfigured more easily than corresponding mechanical components, more modern parking meters are generically called multispace meters and control multiple spaces per block or lot. While with these meters the parker may have to walk several car lengths to the meter, there are significant benefits in terms of service, performance. Multispace meters incorporate more features such as on-screen instructions and acceptance of credit cards for payment—no longer do drivers have to have pockets full of coins. With pay by space meters, the parks in a space, goes to the meter and enters the space number. The meter memorizes the time remaining, and enforcement personnel press the bay buttons to check for violations, other advances with parking meters include vehicle detection technology, which allows the pay by space meters to know when there is a car parked in a space
7.
Romanesque Revival architecture
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Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, however, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to feature more simplified arches, an early variety of Romanesque Revival style known as Rundbogenstil was popular in German lands and in the German diaspora beginning in the 1830s. By far the most prominent and influential American architect working in a free Romanesque manner was Henry Hobson Richardson, in the United States, the style derived from examples set by him are termed Richardsonian Romanesque, of which not all are Romanesque Revival. In Scotland the style started to emerge with the Duke of Argyl’s castle at Inverary, started in 1744, and castles by Robert Adam at Culzean, Oxenfoord, Dalquharran and it was at this point that the Norman Revival became a recognisable architectural style. In 1817 Thomas Rickman published his An Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture from the Conquest To the Reformation and it was now realised that ‘round-arch architecture’ was largely Romanesque in the British Isles and came to be described as Norman rather than Saxon. The start of an archaeologically correct Norman Revival can be recognised in the architecture of Thomas Hopper and his first attempt at this style was at Gosford Castle in Armagh in Ireland, but far more successful was his Penrhyn Castle near Bangor in North Wales. This was built for the Pennant family, between 1820 and 1837, however, the Norman Revival did catch on for church architecture. It was Thomas Penson, a Welsh architect, who would have been familiar with Hopper’s work at Penrhyn, Penson was influenced by French and Belgian Romanesque architecture, and particularly the earlier Romanesque phase of German Brick Gothic. At St David’s Newtown, 1843–47 and St Agatha’s Llanymynech,1845, he copies the tower of St. Salvators Cathedral, other examples of Romanesque revival by Penson are Christ Church, Welshpool, 1839–1844, and the porch to Langedwyn Church. He was an innovator in his use of Terracotta to produce decorative Romanesque mouldings, during the 19th century the architecture selected for Anglican churches depended on the churchmanship of particular congregations. Some of the examples of this Romanesque architecture is seen in Non-conformist or Dissenting churches. A good example of this is by the Lincoln architects Drury and Mortimer, after about 1870 this style of Church architecture in Britain disappears, but in the early 20th century, the style is succeeded by Byzantine Revival architecture. Two of Canadas provincial legislatures, the Ontario Legislative Building in Toronto, University College, one of seven colleges at the University of Toronto, is a chief example of the Romanesque Revival style. The building, designed by Frederic Cumberland and William G. Storm, was intended to be Gothic in style but was rejected by the governor general. Construction of the design began on 4 October 1856. The facade of University College has thick walls, incorporating layers of both stone and brick. The building possesses a number of round arches characteristic of the Roman Revival style, the arches are configured in arcades, most notably on the south side of the building. There is a deal of ornamentation on both the interior and exterior of University College
8.
Corbel
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In architecture a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a piece of material in the wall. A piece of projecting in the same way was called a tassel or a bragger in the UK. The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a support a projecting wall or parapet, has been used since Neolithic, or New Stone Age. A console is more specifically an S-shaped scroll bracket in the classical tradition, keystones are also often in the form of consoles. Whereas corbel is rarely used outside architecture, console is used for furniture, as in console table. The word corbel comes from Old French and derives from the Latin corbellus, a diminutive of corvus, similarly, the French refer to a bracket-corbel, usually a load-bearing internal feature, as a corbeau. Norman corbels often have an appearance, although they may be elaborately carved with stylised heads of humans, animals or imaginary beasts. Similarly, in the Early English period, corbels were sometimes carved, as at Lincoln Cathedral. Corbels sometimes end with a point apparently growing into the wall, or forming a knot, in the later periods the carved foliage and other ornaments used on corbels resemble those used in the capitals of columns. Throughout England, in work, wooden corbels abound, carrying window-sills or oriel windows in wood. The corbels carrying balconies in Italy and France were sometimes of great size and richly carved, taking a cue from 16th-century practice, the Paris-trained designers of 19th-century Beaux-Arts architecture were encouraged to show imagination in varying corbels. A corbel table is a moulded string course supported by a range of corbels. Sometimes these corbels carry a small arcade under the string course, as a rule the corbel table carries the gutter, but in Lombard work the arcaded corbel table was utilized as a decoration to subdivide the storeys and break up the wall surface. In Italy sometimes over the corbels will form a moulding, in modern chimney construction, a corbel table is constructed on the inside of a flue in the form of a concrete ring beam supported by a range of corbels. The corbels can be either in-situ or pre-cast concrete, the corbel tables described here are built at approximately ten metre intervals to ensure stability of the barrel of refractory bricks constructed thereon. In medieval architecture the technique was used to support upper storeys or a parapet projecting forward from the wall plane and this later became a decorative feature, without the openings. Corbelling supporting upper stories and particularly supporting projecting corner turrets subsequently became a characteristic of the Scottish baronial style, medieval timber-framed buildings often employ jettying, where upper stories are cantilevered out on projecting wooden beams in a similar manner to corbelling
9.
National Park Service
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It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until later that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
10.
Fresno, California
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Fresno (/ˈfrɛznoʊ/ FREZ-no is a city in California, United States, and the county seat of Fresno County. It covers about 112 square miles in the center of the San Joaquin Valley, named for the abundant ash trees lining the San Joaquin River, Fresno was founded in 1872 as a railway station of the Central Pacific Railroad before it was incorporated in 1885. The population of Fresno proper soared in the half of the 20th century. It was here in Fresno in 1958 that Bank of America first launched the BankAmericard credit card, Fresno is near the geographical center of California. It lies approximately 220 miles northeast of Los Angeles,170 miles south of the capital, Sacramento. Yosemite National Park is about 60 miles to the north, Kings Canyon National Park is 60 miles to the east, the county of Fresno was formed in 1856 after the California Gold Rush. It was named for the abundant ash trees lining the San Joaquin River, Millerton, then on the banks of the free-flowing San Joaquin River and close to Fort Miller, became the county seat after becoming a focal point for settlers. Other early county settlements included Firebaughs Ferry, Scottsburg and Elkhorn Springs, the San Joaquin River flooded on December 24,1867, inundating Millerton. Flooding also destroyed the town of Scottsburg on the nearby Kings River that winter, rebuilt on higher ground, Scottsburg was renamed Centerville. In 1867, Anthony McQeen Easterby purchased land bounded by the present Chestnut, Belmont, Clovis and California avenues, unable to grow wheat for lack of water, he hired sheep man Moses J. Church in 1871 to create an irrigation system. Building new canals and purchasing existing ditches, Church then formed the Fresno Canal and Irrigation Company, in 1872, the Central Pacific Railroad established a station near Easterbys—by now a hugely productive wheat farm—for its new Southern Pacific line. Soon there was a store around the station and the store grew the town of Fresno Station, many Millerton residents, drawn by the convenience of the railroad and worried about flooding, moved to the new community. Fresno became a city in 1885. By 1931 the Fresno Traction Company operated 47 streetcars over 49 miles of track, in 1877, William Helm made Fresno his home with a five-acre tract of land at the corner of Fresno and R streets. Helm was the largest individual sheep grower in Fresno County, in carrying his wool to market at Stockton, he used three wagons, each drawn by ten mules, and spent twelve days in making the round trip. Two years after the station was established, county residents voted to move the county seat from Millerton to Fresno, when the Friant Dam was completed in 1944, the site of Millerton became inundated by the waters of Millerton Lake. In extreme droughts, when the reservoir shrinks, ruins of the county seat can still be observed. In the nineteenth century, with so much wooden construction and in the absence of sophisticated firefighting resources, fires often ravaged American frontier towns, the greatest of Fresnos early-day fires, in 1882, destroyed an entire block of the city
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Media related to Old Fresno Water Tower at Wikimedia Commons