Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Some photos and history to share


I'm going to share some photos from the weekend excursion up one of the rivers in the area. I anchored the sailboat and rowed the dinghy so that I could get some photos of an old coal mining depot along some abandoned tracks. The sun was just starting to set so the light was good. And in one of the photos, the moon is on the rise.




The strange statue sitting on top of a tiled chimney was really interesting. I wonder who built it and what it signifies.




I talked to a friend who had been to this old coal loading station a while ago and he said that he heard someone typing in the building on an old typewriter. He decided that he didn't want to find out who it was as it was entirely too creepy. Sounds like fodder for a good story to me.

These old abandoned buildings have an interesting story. The coal tipple opened around 1915 as evidenced by the date on the facade. Its machinery could pick up a coal car and turn it over. The coal would tumble into a chute that led to a conveyer belt that led to a waiting ship. According to an article I read, the process took just a few minutes, and when things were working right, it could load up to 2,000 tons of coal onto a ship per hour.

The tipple was owned by the Southern Railway Co. who eventually shut it down in 1952. Much of the tipple was dismantled, although the pier and buildings were left. The pier and trestle was the site of a huge fire in 1976 that blackened the skyline of the city for hours.

About the only hope remaining is prospects of legislation to restore the buildings and pier and designate them a National Historic Landmark. But in these tough economic times, in a state that has had huge budget cuts, skyrocketing unemployment, and a host of other problems, I think that it's doubtful that anything will be done.

I suppose that this post has to do with potential recovery of old buildings. I hate to see part of local history lost. There is something appealing about old buildings that once had a place in another age.

I'm too tired for metaphors today. Yet, it seems that the older I get, the more nostalgic I become for "what used to be". I have a tendency to romanticize days gone by--not my own but general societal changes. I used to think that I would have been better suited for another era. But now I realize that I'm okay to be exactly where I am. Today is beckoning to me.

19 comments:

  1. I'm the type that would go find out who was typing. Great pics!

    Namaste

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  2. You sure live in a very adventureous place, filled with beauty and fun a place where you should be, I wish you would write a book .lol HUGS

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  3. Great pics - thanx for sharing.

    I also long for times that probably never really were. Funny, that.

    Blessings and aloha...

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  4. I've always felt like that, too, Syd. Like I belonged in another time. A guy friend once told me that he always pictured me a flapper. Laugh. That's about right.

    I am only really comfortable in old places. I've always chosen old houses to live in, usually dating back to the 1800s.

    I guess this also explains my undying love for Savannah. I feel entirely at home there ever since I was a small child.

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  5. Lovely photos.....especially noticed the blue sky which has been non existent here all week.

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  6. Yes me too I am another lost soul from a past age collect all old art deco, live in ancient house and adore vintage purses .. Great Pics ,.. thanks for sharing

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  7. I'm right with you all in a love of the past. It always seems like my past was so much simpler. However, if I really think about it, my past was totally lunatic. I was crazy. Thank God for today and my sane life.

    PG

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  8. Yessss. Today beckons. And we answer the call, Syd. Great photos, and interesting comments.

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  9. I would have had to find out who was typing. It does sound like a great premise to a story. (Hugs)Indigo

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  10. Really interesting place you live, loved the spooky story about the guy typing.
    Its cold november here now in uk and we have had lots of water down our nearby river Calder.
    I am still mad as ever I guess but I did enjoy the book I read about OOBEs

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  11. I share your love of history and old buildings and machinery. Thank you for sharing this Syd.

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  12. Old buildings are scary to me. I have always felt like I was born at the perfect time in history. Life back then was hard. I really did enjoy the pics.

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  13. What evocative photographs! I also work with heritage and reclamation groups to preserve old buildings.

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  14. ooooo, there's a ghost writer there....

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  15. i love old, historical stuff... thanks for that tour Syd...

    there's got to be some really great stories behind all of that.

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  16. I love this stuff, old buildings, old places, secret gardens and small coves with secret treasures!

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  17. Very interesting pictures and the historic background. I love the one with the statue!
    Your last blog about the "killer" is so true. Getting out of my head and working with others seems to be my only way to cope with it. And it works.

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  18. I'm also a buff for nostalgia. I love it! Thanks for sharing your pics.. great!

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  19. Thanks for the post.
    I love old buildings with old stories. I do become sad when they have not been taken care of well over time.
    I was in detroit not too long ago so I know the history you write about.
    Keeping in the day and doing what I can to make it a great one has become a passion of mine, as are taking pictures of the old and making something new out of them...

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Let me know what you think. I like reading what you have to say.