Help Save A Drive-In!
This drive-in is in danger of being torn down for a Walmart. We drove past it this weekend while out taking pics and I found out about its plight in a search for more information on when it closed.
As far as I can tell, a bit of “trivia” I turned up is correct-this is the only drive in in the US with commercial rental space built into the base of the screen. There is a grass roots effort underway to save it. Even something as quick and easy as sending them an email to forward to the town and Walmart can help, by showing support and interest in saving this treasure. Drive ins across the country are going dark, this is a chance to save one from that fate. The site for the group trying to save it from the wrecking ball can be found here: http://members.bluefrog.com/ttroidl/
Drive-ins and classic cars go together as part of our culture. The loss of drive ins and decay of places like Route 66 just chips away at the automotive past…
If you can, write them a quick letter of support and spread the word. the more interest is shown, the more likely that this one place can be saved…
Aquarama Update
It’s with sad regret that I have to post this update. I’ve been quite busy this summer with my own business in addition to a regular job and other matters and missed the Aquarama’s departure from her mooring in Buffalo. After a drive down the waterfront revealed her empty berth, I jumped online and begain searching, hoping her fate would be different than the Canadiana. Unfortunatly, it’s only different in that she is now in a Turkish scrapyard, rather than a Canadian one. The information I have found shows she arrived at her final port October 4th, 2007. R.I.P. Aquarama.
Bicentennial Barn
The first of 12 barns to be painted with the Niagara country bicentennial logo, the 30-by-50-foot front half of the Sweeney barn dates to the 1840s. It currently houses a dairy herd-it’s a wonderful thing that the county chose a working farm for the first barn to be painted. As the painting is completed, we will be driving out to each barn to photograph it-it would be great if each barn chosen was still in use! We were a little disappointed that the logo being painted on the barns is really just the falls and doesn’t take into account the rest of the county’s heritage. Although Niagara Falls is certainly the most well known part of Niagara County, there are many other historic and interesting parts to is. At the south. there is North Tonawanda, once the largest lumber port in the world. It is bordered on it’s south end by the Erie Canal, and is home to the famous Herschell Carrousel factory. At the north of the county, there is Youngstown-home to the historic Old Fort Niagara, which dates back to the 1700’s. In between, there are many wonderful little towns like Wilson, Lewiston and Hartland-as well as acres of grapes, apples, peaches and other crops. If you’d like to bring some of this unique Niagara County heritage into your home or office, click on the photo above or follow this link to our Americana and Rustic Country section in our shop: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112.
Another Barn
I have loved this farm for years-as a kid, we used to go fishing nearby, and I always looked forward to seeing this farm when we drove by. It’s on a nearly 90 degree bend in a road, so it makes a grand statement when you come around the corner! This is a working farm and bed and breakfast. It’s nice to see that some of the original barns and farms in western New York are still in use today! If you’d like to add this beautifully kept barn to your home or office decor, click on the photograph above or visit our Americana and Rustic Country section in our photography shop here: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112 .
Log Cabins
This log cabin is located in Wilson New York. These historic structures once dotted the American landscape as people moved west and into areas where building with clapboards and cut joists wasn’t feasible. Easily constructed from trees harvested on a homesteader’s land, they became icons of American history. While log cabins are still popular in wooded areas as a traditional styled home, they are grown quite a bit from the early one or two room structures to extravagant homes. If you’d like to decorate your home or office with the simple beauty of an original log home, click the photograph above or follow this link to our rustic country & Americana section in our photography shop: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112 .
Antique and Vintage Tractors
Tractor shows, farm festivals and pulls all stand to show that even though times change and the vintage tractors might be gone from the fields they are certainly not forgotten! The evolution from horse to tractor was huge-but the changes in the tractors themselves is amazing. These tractor
photographs are symbolic of the machines that many associate with country living, simpler times and open lands. As farms turn into subdivisions, antique tractors become lawn ornaments on the land they once worked. Bring home a bit nostalgia today with one of our vintage tractor photographs!
Click on one of the photos above to view items featuring that specific image, or follow this link to view our Rustic Country and Americana section which features several tractors as well as other rustic country images: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112 .
Whiteface Castle
Perched on one of the highest peaks in the Adirondacks, Whiteface castle looks out over an impressive view of the region which includes the Lake Placid Olympic area and village. It is accessed by a toll road built in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s as part of a depression are public works project. The castle itself is constructed on granite that was excavated during the construction of Veterans Memorial highway, the toll road which reaches from near the base of the mountain to the summit. Open from spring to fall, the highway has an 8% grade which makes the drive down interesting to say the least. The construction cost an impressive 1.2 million dollars to complete, and the groundbreaking was attended by then governor Franklin Roosevelt. He returned in 1935 for the grand opening as president. If you find yourself in the high peaks are during the time the road is open, it is a spectacular drive for those willing to give it a go. If you’d like to bring a bit of this historic place into your home or office, click the photograph above for products which feature a snowy photograph of the castle. Or, you can visit our landscape section in our photography shop for that and other great landscapes here: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633123
Buffalo Botanical Gardens
Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, architects Lord & Burnham and botanist John F. Cowell all had a hand in designing and building the beautiful and historic Buffalo botanical gardens. It was built from 1897-1899, and it is currently one of only two existing tri-dome Victorian conservatories in America. The conservatory has gone through several renovations and additions over the years, and faced possible closure in the late 1970’s. Saved by the dedication of Florence DaLuiso (who provided tours of the facility to schools in an effort to raise public awareness of the buildings), it’s most recent renovations were to the Palm dome in 2001-2002. It’s a great day trip for locals during the long cold Buffalo winters! If you’d like to bring home a photograph of the historic glass dome, click the photograph above. Or, follow this link to our architecture section http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633153 or this link http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2688373 to our floral section which features many flowers from the gardens. If cacti are more your type, then check out our garden greenery section here http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2725638 for photographs of cacti and succulents taken in the gardens.
That’s Charlotte New York, not North Carolina!
A quaint lakeside community, Charlotte is located north of Rochester at the terminus of the Genesee River. A beautiful park sits on the bank of the river with piers jutting out into Lake Ontario. Charlotte is home to fantastic brick and Medina stone lighthouse. This beautiful building was saved from destruction by the town’s high school in the 60’s and is now operated by volunteers as a historical museum during the summer. Visitors can climb the lighthouse tower for a fabulous view of the area and lake, as well as view historic photographs in the house itself. The lighthouse was decommissioned long ago, when the piers built to keep sandbars from forming in the mouth of the river actually created a build up of silt and sand that moved the shoreline too far from the light for it to be effective. A small electric pier light now guides ships and recreational vessels safely into the Port of Rochester. If you’re in the Rochester area, be sure to visit Charlotte and it’s historic lighthouse. Admission is free, but donations are always gratefully accepted and help the volunteers to keep up the house, light and surrounding landscape. Click on the photograph of the lighthouse if you would like to purchase prints, mousepads or other products featuring the light. Or, visit our website here for architecture products: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633153
You can also choose this unique view of the cast iron spiral staircase from the lightouse:
Barns-An American Icon
Once these huge wooden structures dotted the rural landscape of a preindustrial America. Now, fewer and fewer of the original wood barns remain. Used for animals, equipment and food storage as well as early billboards, they were an important part of life on a farm. Many of the early barns are built of hand hewn lumber-some beams even have the bark left on (cosmetics weren’t important here). These iconic structures are falling victim to wood boring powder post beetles, carpenter ants, rot from water infiltration in cases of neglect-and progress as former farmland is turned into house developments. Even farms that remain in use are replacing the old drafty structures with newer steel ones. Some places have begun grass roots efforts to save the salvageable barns before they are gone for good-and some have decided to at least save them in photographic records if they can’t save the structure. Barns are symbolic of American history, rustic country living, and a simpler time. If you’d like to add one of these bits of Americana to your decor, click on the photographs or follow this link to our “Americana and Rustic Country” section in our photography shop: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112
