Spotted: Vierling, McDowell & Co Iron Works

This foundry stamp is on a building in Kewanee, IL. Can you guess what the building is used for today?

If you guessed Mexican restaurant you guessed right. The currently red and green stamp reads "Vierling, McDowell & Co Iron Works, Chicago." According to The Book of Chicagoans published in 1905, Vierling, McDowell & Co was organized in 1882 and incorporated under Illinois law in 1884 by Robert Vierling with help from his brother Louis. Robert was president of Vierling, McDowell & Co and Louis was secretary and treasurer. Both of the Vierlings had experience with iron works from a very young age; they started working at N.S. Bouton & Co in Chicago as boys, until they started their own company.">1 The plant was two acres large and had a foundry, erecting shop, and pattern shop, which together employed 220 people and fabricated over 22,000 tons of iron annually.2
To see an original advertisement for Vierling, McDowell & Co click here.

In 1885, Robert helped organize Paxton & Vierling Iron Works in Omaha, Nebraska. He was vice-president and Louis was secretary and treasurer. That company is still around today, as Paxton and Vierling Steel 3, which is a division of Owen Industries. 4 As of 2010, the Vierling family was still very involved with the Paxton & Vierling company. 5

Going back to Vierling, McDowell & Co, when Robert died in 1906, 6 Louis became president of Vierling, McDowell & Co and their sister, Catherine Josephine, or C.J., was vice-president.7 The company changed its name to the Vierling Steel Works in either 1917 or 1918. 8   Eventually control of the company would be transfered over to Duane T. Molthop, who was probably the brother of Charlotte Bowen Molthop (Louis' wife).  According to the Chicago Blue Book, he lived at their address in 1913. 9  The company still existed in 1968, as seen in an ad from The Milwaukee Road Magazine (page 37). By then Vierling Steel Works had bought Burkhardt Steel of Denver, Co. In the next twenty years the two companies would both be closed. 10

Spotted: Purington Pavers as pavement

These Purington Pavers are actually being used as paving for a road in Rushville, IL. In fact, the brick streets are possibly my favorite thing about the Rushville downtown.

The Snowpacalypse

I'll be the first person to admit that I hate winter.  I hate the cold, I hate the bleak skies, I hate how long it lasts, I hate the grey snow and I hate how it's hard for me to deal with. 

Winter is just not my thing.  Unfortunately I've never been able to get away from it.  One of my big life goals is simply to spend winter once in a warm place where they don't have SAD.  Can you imagine?  I know I can't.  As it turns out, winter has also impeded my desire to take pictures and to get out of the car when I travel.  So it's put kind of a damper on AbandonedHG, but with a current warm spell (60s anyone?) that's almost erased this month's massive amounts of snow, I'm starting to feel a flicker of hope.

For today, I'm going to leave you with some images of the snow in my area, a day when the weather made it necessary for everybody to abandon the outdoors and stay inside (except for those of us who can't get enough of the feeling of wonderment when people leave behind what they've made.)  Just know this, we'll be back very, very soon- before winter's even over!

Nauvoo, IL- So much to see and do Preview

When people hear the name Nauvoo, the first thing that usually comes to mind is this:

and Nauvoo's Mormon history is the reason it's still famous, remembered, and visited by many today.  We'll get to that, but for today we're going to stray away from the actual Nauvoo Historic District and we're going to look at the other historic district of Nauvoo- the business district at the top of the hill (not so far away from the LDS Temple).

Spotted: Smith-Hill F&M Co, Quincy ILL

This Smith-Hill makers mark is found on the plinth of a building in Colchester, IL. The Smith-Hill Factory and Manufacturing Co also made elevators in Quincy, IL, according to the Official Catalogue of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. It would later become the Smith-Hill Elevator Co, and then part of the Otis Elevator Company as part of "The Elevator Trust." (ref)

broken technology and the things dreams are made of

We finally finished the 20 days of ghost signs, albeit a little late. We were totally on track to keep a regular posting schedule and then my computer cord broke. It had been having problems for quite awhile, sometimes it would charge- sometimes not, and then it needed to be wiggled. Eventually it all just gave out and soon the battery was completely dead. Apparently my laptop is old because they don't sell a replacement cord at walmart anymore (walmart is the only real electronic store we have). Finally we found an old one that worked, and so here we are again, with a fully charged computer and many things to write about!

Ghost Signs: J.F. Reynolds-Day 20

This last ghost sign (for now, of course) is hidden between tall buildings in Macomb, IL.

Ghost Signs: Dry Goods and Dave's Day 19

These two ghost signs are on the side of another building in Nauvoo, IL.

It's a pretty long building.

The faint ghost sign in the back reads "Dry Goods" and according to the Nauvoo Historical Society walking tour the building was a dry goods store from 1891 until the 1920s.

Ghost Signs: Restored "Bull" Durham- Day 18

Back to "Bull" Durham as promised! This restored ghost sign can be found in Nauvoo, IL, on the side of the Hotel Nauvoo.

According to the Nauvoo Historical Society's walking tour, the sign was originally painted during the late 1800s to early 1900s when the building was the Hudson Brothers' Meat Market. The sign has since been restored- most recently in the 1990s.

Ghost Signs: Gold Medal and Bull Durham Day 17

For Day 17, we have a three in one special.

Ghost Signs: Times-Citizen Day 16

Hmmm. Okay let's just pretend like there wasn't a long hiatus between Day 15 and Day 16 shall we? Moving on.

This ghost sign is on the side of a small brick building in Roseville, IL. At the top the sign says "Times-Citizen" and at the bottom "Printing." The middle part is a bit more illegible.

Ghost Signs: Ghost Sign with an Old Picture painted on top- Day 15

This ghost sign has an old picture painted on top of it. I can't read at all what the ghost sign says underneath, but what's interesting is that there appears to be a signature in the bottom of the ghost sign. Unfortunately, I can't read that either.

Ghost Signs: Macomb Journal-Day 14

This sign is admittedly more recent. This building used to house the Macomb Journal. A paper that had served Macomb since 1855. The paper is now the McDonough Co. Voice and is housed in a completely different building.

Ghost Signs: A.W. Smith & Son...- Day 13

Well, well, well, I have to say my ghost busting skills are getting better everyday, despite this post being a day late. But we're going to have two Ghost Signs posts today to make up for it. Our first ghost sign is on the side of a building in Colchester, Illinois.

Ghost Signs: W.B. Martin -Day 12

This ghost sign is on an old building in Good Hope, IL. The business used to be W.B. Martin's and it sold notions, shoes, and furnishings.

Then it became Happy Days Antiques. Neither of the two businesses are still around and there is very little information on them.

Ghost Signs: One Horse Grocery- Day 11

This is quite possibly my favorite ghost sign so far. When I first saw the sign all I read was "Horse Grocery" which I thought was hilarious, imagining a whole bunch of horses going shopping for food.

After doing some searching I finally figured out that the word in front of horse is "one." So the sign actually reads ".....'s One Horse Grocery." So far the only one horse grocery I've been able to turn up and records on is in Iowa, but in Council Bluffs- all the way across the state. That One Horse Grocery was started by "Honest John" Clausen in 1866. For more information on that check out The Historical Society of Pottawattamie County's website here. I don't think this sign says "Clausen's" even though the front of the first word looks like it could be Clausen's I think the word ends with a "t." It's possible the sign could have been repainted or altered since it was first painted so maybe it is an advertisement for Clausen's One Horse Grocery after all.

Ghost Signs: Illegible Sign- Day 10

An unreadable sign on the side of a building in Colchester, Illinois.  I think the last three letters are SON. 

Forgive me for this uninspired post, today is finally my Friday!!!

Ghost Signs: Paule Jewelry Co- Day 9

One of the things I love most about old jewelry store facades is how distinct they are. It doesn't matter if it's still a jewelry store or not you can always tell that's what it was supposed to be. Such is the case with the Paule Jewelry Co. store in Burlington, IA.

Ghost Signs: ...Hardware, Co. Wholesale- Day 8

A ghost sign near the Mississippi River in Burlington, IA.

It's advertising "... Hardware, Co. Wholesale." Unfortunately the first word in the sign is unreadable.

Ghost Signs: The Worm Hole- Day 7

This is definitely going to be one of the more humorous entries in our twenty days of ghost signs. In downtown Colchester, Illinois there is a small, putrid pink building called... "The Worm Hole."