Category Archives: Historic Downtowns

South Bend Hat Bleachery

Posted on June 11, 2022 by Suzassippi

Have you wondered where to go to get your last year’s hat spiffed up for this season? If you lived in South Bend, Indiana from 1916-1931, you would know you go to the South Bend Hat Bleachery: The Hatters That … Continue reading →

Posted in Historic Businesses, Historic Downtowns | Tagged , | 22 Comments

Sala’s butterfly

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Suzassippi

Quilt block textile; hand-sewn and embroidered with vintage materials. Helena Sala, St. Augustine, FL.

Posted in Florida, Historic Downtowns, Textile art | 9 Comments

The Floridian for the last supper

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Suzassippi

We had dinner on the patio of the Floridian on our first foray into historic St. Augustine, because Rosie the poodle was with us, and besides, it was lovely outside. That was my day 8 of camping you may recall, … Continue reading →

Posted in Florida, Food and Wine, Historic Downtowns, RV Camping | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

What? Henry Flagler bought another hotel, next door to his first two?

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Suzassippi

Alongside the Hotel Ponce de Leon and Hotel Alcazar, the Casa Monica Hotel opened in 1888 by Franklin W. Smith. Constructed in the Moorish Revival and Spanish Baroque Revival style, it faced the courtyard for Hotel Alcazar, across the street … Continue reading →

Posted in Courthouses, Florida, Historic Downtowns, Spanish Baroque | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Hotel Alcazar: Another Henry Flagler grand hotel

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Suzassippi

Across the street from the former Ponce de Leon Hotel, developed by East Florida railroad magnate Henry M. Flagler, is another of Flagler’s grand hotels built with the vision of enticing wealthy East Coast elites to the “Ancient City” of … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall buildings, Florida, Historic Downtowns, Italianate architecture, Renaissance Revival, Spanish Renaissance | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Henry Flagler’s Ponce de Leon Hotel

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Suzassippi

What I would not have given to have stepped off the train in 1887 and checked in to the new luxury Ponce de Leon Hotel…and even more so on the morning of Day 8 of the Great RV Camping Adventure … Continue reading →

Posted in Florida, Historic Downtowns, Spanish Renaissance | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Thiesen Building: Pensacola’s first “skyscraper”

Posted on November 27, 2021 by Suzassippi

Christen Thiesen, a Danish immigrant to Pensacola, constructed the Thiesen building in 1901 and it opened in 1902. Thiesen and his wife, the former Effie Lee Mitchell of Eufaula, Alabama were reported to travel extensively in the northern cities and … Continue reading →

Posted in Florida, Historic Downtowns | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Terrezza: Optical Optics

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Suzassippi

We were due to depart Fort Pickens Campground Saturday morning, and had been able to arrange an appointment to get the vent fan cover replaced on Friday–a half hour job. We had planned to visit the Pensacola Historic District while … Continue reading →

Posted in Florida, Historic Downtowns, Ironwork, Modernism | Tagged | 5 Comments

Pensacola Historic District: Saenger Theatre

Posted on November 25, 2021 by Suzassippi

Do you have a Saenger Theatre in your town? Julian and Abel Saenger of New Orleans founded the business with their first theatre in Sheveport in 1911. New Orleans architect Emile Weil designed several of them including the one on … Continue reading →

Posted in Florida, Historic Downtowns, Spanish Baroque, Theatres | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Breaking News 1935: Morales Building Breaks

Posted on November 4, 2021 by Suzassippi

One of the blogs I enjoy is Darius Bryjka’s Mesker Brothers: Storefronts of America. Mississippi has preserved many of their buildings with iron storefronts and other metal details and when I began to see so many of them in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Historic Downtowns, Ironwork, Modernism | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment