When it comes to new additions on old buildings, historic preservationists skew into two camps: (1) that the addition should look similar to the historic building, and (2) that the should addition look different. It is a continuum, of course, and many people may find they stand somewhere in the middle. Additions should be compatible… Read More Historic Preservation’s Addition Dilemma
Between his childhood in Kentucky and his years in Springfield, Illinois, the later President Abraham Lincoln lived in the tiny river-front town of New Salem, Illinois. Lincoln first passed through New Salem on a flatboat, en route to New Orleans on the Sangamon River. He moved to New Salem shortly after when, in 1831 and… Read More A President You’ve Heard of in a Town You Probably Haven’t
Painted signs on buildings were the billboards of the nineteenth century. They could be large and numerous. Today, reminders of these signs grace older buildings throughout cities from London to Chicago in the form of “ghost signs“: faded remnants of painted signs that disappear a little more each year. In most cases these signs are… Read More Lincoln’s Law Office: Bringing Ghost Signs Back to Life
The Robie House, in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood south of downtown, is a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece and a testament to evolving technology in turn-of-the-century America. It was built in 1910, a crowning culmination of Wright’s Prairie style houses. It also went though a recent restoration and it looks stunning. Being amidst the University of… Read More Restoring Robie: A Window into the Past
Come for the animals, stay for the architecture. Lincoln Park Zoo is one of Chicago’s best places. It is an award winning zoo in the heart of one of the city’s most beautiful parks, it is free and open year-round, and it features a handful a carefully crafted, early 20th century buildings. The Zoo’s centerpiece,… Read More The Architecture of Lincoln Park Zoo
Across Columbus from the German Village you’ll find Goodale Park, a sloping rectangle of parkland that was donated to the city by Lincoln Goodale in 1851 and subsequently used as a staging area for Union troops during the Civil War. The park is in the heart of the Short North, a neighborhood just north of… Read More The Houses of Goodale Park, Columbus
I visited Ohio over the Presidents’ Day weekend, which was surprisingly fitting: did you know that eight presidents were from Ohio? My first presidential run-in was a comically small plaque at a gas station commemorating Rutherford B. Hayes’ birthplace (don’t worry, I hear they do have something better in the works). Not having been to Columbus… Read More American City, German Village (Columbus, Ohio)
You may have noticed things are looking a little different around the site. I’ve been making a few improvements, most of which will be in the background. Things will continue to run as usual, but you can now update your links! My blog has been migrated to susietrexler.com (don’t worry, the old address will continue… Read More Under Construction: Website & Historic Sites
Above: the ‘Sconset bluff walk As 2018 draws to a close, I’ve been looking back at everything that happened this year. I left my job at the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust (loved it there!) for a position as a historic preservation urban planner that I love even more. I also got married (in a historic… Read More Best of 2018
Happy Holidays! In honor of the season, I’m sharing some photographs from the Gold Coast neighborhood in Chicago. It’s one of my favorite neighborhoods for exploring architecture. It is home not just to the National Historic Landmark Charnley-Persky House (above), but the entire Astor Street Historic District. The Gold Coast sits between Lincoln Park and Streeterville,… Read More December Decor in the Gold Coast
Susie Trexler 