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HBW!
I am going to bring to you more and more floral varieties soon before spring comes to an end.
or try here www.fluidr.com/photos/kalsnchats/
(Last updated on November 9, 2025)
On the southern bank of the Wabash River, and facing westward. We're a few meters/yards from the upstream side of this prominent waterfront feature.
Please note that the terms reef and bioherm have been variously defined by different paleontologists. In general, bioherms are any moundlike structures created by marine organisms. Reefs are wave-resistant structures, of whatever shape, formed by such framework-building organisms as corals and stromatoporoids. But which is exactly which can be a matter of debate among specialists. In this series I'll just use the terms employed by the authors of my sources.
I first heard of Hanging Rock long before the American Endarkenment had begun, i.e., in the early 1970s, when my invertebrate-paleontology professor at Purdue University mentioned it to me. The fact that there was an exhumed Silurian-period reef about 75 mi (121 km) up the Wabash River from where my school stood was to me a thrilling discovery demanding immediate exploratory action. But that locale was definitely out of the range of my only vehicular transportation system at that time, a ten-speed bicycle. It had taken me to some quarries about 20 mi (32 km) away, but that was about the limit. Fortunately, I was eventually able to cadge a ride to Hanging Rock from one of my car-owning friends.
For some reason, though, I didn't pay a return visit till the winter day I took this photo, two decades later. At that point I was working as a National Park Service ranger at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I tried to convince some of my colleagues to go with me and learn some more Hoosier State geology. Alas, while they were only too happy to have me herd them around the Chicago Loop, they had no interest whatsoever in a trek to see a big hunk of rock sticking up in the middle of nowhere.
In fact, any ancient reef you find anywhere on Earth is the direct opposite of being "nowhere," but there was no convincing my fellow rangers of that. So I made the drive alone, which, I've learned since, is the best state to be in if you want to develop a good Ortsinn, the Clausewitzian concept of accurately assessing and appreciating the landscape you're traveling through.
Hanging Rock itself is actually only that portion of a reef that the Wabash River and the late-Pleistocene Maumee Megaflood have not removed. Stratigraphically speaking, it's composed of the predictably named Upper Silurian Wabash Formation, which dates to approximately 425 Ma ago.
This unit includes two members, the Liston Creek Limestone above and Mississinewa Shale below, as well as reef facies here and elsewhere in this region. All three of these have a tendency to interfinger in reefal zones, and it can be difficult to differentiate one from the other.
Supposedly the Mississinewa can be distinguished at the base of this reef. Or so E. R. Cumings and R. R. Shrock averred in a 1926 report ("The Silurian Coral Reefs of Northern Indiana and their Associated Strata,” Papers on Geology, Geography, and Archaeology 36).
Designated a National Natural Landmark back in 1986, this site offers the visitor willing to scramble up to its summit a wonderful view of the great, megaflood-scoured Wabash Valley. And underfoot there's the rather thin-bedded, slabby, and flaggy carbonate bedrock, which varies from limestone to dolostone. The latter of these, being somewhat less reactive, probably has contributed, along with the harder reefal texture, to the survival of the southern side of this hill.
Photos to follow, taken in 1993, 2001, and 2007, will show different aspects of this locale, including a shot or two of the good ol' Wabash at flood stage.
Addendum: A few days after writing this post I got my paws on the Geological Society of America Field Guide No. 56, Ancient Oceans, Orogenic Uplifts, and Glacial Ice. It contains a field-trip writeup, "The Maumee Megaflood and the Geomorphology, Environmental Geology, and Silurian–Holocene History of the Upper Wabash Valley and Vicinity, North-central Indiana," (Anthony H. Fleming et al., 2018).
The Fleming paper provides a good modern synthesis of research on both the Maumee Megaflood and the significance and stratigraphy of Hanging Rock. It divides the latter into three rock units, from bottom to top:
- Dolomitic siltstone resembling the Mississinewa Member; this was laid down before the reef began to form.
- Layers of dolomitic and calcitic siltstone that alternate with thin, fossiliferous, and southwestward-dipping strata of limestone resembling the Liston Creek Member.
- Hard, massive caprock of dolomitic limestone that also dips southwestward. According to this source, it's this section that most resembles true reef core, but it too was probably part of the reef's southern flank.
This will be stratigraphy I'll use in future Hanging Rock posts.
You'll find the other photos and descriptions of this series in my Ancient Reefs & Bioherms of Indiana album.
Facing Highway 54. Taken from Drake Field next to the Peachtree City library.
Clearest disposable picture I've ever taken.
Der Momet, in welchem der User endlich von seinem Smartphone aufblickt und den Fotografierenden entdeckt…
…man könnte jedoch auch in Nostalgie verfallen und sich vorstellen, dass es der Blick auf, von einer güldenen, an einer Kette befestigten Taschenuhr war.
36 Park Row, Civic Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Summary
The eleven-story Potter Building was commissioned by Orlando B. Potter, a prominent figure in New York politics with prime commercial real estate holdings in Manhattan, and constructed in 1883-86 to the design ofN.G. Starkweather, an architect who had formerly practiced in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Built to replace Potter's World Building, destroyed by fire in January 1882, the Potter Building had the most advanced fireproofing then available. With its vertically-expressed design executed in red brick and brownstone-colored terra cotta above a cast-iron-clad base, and picturesque, flamboyant fusion of Queen Anne, neo-Grec, Renaissance Revival, and Colonial Revival motifs, the Potter Building was distinguished stylistically from most downtown buildings.
Several aspects of the Potter Building make it today one of New York's most significant surviving tall office buildings of the period prior to the full development of the skyscraper. Its brickwork is among the handsomest in New York City. An early building to employ extensive exterior architectural terra cotta, it is a rare survivor of that period of development of terra cotta in New York. The highly sculpted terra cotta, produced by the Boston Terra Cotta Co., was employed in a notable "constructive" manner in the loadbearing walls.
The Potter Building is also an important surviving example of a New York office building with interior framing mostly of iron, as well as one of the earliest surviving examples of an office building having a C-shaped plan with a major light court facing the street. Its significance is enhanced by the fact that its original design is nearly intact , and its visibility is heightened by its prominent location facing City Hall Park and by its three fully articulated facades.
Orlando B. Potter
Orlando Bronson Potter commissioned the Potter Building in 1882. A Massachusetts lawyer, Potter moved to New York City in 1853 to assist in the development of a sewing machine business; he was president of the Grover & Baker Sewing Machine Co. until 1876. A prominent figure in New York Democratic politics, he achieved recognition by developing a plan for a national banking system and currency that was adopted by Congress in 1863, served as a U.S. Representative in 1883-85, and was a member of the Rapid Transit Commission in 1890-94.
Potter became extremely wealthy, due largely to his commercial real estate holdings in Manhattan upon which he concentrated after 1876. Besides purchasing existing structures, Potter commissioned a number of notable buildings, among them: 444 Lafayette Street ; 746-750 Broadway ; Potter Building , 35-38 Park Row; 808 Broadway , adjacent to Grace Church; and 4-8 Astor Place . In 1886, Potter founded the New York Architectural Terra Cotta Co. with his son-in-law Walter Geer. At the time of his sudden death in January 1894, Potter was thought to have been the wealthiest man in New York City to have died intestate.
The Architect
The Potter Building was designed by Norris Garshom Starkweather. Born in Vermont the son of a farmer-carpenter, N.G. Starkweather was apprenticed to a builder in 1830 and fifteen years later became a contractor on his own in Massachusetts. By the mid-1840s he had established an architectural practice, moving by the mid-1850s to Philadelphia where he specialized in church designs.
The construction of the Gothic Revival style First Presbyterian Church , Baltimore, Starkweather's finest church, was apparently the reason for his relocation to Baltimore in 1856. The 273-foot spire of the church, built of masonry, necessitated "the most massive and scientifically arranged iron framework ever done in this country, or in any other, to our knowledge," according to a contemporary account.5 Achieving some renown for his ecclesiastical and institutional commissions in the Gothic Revival, Italianate, and Romanesque Revival styles, Starkweather also designed some of the most notable Italianate style villas in Maryland and Virginia.6 By 1860 he opened an office in Washington, D.C., and after the Civil War became the partner of Thomas M. Plowman in the architectural and engineering firm of Starkweather & Plowman .
Starkweather continued to be listed in Washington directories until 1881, though nothing is known of his career during the period following the Panic of 1873. His letterhead in 1877 read "Architect, Engineer, and Superintendent, All kinds of House Decorations Promptly Attended to."
Baltimore architect George Frederick reminisced that "after an erratic career . . . [Starkweather] moved to New York."
Arriving in New York City by the middle of 1880, Starkweather was a partner of Robert Napier Anderson in the firm of Starkweather & Anderson, "architects and superintendents," at 106 Broadway.
From 1881 until about 1884 he was the partner of Charles E. Gibbs; the office of Starkweather & Gibbs in 1881 was in the World Building, owned by O.B. Potter, at 37 Park Row. Besides the Potter Building, only two other commissions by Starkweather in New York City are known, both with Gibbs: the previously-mentioned 746-750 Broadway , also for Potter, and the Second Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church at 321 East 118th Street, a Victorian Gothic style composition with flanking asymmetrical towers, executed in brick and terra cotta. Starkweather died in New York in December 1885, prior to the completion of the Potter Building, and was buried in Bridgeport, Conn.
The Tall Office Building in New York City in the 1880s
During the nineteenth century, commercial buildings in New York City developed from four-story structures modeled on Italian Renaissance palazzi to much taller skyscrapers. Made possible by technological advances, tall buildings challenged designers to fashion an appropriate architectural expression. Between 1870 and 1890, nine- and ten-story buildings transformed the streetscapes of lower Manhattan between Bowling Green and City Hall. During the building boom following the Civil War, building envelopes continued to be articulated largely according to traditional palazzo compositions, with mansarded and towered roof profiles.
The period of the late 1870s and 1880s was one of stylistic experimentation in which commercial and office buildings in New York incorporated diverse influences, such as the Queen Anne, Victorian Gothic, Romanesque, and neo-Grec styles, French rationalism, and the German Rundbogenstil, under the leadership of such architects as Richard M. Hunt and George B. Post. New York's tallest buildings — including the seven-and-one-half-story Equitable Life Assurance Co. Building at Broadway and Cedar Street, the ten-story Western Union Building at Broadway and Liberty Street, and the ten-story Tribune Building on Park Row, all now demolished — incorporated passenger elevators, iron floor beams, and fireproof building materials.
Cage construction, employed in the 1880s in tall buildings in New York and Chicago, was characterized by the Record and Guide as "a frame work of iron or steel columns and girders which carry the floors only, and do not carry the outer walls. In the cage construction the outer walls are independent walls, from the foundation to the extreme top, sustaining themselves only, and therefore, the walls are made less in thickness than if they had to bear the floors as in ordinary buildings such walls would have to do."12 Ever taller skyscrapers were permitted by the increasing use and refinement of the metal skeleton frame, in which the metal columns and girders support both the floors and the outer walls.13 In addition, several hybrid structural forms were used in tall buildings, such as the combination of both masonry and metal for interior vertical supports. Fireproofing was of paramount concern as office buildings grew taller, and by 1881-82 systems had been devised to "completely fireproof' them.
While tall buildings in New York City often had interior light courts,15 George B. Post is credited as one of the first architects to introduce and popularize major light courts that faced the street, a solution to providing office towers with maximum light and air, in the Post Building , 16-18 Exchange Place, and Mills Building , 59 Exchange Place, both of which had C-shaped plans.16 The Potter Building utilized the successful design, construction, fireproofing, and planning techniques of these earlier buildings.
Park Row: "Newspaper Row"
The vicinity of Park Row, Nassau Street, and Printing House Square,18 roughly from the Brooklyn Bridge to Ann Street, was the center of newspaper publishing in New York City from the 1840s through the 1920s, while Beekman Street became the center of the downtown printing industry.
Beginning in the 1870s, this area was redeveloped with tall office buildings, most associated with the newspapers, and Park Row and adjacent Nassau Street acquired a series of important late-nineteenth-century structures: Tribune Building , 154-170 Nassau Street; Morse Building , 140 Nassau Street; Temple Court Building , 7 Beekman Street; Potter Building ; New York Times Building , 40 Park Row; World Building , 53-63 Park Row; American Tract Society Building , 150 Nassau Street; and Park Row Building , 15 Park Row.
Construction of the Potter Building
The Potter Building's lot, at Park Row and Beekman Street, had been the location of the Brick Presbyterian Church . When the church built a new edifice uptown, the church site was divided into two lots; the building erected on the northern lot housed the New York Times. Orlando B. Potter, with Boston friends John and Uriah Ritchie, purchased the southern lot in 1857 for around $350,000, and put up a five-story Italianate style stone structure that became the home of the New York World . Potter became the sole owner of this building in 1867.22 Destroyed by a fire on January 31, 1882, in which several people died, the World Building
"made itself notorious the country over for burning up in the shortest time on record."23 The Real Estate Record & Guide speculated that "the ground is so valuable that it will no doubt be immediately built upon, and a structure will take its place that will vie with the several superb buildings in its neighborhood."24 Potter, understandably determined to replace the World Building with a structure having the most advanced fireproofing then available, had suffered heavy financial loss in the fire.25 The Record & Guide announced on February 18, 1882, that
Mr. O.B. Potter proposes to erect on the site of the structure so recently destroyed by fire . . . one of the largest office buildings yet erected in New York. Mr. Potter proposes to have this building absolutely fireproof inside as well as outside . . . The building will be eleven stories high, the fronts being constructed of pressed brick and terra cotta . . . It is proposed to fit up the first floor for banking houses, while the upper stories will be devoted to offices for lawyers and general business purposes. It is the intention of the owner to make this structure an ornament to the neighborhood and in keeping with the numerous handsome buildings by which it will be surrounded.26 Costs, however, delayed construction until the next year.27 The Record & Guide finally indicated in April 1883 that foundation work on Potter's building had commenced: "The structure is to be made absolutely fire-proof.
A furnace will be put up on the premises to test the various building materials that Mr. Potter has under consideration. Mr. Starkweather's plans have been adopted, and the work will be pushed as rapidly as good building will permit."28
The World Building fire had occurred while Potter's 746-750 Broadway building was under construction, and the firms working on that project were retained for the construction of the Potter Building.29 The day after architect N.G. Starkweather filed his plans for the Potter Building, the New York Times announced that the eleven-story office building, with ground-story commercial spaces, was to cost $700,000, and that "the materials used in the construction of the walls and front will be the best bricks, pressed bricks, terra cotta, and iron . . . The roof and floor beams will be of rolled iron, and all floors, except the basement, will be laid on iron girders."30 The Record & Guide in March 1884 reported that "the Potter building is going forward rapidly."31 Five companies apparently supplied the exterior cast
iron and interior structural ironwork for the building , while Thomas Armstrong was the mason.32 The Fireman's Herald thought that "the new structure will be famous as the result of much thought and many experiments in order to put up an ideal fireproof building, and it will endure for ages . . . The work is not done by contract, but by the day, and every detail undergoes inspection."33 In addition, there was a bricklayers' strike in 1884,34 thus the estimated cost of the project in May 1885 rose to 1.2 million dollars. Construction was completed at the end of June 1886.
Today the Potter Building is recognized as an important and rare surviving example of an 1880s fireproofed New York office building with interior framing mostly of iron. The independent exterior brick walls vary in thickness from forty inches on the ground story to twenty inches on the upper stories. Interior hollow cast-iron structural columns are encased in wire netting covered with "lime water," fire brick, and plaster; flanged wrought-iron joists, set into the brick walls, carry wrought-iron beams; flat-arch tile fireproofing ,35 between and encasing the joists, is coated with plaster; and floors are laid with concrete and pieces of stone and brick. In each of the building's wings an interior masonry wall is set perpendicular to the court, for additional floor support and bracing of the building.36 The Fireman's Herald opined that "on the floors and ceilings depend the whole theory and practice of fire-proofing."
King's Handbook of New York in 1892 called the Potter Building "one of the most substantially constructed and absolutely fireproof among the office buildings in the metropolis."38 Besides the eleven above-ground stories, the building has two basement stories; four passenger elevators were originally located in a lobby that extended through the north end of the building.
Design of the Potter Building
The Potter Building, designed by a non-New York architect with a picturesque, flamboyant fusion of Queen Anne, neo-Grec, Renaissance Revival, and Colonial Revival motifs, was distinguished stylistically from most downtown Manhattan office buildings.
The vertically- expressed design, executed in red brick and brownstone-colored terra cotta above a cast-ironclad base, is organized by continuous piers flanking paired fenestration. The northernmost bay on both the Park Row and Nassau Street facades is narrower, corresponding functionally to the interior elevator halls. Articulation on all three facades is similar, the walls elaborated by ornamental terracotta capitals, pediments, segmental arches, panels, and corbelling. The building's brickwork, incorporating molding and patterns, is among the handsomest in New York City. The quadrilateral shape of the lot and the acute angle created by the juncture of Park Row and Beekman Street were skillfully adapted into the design, which features a dramatic, colossal three-quarter-round column terminating in a pinnacle on this primary corner. The roofline is further punctuated by finials and broken scroll pediments with urns.
Several elements of the Potter Building can be seen in Starkweather's earlier work, such as an overall picturesqueness, exploitation of a dramatic corner, the use of prominent pinnacles and pediments, and elaboration of windows. The Potter Building provided an interesting contrast with its adjacent neighbors, the slightly earlier Temple Court and Morse Buildings.
Contemporary comment on the Potter Building was decidedly mixed . A critic with the Record & Guide in 1885 was particularly scathing, stating that "there is not an interesting or refined piece of detail in the whole building . . . All the good work that has been done in recent architecture has been thrown away on the designer of the Potter building, which is coarse, pretentious, overloaded and intensely vulgar."39 Interestingly, this critic also viewed unfavorably the verticality of the design :
There is no effort visible anywhere to broaden the fronts and keep them down. There is not an emphatic horizontal line anywhere, with the single exception of the main cornice. Even the demarcation between the principal divisions is not brought out, while the vertical lines are everywhere emphasized so as to make the building look spindling.40 Carpentry and Building in 1885 remarked, how ever, that one of the most conspicuous new buildings in the lower part of New York City is the Potter
Building . . . noticeable to the casual visitor particularly on account of its hight [sic], and also on account of the combined use of iron and brick on the outside walls . . . A prominent feature of the building is the extensive use of terra-cotta . . . The front of the principal story and the story immediately above it are of cast iron. Iron trimmings are also used in some of the stories above these, and a judicious combination of iron with brick, and iron with terra-cotta, is a marked feature of the exterior treatment.41
King's Handbook in 1892 thought that "the really noble proportions of the Potter Building, and the impressive character of its architecture, make it one of the great and illustrious monuments of commercial success in the Empire City."42 And in 1899 the History of Architecture and the Building Trades of Greater New York found that the building "as a design is unusual and perhaps excessive in detail, but has great interest in the disposition of its masses."
The Potter Building is an early example, and one of the earliest surviving, of a New York office building having a C-shaped plan with a major light court facing the street . The Record & Guide noted that the court was "similar to those of the Post and Mills buildings," while the Fireman's Herald thought the building "is so divided that it looks almost like two buildings."44 Today the Potter Building is one of New York's most notable surviving tall office buildings of the period prior to the full development of the skyscraper. Its significance is enhanced by the fact that its original design is nearly intact . Its visibility is heightened by its prominent location on Park Row facing City Hall Park and by its three fully articulated facades.
The Potter Building and Architectural Terra Cotta in New York City
While there were several attempts in the 1850s to employ terra cotta for architectural ornament in New York,46 it was after the Chicago and Boston fires of 1871-72 that terra cotta began to be used as a significant interior and exterior building material in the United States. Walter Geer observed that "by these fires it was conclusively demonstrated that fire-proof buildings could not be made of unprotected stone or iron, and that only brick and terra-cotta walls were practically fire-proof.
This increased use of brick work, and of terra-cotta as a constructive and decorative material in connection with brick work, revived the demand for the manufacture of this material in or near New York."47 Advantages seen in terra cotta for both exterior architectural ornament and interior fireproofing included its fireproof properties, strength, durability, lower cost and weight in shipping and handling, the relative ease w ith which elaborate decoration could be molded, and the retention over time of crisp ornamental profiles compared to stone. In the 1870s and early 1880s architectural terra cotta was often a color that matched stone that could be employed in pleasant juxtaposition with brick, or as a substitute for brownstone. The Record & Guide remarked that during this period "terra cotta is most generally used for the trimming and ornamentation of buildings, taking the form of panels, courses, friezes, small tiles, roofing tiles and paving blocks."
George B. Post was the leader in New York City in the use of exterior terra cotta, in his designs for the Braem House , 15 East 37th Street;49 Long Island Historical Society , 128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, for which a contemporary said "the material has been employed, for the first time in the United States, both for the building material and for all decorative details";50 New York Produce Exchange , 2 Broadway; and Mills Building. Among other contemporary architects who employed terra cotta were Silliman & Farnsworth, in the Morse Building, then considered the first prominent New York office building to employ exterior terra cotta , and Temple Court Building; and Kimball & Wisedell, designers of the Casino Theater , 1400 Broadway, an early New York building having highly intricate, exotic terra-cotta ornament.
The Potter Building was an early and significant building to employ extensive exterior architectural terra cotta. To day the building is a rare survivor of that period of development of terra cotta in New York. The terra cotta on the Potter Building, highly sculpted in comparison to the lower relief terra-cotta panels and more judicious use of terra cotta found more typically on contemporary buildings, was produced by the Boston Terra Cotta Co.52 One of the first terra cotta firms on the East Coast, the Boston company featured the Potter Building in its 1885 catalogue, declaring that the terra cotta was "used constructively -- fully demonstrating the great bearing strength of the work made by the Boston Terra Cotta Co."
The term "constructively" refers to the manner in which the terra cotta was fully integrated into the exterior brick bearing walls of the Potter Building.
Some 540 tons of terra cotta were employed in the Potter Building, which was further called in 1888 an example of the best use of terra-cotta, both for constructive and ornamental purposes . . . No building yet erected in this country is more solidly constructed, and the weight supported by the piers and arches is simply enormous. If stone had been used in place of terra-cotta, the weight to be supported would have been more than doubled, and the risk and cost of handling would have been greatly increased, to say nothing about the first-cost of stone work, as heavily carved and richly ornamented as the terra-cotta work used in this building.5 James Taylor , "the father of American terra cotta,"55 was superintendent of the Boston Terra Cotta Co. during construction of the Potter Building.
First rising to superintendent of J.M. Blashfield's terra cotta works in Stamford, England, Taylor left and later superintended the Chicago Terra-Cotta Works in 1870-76, the period during which Chicago was the leading location for American terra cotta manufacturing. He advised the establishment of the A. Hall & Sons Fire Brick Works in 1877 in New Jersey. After the owner of the Chicago firm collaborated with the Boston Fire Brick Co. after 1876, to meet the demand for terra cotta on the East Coast, this plant subsequently became the Boston Terra Cotta Co. in 1880 and Taylor became superintendent there. Geer reported that Taylor "was frequently in New York supervising the setting of the terra cotta [for the Potter Building], and had numerous opportunities of meeting Mr. Potter, who always personally looked after the construction of his buildings."
O.B. Potter decided to organize his own firm, the New York Architectural Terra Cotta Co., which was launched in January 1886 with Walter Geer and his father, Asahel Clarke Geer; Taylor was superintendent until he retired in 1893. Ill-starred
to say the least, Potter saw his new terra cotta works in Long Island City totally destroyed by fire in July 1886 .58 The company, the only major architectural terra cotta firm in New York City, became one of the largest such manufacturers in the United States, remaining in business until bankruptcy in 1932. Walter Geer credited George B. Post and Orlando B. Potter as the two men most responsible for the promotion of terra cotta in New York City, praising Potter for having "employed terra cotta largely in all of the numerous buildings which he erected, and [who] did much by his example, and also by his advocacy of the material on all occasions, to promote and encourage its use."59
Early Tenants
King's Handbook mentioned that there were two hundred offices in the Potter Building, "including those of several newspaper and periodical publishers, insurance and other companies, lawyers and professional men."61 Among its newspaper tenants were the editorial and business offices of The Press, a popular penny newspaper founded in 1887 with ties to the Republican party, and the New York-Observer, the oldest American religious newspaper, started in 1823 and previously located in the World Building until the fire. Other tenants included Peter Adams Co. and Adams & Bishop Co., manufacturers of fine papers for printing, maps, photography, etc.; the Mutual Reserve Fund Life Association, established in 1881 and the then-largest assessment insurance firm in the world;62 the business offices of Otis Brothers & Co., manufacturers of elevators since 1855 and the leading maker of passenger elevators; the New York Architectural Terra Cotta Co. offices; and O.B. Potter himself, on the top floor.
Later History
After Orlando B. Potter's death in 1894, the Potter Building was conveyed to the O.B. Potter Trust ,64 then in 1913 to O.B. Potter Properties, Inc. Frederick Potter , a lawyer who had assisted his father with family real estate since 1880, became administrator of the estate and later served as president of O.B. Potter Properties.65 The firm sold the Potter Building in 1920 to Aronson Investing Co., Inc., "relinquished in the best interests of the [Potter] Estate with the changes brought about in the city's development."66 O.B. Potter's daughter,
Blanche, stated that, due to financial worries in 1919, the family sold some of its real estate, including the Potter and Empire Buildings.67 In 1923 the Potter Building was conveyed to Parbee Realty Corp., then to Gening Realty Corp. in 1929, to 38 Park Row Corp. in 1931, and back to Parbee in 1932. Seaman's Bank for Savings foreclosed on the property in March 1941, holding it until 1945, when it was purchased by Beepark Estates, Inc. . The majority of twentieth-century office tenants were lawyers and accountants. The 38 Park Row Corp. acquired the building in 1954 and held it until 1973, when it was sold to Pace College, which intended to demolish four adjacent buildings for the construction of a large office tower on Park Row. After this scheme fell through, Pace sold the Potter Building in 1979 to 38 Park Row Associates, a joint venture of the East River Savings Bank with the BOMA, Ltd., partnership .
The building was converted into a cooperative with loft apartments and the property was conveyed to the 38 Park Row Residence Corp. in 1981.
Description
The eleven-story Potter Building has three principal facades, on Park Row, Beekman Street, and Nassau Street; the C-shaped plan of the building allows for a major light court above the third story on Beekman Street. The building, of fireproofed construction with mostly iron framing, is clad in cast iron on the two stories of the base, and red brick and brownstone-colored terra cotta on the upper stories. Articulation on the three facades is similar, organized by continuous piers alternating with paired fenestration; there is a high degree of ornamentation in the cast iron, brick, and terra cotta. A colossal three-quarter-round column is placed on the acute primary corner of Park Row and Beekman Street. Windows have one-over-one double-hung wood sash . An exterior restoration, performed in 1992-93 by Siri & Marsik, architects, with Henry Restoration, included overall repointing, patching of the terra cotta with Jahn mortar, and some brick replacement.
Base
The two-story base is clad in cast iron. The entire ground story was originally capped by spandrel
panels with segmental arches with bosses, while the second story is capped by spandrel panels with pediments. Shopfronts were originally framed with thin cast-iron colonnettes, and had a display window and a doorway to the right, surmounted by a two-part transom. Historic photographs indicate that doors and entrance transoms were of the multi-pane Queen Anne style. All of the shopfronts have been altered several times over the years, and no historic fabric survives. Shopfronts are currently framed in metal with rolldown gates.
Base: Park Row The northernmost bay of the ground story was originally the entrance to the elevator lobby; it had shallow steps, columns supporting a heavy broken scroll pediment, and double doors. This entrance received a surround with a veneer of polished granite, the entrance steps were removed, and a shop was installed in the former entrance and western portion of the elevator lobby. The ground-story spandrel panels, originally with segmental arches, were covered by cast-stone panels . Base: Beekman Street The center of this facade corresponds to the light court above: the ground story originally had an entrance through a triple-arched portico with a projecting pediment supported by bracketed columns ; the second story has three windows flanked by colonnettes. This is the only facade with its original ground-story spandrel panels with segmental arches exposed.
A Duclos & Co. iron founder's plate is located on the first pier at the southwest corner of the building. Base: Nassau Street The northernmost bay of the ground story was originally the entrance to the elevator lobby; it is now the residential entrance, with metal and glass doors and transom . The ground-story spandrel panels, originally with segmental arches, were covered with cast-stone panels in 1941.
Midsection
The midsection consists of seven stories, the ninth story acting as a transition to the upper section. The spandrels above the third, fifth, sixth, and seventh stories are ornamented by corbelling, and the fourth and eighth stories by segmental arches, all of terra cotta. The piers of the eighth story have heavy terra-cotta stylized composite capitals, the corner column at Park Row and Beekman Street having an eagle. The ninth story is capped by a bracketed terra-cotta cornice. Window sills are cast iron. Beekman Street: Light Court The center section of the Beekman Street facade is the light court. On the third story are three windows flanked by cast-iron colonnettes, surmounted by a cast-iron pediment with an acroterion. A T-shaped fire escape was added across the center of the court in 1916-18. The fire escape was extended to the roof, enclosed with parged masonry walls, and braced with steel beams .
The remaining light court configuration is thus an enclosed interior light court to the north and an exposed southern portion, within which extends the enclosed stairway. The northernmost sections of the side walls of this latter portion of the court still exposed are clad in cream brick.
Upper Section
The two-story upper section has corbelled spandrels above the tenth story and segmental-arched windows with segmental terra-cotta hoods on the eleventh story. Alternate bays are surmounted by pediments. The roofline is punctuated by finials, broken scroll pediments with urns, and a prominent pinnacle above the primary corner column. The roof has later penthouse and service structures.
- From the 1996 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report
The Dean Forest Railway made a lot in their ads for this weekends steam gala that ex-GWR 0-4-2T, 1450 was facing South, opening up lots of new photography possibilities. The steam engines on the line are usually facing North, up the ruling gradient to help ensure that the firebox crown remains covered with water. What they neglected to say of course was that they had sandwiched her in the middle of a pair of auto-coaches, so it didn't really make any difference which way she was facing. Well at least the sun was shining for a change :^)
The twin statues depict Amenhotep III (fl. 14th century BC) in a seated position, his hands resting on his knees and his gaze facing eastwards (actually SSE in modern bearings) towards the river. Two shorter figures are carved into the front throne alongside his legs: these are his wife Tiy and mother Mutemwiya. The side panels depict the Nile god Hapy.
The statues are made from blocks of quartzite sandstone which was stone quarried at el-Gabal el-Ahmar (near modern-day Cairo) and transported 420 miles overland to Thebes. (They are too heavy to have been transported upstream on the Nile.) The blocks used by later Roman engineers to reconstruct the eastern colossus may have come from Edfu (north of Aswan). Including the stone platforms on which they stand (about 4 meters themselves), the colossi reach a towering 18 metres (approx. 60 ft) in height and weigh an estimated 700 tons each. [1] [2] [3] The two figures are about 50 feet apart.
Both statues are quite damaged, with the features above the waist virtually unrecognizable. The western (or southern) statue is a single piece of stone, but the eastern (or northern) figure has a large extentive crack in the lower half and above the waist consists of 5 tiers of stone. These upper levels consist of a different type of sandstone, and are the result of a later (Roman Empire) reconstruction attempt. It is believed that originally the two statues were identical to each other, although inscriptions and minor art may have varied.
The original function of the Colossi was to stand guard at the entrance to Amenhotep's memorial temple (or mortuary temple): a massive cult centre built during the pharaoh's lifetime, where he was worshipped as a god-on-earth both before and after his departure from this world. In its day, this temple complex was the largest and most opulent in Egypt. Covering a total of 35 ha, even later rivals such as Ramesses II's Ramesseum or Ramesses III's Medinet Habu were unable to match it in area; even the Temple of Karnak, as it stood in Amenhotep's time, was smaller.
Side panel detail showing two flanked relief images of the deity Hapi and, to the right, a sculpture of the royal wife TiyWith the exception of the Colossi, however, very little remains today of Amenhotep's temple. Standing on the edge of the Nile floodplain, successive annual inundations gnawed away at the foundations – a famous 1840s lithograph by David Roberts shows the Colossi surrounded by water – and it was not unknown for later rulers to dismantle, purloin, and reuse portions of their predecessors' monuments.
Memnon was a hero of the Trojan War, a King of Ethiopia who led his armies from Africa into Asia Minor to help defend the beleaguered city but was ultimately slain by Achilles. The name Memnon means "Ruler of the Dawn", and was probably applied to the colossi because of the reported cry at dawn of one of the statues (see below). Eventually, the entire Theban Necropolis became generally referred to as the Memnonium.
"The Voice of Memnon"
In 27 BC, a large earthquake reportedly shattered the eastern colossus, collapsing it from the waist up and cracking the lower half. Following its rupture, the remaining lower half of this statue was then reputed to "sing" on various occasions- always within an hour or two of sunrise, usually right at dawn. The sound was most often reported in February or March, but this is probably more a reflection of the tourist season rather than any actual pattern. The description varied; Strabo said it sounded "like a blow", Pausanias compared it to "the string of a lyre" breaking, but it also was described as the striking of brass or whistling. The earliest report in literature is that of the Greek historian and geographer Strabo, who claimed to have personally heard the sound during a visit in 20 BC, by which time it apparently was already well-known. Other ancient sources include Pliny (not from personal experience, but he collected other reports), Pausanias, and Juvenal. In addition, the base of the statue is inscribed with about 90 surviving inscriptions of contemporary tourists reporting whether they had heard the sound or not.
The legend of the "Vocal Memnon", the luck that hearing it was reputed to bring, and the reputation of the statue's oracular powers, travelled the length of the known world, and a constant stream of visitors, including several Roman Emperors, came to marvel at the statues. The last recorded reliable observation of the sound dates from 196 (AD or CE). Sometime later in the Roman era, the upper tiers of sandstone were added (the original remains of the top half have never been found); the date of this reconstruction is unknown, but local tradition has this circa 199, by Roman Emperor Septimius Severus in an attempt to curry favour with the oracle (it is known that he visited the statue but did not hear the sound).
Various explanations have been offered for the phenomenon, these are of two types: natural or man-made. Strabo himself apparently was too far away to be able to determine its nature: he reported that he could not determine if it came from the pedestal, the shattered upper area, or "the people standing around at the base". If natural, the sound was probably caused by rising temperatures and the evaporation of dew inside the porous rock. Similar sounds, although much rarer, have been heard from some of the other Egyptian monuments (Karnak is the usual location for more modern reports). Perhaps the most convincing argument against it being the result of human agents is that it did cease, probably due to the added weight of the reconstructed upper tiers.
A few mentions of the sound in the early modern era (late 18th and early 19th centuries) seem to be hoaxes, either by the writers or perhaps by locals perpetuating the phenomenon.
wikipedia
Passing Killamarsh Junction and its associated signalbox. I am facing backwards to the southern direction of travel, hanging out of a carriage door window.
The line to the right is the Waleswood Curve which enabled traffic to pass E-S and S-E without reversing, this facility was notably used by fish trains from Grimsby to southern England and South Wales. The main signals are 'Off' from my train. The diverging signal is for Killamarsh North Junction, a short distance behind the camera to the south of Killamarsh Junction! Trains which diverged there travelled a short, steep line to Killamarsh South Junction and the ex-LDECR Beighton Branch. The confusing naming came about because Killamarsh North and South Junctions and the joining track were installed in 1907 when the GCR absorbed the LDECR, by that time Killamarsh Junction had been in existence for some years, so changing its name would have involved a lot of hassle and risked dangerous confusion.
Note the thich brickwork of the 'box's base, this was extra blast protection installed in WW2, aiming to keep the equipment safe, if not the staff!
On 28th February 1965 I undertook a trip specifically to travel a route in terminal decline - the Great Central Main Line, especially the part north of Nottingham, which I knew best.
Manchester Central-Sheffield Victoria-Marylebone expresses had finished in 1959/60 and local passenger services north of Rugby Central had finished on 5th March 1963.
The only daytime passenger service between Nottingham Victoria and Sheffield Victoria was the York-Bournemouth (Newcastle-Bournemouth in Summer) which laft Sheffield Victoria southbound at 11:37, as it had for as long as anyone could remember. The return train also travelled in daylight.
I therefore researched how far south on the GCR I could travel and be able to cross the platform and travel back on the return working. The answer was Rugby Central with a comfortable time there in case of delays and to explore the place.
Interestingly, when I phoned to double-check the lady in the Booking Office at Sheffield Victoria did her best to redirect me to travel to and from Sheffield Midland. When it came to it on the day the ticket clerk had to hand write Rugby Central on my ticket, which to my immense regret, I lent to a 'friend' some years later; I have not seen it since.
The day was classic February, cool and grey, but mercifully not raining. I spent the entire journey from Sheffield to Nottingham hanging out of door windows catching familiar locations from a vantage point likely to vanish forever. I was out of the windows again through subsequent stations.
At a virtually deserted Rugby Central I wandered the station and the site. After a while a pleasant voice called me from the signalbox and invited me up. I didn't need asking twice.
A magical day.
Mom went into the underbrush when she saw me. The almost grown white-tailed fawn didn't care that I was there.
BNSF 5405 leans into the curve as it faces the setting sun while leading a westbound trailer train along the Needles subdivision in the Ludlow area. March 31, 2007
©2007, Ken Szok All rights reserved
Nandi is the name for the bull which serves as the mount (Sanskrit: Vahana) of the god Shiva and as the gatekeeper of Shiva and Parvati. In Hindu Religion, he is the chief guru of eighteen masters (18 Siddhar ) including Patanjali and Thirumular. Temples venerating Shiva display stone images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine. There are also a number of temples dedicated solely to Nandi.
The application of the name Nandi to the bull (Sanskrit: vṛṣabha) is in fact a development of recent centuries, as Gouriswar Bhattacharya has documented in an illustrated article entitled "Nandin and Vṛṣabha". The name Nandi was earlier widely used instead for an anthropomorphic deity who was one of Shiva’s two door-keepers, the other being Mahākāla. The doorways of pre-tenth-century North Indian temples are frequently flanked by images of Mahākāla and Nandi, and it is in this role of Shiva’s watchman that Nandi figures in Kālidāsa’s poem the Kumārasambhava.
ETYMOLOGY
The word “Nandi” is derived from the ancient Indian Language of Sanskrit. The Sanskrit word 'Nandi' in English translates as Happy, Joyous or Happy Person.
BIRTH OF NANDI
There was a sage named Shilada who underwent severe penance to have a boon — a child with immortality. Lord Indra pleased of the austerities of Shilada appeared in front of him to offer a boon. After hearing the request of Shilada and his desire to have an immortal child, Lord Indra suggested he pray to Lord Shiva: nobody else could provide such a boon. Sage Shilada continued his penance for 1,000 years. He was totally immovable for many years, so the termites settled on his body and slowly started to build up their nest. Finally, his whole body was covered up by them. The insects started to eat his flesh and imbibed his blood. At last, only bones remained.
Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and provided the boon for the child. Moreover, Lord Shiva provided Sage Shilada his old form with a single touch. Sage Shilada performed Yagna and a child appeared from the sacrificial fire. His body was clad in armour made out of diamonds. The celestial dancers and singers performed on this auspicious occasion and the deities showered flowers on the child. The boy was named ’Nandi’ — who brings joy. Shilada brought the child home. Immediately the boy lost his divine appearance to an ordinary child. The child completely forgot all about his birth. Sage Shilada was worried about the sudden change. He devoted his time for Nandi's upbringing his education etc. By the age of seven, the boy was well versed in Veda and all sacred texts.
One day the deities Mitra and Varuna visited Sage Shilada. At the first sight of the boy, they commented: Though the boy had all auspicious signs, he would have a very short life. He would not live after the age of eight. Sage Shilada was mortified at this remark. Nandi could not bear his father's sorrow; he began to pray to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva appeared before him and blessed him. Lord Shiva adorned the boy with a necklace and made him immortal. Lord Shiva blessed the child and declared that he would be worshiped along with Him and become his vahana (vehicle). Immediately the boy got all the divine powers and transformed into half bull-half human. He and Shilada went to Lord Shiva's abode to live.
IN HINDUISM
Bulls appear on the Indus Valley seals, including the 'Pasupati Seal', which depicts a seated figure and, according to some scholars, is similar to Shiva. However, most scholars agree that the horned bull on the Indus Valley seals is not identical to Nandi.
DESCRIPTIONS ON NANDI IN HINDU RELIGIOUS TEXTS INCLUDE:
- Some Puranas describe Nandi or Nandikeshvara as bull face with a human body that resembles that of Shiva in proportion and aspect, although with four hands — two hands holding the Parasu (the axe) and Mruga (the antelope) and the other two hands joined together in the Anjali (obeisance). Brahma Vaivarta Purana mentions Krishna himself to have taken the form of a bull as no one else in the Universe can bear Shiva.
- Vehicle of Shiva: The bull Nandi is Shiva's primary vehicle and is the principal gana (follower) of Shiva.
- Gate keeper of Shiva's abode: The close association of Shiva and Nandi explains the presence of a statue of Nandi at the gate of many temples dedicated to Shiva. It also explains why the word "nandi" in the Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages is used as a metaphor for a person blocking the way.[citation needed] In Sanskrit, a bull is called vrisha, which has another connotation — that of righteousness or Dharma. It is important to seek the blessings of Nandi before proceeding to worship Lord Shiva.
- Chief in Shiva's army: Some Puranas mention that Nandi lead the Shiva Ganas, Shiva's attendants.
- A Guru of Saivism: In addition to being his mount, Nandi is Shiva's foremost disciple. In the Natha/Siddhar tradition, Nandi is one of the primal gurus. He was the guru to Siddhar Thirumulanathar, Patanjalinathar and others.
- From the yogic perspective, Nandi/Nandhi/Nandikeshvara is the mind dedicated to Lord Siva, the Absolute. In other words, to understand and absorb Light, the 'experience and the wisdom' is Nandi which is the Guru within.
- Spiritually, Nandi represents an individual jiva (soul) and the message that the jiva should always be focused on the Atman (Paramatman).
LEGENDS
According to some puranas, Nandi was born to sage Shilada who got him by the grace of Shiva.
It was Nandi who cursed Ravana (the demon King of Lanka) that his kingdom would be burnt by a monkey (Vanara). And later Hanuman burnt Lanka when he went in search of Sita, who was kept prisoner by Ravana in Ashok Vatika.
In one puranic story, it is stated that once Siva and Parvathi were playing a game of dice. For any game there has to be an umpire, who has to declare who is the winner. Siva and Parvathi agreed to have Nandi (the divine bull) as the umpire. Nandi is a favorite of Siva, as he is Siva's vehicle. Although Siva lost the game, Nandi declared him the winner. It is stated that Parvathi was indignant over Nandi's partiality for Siva and cursed him that he should die from an incurable disease. Thereupon Nandi fell at the feet of Parvathi and pleaded for forgiveness. "Mother forgive me. Should I not show at least this amount of gratitude to one who is my master? Is it not humiliating for me to declare that my master has lost the game? To uphold his honor I no doubt uttered a lie. But am I to be punished with such severity for so small an offence?" Nandi prayed for forgiveness in this manner. Parvathi forgave Nandi and taught him the means to atone for his lapse. She told him. "The Chaturdasi day in the month of Bhadrapada is the day when my son's birthday is celebrated. On that day you have to offer to my son what pleases you most (green grass)". This means that one atones for one's sins when one offers to the Lord what is most pleasing and enjoyable to him. For Nandi the most enjoyable and relishing food is green grass. As directed by Parvathi Nandi worshipped Ganapathi by offering green grass. Nandi was then relieved of his dreaded disease. His health improved and by the grace of Parvathi he was redeemed.
When the positive forces, the devas, and the negative forces, the asuras, joined together on a rare occasion to churn the ocean with a mountain to obtain the nectar of immortality they utilized Vasuki, the serpent, as the rope. The devas pulled from one end and the asuras from the other. Lots of precious herbs and gems were produced during the Churning and one of them was a poison (halāhala) which became human karma. This "poison" was so dangerous that none of the devas or asuras wanted to go near it. It was extremely sticky and coming into contact with this poison, i.e., human karma, would drag the divinity down to the realms of human suffering and ego. As everyone else ran away, Lord Siva, followed by Nandi, came forward to help as he was the only one who could counteract this deadly poison. Siva took the poison into his hand and drank it, the descent of the poison was in turn stopped at His throat, by His divine consort. Siva is therefore also known as Nīlakaṇṭha (the blue-throated one) and Viṣakaṇṭha (the poison-throated one). Nandi saw some of the poison spill out of Siva's mouth and immediately drank if off the ground. The devas and asuras watching were shocked and wondered aloud what would happen to Nandi. Lord Siva calmed their fears saying, "Nandi has surrendered into me so completely that he has all my powers and my protection".
LARGEST NANDIS IN INDIA
1. Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh
2. Brahadishwara Temple, Tamil Nadu
4. Bull Temple, Bangalore, Karnataka
5. Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu
6. Hoysaleswara Temple, Halebidu, Karnataka
7. Shanthaleswara Temple, Halebidu, Karnataka
8. Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur, Kerala
9. Virupaksha Temple, Hampi, Karnataka
10. Nandi Temple, Western Group of Temples, Khajuraho,
Madhya Pradesh
11. Kedareshvara Temple at Balligavi (Karnataka)
12. Doddabasaveshvara temple, Kurugodu Bellary dist
MISCELLANEOUS
The white color of the bull symbolizes purity and justice.
Women visit images of Nandi, bringing floral offerings, and touch the stone. Their prayers are for fertility. Additionally, it is also considered a custom among some to whisper the fact of their visit, to that shrine, while requesting the faithful attendant to inform his master of the same.
WIKIPEDIA
Original shot made with flash guns.
Applying various textures with different opacity settings and blending modes and finishing it off with the "Oil Painting" filter in Photoshop CS6.
A favorite haunt of mine, wind dropped this evening and the cloud formation to the East was lit up by the evening sun!
Internal vs. External: My nightmares(internal) cause anxiety when I am awake and not sleeping. This affects my external and my everyday life. I used watercolor to show the flow of the dream. And oil paint for more harsh lines and clean lines. Like the nightmares are harsh and scary. The red sky is a real dream I did have so there is a lot of red tones in there because of how much that particular nightmare weighed on me. The purple blue and green are made to represent more of a dream instead of a nightmare and how facing this will let me be able to let me have dreams again