tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30699866353947420702024-03-19T10:58:02.583-04:00American Colossus: The Grain ElevatorThis blog hosts information about "American Colossus: The Grain Elevator 1843 to 1943," written by William J. Brown and published by <a href="http://www.american-colossus.com">Colossal Books</a> in February 2009. <a href="http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/american-colossus-the-grain-elevator-1843-to-1943/10287250">Buy a copy today</a><a href="http://www.notbored.org/kim-paice.html">!</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-5017998198557005302015-10-19T14:35:00.003-04:002015-10-19T14:38:21.826-04:00New! Improved! Updated!We are thrilled to announce that Colossal Books has published a brand-new edition of William J. Brown's <i>American Colossus: the Grain Elevator 1843-1942</i>. First published in 2009, <i>American Colossus</i> remains the only book-length history of the invention, development and widespread adoption of the mechanized grain elevator in Buffalo, NY, and elsewhere, starting in 1843.<br />
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This new edition includes 16 new pictures and updates. It is also shorter and cheaper!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/william-j-brown/american-colossus-the-grain-elevator-1843-to-1943/paperback/product-22404663.html">Buy a copy here.</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-53453357518974447612015-09-23T14:10:00.001-04:002015-09-23T14:10:39.252-04:00David W. Tarbet's "Grain Dust Dreams"<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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Shock and dismay!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another bad book about grain
elevators has been published!<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Under the
heading “Acknowledgements,” David W. Tarbet, the author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grain Dust Dreams</i> (SUNY Press, 2015), says,</div>
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I have depended on
others who have written about Buffalo and its elevators. Reyner Banham’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Concrete Atlantis</i> (1986) is the
classic book on the architecture of Buffalo elevators. It has inspired others
to think and write about the subject, including William J. Brown in his book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Colossus: The Grain Elevator, 1843
to 1943</i> (2009) and all of the contributors to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reconsidering Concrete Atlantis: Buffalo Grain Elevators</i>, edited by
Lynda H. Schneekloth (2006). Francis Kowsky has written about, and lectured on,
the history of grain elevators in Buffalo. I thank “Frank” Kowsky, Lynda
Schneekloth, Rick Smith, Jim Watkins, and all of the others who took time to
talk to me about the Buffalo elevators. I should also acknowledge Timothy Bohen’s
book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Against the Grain</i> (2012) for
teaching me about ‘scoopers’ and the people of Buffalo’s First Ward.</div>
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In case anyone is interested, Mr.
Tarbet never contacted either William J. Brown or Colossal Books, the publisher
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Colossus: The Grain Elevator</i>.
No matter. One would think from the statements above that the author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grain Dust Dreams</i> made no use of the
contents of that book, which was, it appears, simply one of those “inspired” by
Reyner Banham’s book. This impression is confirmed by chapter 8 of Tarbet’s
book, which either mentions or contains interviews with prominent authorities
in the field: William Clarkson, Reyner Banham, Rick Smith, Jim Watkins and
Lynda Schneekloth. William J. Brown is not mentioned.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
when one reads the book itself, one finds that Mr. Tarbet – whose book includes
neither footnotes nor a bibliography – has in fact made extensive and
completely unacknowledged use of Mr. Brown’s book. For example, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Colossus</i> is certainly the
source of Mr. Tarbet’s assertion that “In 1847, grain elevators were built in
Toledo, Ohio, and Brooklyn, New York” (compare pp. 9-10 in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grain Dust Dreams</i> and p. 121 in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American
Colossus</i>). This failure to properly cite Mr. Brown’s work is compounded by
the fact that Mr. Tarbet fails to mention that these pioneering grain elevators
were in fact “floaters” (boats that had grain elevators installed upon them),
nor that floaters were crucial to the functioning and development of the grain
trade all through the 19<sup>th</sup> century. But in comparison to the
deprivation of a scholar of proper credit for his work, the deprivation of one’s
readers of the beauty and mystery of the subject at hand – Mr. Tarbet also
fails to inform his readers that, after the 1880s, many elevators in Buffalo
had “loose legs” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">buildings on wheels!</i>)
– is a much more serious matter.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A
truly impoverished work, riddled with factual errors, misunderstandings, and
self-contradictions, and completely uncritical of the ideas relayed to its
author by various “official” sources (politicians, academics and businessmen), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grain Dust Dreams</i>, for example, claims
that in 1828 “every bushel of bulk grain” was shipped “one barrel at a time”
and that the “manual method of unloading grain” was “barrel by barrel,” when
the facts are that only <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">flour</i> was
shipped in barrels; grain was shipped in sealed burlap sacks; and “bulk grain”
wasn’t shipped until <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">after </i>grain
elevators had been built in the 1840s, because only they could accommodate –
they were in fact built to accommodate – grain shipped in bulk.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grain Dust Dreams</i> (GDD) also minimizes
the role of the engineer, designer and grain-elevator builder Robert Dunbar,
whose “engineering talent” was somehow “recognized” by Joseph Dart, the
ostensible creator of the pioneering Dart Elevator (p. 8). According to Mr.
Tarbet, it was Dart who “engaged” Dunbar in “his [Dart’s] elevator-building
project” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ibid</i>). But before entering
the grain business, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">which he left in the
1850s</i>, Joseph Dart was a hat salesman. Before meeting Dart, Robert Dunbar
had already built flourmills and elevators in Black Rock, New York (not
mentioned by Mr. Tarbet; cf. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American
Colossus</i>, pp. 109-110), and, afterwards, Dunbar went on to design and built
grain elevators (including the miraculous “loose legs” mentioned above) for the
rest of his life.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>GDD
insists on saying like things like “the elevator [built in 1891 by the Canadian
Pacific railway] looked very much like Dart’s elevator in Buffalo” (p. 15) and
“Dart’s elevator functioned like a terminal elevator but looked like a larger
version of a country elevator” (p. 19), when, in point of fact, there are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">no</i> contemporary images of the Dart
Elevator in the 1840s, only “reconstructions” and “artists’ renderings” of what
it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">might</i> have looked like.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>GDD
insists that a terminal elevator in Thunder Bay “wasn’t built to hold grain,
but to send it on” (p. 18), which is such a stupid remark that even its author
contradicts it several times: “if you have to store large amounts of grain,”
there are “rows of concrete bins” (p. 28); “usually, the stored grain will be
held in its bin until the time comes to ship it” (p. 41); and “Whitebox is a
commodities futures company that buys and holds grain for future sale when the
markets are right” (p. 79). Yes, indeed: this is why the Dart Elevator’s
official name was the Dart Transshipping and Storage Warehouse. But
“transshipping” is a word that doesn’t appear anywhere in Mr. Tarbet’s book,
nor does an explanation of how grain futures work.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>GDD
insists (way too strenuously) that the Grand Trunk Pacific Elevator built
between 1908 and 1910 in Thunder Bay was “the apotheosis of concrete elevator
building” (p. 22), “a fully realized model for all elevators in the future” (p.
23) and “the finished form of the modern concrete elevator and the model of all
elevators to come” (p. 25). But scholars – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real
</i>scholars, I mean: people like Robert M. Frame III – have shown that the years
between 1906 and 1912 represented a period in which reinforced concrete was
mastered, and the years 1912 to 1928 a period in which this building material
was widely accepted. While the Grand Trunk Pacific Elevator was indeed a
significant elevator, it certainly didn’t end or exhaust the on-going
experimentation with reinforced concrete as a building material in elevator
construction, nor was it the “model” for “all” the elevators built between 1912
and 1928, because, on the one hand, elevators are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> designed and built according to reproducible “models” but very
particular needs and circumstances in which “models” are useless and, on the
other hand, an elevator built during the period of widespread acceptance (the
Marine A in Buffalo, for example, built in 1925) would make a better example of
the “apotheosis” of grain elevators built out of concrete.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
Mr. Tarbet isn’t very interested in the Marine A. He tells us that Beth Tauke,
“the associate dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the
University of Buffalo and an enthusiast for the preservation of the Buffalo
grain elevators,” “knows Marine A well and has brought her students and
enthusiasts to the elevator many times,” but relays <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">none</i> of the information presumably relayed by Dean Tauke to her
students and fellow enthusiasts. We don’t find out who designed it, who built
it, when it was built, why it was built, or how long it operated. Mr. Tarbet
states that its “walls were dotted with graffiti images and slogans by urban
adventurers who had visited after the elevator had been abandoned” (p. 86),
without saying anything specific about those “images and slogans” or without
imagining that some of those “images” (for example: the very accurate and
colorful chalk drawing of the Standard Elevator, built in 1928 across the creek
from the Marine A) might have been created by the people who worked there while
the elevator was still in operation.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Tired
of this list of embarrassments? I am, too. And so, let me conclude this
“review” with something Mr. Tarbet says: “It is easy to do a roll call of
elevators that have disappeared from the landscapes of Buffalo and Thunder Bay”
(p. 75). Yes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it is easy to find</i> a
list of all the elevators ever built in Buffalo (those that have disappeared,
as well as those that still stand), but not in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grain Dust Dreams</i>, which contains no such list. But there’s one in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Colossus</i> (pp. 412-416) and
nowhere else.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
William J. Brown</div>
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6 August 2015</div>
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P.S. Contacted via Facebook, Mr.
Tarbet was sent the following message:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">We have been sent a copy
of your book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grain Dust Dreams</i>. We
note that, though you rather offhandedly mention our title, William J. Brown, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Colossus: the Grain Elevator
1843-1943</i> (Colossal Books, 2009), your book is full of items that you
obviously took from it – they appear nowhere else in the literature. The
reference to Wilhelm Worringer, for example. We just can’t understand why you
would do such a thing, or why your editors and publishers would allow you to do
it, which suggests that you did this research yourself, instead of finding it
in a book that you mention but don’t properly credit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">His response was as follows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">William Brown’s book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Colossus</i> is a fine book and I
recommend it to serious students of grain elevators. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grain Dust Dreams</i> may seem like elevator-light beside it. It is a
trade book without footnotes. Perhaps because it is published by a university
press you imagined it was more academic. It isn’t and wasn’t meant to be. Brown’s
book is included in my acknowledgments and I hope others will find their way to
it from there. I wish the book continued success.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Not satisfied with this, we told him,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">These are fine sentiments,
and I as the book’s publisher certainly thank you for them, but I don’t believe
that they answer the objections being raised. Your book is certainly a work of
nonfiction, and it mostly relates historical facts and events. The absence of
both footnotes and a bibliography in such a work is a real puzzle, especially
in a book from SUNY Press. (Last time I checked, SUNY referred to a university
system.). In the absence of these basic features of scholarly research and
plausible historical exposition, greater attention is brought to bear on the
acknowledgements, which in point of fact only mentions Brown’s book as one of
two “inspired” by Reyner Banham but not as one of the works you personally
consulted for ideas and facts. The Worringer mention as it turns out is not the
best example of you passing Brown’s work off as your own: the best example is
your reference to the elevators built in 1847 in Toledo and Brooklyn, which are
facts that appear nowhere else in the literature than Brown’s book. Your acknowledgements
refer to people “who took time to talk to me about the Buffalo elevators.” But
the absence of Brown from this group of people was YOUR doing, not his. You
never tried to contact him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">At that point, for some strange reason, Mr. Tarbet
stopped responding and, in fact, broke off the connection.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-85748508629028083792013-01-12T10:09:00.002-05:002013-09-02T05:40:02.032-04:00Sales figures to date<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i>American Colossus: the Grain Elevator 1843 to 1943</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">was published in February 2009. Over the course of the last four years, it has sold a total of 208 copies. That's approximately five copies per month! We are pleased.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Many thanks to all the people who bought a copy.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-65388481230609870642013-01-11T16:01:00.000-05:002013-01-11T16:01:15.286-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfSJASvqeIZAmsD2gMl_jIIAPA-Rixw0CtO4lUWnqVeLPSlne0iQQHwtQvrojQyN6oPb-EHhw-luDSoSo-uCC_Kecqn3DHQIvfykY-VgKtjCYzuJxULnQ_0ExvDvogpeVvjtxngmOjLNc/s1600/front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfSJASvqeIZAmsD2gMl_jIIAPA-Rixw0CtO4lUWnqVeLPSlne0iQQHwtQvrojQyN6oPb-EHhw-luDSoSo-uCC_Kecqn3DHQIvfykY-VgKtjCYzuJxULnQ_0ExvDvogpeVvjtxngmOjLNc/s320/front.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
<br />
New cover for the book. Photo by Orrin Bram Pava; design by Susan J. Hull.<br />
<br />
(Photo depicts the American Elevator, built in Buffalo, NY, 1906.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-85140979036385089242011-12-07T20:36:00.010-05:002011-12-14T19:59:06.296-05:00Accident destroys significant marine tower in Buffalo<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
On 2 December 2011, while demolishing part of the Agway/GLF Complex on Ganson Road in Buffalo, New York, Ontario Specialty Contracting accidentally knocked the marine tower of the old <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2010/05/wheeler-elevator-aka-agwayglf.html">Wheeler Elevator</a> into the Buffalo River.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCe73Ma_5ukThhGIF_7aDNmk_sVtwAV7DDYdjhW7xePmbUhyjy38qurU1txxRTVTtdOYp5xjOD0tirTdO21xvGVSJmEtmjESuwP0Gc8SKmAbAKzXtSewKBuWkeF0qSoL6hg0Rh40L85P9Y/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-12-07+at+8.05.00+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCe73Ma_5ukThhGIF_7aDNmk_sVtwAV7DDYdjhW7xePmbUhyjy38qurU1txxRTVTtdOYp5xjOD0tirTdO21xvGVSJmEtmjESuwP0Gc8SKmAbAKzXtSewKBuWkeF0qSoL6hg0Rh40L85P9Y/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-12-07+at+8.05.00+PM.png" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">(Photo courtesy WIVB.)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This is a sad end for the oldest marine tower (the building in which an elevator that unloads grain from ships is installed) left in Buffalo, the city in which the marine tower was invented by Robert Dunbar in 1843. The shaft in which the conveyor-buckets were housed can be seen, in the photo below, pointing straight down into the water, rather dejectedly.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7h7rgqeInsaMbQAyinQWnnVu7ZfP7YbvAoC9UN_2skRnJ17mVpwu6xEq04vhbAlG-5G0NPrNtiT1Xf7efNN9ZaSU6cvYBZlC5Tw4evsuNjcP3HkT5chO4p748FPJppfmtvWG7P1uaBsZu/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-12-07+at+8.07.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7h7rgqeInsaMbQAyinQWnnVu7ZfP7YbvAoC9UN_2skRnJ17mVpwu6xEq04vhbAlG-5G0NPrNtiT1Xf7efNN9ZaSU6cvYBZlC5Tw4evsuNjcP3HkT5chO4p748FPJppfmtvWG7P1uaBsZu/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-12-07+at+8.07.34+PM.png" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">(Photo courtesy WIVB.)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Designed and build by Monarch Engineering in 1909, the Wheeler Elevator was a modern marvel. Powered by electricity from Niagara, its marine leg could unload grain at the rate of 18,000-20,000 bushels per hour. The main house -- one of the very first in Buffalo to be built out of reinforced concrete -- could store 700,000 bushels in bins that ranged in capacity from 4,000 to 40,000 bushels. Wedged between the river and several train spurs, the Wheeler could load grain into canal boats, rail cars and even wagons. In the words of <i>The Operative Miller</i>, volume 15 (1910), the elevator was also equipped with "a complete system of intercommunicating telephones."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3Apn1g6gNP2XjmEn4SIf89bYCJhwqcEYuykrmYW4xMvlHV0pxmjVulmObPKhQ_WOVo9emJZVsTi1dP0hVZv5GA8qrm0B-CqWpGfN7WAc88NQbwl0rghweHwybp3YtYkCEWW49UiYyzd4/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-12-07+at+8.05.19+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3Apn1g6gNP2XjmEn4SIf89bYCJhwqcEYuykrmYW4xMvlHV0pxmjVulmObPKhQ_WOVo9emJZVsTi1dP0hVZv5GA8qrm0B-CqWpGfN7WAc88NQbwl0rghweHwybp3YtYkCEWW49UiYyzd4/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-12-07+at+8.05.19+PM.png" /></a></div><br />
(Above: The Wheeler at its prime. Photo courtesy WIVB.)<br />
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According to an article published almost two years ago in <a href="http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/south-buffalo/article285404.ece">the Buffalo News</a>, "the complex, which shut down in the mid-1970s, was acquired for about $90,000 by Ontario Specialty Contracting" -- the complex's next door neighbor -- "in October 2009, for the purpose of partial demolition, after the city and the property's [former] owner showed no inclination to deal with repeated building code violations." That former owner, a marina operator, had used the complex only for its access to the Buffalo River.<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-356081395363761632011-02-20T00:08:00.000-05:002011-02-20T00:08:36.047-05:00Nice mentionAccording to SUNY at Buffalo professor Lynda Schneekloth, <a href="http://artvoice.com/issues/v10n3/art_feature">writing in the 20 January 2011 issue of Artvoice</a>, "the grand volume on the history of the type [is] by William Brown, <i>American Colossus: The Grain Elevator</i> (2009)." Thanks, Lynda!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-38289309781582677522011-02-14T23:04:00.000-05:002011-02-14T23:04:31.027-05:00Sales figures to date<i>American Colossus: the Grain Elevator 1843 to 1943</i> was published in February 2009. Over the course of the last two years, it has sold a total of 140 copies: 21 through Lulu.com (the book's printer); 52 through Amazon.com; and 67 through Colossal Books. That's just almost six copies per month! We are pleased.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-71056860333734563232011-01-17T21:16:00.002-05:002011-02-14T22:59:41.705-05:00Talk at Great Lakes GEAPS annual educational convention<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">Thanks to Darren Zink (Strategic Accounts Manager at Brock Grain Systems), </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">I will be speaking at the annual educational convention of the Great Lakes chapter of the Grain Elevator and Processing Society to be held at </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: sans-serif;">Pokagon State Park in Angola, Indiana,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"> on </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: sans-serif;">Thursday, April 7, 2011. See you there?</span><br />
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</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-56600813654386175652011-01-01T20:16:00.001-05:002011-01-01T20:18:07.819-05:00Wood Elevator in Cleveland: Follow-UpAs I <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2010/07/wood-grain-elevator-in-cleveland-ohio.html">reported</a> several months ago, there is a wood grain elevator in Cleveland, Ohio, that is said to date from the Civil War. If this is true, this elevator might well be the oldest of its kind still standing in North America.<br />
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From a distance, I have learned that the area in which this elevator is located (1635 Merwin Avenue) used to be the northern terminus of the Ohio & Erie Canal, which was in use between 1829 and 1872. There used to be a canal basin across from the elevator, which is located on the banks of the Cayahoga River. It seems that the site was once occupied by the Cleveland Steam Mill (a steam-powered flour mill) and the Cleveland Linseed Oil Works.<br />
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Unfortunately, the current owners of the structure haven't been very helpful. I called the plant manager of Cereal Food Processors (the current owner of the property) and was referred to the company headquarters in Kansas City. To date, several calls to the latter have gone unanswered.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-26143322182862246402010-12-13T14:56:00.000-05:002010-12-13T14:56:06.173-05:00Sales to dateSince its publication in March 2009, <i>American Colossus</i> has sold 129 copies:<br />
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67 through the book's publisher, Colossal Books;<br />
41 through the on-line store Amazon.com; and<br />
21 through Lulu.com, the printer used by Colossal.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-58528644165238242312010-10-20T15:47:00.001-04:002010-10-20T15:47:36.024-04:00Small Book Fair in CincinnatiBetween 2 and 4 pm on Saturday 6 November 2010, a Small Press Fair will be held at the Contemporary Arts Center, 44 East 6th Street, in downtown Cincinnati. Colossal Books will have a table at this event, and copies of our publications will be available for sale.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-55464949800339551902010-07-31T11:16:00.006-04:002010-08-02T15:42:50.266-04:00Wood grain elevator in Cleveland, OhioMy friend James Jackson was in Cleveland, Ohio, last week and took a tour of the harbor. It turns out that there is a "Civil War-era" grain elevator located on the Cuyahoga River! (The approximate date "Civil War-era" comes from the taped commentary provided by the boat tour company, which gave no other information about the elevator, which is certainly one of the few 19th century wood elevators still standing, and may well be among the oldest surviving grain elevators in North America.)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloEGAB5Mvd82dC0taoc39D4k4hfz9TKo0AqdSYKujU6F6h7uFOfEpzBxdA5IRDYAc3-ZRsEM3Vr1bwplHvQWRz_hguSVLL8ljpOZ88bdC9I-qoYUbHmp7j5QhlXsuywze5oaURQXh7NPi/s1600/cleveland4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloEGAB5Mvd82dC0taoc39D4k4hfz9TKo0AqdSYKujU6F6h7uFOfEpzBxdA5IRDYAc3-ZRsEM3Vr1bwplHvQWRz_hguSVLL8ljpOZ88bdC9I-qoYUbHmp7j5QhlXsuywze5oaURQXh7NPi/s320/cleveland4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
As you can see, the entire structure -- even the marine tower -- is made out of wood.<br />
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Supported upon huge beams, the marine tower is stationary and built right up against the main house. The word "FLOUR" can be made out on the top of the structure.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu07F4pscTpcdP_IK3J9VQMgP9oNi1lhgPhUIace0L2DzcCw5bEGeqdSGn2qapd6ld6x_gXtbp8hQo72_9xA3NnrJ_KhTXGBdWkCP181H6Hw1OLgHVahE3j0NNtIHJBWZ-DbwOLuFT_3sN/s1600/cleveland5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu07F4pscTpcdP_IK3J9VQMgP9oNi1lhgPhUIace0L2DzcCw5bEGeqdSGn2qapd6ld6x_gXtbp8hQo72_9xA3NnrJ_KhTXGBdWkCP181H6Hw1OLgHVahE3j0NNtIHJBWZ-DbwOLuFT_3sN/s320/cleveland5.jpg" /></a></div><br />
From this view of the marine tower, it appears that the iron casing for the elevating leg is intact.<br />
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(All photos by Jim Jackson.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-18907238276465563802010-07-20T19:19:00.000-04:002010-07-20T19:19:42.025-04:00Curious email from LuluJust got a curious email from www.lulu.com, which is the company through which I self-published <i>American Colossus</i>.<br />
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<blockquote>You recently published American Colossus: The Grain Elevator, 1843 to 1943 and made it available to the world in the Lulu Marketplace. Thank you. We're thrilled to have such a remarkable work in our catalog!</blockquote><blockquote><br />
</blockquote><blockquote>Unfortunately, the world didn't get to see it as quickly as they should have. A hiccup in our system kept your book from showing up in search results immediately after you published. </blockquote><blockquote><br />
</blockquote><blockquote>The short of it is the gremlins got us. Fortunately, we found them - big, hairy devils with beady red eyes and the complexion of toad - and dispensed with them. (We'll spare you the details). Our systems are back to the Lulu standard and all books in our catalog now appear in our search results.</blockquote>They go on to offer me a discount on my next purchase(s) of the book. Funny thing, though: I didn't really notice any problems that needed to be corrected. The book's sales aren't setting any records -- 103 copies sold so far -- but I'm not complaining. We'll see what happens now.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-68333712436063064822010-06-13T09:54:00.001-04:002010-06-13T09:55:35.317-04:00One hundred copies sold so farSince its publication in March 2009, <i>American Colossus: the Grain Elevator, 1843 to 1943</i> (Colossal Books) has sold 100 copies: 20 through www.lulu.com, 25 through www.amazon.com, and 55 through www.american-colossus.com.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-24511947044608159212010-05-17T13:22:00.001-04:002010-05-17T13:23:54.885-04:00GrainNet publishes a notice about my book<a href="http://www.grainnet.com/articles/New_Book_on_History_of_Grain_Elevators_in_Buffalo__NY_Now_Available-93802.html">Notice in GrainNet</a> 16 May 2010.<br />
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Thanks, Mark Avery! It looks great.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-28896652589943322502010-05-11T15:28:00.001-04:002010-05-11T15:35:08.805-04:00The Standard ElevatorThe Standard Elevator was designed by A.E. Baxter Engineering and built by James Stewart Engineering in Buffalo, NY, in 1928. An extension was added in 1942 by M.-Hague.<br />
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In 1992, Orrin Pava and I were given a guided tour of the facility by a man named Chris, who (as I remember) was the elevator's superintendent. Then owned by Pillsbury, the facility was being used to unload boats from the Great Lakes/New York State Barge Canal and transship the grain to neighboring flour mills via railcars and trucks. But when Orrin and I returned to the place in April 2010, it appeared that the elevator, "now" owned by ADM, was no longer operating.<br />
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One of the Standard's marine legs, thrust into the hull of the J.L. Mauthe.<br />
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A view of the leg, extended from the marine tower, into the boat's hold.<br />
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At the top of the marine tower, the grain is conducted towards the main house through "Y" spouts that have been erected on top of it.<br />
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Part of the machinery that garners the grain into batches and weighs it out. Note the wheel that turns the flow on and off: <i>not</i> an instance of "pure" utility or "form following function," but an instance of "useless" decoration and aesthetic beauty!<br />
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A horizontal conveyor-belt system waits to receive the grain from the garner and scale above.<br />
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The chart upon which the bins inside the "B-House" -- the extension built in 1942 -- are represented. Since the contents of the various bins (both full and interstitial) are temporary, they are "recorded" in chalk and then erased when the account has been cleared.<br />
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(All photos 1992 by Orrin Pava.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-65163323931476465592010-05-10T22:21:00.001-04:002010-05-10T22:27:09.122-04:00The tile bins at the old Washburn-Crosby Elevator<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TJXBGb5uAbuN9ytY3c00ACjKgVvsYSV45rcX4kY867gOyUYYTZdblfM7TaKMGdj5Pop5L-jghLWXdutROfnrnBZTZyYo71AWK-hJd5kzmHrpXDMiMbQW53y95I3k5Kqf7wu1uWJvm8zi/s1600/washburn-tile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TJXBGb5uAbuN9ytY3c00ACjKgVvsYSV45rcX4kY867gOyUYYTZdblfM7TaKMGdj5Pop5L-jghLWXdutROfnrnBZTZyYo71AWK-hJd5kzmHrpXDMiMbQW53y95I3k5Kqf7wu1uWJvm8zi/s320/washburn-tile.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The grain bins at the center of this picture (there are nine of them in total, only three of which face us) were designed and constructed by the Barnett-Record Company for the Washburn-Crosby Flour Milling Company in 1903. The only bins in Buffalo to be built out of tile, and one of the earliest examples of tile-bin construction in North or South America, they are now part of the General Mills Flour complex. (Photo 1992 by Orrin Pava.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-71824037034893176962010-05-10T21:52:00.004-04:002010-05-10T22:11:03.776-04:00The American Elevator<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnhOOmJ4M3lskxR7fOSueIchxJJcNvkc-lMOkVoiq3_P0zvLLYED7RRtJTZ-XqcWzxa7U8xpx3Y5SUfOPXIOdkPSLzGsHm-uG-OQW9-LPC1igZsEnDRHjzpPMRMMGFwV7EcukKqNaLKPgI/s1600/american-color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnhOOmJ4M3lskxR7fOSueIchxJJcNvkc-lMOkVoiq3_P0zvLLYED7RRtJTZ-XqcWzxa7U8xpx3Y5SUfOPXIOdkPSLzGsHm-uG-OQW9-LPC1igZsEnDRHjzpPMRMMGFwV7EcukKqNaLKPgI/s320/american-color.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Designed and built by the James Stewart Engineering Company in 1906, the American Elevator is one of Buffalo's greatest elevators. It is remarkable for its storage bins, which are among the first in America to be <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2009/04/elevators-made-of-reinforced-concrete.html">built out of reinforced concrete</a>, and for its marine towers. There are two of them: one mobile (on the left), the other fixed in position(right). Though these towers used ropes in their drive systems, they were still in operation during the 1990s.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDa5tS9_x4STfrH1Vdz_j12NpD0ayzI7gPnarYudoyYmRJykijsExavEoGYx4pWJ0yMR-V3PXuFra-Sp7vycPaD9RDoC_iLq4hd5n4oZrqgQcTjohfm8iAq1aNXFFyBjp7tXI0wBmxwae/s1600/american-legs-color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDa5tS9_x4STfrH1Vdz_j12NpD0ayzI7gPnarYudoyYmRJykijsExavEoGYx4pWJ0yMR-V3PXuFra-Sp7vycPaD9RDoC_iLq4hd5n4oZrqgQcTjohfm8iAq1aNXFFyBjp7tXI0wBmxwae/s320/american-legs-color.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Here the American's legs work upon a single vessel. Note the horizontal conveyor belt in the upper left: it carries grain over to Perot Malting, which also includes historic bins made out of reinforced-concrete (built in 1907). They are visible on the left side of the photo at the top of this entry.<br />
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In the lower left of the photo above: the spectacular ruins of <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2010/05/marine.html">the Marine "A."</a><br />
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(Both photos were taken by Orrin Pava in 1992.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-11638780654706356852010-05-09T03:30:00.007-04:002010-05-09T03:47:39.339-04:00The Concrete Central ElevatorI've already mentioned <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2009/03/concrete-central_20.html">the Concrete Central Elevator,</a> which still stands and probably remains accessible at ground level, but no higher (the stairs having been removed?).<br />
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There is <i>a lot</i> to see at the ground level, that is, in the "basement"of this colossal grain elevator (built between 1915 and 1917 and capable of storing 4.5 million bushels).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOYV0BUOv7lrHsCxqQxWtxyXpcs4YH3x27b13pA2Mf7DloxRKwvyIABcmyiw-QcG30p4IFNg9tLplSI0V3uMaHEjQBC0L2u_OH7hKVO6bgVZ3Pd0-ebdws1ZqOl-9R_l06-lilp8w5FrT/s1600/concrete-central-hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOYV0BUOv7lrHsCxqQxWtxyXpcs4YH3x27b13pA2Mf7DloxRKwvyIABcmyiw-QcG30p4IFNg9tLplSI0V3uMaHEjQBC0L2u_OH7hKVO6bgVZ3Pd0-ebdws1ZqOl-9R_l06-lilp8w5FrT/s320/concrete-central-hall.jpg" /></a></div><br />
There is the magnificent hall-like effect created by the huge amount of space that exists underneath the reinforced-concrete structure that holds the iron hoppers and spouts that are attached to the bottoms of the grain bins. (Note that some spouts are coming down from interstitial bins, which do not require hoppers.)<br />
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A photo that documents just one of many such hoppers at the Concrete Central.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicqWOTs2qM2GghahfPS3v0txm1vAcBUu9UsdzP8VEHhCPJJdLdBLKXBkwrF0-cTl8ztDIgKm3OhPyMU3ZjLjAVIMSR1O8DjOlvIKeJGE7YpsAT1iBJ8atvfVdErwwSujvUb2lnkkGJjMWD/s1600/concrete-central-legs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicqWOTs2qM2GghahfPS3v0txm1vAcBUu9UsdzP8VEHhCPJJdLdBLKXBkwrF0-cTl8ztDIgKm3OhPyMU3ZjLjAVIMSR1O8DjOlvIKeJGE7YpsAT1iBJ8atvfVdErwwSujvUb2lnkkGJjMWD/s320/concrete-central-legs.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The only way Orrin and I managed to obtain this view of the three rusted-out, formerly mobile marines towers at the Concrete Central was to climb the stairs all the way to top of its neighbor on the Buffalo River, <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2010/05/superior-elevator-in-buffalo-new-york.html">the Superior Elevator</a>, where the degree of deterioration was just as bad.<br />
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(All photos on this page taken by Orrin Pava.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-76833565863226678812010-05-09T02:29:00.011-04:002010-05-09T03:13:08.951-04:00Horn Buttons at the Superior ElevatorI've already mentioned <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2010/04/superior-elevator-in-buffalo-new-york.html">the Superior Elevator</a>, which still stands but might not be accessible any more (stairs to the top removed?). On page 406 of <i>American Colossus</i>, I state:<br />
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<blockquote>On a wall at the bin-floor level of the Superior Elevator, next to a button that caused a horn to sound and thus alert everyone in the area that the 'loose leg' (the automotive marine tower) was about to go into operation, Orrin and I saw the stenciled image of a Native American warrior in silhouette and the word HORNBLOWER.</blockquote><br />
Either we didn't manage to take a picture of that particular graffito, or my memory has deceived me; in either case -- as you can see -- the graffiti speaks of "Horn Buttons" not "Horn Blowers." But my point remains the same: there's a close (and unusual, certainly unique) association of Native American imagery with buttons that signal by the use of horns that a marine leg is going into operation.<br />
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(Note: there is something stenciled below the phrase "Horn Button," but I can only make out a part of it, that is, its top line, which says "2 HORNS SCALE FLOOR.")<br />
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Not only is this association between Native American warriors and grain elevator operators close, it is also repeated.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikkCKE5ZY_3Yvv0gleR5sTQW67D506zPiyJ5HA7RkGXdgpkuhgryd_N1OrVS1_Ma9NmoeYrMoQCph2WQYQvx8LhmG4L9y7cFje6K3muM0GugbbgVc2IPKVR7tVN4kpTa0moSXT9FaF0_cJ/s1600/native-american1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikkCKE5ZY_3Yvv0gleR5sTQW67D506zPiyJ5HA7RkGXdgpkuhgryd_N1OrVS1_Ma9NmoeYrMoQCph2WQYQvx8LhmG4L9y7cFje6K3muM0GugbbgVc2IPKVR7tVN4kpTa0moSXT9FaF0_cJ/s320/native-american1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Indeed, it is repeated over and over again.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUA3Om-SthDTsXN_6Hqx_jlk6cEhHGHItvxcWkd0Amgme1LTVeTi_0YJQRtKIzMfJk7HifWObPdVzFnKiMd6jlHXWs4KAafbM6I54HEuLjwZPx8wQKMeD8V67k3dj8U84lWmEmPbKVm08/s1600/native-american.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUA3Om-SthDTsXN_6Hqx_jlk6cEhHGHItvxcWkd0Amgme1LTVeTi_0YJQRtKIzMfJk7HifWObPdVzFnKiMd6jlHXWs4KAafbM6I54HEuLjwZPx8wQKMeD8V67k3dj8U84lWmEmPbKVm08/s320/native-american.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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What's going on here? Was the Native American warrior part of the Superior Elevator's corporate logo? Not likely: "Superior" referred to Superior Flour, not any tribe associated with Lake Superior. Was the warrior part of the logo of the unionized team that ran the elevator? Possible, but not likely in a business dominated, at least on the local level, by people of Irish descendent.<br />
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At some point, it doesn't matter, precisely because it is the appearance of Native American imagery in <i>a ruined grain elevator</i> (the basement floors of which were permanently flooded when Orrin and I were there in 1991 and 1992) that creates the feeling that the place is haunted by ghosts, that is to say, the ghosts of dead Native American warriors.<br />
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(All photos on this page were taken by Orrin Pava.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-56782735147909446852010-05-09T01:39:00.007-04:002010-05-09T01:58:13.292-04:00Which grain elevator is this?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FEC20pXw3dWoDFq_jwSuLBfSrqzECisEgRU1dz2RPHoCl42ydHMNl_Qtx2iE74jqOCv6kdZOAnJ45G8A43N5aSKBvgWh2JRsc2rEdK8RZx-ju5Z-_va1JBFVR81Y16R8_B2iDBYeyuMQ/s1600/1980.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FEC20pXw3dWoDFq_jwSuLBfSrqzECisEgRU1dz2RPHoCl42ydHMNl_Qtx2iE74jqOCv6kdZOAnJ45G8A43N5aSKBvgWh2JRsc2rEdK8RZx-ju5Z-_va1JBFVR81Y16R8_B2iDBYeyuMQ/s320/1980.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Neither Orrin nor I can remember where he took this photograph, which shows a chart -- scrawled by hand upon a wall made of reinforced concrete -- that records the names of the boats that were unloaded (and the amounts of grain they were carrying) in 1980.<br />
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The fact that the year is 1980 suggests that he took the photo in <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2009/04/great-northern-elevators.html">the Great Northern Elevator</a>, which ceased operations in 1981 and which we were given a tour of in 1992. But there are no reinforced-concrete walls in the Great Northern. Furthermore, we have no other pictures of this elevator, which suggests we didn't take any photos of it during that tour.<br />
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The photo could have been taken in <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2010/04/superior-elevator-in-buffalo-new-york.html">the Superior Elevator</a>, <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2010/05/wheeler-elevator-aka-agwayglf.html">the Wheeler (aka the Agway/GLF)</a>, <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2009/03/concrete-central_20.html">the Concrete Central</a>, or the Standard Elevator, all of which have walls made of reinforced concrete. But the Superior Elevator ceased operations in the 1960s, and the Concrete Central and the Agway/GLF closed down in mid-1970s. As for the Standard Elevator, it remained in operation until the 1990s, if not later, and so wouldn't have though the year 1980 to be worthy of such notoriety.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-61288749635604879122010-05-08T15:35:00.006-04:002010-05-08T15:55:45.257-04:00The Marine "A"The Marine "A" (designed by AE Baxter Engineering and constructed by the James Stewart Company in 1925) is one of the four grain elevators that were recently purchased by a company that hoped to utilize them in the construction of an ethanol plant. Those plans have fallen through, and the entire area remains inactive, even those parts of it that had been functioning as recently as 2000.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7AzwtqZdQK2Ptqtltfk4FDX5F9sTAxC80aiU4tLmx9E8nPDzPBnVNpvOZTEhpWljVN5RMDrq9g6WynlesU5o9KNSN_Tu0T-qcTltY1_9_J9l8Z4tibDLqIOCV1wB0RY9q75bnda5VeB2/s1600/marine-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7AzwtqZdQK2Ptqtltfk4FDX5F9sTAxC80aiU4tLmx9E8nPDzPBnVNpvOZTEhpWljVN5RMDrq9g6WynlesU5o9KNSN_Tu0T-qcTltY1_9_J9l8Z4tibDLqIOCV1wB0RY9q75bnda5VeB2/s320/marine-a.jpg" /></a></div><br />
As I mention on page 405 of <i>American Colossus</i>, when Orrin and I were last there, in 1992, "on one of the walls in the basement of the Marine 'A,' there [is] a very detailed, almost gentle multi-colored chalk portrait of the Standard Elevator, which sits across from the Marine 'A' on the Buffalo River. Accurate but not fussy about the details, this careful portrait was made by someone who either had a photograph to work from, or knew the Standard by heart. Such a portraIit could only have been made with adequate lighting, which hasn't existed in the basement of the Marine 'A' since 1965, when the elevator was closed down and abandoned."<br />
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Note: those aren't <i>spires </i>that one seems to see along the top of the elevator; those are Y-shaped spouts, seen in relief. (When you see Orrin's pictures of the Standard Elevator, which I will post in the next few days, you'll see what I mean.)<br />
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On this, the side of the Marine "A" that faces the water, Orrin has captured one of my attempts at graffiti art. It says, <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2009/03/society-of-spectacle-interview-with.html">Ruin of the modern spectacle.</a> The ruined structure that dominates the picture is the bottom of one of the elevator's two mobile marine towers ("loose legs").Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-46301351241045166732010-05-08T15:06:00.008-04:002011-12-14T19:48:56.762-05:00The Wheeler Elevator (aka Agway/GLF)Now I'll turn to grain elevators that haven't been demolished, but may no longer be accessible to photographers. It seems fitting to begin with the Wheeler Elevator (built of out of reinforced concrete in 1909), which lies at the heart of the completely abandoned complex formerly owned and operated by Agway/GLF, because back in 1992 -- when Orrin Pavan and I snuck into the place and wondered around it for almost three hours before someone discovered our intrusion and asked us who we were -- we were told, "It's a good thing you're leaving, because if our guard dog gotta hold of you, you'd be in trouble right now." Or something like that.<br />
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In the photograph above (<i>not</i> taken by Orrin), the original 1909 bins plus the original marine tower (thus one of the oldest marine towers in Buffalo) appear -- if the whole complex can be likened to a baseball diamond -- at "home plate." At "first base" we see the flour mill (and more concrete grain bins that lead back from the tower) that were designed by AE Baxter and constructed by James Stewart in 1936. And at the "second" and "third bases," we see the huge annex designed by AE Baxter and constructed by Hydro in 1942.<br />
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Orrin's picture (above) finds us inside the marine tower, where we see parts of the machine's wood-and-rope drive system.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-63682063496608603532010-05-08T12:52:00.004-04:002010-05-08T16:03:32.796-04:00The H&O Oats Grain ElevatorI might as well as continue in the direction of grain elevators in Buffalo that have been destroyed in the last few years: around the time that <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2010/05/wollenberg-grain-elevator-and-feed-mill.html">the Wollenberg</a> burned down, the steel-binned H&O Oats Elevator (designed by HR Wait & Monarch Engineering in 1931) was razed to make room for a casino that still hasn't been built yet.<br />
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As I mention on page 405 of <i>American Colossus</i>, when Orrin and I visited the H&O Oats in 1992, the basement was permanently flooded. And, although someone had laid out a series of bridges that allowed passage to the stairs that in turn led to the top of structure, we decided to <a href="http://american-colossus.blogspot.com/2009/05/when-to-stay-away.html">go no further</a> than the vantage point at which Orrin took the picture above.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069986635394742070.post-28810090468407588332010-05-07T18:26:00.001-04:002010-05-08T15:52:33.938-04:00The Wollenberg Grain Elevator and Feed MillBuilt in 1912 out of the wood salvaged from the old Kellogg "B" Elevator (which itself dated back to 1892), the Wollenberg Grain Elevator and Feed Mill managed to stay in business until 1987, when it suddenly closed and was abandoned. In 1990, the Wollenberg -- the only wood-binned country elevator in Buffalo -- was selected for documentation by the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and in 2003 the Wollenberg was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places.<br />
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Despite these honors, the Wollenberg was never properly cleaned or secured by the City of Buffalo. In point of fact, it was one big firetrap: filled with piles of flour, grain dust and feed. On 1 October 2006, the Wollenberg was partially destroyed by a fire of uncertain origin; on 3 October 2006, whatever remained was torn down by the City of Buffalo.<br />
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In 1992, Orrin Pava and I visited the Wollenberg. These are the photographs that Orrin took.<br />
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Grain dust (and cobwebs) cover the machinery inside.<br />
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Piles of raw grain dumped on the floor.<br />
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Looking down into one of the wooden grain bins. Bags as well as raw grain are at the bottom.<br />
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Spouts in the ceiling.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0