Silver Dollar Bar & Grill, Cody Wyoming

The Silver Dollar Bar & Grill in  Cody Wyomign, which features a painting of Buffalo Bill Cody on its side.

Bank of America Center, Houston Texas

I hardly know what to make of this structure, which is somewhat out of place on this blog.  In taking this photograph, I actually wondered if the lower part of this very large building was a church.  It isn't, its the Bank of America Center.

Painted Bricks: A Casper Wyoming Plaza?

We reported on the concept of a Casper Downtown Plaza in this post:

Painted Bricks: A Casper Wyoming Plaza?: As reported this past week in the Tribune and in an article in the Journal , the Casper city counsel has given provisional approval to dedi...

The Casper City Council has now approved plans for the plaza, a necessary step in order for it to come about.

Casper's Iris to become a civic auditorium.

 

The Iris, a recently closed Casper downtown movie theater.

The association that's been backing a civil auditorium announced yesterday that it had purchased the Iris, a recently closed downtown movie theater for that purpose.

The association earlier took a couple of runs at trying to raise sufficient funds for a purpose built auditorium in Casper, but it was never successful.  When the Irish closed there was mention of the theater, which is not really all that old, being converted to that purpose, and now it apparently will be.

Holscher's Hub: Blog Mirror: Heritage Calling: 10 Tips for Archi...

Holscher's Hub: Blog Mirror: Heritage Calling: 10 Tips for Archi...: 10 Tips for Architectural Photography.

Times Square, New York City

Times Square, New York City

Radio City Music Hall, New York City.

Cheyenne Historic District, Cheyenne Wyoming

The Mysterious Monumental Architecture in Cheyenne Wyoming's Historic District

I go to Cheyenne a fair amount but it's only recently that I've noticed some interesting monumental architecture in the town, and some of that would seemingly require some explanation.  A couple of examples are here.

I posted this one on Some Gave All, our blog that's dedicated to heroic monuments.  It's really off topic, but at first I really didn't know where to put it.  Here's the post from that blog (which I regret having used for the post):

Frank Wenger Holliday Memorial, Cheyenne Wyoming.
 

This is an unusual private memorial on a small, traffic island, park in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  I had thought it might be a war memorial, but it is instead a memorial to the thirteen year old son, Frank, of Cal and Rudolphia Holliday.  Cal Holliday was a Cheyenne businessman and mayor in the city's early days. What happened to the Holliday's young son I do not know.

This unusual memorial is just off of the downtown business district of Cheyenne in its historic district.  This post is clearly off topic for the blog its on.

What's its story?  A private memorial to a tragic loss like this is rarely done in the form of such a public monument.

And what's up with this?

A nearby huge monument to Scottish poet Robert Burns.

I know that Burns is regarded as the unofficial poet laureate of Scotland, but of Cheyenne?  I can't think of  a connection between Cheyenne and Burns, other than that the dedicating individual, Mary Gilchrist, must have been a huge Burns fan.  Apparently the city had others, as they accepted the statute, which is sort of hard to imagine occurring now.  Most monumental architecture in Wyoming now has a Western theme, sometimes an oil & gas theme, or no known theme. But a Scottish literature theme would be unlikely.

Epilogue

A post on the Early History of Wyoming Facebook site lead to a reply that indicated that Frank Holliday died by way of an appendectomy.

Denver Engine House No. 5, Denver Colorado.

This is Denver Engine House No. 5, a 1922 vintage Denver fire station now used as retail space in Denver.

Coors Field, Denver Colorado

Lipton Tea Sign, Apartment Building, Denver Colorado.

A classic Lipton Tea advertisement on the side of a building that was an apartment building in Denver, at the time the sign was painted.  I don't know what the building is now.  "Demand Lipton's popular tea."

Brick Sidewalk, Casper Wyoming

A brick sidewalk in an older part of Casper Wyoming. The only such sidewalk in the city.

Lex Anteinternet: Help Support NCHS's Welsh Auditorium Project (and ...

Lex Anteinternet: Help Support NCHS's Welsh Auditorium Project (and ...: The NCHS Welsh Auditorium is a of course a classic, but it stings a bit to see how much support the old auditorium is getting while the p...

What is it? Granger Wyoming

This is a fairly substantial structure in the small town of Granger, Wyoming.

Granger is an old locality for Wyoming.  It was a Pony Express stage stop, and the stage building is still there (which unfortunately I didn't realize until after I'd driven out of town).  The town is small, and the population of about 140 has stayed constant for the entire 20th Century and into the 21st.

Whcih makes a building like this a peculiarity.  

When I took this photo, because of some of the features of the building, I thought it was an abandoned church, and I had intended to post it on our Churches of the West site.  But later I reconsidered as I'm not so sure of that.  It doesn't really have a steeple, not that all churches do.  It has some very church like features, but this could also have served some other purpose.  I'll note the other side made me, at the time, even more convinced this was a church, but as the house is now apparently used as a private residence, I didn't want to linger while photographing, particularly as a curious dog inside the building was taking note of me on the street.  I should also note, however, that on one side is a branch of the Sweetwater County Library, and on the other side is the Granger town hall.  Maybe this was a government building at one time?  Maybe it was a school?

So, what do we have here?  If you know, post the answer.

Abandoned buidlings in the historic district of Rock Springs, Wyoming: National Bank and "Fountain . . ."

A couple of old building in Rock Spring's historic district, across from the class Union Pacific depot.  The building on the left is the National Bank building, and was built in 1892.  The one on the right has much of its "ghost signs" painted out, so I'm not sure of its identity, but it's number 18 on the historic district tour.

Not all of the buildings in the historic district are in this condition, I should note.

Honoring the sign makers. . a sign painter at work in Seward Alaska

The first photo we've put up showing a sign actually being painted. Sign painter at work on the facade of the Brown & Hawkins building in Seward Alaska, which has housed a candy store for over a century.

Van Gilder Hotel, Seward Alaska

The Van Gilder Hotel in Seward Alaska, which dates from 1916.

Street scene, Seward Alaska

Palace Building, Seward Alaska