Re: Central City photo chronology exercise
Posted by Dave Eggleston on
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Central-City-photo-chronology-exercise-tp10258p10380.html
Hollenback’s book closed some gaps. I’ve identified some 30 (so far) buildings built or remodeled after 1879 helpful to dating railroad-era photos.
Three photos (on page 339, 342 and 347) from Abbott and McCoy’s Gilpin Railroad Era have dating that long confused me, so seemed a good start for this exercise. I’ll show a crop of each photo and a sketch of the buildings in question to show what I'm seeing.
On page 347 is a UPD&G train running on the last curve into town, dated to the early 1890s.
I think it may date later:
- The lunch room building on Main St, built ca. 1895
- The livery below this, built ca. 1890-94
- The two sheds above the train, built ca. 1890-95
- Sauer McShane’s peaked roof, built ca. 1895
- Two other buildings push the photo date to at least 1897: The Partelli block on Main Street, and the Dorris Block on Gregory Street (if I’ve identified the right building) both were built in 1897.
This photo seems most likely 1897-99.
Two photos of the railroad have long had me scratching my head, those on page 339 and 342. The dates just never seemed quite right.
First, page 342:
Several structures that should push dating into the 1890s:
- The baseball grandstand built in 1890
- Trusses on the Armory’s roof from ca. 1890-93
- The livery across from Sauer McShane built ca. 1890-94
- The final Catholic church built 1893
- Zang’s warehouse next to Hawley’s warehouse, built ca. 1894
- Sauer McShane’s peaked roof built ca. 1895
- The lunch room next to the Temple of Fashion built ca. 1895
- Partelli’s Block built 1897
Everything points to a 1897-98 date, though Hawley’s warehouse next to Zang’s has a flat roof, while on page 339 photo it has a peaked roof. Clearly, the photo on page 342 pre-dates that on page 339, but how much? Here's the page 339 photo:
Dating details in the p. 339 photo:
- Baseball grandstand built in 1890
- The Armory’s trusses added ca. 1890-93
- Livery next to Temple of Fashion built ca. 1890-94
- Catholic Church in its 1893 final form
- The lunch room on Main built ca. 1895
- Sauer McShane peaked roof built ca. 1895
- Eclipse Stable existed ca. 1895-99
- The Partelli block built 1897
- The Lampshire house built ca. 1897
- A small shed to the left of the boxcars in the yard not shown on the p. 342 photo
So this photo is 1897-99 but taken slightly later than the one on p. 342. Both are from before the C&S built the brick station, completed in August 1899, showing the 2nd frame freight house, bringing the total photos of this structure I know to three.
Interestingly, there appears to be a lot of change in the area between the baseball field and Gregory Street, especially from 1895-1905. For the modeler this offers some interesting options as various shipping points come and go. At the same time the track arrangement itself seems to be remarkably static from maybe 1885 to the end of operations, with the original coal dump and spur pulled out by ca. 1887, the main yard gaining a team and additional runaround on the north side of the freight house by 1890, and a spur near the Central City mine put in sometime around 1905-1910 that actually seems to me to have serviced the lumber yard on Gregory street below it.
A lot more work to do! Any thoughts or input?
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Central-City-photo-chronology-exercise-tp10258p10380.html
Hollenback’s book closed some gaps. I’ve identified some 30 (so far) buildings built or remodeled after 1879 helpful to dating railroad-era photos.
Three photos (on page 339, 342 and 347) from Abbott and McCoy’s Gilpin Railroad Era have dating that long confused me, so seemed a good start for this exercise. I’ll show a crop of each photo and a sketch of the buildings in question to show what I'm seeing.
On page 347 is a UPD&G train running on the last curve into town, dated to the early 1890s.
I think it may date later:
- The lunch room building on Main St, built ca. 1895
- The livery below this, built ca. 1890-94
- The two sheds above the train, built ca. 1890-95
- Sauer McShane’s peaked roof, built ca. 1895
- Two other buildings push the photo date to at least 1897: The Partelli block on Main Street, and the Dorris Block on Gregory Street (if I’ve identified the right building) both were built in 1897.
This photo seems most likely 1897-99.
Two photos of the railroad have long had me scratching my head, those on page 339 and 342. The dates just never seemed quite right.
First, page 342:
Several structures that should push dating into the 1890s:
- The baseball grandstand built in 1890
- Trusses on the Armory’s roof from ca. 1890-93
- The livery across from Sauer McShane built ca. 1890-94
- The final Catholic church built 1893
- Zang’s warehouse next to Hawley’s warehouse, built ca. 1894
- Sauer McShane’s peaked roof built ca. 1895
- The lunch room next to the Temple of Fashion built ca. 1895
- Partelli’s Block built 1897
Everything points to a 1897-98 date, though Hawley’s warehouse next to Zang’s has a flat roof, while on page 339 photo it has a peaked roof. Clearly, the photo on page 342 pre-dates that on page 339, but how much? Here's the page 339 photo:
Dating details in the p. 339 photo:
- Baseball grandstand built in 1890
- The Armory’s trusses added ca. 1890-93
- Livery next to Temple of Fashion built ca. 1890-94
- Catholic Church in its 1893 final form
- The lunch room on Main built ca. 1895
- Sauer McShane peaked roof built ca. 1895
- Eclipse Stable existed ca. 1895-99
- The Partelli block built 1897
- The Lampshire house built ca. 1897
- A small shed to the left of the boxcars in the yard not shown on the p. 342 photo
So this photo is 1897-99 but taken slightly later than the one on p. 342. Both are from before the C&S built the brick station, completed in August 1899, showing the 2nd frame freight house, bringing the total photos of this structure I know to three.
Interestingly, there appears to be a lot of change in the area between the baseball field and Gregory Street, especially from 1895-1905. For the modeler this offers some interesting options as various shipping points come and go. At the same time the track arrangement itself seems to be remarkably static from maybe 1885 to the end of operations, with the original coal dump and spur pulled out by ca. 1887, the main yard gaining a team and additional runaround on the north side of the freight house by 1890, and a spur near the Central City mine put in sometime around 1905-1910 that actually seems to me to have serviced the lumber yard on Gregory street below it.
A lot more work to do! Any thoughts or input?
Dave Eggleston
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA
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