office sealed since the `30s

[MrBern]

http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4306566&nav=4CAL

Couple discovers hidden second floor of building

EVANSVILLE, Ind. A couple touring an old office building they hoped to buy made a shocking find _ the structure's second story had been sealed off from the world for some 70 years.

Lincoln and Lucille York Christensen bought the building last summer after discovering that a stairway passage to the second floor had been removed and the floor closed off.
Although most of the hidden floor's furnishings had been removed before it was sealed off, the room still offered a time capsule to the world of the 1930s.
A stack of canceled checks, all dated between June and December 1930, had been left on one of the two fireplace mantels. The checks were drawn on the account of the E-M Bush Hardware Company _ a dealer in cutlery, tools and builders hardware.
Underneath the stack of checks was a ledger book, all entries in pencil.
The floor was fitted with ceiling light fixtures designed for both electric and gas lights and contained a heavy wooden display rack like those seen at hardware counters of the era.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[MK]

I wish they would have had pictures to go with the story.

[Hemingway Jones]

Great story, Bern. Thanks for posting it.
I once read a story in the New Yorker in the Around the Town section about an architect in NYC who would walk around famous landmark buildings for inspiration during lunch. He was well-known, so he was given access and this was 20 years ago.

Anyway, one day he is walking around The Chrysler Building and he discovers this restaurant that had been sealed since the late 1940's. Plates were still on the tables and all of the other decorations were in place. It was perfectly preserved.

Your story reminded me about that.

[feltfan]

For those in the SF Bay Area, if you can figure out a way
to get in to the old Maltery on Chestnut in San Francisco
(I had a personal connection- I am not suggestion you
break in!), you can have a similar experience.

Malt still on the wipers in front of the old German ovens,
books laid on tables where they were abandoned. I think
it closed in the 70s, but the place goes back a LOT further.

Similarly, some might have visited the Cabinet War Rooms
in London. Now that's a sight! Churchill's wartime bunker,
sealed after the war, and intact down to the wastepaper
baskets and notes on the tables.

[DanielJones]

Man, those are some neat stories. One of those things I wish I could discover. There was the Acorn Clock Building in Paso Robles, California that fell in the December 2003 quake that had a 2nd floor that was finished but never used since 1896. It was supposed to be a ballroom but never got used. now it's all gone. Shame really. It was another case as well that had no pictures of what it looked like.

Cheers!

Dan

[Wild Root]

Ah, you know these are great stories! Now for my story.

In 1999, a friend of mine took me to LA so we could scavenge some rag mills for vintage clothing. After that, we took a brake for lunch. He drove us to a small place that has been in business since 1909. It's located at street level of the building and they serve some mighty fine Beef dip sandwiches. We go in and order. Sitting there he tells me the history of the building. I find out that building was the main office building for the Pacific Electric Rail Road that operated the "Red Cars" of Southern CA. I had to use the men's room and he showed me where it was. I entered a small hallway that hasn't been touched since the 40's. I entered and saw that it retained the original stalls and fixtures from the 1930's. The original tile and mosaic floor was there! Sad part was that the mirrors and such were tagged by gangs from over the years. As we went back to where we parked, (it was on the side of the building) he told me that where we were walking was the entrance where the street cars came in to pick up and unload passengers. The parking lot it's self had simply been converted to a parking lot some years ago but, at the entrance, you could see the rails that led from the street into that portion of the structure. We then started to snoop. Found the original waiting area that retained the original drapes and lamp fixtures hanging from the ceiling and what not! I plan to go back some time and really snoop. From the out side, you can see the old original Venetian blinds hanging in the windows!

There are some neat places to discover out there! And it just amazes me that they're still here after all those years! Some things are better left forgotten because, they don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t get messed with!

=WR=

PS. See where the Red Cars are going in and out? That's where the parking lot is now.


I just discovered this and it abolishes any chance of discovering something undiscovered! There are some great photos of some of the original rooms though.
http://www.pelofts.com/

[Harry Lime]

Wild Root,

That is a cool building. Downtown LA has been a treasure trove of cool old building like this. After WW2 when they sort of screwed up city planning and it started to get abandoned it sort of fortunately became unfashionable. I say fortunate because it kept the buildings around rather than torn down. We'll see how long that last with the current re-invention and creeping gentrification.

Know any other good LA haunts like this? I'd like to scout them next time I'm in town.

Harry Lime

[Quigley Brown]

I was working for a newspaper as a photographer back in Iowa about 15 years ago and the town was tearing down several blocks of the central business district to make way for a mall. I went through all the buildings to photograph the interiors (and exteriors) before they were lost forever. Although what I discovered didn't go as far back in time as your stories I did find what had been a club back in the late 60s. It still had psychedelic paintings and poetry covering about every square inch of the place. What a time capsule of that era.

[John in Covina]

[QUOTE=Wild Root]Ah, you know these are great stories! Now for my story.

In 1999, a friend of mine took me to LA so we could scavenge some rag mills for vintage clothing. After that, we took a brake for lunch. He drove us to a small place that has been in business since 1909. It's located at street level of the building and they serve some mighty fine Beef dip sandwiches. We go in and order. Sitting there he tells me the history of the building. I find out that building was the main office building for the Pacific Electric Rail Road that operated the "Red Cars" of Southern CA. I had to use the men's room and he showed me where it was. I entered a small hallway that hasn't been touched since the 40's. I entered and saw that it retained the original stalls and fixtures from the 1930's. The original tile and mosaic floor was there! Sad part was that the mirrors and such were tagged by gangs from over the years. As we went back to where we parked, (it was on the side of the building) he told me that where we were walking was the entrance where the street cars came in to pick up and unload passengers. The parking lot it's self had simply been converted to a parking lot some years ago but, at the entrance, you could see the rails that led from the street into that portion of the structure. We then started to snoop. Found the original waiting area that retained the original drapes and lamp fixtures hanging from the ceiling and what not! I plan to go back some time and really snoop. From the out side, you can see the old original Venetian blinds hanging in the windows!

There are some neat places to discover out there! And it just amazes me that they're still here after all those years! Some things are better left forgotten because, they don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t get messed with!

=WR=

PS. See where the Red Cars are going in and out? That's where the parking lot is now.

****
I think this is the building the bar Eddy Valintine's girl friend is supposed to work at in "Roger Rabbit." If i am not mistaken.

*****

[John in Covina]

Back in Copiague, a small town on the South Coast of Long Island, a friend of mine's family rented a hous on Meucci Avenue that had been renovated and the same thing had occured. They took out the stairway. There was an attic that could be used a bedrooms, but the only access was via the roof above the front. Also there was a section of the old cellar that was kinda walled off too, but nothing really much behind the wall other than the oil heating tank.

The house was haunted for sure!