thunderw21
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 4,044
- Location
- Iowa
We all know about the famous art deco buildings like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. But what about local art deco architecture?
Small towns can be treasure troves for art deco. Since raising funds for new buildings is a difficult task in smaller towns, they often keep and use old buildings for a long time. Many schools in my hometown, for example, date from the late 1930s and are still in use.
Show us your local art deco architecture and tell use some history behind it.
I don't know the date of this sign but it is definitely Art Deco style. Interestingly, this sign is from the J.C. Petersen haberdashery that belonged to my great-great grandfather, the store selling out in the 1990s. He came to the U.S. from Germany by himself at the age of 16 at the turn of the century, not knowing a bit of English. He received ownership of the shop when his partner died and it stayed open for roughly a century.
A very simple example of Art Deco, this building was originally and still is apartments.
Schools are great places to find Art Deco influence. Both of these are dated 1939.
And the most spectacular of the Art Deco buildings in my hometown: city hall. Again, like the schools above, this was built in 1939.
This plaque could help solve the mystery as to why the schools and city hall were all built in 1939. It seems there was some sort of economic initiative or project put into place in Boone in 1939 funded by the federal government. Interesting. To help recover from the Great Depression, no doubt.
The interior of city hall appears to be relatively unchanged.
Small towns can be treasure troves for art deco. Since raising funds for new buildings is a difficult task in smaller towns, they often keep and use old buildings for a long time. Many schools in my hometown, for example, date from the late 1930s and are still in use.
Show us your local art deco architecture and tell use some history behind it.
I don't know the date of this sign but it is definitely Art Deco style. Interestingly, this sign is from the J.C. Petersen haberdashery that belonged to my great-great grandfather, the store selling out in the 1990s. He came to the U.S. from Germany by himself at the age of 16 at the turn of the century, not knowing a bit of English. He received ownership of the shop when his partner died and it stayed open for roughly a century.
A very simple example of Art Deco, this building was originally and still is apartments.
Schools are great places to find Art Deco influence. Both of these are dated 1939.
And the most spectacular of the Art Deco buildings in my hometown: city hall. Again, like the schools above, this was built in 1939.
This plaque could help solve the mystery as to why the schools and city hall were all built in 1939. It seems there was some sort of economic initiative or project put into place in Boone in 1939 funded by the federal government. Interesting. To help recover from the Great Depression, no doubt.
The interior of city hall appears to be relatively unchanged.
