Another one bites the dust ...

No, it's not a still shot from the next Transformers movie.

It's not been a good few weeks for historic sites in Anamosa. First the old middle school, and now this house just two doors down from me. It's been the subject of much discussion. Some say it's an original structure from the 1840s. I respectfully disagree, as Iowa was pretty much wilderness back then, or at least this part of it, and I doubt a structure like this was being built. (But I'm happy to be proven wrong.)

As much as I'm into historic preservation, in order any structure to be saved, the bones must be good. In this case, these bones had a severe case of osteoporosis.

The equipment was parked on the lawn the day before, and they got to it bright and early the next day. (I overslept a little.) By the time I cleaned up and got down there, about a third of it was already gone. Quick work was made of old house. The rock and plaque, as you see was daintily moved out of the way, noting the historic sight of the Gideon Ford House where Indian maiden Anamosa visited in 1842 will be cleaned up and reset after the new house is completed later this summer.

I really tried to get as many shots of these "jaws" looming in from outside of the frame. (Yeah, I've a dark sense of humor. Whaddya gonna do?) Enjoy the pics!

Beautiful Ruins

Well! This snuck up on me! A couple weeks ago, I wrote about an area middle school being torn down, but it had been going very slowly. Late last week, I was walking home, and I heard the sickening crunch of wood. No! I don't have my camera! I ran up the hill, and they had just started. I quickly beat it back home, had lunch, and waited for the rain that had stated just as I got home to let up some. After about half an hour, I was on the site. Two thirds of the building was gone! Fortunately, between this post and the last one on this topic, I grabbed some establishing shots, showing the school as a whole. But for now, here are some artsy shots of the various stages of ruin.

The one on the left is the only one I enhanced a little, due to the crappy, overcast day. Everything else

turned out pretty good. I chose black & white to class things up a bit.

 

 

 



I think the one on the left is my favorite. It really looks like a battle scene.

(Not that that's a good thing, but if I was going for eerie, this one succeeds.)