East Troy Interurban

The East Troy Railroad Museum operates a museum and just over 7 miles (11 km) of track offering rides on a weekly basis during the spring through fall season.[9] The original substation building in East Troy, Wisconsin, is used as a ticket office and museum, and visitors can purchase rides to the Elegant Farmer[10] store at Phantom Woods, and to Indianhead Park in Mukwonago. A collection of approximately 30 pieces of electric railway equipment[11] is kept in storage barns in downtown East Troy and at Phantom Woods. The museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational corporation run by volunteers. The substation, located at 2002 Church Street in East Troy, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Chicago, South Shore and South Bend car 33 is ready for the return trip to East Troy.
Photo by Steve Thomas

The East Troy Railroad Museum lines up former Chicago, South Shore and South Bend cars for a photo shoot.
Photo by Steve Thomas

 

Frank Lloyd Wright's A. D. German Warehouse

 This site consists of two landmark structures in Richland Center, Wisconsin connected by a shared canopy. Local entrepreneur, Albert Delvino German, built the first warehouse on Hazeltine Street in 1912 to house his wholesale business. His early commercial success lead to his most lasting achievement, constructing the innovative 4 story warehouse on Church Street designed by master architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Its days as a warehouse are long past, and officials here are trying to convert the building into a home for events and perhaps artists, small businesses and a museum. The rooftop could be used for special events and include a bar with sweeping views of the downtown and surrounding hills that help define the Driftless Area. The basement could be the perfect spot for racks of aging Gouda, cheddar, Emmentaler and other cheeses, or perhaps barrels of whiskey from southwest Wisconsin artisans clamoring for aging space.

There is arguably no bigger name in architecture than Wright, who was born in Richland Center and went on to design buildings around the world from his studios at Taliesin in nearby Spring Green, Wisconsin.

The same year he designed the A.D. German Warehouse, Wright also sailed to Tokyo where he designed the Imperial Hotel. Two years earlier, in 1913, he designed Midway Gardens, an indoor and outdoor entertainment center in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Of those three buildings, only the warehouse in Richland Center remains and is the only example from that decade “in which Wright used sculptural ornamentation so extensively,” according to the Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin Heritage Tourism Program.

The warehouse, built concurrently with the Imperial Hotel, features tapered interior columns and is structurally sound. It was constructed on the site of the former Badger Hotel and is adjacent to a warehouse German built in 1912 that is also owned by the conservancy.

German, who supplied area mercantiles with inventory, is believed to have commissioned Wright to design the building after Wright owed thousands of dollars to German, who budgeted $30,000 for the project but spent more than $125,000. German lost the warehouse to bankruptcy in the 1920s, got it back in 1935 and lost it again a few years later before leaving town. That led to a series of owners over the years until Harvey Glanzer bought the building in the 1970s and a few years later added a gift shop, tea room and a 42-seat theater on the first floor.

Glanzer died in 2011, and his estate sold the building for $90,000 to Glenn Schnadt, a retired banker, who ultimately gave the building to the conservancy. 

Restoration efforts and a vision for the future can be found on the buildings website.

A D German Warehouse website

Lakewood Cemetery Memorial Chapel

 We were told that when visiting Minnesota a spectacular example of religious architecture with a Byzantine influence could be found in the Lakewood Cemetery and should not be missed.

This proved to be the Lakewood Memorial Chapel, 3600 Hennepin Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Some say it is in all likelihood, the most beautiful sacred structure in the Twin Cities Metro.

The Memorial Chapel is the centerpiece of the cemetery and a priceless architectural treasure—the most perfect example of Byzantine mosaic art in the United States. When it was completed in 1910, it was the only building in America with an authentic mosaic interior. Through the years, visitors have been astonished to find such an outstanding architectural jewel in the heart of the Midwest. Many experts now believe that a work of such magnitude could not be recreated at any price today, as artisans possessing the necessary skills have passed into history.

The chapel was designed by Minneapolis architect Harry Wild Jones who modeled the structure after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul which was originally an Orthodox Christian Church built for Emperor Justinian in 537 AD. The Lakewood Memorial Chapel structure was fully completed in 1910. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The chapel interior was created by New York designer Charles Lamb and many consider it the most perfect example of Byzantine mosaic art in the United States.

Note: Much off the information presented here comes from the Visitors guide for the Chapel and the blog page of "Daybreak and the Shadows".

Daybreak and the Shadows

When you approach the chapel you are met by double doors of solid bronze.  These doors are embellished with ancient religious symbols: Alpha and Omega symbolizes the beginning and the end, an Alisee Patee cross represents the four evangelists, and a peacock represents resurrection and immortality.

When you enter the chapel a visitor is greeted with one of the most perfect examples of Byzantine art in the United States.

To complement the Byzantine exterior, interior designer Charles Lamb of New York suggested a Byzantine Mosaic design modeled after the interior of San Marco Cathedral in Venice.  Lamb traveled to Rome and enlisted the services of 6 of Italy’s most accomplished mosaic artisans who had just completed a project at The Vatican.  Working in Venice, they created more than 10 million mosaic pieces called tessellae, from marble, colored stone, and glass fused with gold and silver.  The pieces were shipped to Minneapolis and the artisans themselves traveled here and assembled the masterpiece.

The chapel dome is 40 feet high and ringed with stained-glass windows that serve as a sundial telling the time of day and season. 

12 Angels (all done in mosaic) adorn the dome overhead.  This piece is highly symbolic. 4 of the angels are holding red roses and they are positioned at the 4 points of the compass, symbolizing the 4 corners of the earth.  The fully extended wings of the angels represent their protective spirit.  Also, the feet are not rendered because according to lore, they never touch the earth.

Four large mosaic figures representing Love, Hope, Faith and Memory are situated on the side walls below the dome. The figures were based on paintings by Lamb’s wife, Ella Condie Lamb, ,a noted portrait artist of her time.  The above imagine represents Faith.

The attention to all of the design details throughout are most impressive

A circular stairway takes you to the lower level crypt

A most impressive feat of religious architecture to visit.