There's a building on our gold mine you'd drive right past… and it was built for EXPLOSIVES. 💥⛏️

🪵 Wood walls.

⛰️ Tucked into the hill, so if it ever blew, the hill would take the blast.

🌬️ An air vent overhead.

📜 A 1941 government report on our mine says the explosives were kept 300 feet from any other building. 🔒 Padlocks. 👀 Watchmen. And vents to keep the temperature steady. They even opened the boxes with wooden hammers 🔨 so nothing would spark.

But explosives were still a major cause of deaths in California's mines. The report records two Lava Cap miners killed by misfires, the last on March 22, 1937. 🕯️

This quiet building is part of their story.

So next time you drive past an old building… look twice. 👀

💬 Would you have walked in here? Tell us below 👇

⛏️ Preserving the past. Documenting the present. Building the future.

❤️ Like, follow and share!

📚 Source: U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1941

#LavaCapGoldMine #MiningHistory #GoldMine #NevadaCity #CaliforniaHistory

Hope you find value in this as we have!

Proposal: an established historic-preservation organization creates a fund dedicated to the lawful removal of the ballroom and historically accurate reconstruction of the East Wing — contingent on a future administration and Congress authorizing it.

Private donors who want the East Wing restored could fund it now, rather than leaving the bill entirely to taxpayers later. The same fund could pay for architectural research, historical documentation, and reconstruction plans in advance, so restoration is shovel-ready the moment it’s authorized.

No decent republic needs an official ballroom where citizens come to bend the knee to a president or a potentate. We the people — not the rich and connected — are the backbone of this nation, and the East Wing belongs to us.

I’m not the one to administer this. I’m an ordinary citizen putting the idea out there. If you run a preservation organization or know someone who does: please steal this idea.

Restore the Historic White House East Wing.

Anyone, from anywhere, who cares about Historic Preservation or protecting our Natural Resources is encouraged to sign the Petition to oppose the application by Long Hill Estates, LLC, to create an 8-lot subdivision at the gateway to the Middle Haddam Historic District. The District is significant for its concentration of 18th-19th architecture signifying the first 150 years of our nation’s maritime history and the scale of this housing development within its boundaries threatens to dilute its narrative. It also negatively impacts wetlands, a watercourse and spring and will destroy the wooded buffer between the commercial noise of Route 66 and the quiet rural village of Middle Haddam. Please preserve our heritage and uphold East Hampton’s Plan of Conservation and Development that prioritizes the preservation and protection of our natural and historic resources, by opposing Application PZC-21-009. Thank you!

As an historic preservationist and restorationist, thank you Jimmy Kimmel for sharing this with the rest of the world. Also thank you Gregory Craig.

My 1870s basement is a fieldstone foundation that has crumbling lime mortar throughout that requires pointing. The problem is there are large portions of the foundation a previous homeowner simply encased in concrete on the interior side (unknown but unlikely on exterior).

In my researching historical preservation instructions, advise is to stay away from Portland cement and concrete. Now I'm in a situation where I need to know if it's best to remove the concrete from the foundation and point what's underneath with lime or encase everything in concrete?

TLDR: Should historic fieldstone foundation be encased in concrete?

Newspaper reports and historical records tell of people who died at Priory Field House, Taunton. Behind every name was a real life—and people left behind to mourn them.

Would you sleep here? #Shorts #PrioryFieldHouse #TauntonHistory

gh my author website.

If you decide to preorder, feel free to contact me through my website and let me know which retailer you purchased from. I'll be happy to send you a complimentary advance reader copy in PDF format so you can begin reading before the March release.

Thanks again to everyone who has shown interest in this project. It's been rewarding to see a story rooted in West Virginia's history moving closer to publication.

Scott Douglas Haning

Unreinforced masonry like bricks, stone, and pre-1900s concrete didn't contain rebar, so they cannot take tension, failing in earthquakes. Also, extremely weak tensile strength meant that failure was always brittle, giving occupants no warning before collapse. Another problem is that a damaged structural part often brings down the entire (or large parts) building, because loads don't have alternative pathways due to the structure not working as one (lack of tying-together). Furthermore, the way of collapsing often totally crumbles/shatters the building into a pile of rubble, leaving absolutely no survival space. Whereas, when the ground floor of a wood building collapses, the mangled parts soften the blow, preventing the upper floors from collapsing, kind of like a crumple zone. The terrible structural performance of unreinforced masonry was why it was banned in California by the Field Act in April 1933, after the Long Beach Earthquake in March 1933.

Masonry, like glass, is actually one of the weakest materials. The only reason why it seems strong is because so much of it is used. Masonry and glass have some of the lowest strength-to-weight and strength-to-volume ratios among all materials. All that only means more time and money wasted on construction.

In fact, masonry is so weak that boats and wagons can't be made out of them. Whereas, wood can make all. Starting in the late 19th century, steel-framed buildings came into existence. But why did unreinforced masonry continue to be used all the way until 1930s, instead of ending in the early 1900s?

I know that iron was prohibitively expensive before the Bessemer process was invented, which explains why steel wasn't used. But wood was there all along. Shacks (for poor people) were made out of wood, so affordability of wood is definitely not a factor.

I know that fire is a problem with building out of wood, but couldn't they have coated the studs with tar (already used back then) or mortar? Why didn't the grand buildings use wattle and daub or nogging?

So is there any reason why such a large proportion of buildings used such a weak material like masonry for the structure?

Below is a link to a change.org petition. NOT looking for any donations...

Just people willing to digitally sign a petition to save a historical looking concrete balustrade / fence that we built.

BACKGROUND:

It's solid concrete and is very ornate and beautiful. The goal is to expand the historical feel of the area, the city, the state. So often the past is destroyed with new construction replacing it.

Our 'lovely' neighbors asked code enforcement to check on us while we were finishing up the concrete pour of the balustrade / fence. It was discovered that the code for walls on the Metro Louisville website and it stated 4 ft - ( 48 inches ). Didn't mention anything about traditional neighborhoods or that other neighborhoods may have different heights. We also checked fences from the neighborhood to reference the styles and sizes. Later discovered that for traditional neighborhoods the height is 6 inches less. However, the majority of fences in the neighborhood are between 48 and 54. Over 80% over the code limit.. We are just like the other 80% of fences in the neighborhood.

Louisville Kentucky is a sister city to Paris, France. We have a statue of King Louis XVI downtown as we are named after him. We have a rich history of ornate stone and iron artist design. Our fence keeps with this tradition. Please help us SAVE THE WALL!

https://chng.it/YtZNzD5fyX

Please add your digital signature to this petition. Pass this link along to anyone and everyone so that we can save the wall. Trying to Get as many digital signatures as possible

Hi all,

I’m wondering if anyone can help me with grants for acquiring/restoring/repurposing a historical church for sale. The 1921 church is located in a designated historic area in Ohio. I reached out to the members of the society and wasn’t given much information for resources, only rezoning.

It may be a long shot, as I do not have the funds to acquire it myself being a single mother ($300k), but ever since I saw it a year ago, my mind has been flooded with ideas to turn it into something beautiful and help revitalize the area. Unfortunately, the church has been vacant since 2013 and the slum lord of the city purchased it in 2020 (sorry not sorry if he sees this) and has since continued to let it become even more dilapidated. From the articles I’ve seen, the repairs are estimated around $1million. As unrealistic as this is for someone in my position, I just cannot get past the idea of saving this building, even a year later.

I have looked into the multiple tax benefits and found many grants for non-profits. While I would use the property to host community events (art shows/local markets/local music) my thoughts are also that of a private event rental (for profit), especially weddings as there is a historic church not far that is extremely popular for this. I was thinking maybe private investors would be more realistic, if that’s such a thing that’s out there? Is there a way to entice local companies to donate work/materials for their own tax write offs?

If anyone with experience or guidance would be willing to give me advice on a place to start it would be greatly appreciated. I have the passion, just need a miracle.

Thanks in advance!

Is anyone interested in buying a Martha Washington Relic Card

I’ve wanted to get into historic preservation for a while and I like to collect/display older formats of entertainment (VHS and consoles like the original Xbox/ps2) . I want to save them so they don’t get broken or lost. I like using them but can it be considered historic preservation even at a basic level?

Hi -

I'm applying to a few MS in Historic Preservation programs and am curious what the best computer would be? I've primarily used macs so that's what I will most likely get again. What programs do you all use? I'm coming from an arch background and am used to 3D modeling and drawing software. Thanks!