I had some meetings today on the 19th floor of the Omni Hotel in New Haven. If you’re reading this from out of town, 19 stories is pretty tall for us. There are only two or three taller buildings here.
During some lulls I looked down at the city. New Haven is loaded with old buildings, most with beautiful features. With the resurgence of Downtown New Haven, many are in the midst of conversion from business to residential.
Obviously, as techniques have changed, so has construction. No one is putting up these little three and four story structures anymore.
Each one, almost without exception, had intricate work on the facade. Many still had the name of the company they were built for.
Who put up the Johnson Building? I have no idea, but Johnson lives on with his name permanently affixed.
Sometimes the name of the company is tough to see. There’s one building which was home to a coal company. You can’t read all of it, but “COAL” shows through.
A few days ago I walked by what probably was the headquarters of the water company, when it was a private entity… and a whole lot smaller than it is now.
This is a blog entry which calls out for photos. I apologize they’re not here. I’ve got to take my camera and capture some of this old school ambiance. Who knows how long any of it will last?
What upsets me is how easy it is to walk by this stuff and never see it! That’s what I’ve been doing for years. In that regard, I’ve got to change.