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stormdogWhile in Lincoln Illinois last year, I shot a number of pictures of this 1905, sandstone faced courthouse that serves as the county court of Logan County. This building is also the site of one the nicest bits of serendipity I've encountered on my photo trips so far, as detailed further on.
More pictures
Though the building as a whole had fairly clean lines for a Greek Revival of its time, and though the sandstone doesn't seem like the best medium for this kind of sculpture, there were some nifty details like this bas-relief eagle.
The building has a pretty old four-face mechanical clock, which is fully functional. And, as it happened, I got to see the machinery up close!
According to a website I found with a historical overview of the place, Abraham Lincoln was involved as a lawyer in a case that hinged on whether or not a mule, the ownership of which was disputed, would drink milk!
http://findinglincolnillinois.com/logancocourthousehistoricarea.html
From the outside, I couldn't have guessed how amazing the interior was. Occupying pride of place was this large stained glass dome over the central three story rotunda.
I love domes like this. This is not a Tiffany dome, but it's reminiscent of the Tiffany examples I've seen in place like the Chicago Cultural Center. I don't believe my photos do it justice; stained glass is so hard to shoot.
These next photos are from the kind of space I love being in more than almost any other. A secret space that few people get to see, but which is central to the functioning of the structure it quietly occupies.
An employee approached me as I photographed the exterior. At first I was concerned that he was going to ask me (or tell me) to stop. Instead, he smiled and asked if I wanted to see something really neat. He took me into the building, up several flights of stairs, and into this, the space between the stained glass dome and the external dome. This was one of the best bits of fortune that's happened to me on any of these road trips!
I got to see the leaded glass from the outside, see the whirring mechanical clock parts close up, and stare upwards in awe at the narrow ladders climbing high overhead. Those ladders led to an X of wooden catwalks holding the mechancal linkages for the clock faces.
Sadly, I didn't get to go up there. But almost as good, my guide led me up one more set of stairs, this one wooden and a bit rickety, and onto the roof of the courthourse itself!
This photo was shot while standing on the roof, looking in through one of the exterior windows.
And then we have the staircase-cum-ladder up to the roof. I live to climb stuff like this.
It's odd, but it looks like I took almost no pictures on the roof, and none of the surrounding town. I guess I was too distracted by the surroundings!
More pictures
Though the building as a whole had fairly clean lines for a Greek Revival of its time, and though the sandstone doesn't seem like the best medium for this kind of sculpture, there were some nifty details like this bas-relief eagle.
The building has a pretty old four-face mechanical clock, which is fully functional. And, as it happened, I got to see the machinery up close!
According to a website I found with a historical overview of the place, Abraham Lincoln was involved as a lawyer in a case that hinged on whether or not a mule, the ownership of which was disputed, would drink milk!
http://findinglincolnillinois.com/logancocourthousehistoricarea.html
From the outside, I couldn't have guessed how amazing the interior was. Occupying pride of place was this large stained glass dome over the central three story rotunda.
I love domes like this. This is not a Tiffany dome, but it's reminiscent of the Tiffany examples I've seen in place like the Chicago Cultural Center. I don't believe my photos do it justice; stained glass is so hard to shoot.
These next photos are from the kind of space I love being in more than almost any other. A secret space that few people get to see, but which is central to the functioning of the structure it quietly occupies.
An employee approached me as I photographed the exterior. At first I was concerned that he was going to ask me (or tell me) to stop. Instead, he smiled and asked if I wanted to see something really neat. He took me into the building, up several flights of stairs, and into this, the space between the stained glass dome and the external dome. This was one of the best bits of fortune that's happened to me on any of these road trips!
I got to see the leaded glass from the outside, see the whirring mechanical clock parts close up, and stare upwards in awe at the narrow ladders climbing high overhead. Those ladders led to an X of wooden catwalks holding the mechancal linkages for the clock faces.
Sadly, I didn't get to go up there. But almost as good, my guide led me up one more set of stairs, this one wooden and a bit rickety, and onto the roof of the courthourse itself!
This photo was shot while standing on the roof, looking in through one of the exterior windows.
And then we have the staircase-cum-ladder up to the roof. I live to climb stuff like this.
It's odd, but it looks like I took almost no pictures on the roof, and none of the surrounding town. I guess I was too distracted by the surroundings!
