Miami-Dade County Courthouse

1 January 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, House of the Month, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  13 minutes

© Daniel Di Palma/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Daniel Di Palma/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Miami-Dade County Courthouse is a historic courthouse located at 73 West Flagler Street in Miami, Florida. Constructed over four years (1925–28), it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on January 4, 1989. The building is 361 feet tall with 28 floors. When it was built, it was the tallest building in Miami and in Florida. It is still in use as the main civil courthouse of Miami-Dade County.   read more…

The Lower East Side in New York

30 August 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, New York City Reading Time:  18 minutes

Katz's Delicatessen © Alex Lozupone/cc-by-sa-4.0

Katz’s Delicatessen © Alex Lozupone/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan, roughly located between the Bowery and the East River, and Canal Street and Houston Street. Traditionally an immigrant, working-class neighborhood, it began rapid gentrification in the mid-2000s, prompting The National Trust for Historic Preservation to place the neighborhood on their list of America’s Most Endangered Places in 2008. The neighborhood is bordered in the south and west by Chinatown – which extends north to roughly Grand Street, in the west by Nolita and in the north by the East Village. Historically, the “Lower East Side” referred to the area alongside the East River from about the Manhattan Bridge and Canal Street up to 14th Street, and roughly bounded on the west by Broadway. It included areas known today as East Village, Alphabet City, Chinatown, Bowery, Little Italy, and Nolita. Parts of the East Village are still known as Loisaida, a Latino pronunciation of “Lower East Side.”   read more…

Chrysler Building on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan

1 January 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, House of the Month, New York City Reading Time:  18 minutes

© AngMoKio/cc-by-sa-2.5

© AngMoKio/cc-by-sa-2.5

The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco-style skyscraper located on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in the Turtle Bay neighborhood. At 1,046 feet (319 m), the structure was the world’s tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931. It is the tallest brick building in the world, albeit with a steel frame. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, it was again the second-tallest building in New York City until December 2007, when the spire was raised on the 1,200-foot (365.8 m) Bank of America Tower, pushing the Chrysler Building into third position. In addition, The New York Times Building, which opened in 2007, is exactly level with the Chrysler Building in height. Both buildings were then pushed into fourth position, when the under-construction One World Trade Center surpassed their height, and then to fifth position by 432 Park Avenue which was completed in 2015. The Chrysler Building has been shown in several movies that take place in New York. In the summer of 2005, the Skyscraper Museum in Lower Manhattan asked one hundred architects, builders, critics, engineers, historians, and scholars, among others, to choose their 10 favorites among 25 of the city’s towers. The Chrysler Building came in first place, as 90% of respondents placed the building among their top 10 favorite buildings. The Chrysler Building’s distinctive profile has inspired similar skyscrapers worldwide, including One Liberty Place in Philadelphia. The Chrysler Building is a classic example of Art Deco architecture and considered by many contemporary architects to be one of the finest buildings in New York City. In 2007, it was ranked ninth on the List of America’s Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. It was the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation from 1930 until the mid-1950s. Although the building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for the construction of it and never owned it, as Walter P. Chrysler decided to pay for it himself, so that his children could inherit it.   read more…

Williamsburg in Virginia

1 April 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  8 minutes

Governor's Palace © Larry Pieniazek/cc-by-2.5

Governor’s Palace © Larry Pieniazek/cc-by-2.5

Williamsburg is an independent city in Virginia, with a population of 15,000. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is bordered by James City County and York County. Williamsburg was founded in 1632 as Middle Plantation as a fortified settlement on high ground between the James and York rivers. The city served as the capital of the Colony of Virginia from 1699 to 1780 and was the center of political events in Virginia leading to the American Revolution. The College of William & Mary, established in 1693, is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the only one of the nine colonial colleges located in the South; its alumni include three U.S. presidents as well as many other important figures in the nation’s early history. Along with nearby Jamestown and Yorktown, Williamsburg forms part of the Historic Triangle, which attracts more than four million tourists each year. Modern Williamsburg is also a college town, inhabited in large part by William & Mary students and staff.   read more…

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