Random Facts

arliest known photographs of the U.S. Capitol (Photo 1), White House (Photo 2), and U.S. Patent Office (Photo 3). The daguerreotype photographs were taken in 1846 by John Plumbe, Jr, one of the first prominent photographers of the United States.

A view of the rows of columns from inside the Peristyle at the World's Columbian Exhibition (Chicago World's Fair) in 1893.

The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. Constructed from 1899-1910.

he Cliff House, San Francisco, California. Built by Adolph Sutro in 1896 on the cliffs below his estate on the bluffs of Sutro Heights.

The Cliff House survived the 1906 Earthquake but was destroyed by fire on September 7, 1907.

Architects: Emile Lemme & C.J. Colley

Fernheizwerk, Dresden. Constructed 1899-1901, destroyed in 1945 during the bombing of Dresden in World War 2. Building providing a central source of heating and electricity for 18 nearby government buildings.

The Central Theater, Dresden, Germany. Built 1897-1898, destroyed by fire in 1945 during the Dresden bombing raids in World War II.

The Germania Tower, Westend, Berlin, Germany.

From Wikipedia: "The Germania Tower was built in 1872 in what was then the Charlottenburg development area of ​​Westend at the corner of Eschen and Rüsternallee. The builder, Heinrich Quistorp, planned to use the tower to make money both as part of the Westend's water supply and to generate income through a restaurant in the water tower under the two thousand cubic metre water basin...
..After Quistorp had allegedly spent 4.5 million marks on the still unfinished building, he was bankrupt. The Charlottenberg Waterworks, founded in 1878, also did not take on the construction and so the building was put up for auction. Quistorp's brother, Johannes Quistorp, bought the unfinished water tower for 50,000 marks. In 1892 he sold it to the demolition company Fischer and Metzger, which wanted to make a profit from the seven million bricks used . The demolition company planned to blow up the ruined building, but their attempts to do so failed. The Prussian Army then called in the Schoneberg Railway Pioneers. On 14 October 1892, the pioneers first blew up the dome of the water tower. At the end of October/beginning of November, the enormous columns and the supporting pillars of the dome behind them followed. These had not been demolished at the same time as the dome in order to avoid damage to the neighbouring houses.

The Paulinenhaus was built on the site of the Germania Tower in 1912."

Photo 2:

t. Louis Union Station, St. Louis, Missouri.

Opened in 1894 as the largest train station in the world. Expanded in 1903 to accommodate visitors to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. In the 1920's it was still the largest American railway terminal.

The station closed in 1978, but was renovated in the 1980's into a hotel, shopping mall, and restaurants. In 2020, the St. Louis Aquarium opened in the space formerly occupied by the shopping mall.

Central Dome, 1889 Exposition Universal, Paris. Built for the 1889 World's Fair and demolished shortly after the conclusion of the exposition.

St. Mary Magdelene Church, Omaha, Nebraska. Built from 1902-1903. The city of Omaha went through a series of regrading projects in the early 1900's that lowered streets up to 45 feet in some locations. St. Mary Magdelene Church on Dodge Street remained as almost 30 feet of earth was removed around it's foundation and lower floors were added to the original structure. Church remains in use today.