My wife and I are hunkered down, both working from home, doing our best to stay away from the Covid-19 virus. Of course, it is important to get out of the house. We have each been taking walks alone and together. Fortunately, the last few days have been dry and bright. The last couple of mornings, I have gotten out early before the world gets going to shoot some photos.
Yesterday, I drove around the city of Grand Rapids looking for a composition. I decided to shoot the Chester Street Engine House, home of Company 11. I drive by the station each evening on my way home from work and have frequently and have admired often.
Constructed in 1902, the Chester Street Engine House is the oldest active fire station in Grand Rapids. The building is designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, popular in the late 1800s. The Grand Rapids Historical Commission’s website, describes it as follows: “Design characteristics are: asymmetrical massing; a decorative wall texture created by the brickwork, variegated on the first floor and smooth on the second; the row of wide, round-arch (Romanesque) windows, as well as the double-hung windows with (not quite) transom windows above. Although the dormer is quite typical, the wide, over-hanging eaves of the roof give it an almost Prairie style look.”
My morning wanderings also took me to Grand Rapids’s southwest side where I spotted several spiral fire escapes. These are still fairly common on older Grand Rapids buildings. The spiral stairs made for an interesting bit of shadow play, reminding me of a Möbius strip.
This morning, I drove through the country to Fallasburg Village, north of Lowell, which was founded on the banks of the Flat River in the 1830s by John Wesley Fallass. The Village, which today consists of a few preserved buildings and some private homes, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. More information about Fallasburg can be found on the website of the Fallasburg Historical Society.
I focused my attention this morning on the Fallass Barn with its stone foundation, built in 1894.
