Schools by F. S. Allen book release

Historic Impressions and Casa Verde Publishing are proud to announce the release of Schools by F. S. Allen. Based on a 1901 advertising booklet, published by Allen himself, the book incorporates photos and illustrations from the original, digitally reproduced, alongside vintage postcards and period advertising from Allen suppliers. The images are set against a narrative of Allen's school architecture career, from 1884 in Streator, Illinois, through his time in Joliet and on to California. The story is told my Cean Magosky who grew up in the Allen home in Joliet and has met with and interviewed members of the Allen family, as well as researching his time in Illinois and California. 

Digital photography is courtesy of Don Ciesielski of Joliet, who lives in what is assumed to be an Allen designed home. His skill in photography and guidance in editing have allowed the original volume to remain in pristine condition. 

The book is available through Amazon Marketplace. A book launch is scheduled for Saturday, November 16, at the Joliet Historical Society Museum. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DKK1P6KM

Now Available

Available now, all 4 books!!

Seth's Historic Impressions Volume II, the second year of articles, is available through KDP as are Patrick Magosky books, Historic Impressions - Joliet the First 35 Years and Historic Impressions Shorewood. 

At last?

As you may know, or have read in this blog, I have been working on getting Historic Impressions II ready for publication. Imagine my surprise at finding a fully sorted mockup on a disc in a forgotten box of stuff. The good news is that we have taken a huge step forward. A publisher has been selected and we're going to press very soon!!

Watch this site for more details!!!

Trenton, New Jersey Second High School

There are many challenges along the road of getting Mr. Allen his deserved recognition. One of them has been a bias that he was simply a regional school specialist. This lumps him in with a crowd of effective yet unimaginative designers of the late 1800s. To offset this bias, I present the Second High School from Trenton,  New Jersey. This is one of at least three east coast commissions Mr. Allen designed and, perhaps, his most notable. 

After quite a bit of wrangling about contractors and materials, Allen did not serve as general contractor for this project as he usually did. Still, his fee ended up being nearly $4800. The equivalent of nearly $150,000 in 2020 money. 

The detail above on the frieze in the auditorium speaks to the scope and detail of the project. 

Sadly, the building was razed in the 1960s due to growing enrollment and demand for a more modern building. 

Joliets West Park

The place - West Park 

Originally known as Bush Park, West Park is one of the first public parks established in Joliet. Around the turn of the century, people began to value open spaces to get away from the crowds, noise and pollution of city life. Joliet was no exception. As a busy railway hub with several stations, industry, stone quarrying operations and the canal, the downtown area was a smokey, dirty place. 

Beyond the western boundary of the city limits, the Bush farm consisted of rolling hills, trees and a series of creeks. The city secured the property to develop a park and appointed a Board of Directors to oversee the new park. Among the directors, and coming off a brief term on the Joliet City Council, was architect F. S. Allen. Allen was a well known school architect who had recently been recognized at Chicago's Columbian Exhibition, the 1893 World's Fair, for excellence in school design. 

Allen was also active in the horticultural community, having published at least one article in the Chicago Tribune on the flora of Starved Rock State Park. He had also, by this time, designed several prominent homes in Joliet as well as schools, at least one church and several public buildings. 

To lay out the grounds, landscape architect Ossiand C. Simonds was brought in. Known as O. C. Simonds, he practiced a natural design style, incorporating elements to make the space appear as untouched as possible, using native plants and playing off the natural topography. In West Park he found a wealth of features, including ravines and streams. He added a lagoon at the south end and rustic touches such as a stone spring house, dams made of river boulders and wood timber bridges. 

Allen would add several of his unique touches by designing at least two homes that occupied the park. One of which would survive into the 1980s, an eclectic blend of log cabin with a boulder foundation, single style details and even a limestone tower.

The Ferriss home stood at the site that is currently Ferriss park along Bellevue Drive, a scenic road twisting along the edge of a rocky cliff overlooking the river and the city of Rockdale. Known as "The Cabin" this home would host famous visitors and become a reference point in the park for generations. Ferriss was a newspaper owner and business man in Joliet. Upon his death, he left the home to the Joliet Park District. The building would house the Joliet Artist League for several years before being abandoned. A fire in the late 1980s destroyed much of the home and the decision was made to raze the building. By this time the Interstate Highway had significantly reduced the size of the park and altered many of its features. 

Today - Currently the park is home to a disk golf course. The tennis courts have been removed and playgrounds changed to meet safety demands. The lagoon has been filled in and ballfields that were once at the south entrance are gone. 

Did you know - The railway which served Dellwood Park in Lockport is shown,  on older maps, continuing up Morgan Street and through West Park. When Mr. Allen moved to California in 1904, he sold his Morgan Street home to the manager of Dellwood Park. 

Look What I Got

The ad was obscure, an odd result in the Google search and i am accustomed to those. This one, however, caught my eye.  "Schools by F.S. Allen, Architect, Joliet, Ills.". I dashed off an email request, yes he still had the book, it contained line drawings and photos.  Yes, he was looking to sell.  We agreed on a price and I sent off a check. It arrived yesterday.
It is a fragile piece, paper cover with high quality black and white photos, a couple collages and several pages of sponsor adverts at the back, echoing Mr. Allen's far reaching connections. The book gives a couple extra nuggets such as the marble and desk suppliers for Joliet Central High School and other connections.  My children noted how similar the designs were. Some details changed such as construction materials and the shapes of certain turrets or towers, though all had such towers and turrets along with a shared (mostly) silhouette and massing.
All in all, a wonderful collection and connection to the man whose home I shared for nearly 25 years.  Always good to have a visit from Mr. A.

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Western Avenue - 600 Block

Why it's important

The 600 block of Western Avenue is important for its architectural and historical connections to the development of Joliet.
Style

The 600 block of Western Avenue contains excellent examples of Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Prairie School and American Four Square architecture. These structures are key examples with many of the finest features. Homes such as 608 Western are extremely fine examples of the Colonial Revival style, while 611 Western is an excellent Neo-classical structure.

History

Western Avenue was originally named Cross Street from the mid-19th century through the 1870s. Sometime around 1872, the name changed. The earliest home was located in the 400 block and belonged to the Campbell family, then the Strong family who would develop the area in the 1860s.

Although construction started on Western Avenue in the 1870s, the first home built on the 600 block was the Kinsella home on the corner of Wilcox and Western in the late 1880s. The 1890s saw the addition of several other fine homes such as the fantastic Queen Anne at 602 Western with the unique dormers in the tower and the monumental Stevens home at 600 Western.

During the early 20th century, many other fine homes, including the Arentz home at 611 were designed by local architects. The Arentz home was designed by Herbert Cowell, and the Barrett home at 612 Western was designed by C.W. Webster and is about Joliet's finest Prairie style home.

The 600 block was fully developed by the 1920s, and the area achieved its current look.

Details

Many of the homes in the 600 block of Western still maintain their original features. In fact, many still have original slate and clay tile roofs, one with multicolored tiles and one with green.

Homes such as 602 Western have special features, like the dormer on the tower, that add wonderful character to the structure, while others have stunning stained glass windows on the staircases and by front doors and other various applications.

Another of the fantastic features of the 600 block is the continuity of design between the houses and the garages or carriage houses. Many of these homes have rear structures designed to mimic the main structure using the same design elements such as material or roofing, as well as decorative features.

People

Many of the original residents of the 600 block of Western Avenue read as a ‘Who's Who’ of Joliet at the turn of the century. The Barretts of the hardware store; Eneshia Meers, one of the founders of the Will County Bar Association; County Surgeon Walter Stewart; and other prominent families, such as those of Jerome Stevens and the Cambpells once lived there.

Today

The 600 block of Western is the heart of the Upper Bluff National Register Historic District, and was land-marked as a local historic district for the fantastic architecture and prominent home builders. It has long been noted that the 600 block represents one of the finest cross sections of local architecture in the city of Joliet. Many of the homes received heavy damage in the recent tornado. Some of these are the finest homes on the block.

Did you know?

Joseph Campbell, who originally owned much of the land along Western Avenue, also was responsible for annexing Eastern Avenue to Joliet in 1838.