For the Civil War buffs

[BobR]

A small site with some historical pictures that revert to present day as they are opened.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/ng-interactive/2015/jun/22/american-civil-war-photography-interactive#top

bob

[RocketMan]

That is pretty cool.  Toggling back and forth to see the changes from then to present day is really enlightening.  Dunker's Church at Antietam, Brompton Oak, and the Devil's Den are rather haunting when you consider that modern visitors usually have no idea what happened literally where they are standing.

[bedlamite]

Also, Ken Burns remastered miniseries starts Monday on PBS

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/civil-war/

[230RN]

Fascinating!  Thanks.

[Pb]

Amazing.

Especially the oak that is still standing.

[Hawkmoon]

Third photo (the slave auction house) -- the modern photo isn't the same building.

In the historical photo, the windows have flat, stone lintels over the openings. In the modern photo, the window and door openings have arched tops. The historical building has three stories with a plain, gable roof above. The modern building has three stories topped by a fourth story in a Mansard roof.

[Perd Hapley]

Hawkmoon,

I know this isn't exactly hardcore documentation here, but the internet seems to indicate that it is the same building; just remodeled.


http://alextimes.com/2013/11/notorious-local-slave-dealer-had-hand-in-solomon-northups-kidnapping/

...James H. Birch, who would later preside over Alexandria’s largest slave pen at 1315 Duke St....Originally built as the private home of Brig. Gen. Robert Young in 1812, the Duke Street dwelling was leased by the firm of Franklin and Armfield in 1828 and converted into a large slave jail and pen. The strategic location of the site — between the bustling city to the east and vast farmlands to the west — allowed the firm to efficiently contain and then ship off hundreds of slaves at any one time.

In 1858, partners Charles M. Price and John Cook acquired the Franklin and Armfield property. Cook left the partnership soon after and was replaced by Birch. Soon the front facade was emblazoned with the name “Price, Birch & Co. Dealers in Slaves.”

http://www.southerntravelnews.com/NewsRelease.aspx?NewsId=718

The irony is compounded by the museum's locale in the basement of the building that once housed the offices of Franklin and Armfield.

The Freedom House is at 1315 Duke St. in Alexandria.

http://www.nvul.org/#!freedom-house-museum/c79w

Note the address at the bottom of the page, along with the historical photo.


Here is a photo of the present Freedom House Museum/Urban League building:
http://ginandcotton.com/2013/11/20/hidden-history-in-alexandria-va/


Hopefully a link to the Goooooogle Maps street view for 1315 Duke Street in Alexandria.


Another one.

[Hawkmoon]

I know this isn't exactly hardcore documentation here, but the internet seems to indicate that it is the same building; just remodeled.

Anything is possible, but some things are highly improbably.

Back in Civil War times (and before) a brick building was a BRICK building. It wasn't 2x4s with a brick veneer -- the exterior walls were solid brick and probably a foot thick. In order for bricks to span over an opening, there has to be some way of transmitting the weight of the bricks above out to the sides of the opening. The two ways to do this are (a) lintels, and (b) arches. The old photo shows heavy stone lintels. In order to remove those lintels and replace them with arched tops as in the modern photo would require demolishing and rebuilding the exterior wall from the level of the tops of the first floor windows up to the roof.

Could it have been done? Sure. Would anyone have spent the money to do it? Highly unlikely.

And yet, if all those articles are to be believed, I guess someone did.

[Scout26]

Don't discount a couple of years of war to do some serious redecorating/urban renewal....

[230RN]

I think the object is that the pix were taken from essentially the same point as in historical times.

I mean, you know... there are no longer bodies on those rocks in one of the pictures, either.

One of them noted that the only thing remaining was the "kerb" (curb) in the street... which was particularly fascinating to me.

[Perd Hapley]

Anything is possible, but some things are highly improbably.

Back in Civil War times (and before) a brick building was a BRICK building. It wasn't 2x4s with a brick veneer -- the exterior walls were solid brick and probably a foot thick. In order for bricks to span over an opening, there has to be some way of transmitting the weight of the bricks above out to the sides of the opening. The two ways to do this are (a) lintels, and (b) arches. The old photo shows heavy stone lintels. In order to remove those lintels and replace them with arched tops as in the modern photo would require demolishing and rebuilding the exterior wall from the level of the tops of the first floor windows up to the roof.

Could it have been done? Sure. Would anyone have spent the money to do it? Highly unlikely.

And yet, if all those articles are to be believed, I guess someone did.

That may explain why the museum part of the building is in the basement.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Huge difference in pic of the battlefield areas from then to now
 More trees today in many areas

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