In 1816, local developer and industrialist John Armstrong constructed the homes known as Mechanic’s Row, which are now celebrated as some of Kentucky’s finest examples of New Orleans-inspired architecture. The name “Mechanic’s Row” reflects the trades of the early residents, skilled craftsmen and merchants, who once lived there.
The Blair Building is an Art Moderne office building located in Decatur, Georgia. Built in 1939 by the Farnell Blair Company, the company used the second floor for its offices.
In 1946, Guy Rutland Sr. purchased the building to use as the headquarters for his trucking company, real estate business, and farm operations. Rutland served in the state legislature from 1953 to 1964. The building stayed in the Rutland family until 1994.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings in 2002.
On April 8, 1866, Zion Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia, was established by 88 formerly enslaved individuals who left First Baptist Church to form their own congregation. Rev. Ephraem B. Rucker, Zion’s first pastor, laid the foundation with deacons and Sunday School. Growth continued, and it was determined that the church would build its first physical home in 1888 at the corner of Haynes & Lemon Streets.
Eventually, the church built a much larger building across the street to house its much larger congregation. The church is still active today.
The original building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Charles Duckett (1860-1947) was a prominent businessman in Laurens, South Carolina. He owned multiple businesses, most notable were a funeral home and lumberyard. He was considered one of the most successful Black lumberyard owners in the South. This Eastlake style home is in need of some serious love, though. It was hard to photograph, but a tree has fallen on the left side of the house. There was a fundraiser listed in 2020, but I couldn’t find any other info on future plans.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Blue Sky Mausoleum for Darwin D. Martin, a Buffalo businessman who worked for the Larkin Soap Company. The mausoleum is located in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. The mausoleum was the fourth and final design Wright did at the request of Martin, even though it wasn’t built until 2004.
Martin’s brother recommended Wright to Martin to build the Larkin Administration Building for the Company. This endeavor launched a thirty-year friendship, during which Martin asked Wright to design his personal home in Buffalo and their summer home, Graycliff, which overlooked Lake Erie. Martin frequently loaned money to Wright. Unfortunately, he died destitute after he lost millions in the 1929 stock market crash.
Wright designed the Blue Sky Mausoleum in 1928 as the final resting place of Martin and his family. Unfortunately, Martin died in 1935, and his family was unable to afford the mausoleum. In fact, the Martin family plot was unmarked for decades.
“…a burial facing the open sky. The whole could not fail of noble effect.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
Blue Sky Mausoleum was not built until 2004. Forest Lawn Cemetery commissioned Anthony Puttnam, a Wright apprentice, to build the mausoleum. It was built upon the ideas shared in letters between Martin and Wright. The main marker highlights a quote by Wright to Martin about the mausoleum: “…a burial facing the open sky. The whole could not fail of noble effect.” It incorporates the organic architecture for which Wright was known.
Currently, six people are entombed in the mausoleum. According to the Blue Sky Mausoleum website, a total of 24 spaces are available.
The Lanneau-Norwood-Funderburk House was built in 1877 for Charles H. Lanneau by Charleston architect Jacob Cagle. Lanneau was involved in several local textile mills. He even founded the Lanneau Manufacturing Company on adjacent land to the home. Like many homes during this time period, the home was destroyed by fire twice and rebuilt both times.
After becoming bankrupt in 1907, Lanneau sold the Second Empire home to local banker John Wilkins Norwood. When he passed away in 1945, his daughter Frances Norwood Funderburk inherited the home. She then passed it to her son, George Norwood.
To view photos of the inside, the house can be seen in a 2021 listing.
