My Hometown---Part 2

[doctorwayne]

A few more photos from our hometown, minus the trains.

This is the former Imperial Cotton Mill, located at 270 Sherman Ave. North:



This past weekend, it was part of the local "Doors Open" tour, an opportunity to visit locations normally inaccessible to the general public. Here are a few more views:

This is the dock where the cotton bales were brought in by the TH&B. Inside is a scale and a freight elevator:



The boiler house, which powered the belt-driven machinery:



I'm not sure if this is the flue to the stack or something for maintenance purposes - the boiler house part of the complex is occupied by a business and was not open:







The tower, seen here, houses a water tower, which provides pressure for the sprinkler system:



Several businesses lease space within the main building, and there are artists' studios both there and in some of the ancillary structures. There's also lots of space for lease - a great site for a model railroad.







While many of the windows have been boarded-over, work is ongoing to restore the windows and other historic details. The structure seems to be in surprisingly good shape, a testament to the methods and materials used over 100 years ago. A visit to the basement revealed solid wooden beams at least 30"x30" and in excess of 25' long. There are very few squeaks in the hardwood floors, too, as they sit atop a 2"x8" tongue & groove subfloor, which in turn sits atop a similar substructure, but oriented 90° to the one above.
Here's another example of the attention to detail common in bygone days, the cast metal tread plates on the stairs:




All in all, a very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

Wayne