Field Notes – Physical

One of the first things we saw were the striking spires of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, located at 307 Congress St. It serves as the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. Construction originally began in 1866, but the structure had to be rebuilt from its...

An alphabet garden has the letters HCC presumably for Hershey Community College. Another promotes Hershey Cocoa with the smokestacks of the company in the background. The Farmer's Market was open the day we visited. There was a beautiful parklike setting beneath a substantial tree canopy. This lent itself to an...

When visiting this Panda Express while traveling through Baltimore, we were quite impressed by the landscape design, furnishings, and amenities at Yard 56. It started with this tiered garden with landscaping. The furnishing took on an industrial character. Many places have suspended garden lights or cafe lights to enliven public...

8 Columbia Street. A historic multi-family residential building, built originally in 1850. It showcases Italianate-influenced architectural details, including a symmetric multi-window facade and decorative brackets lining the roof cornices. 55 Valley Street. This historic storybook farmhouse was originally built in 1900. It spans 2,400 square feet and features a distinctive...

This building is an excellent example of Second Empire architecture, a popular Victorian-era residential design style that flourished in the United States from roughly 1860 to 1880. Mansard Roof: The defining feature of the Second Empire style. This dual-pitched roof is nearly vertical on its lower slope and relatively flat...

Whether called a parklet or a streetery, street parking has been given way to allow for expanded outdoor dining. The use of linked pop-up tents created sizeable areas in the right-of-way where larger structures would not fit. Here the block is lined by one to three story storefronts along Maplewood...

This very substantial parklet on South Orange Ave, just over a block away from the South Orange Performing Arts Center provides a nice outdoor seating area near restaurants. The tactical use of large concrete barriers buffers it from nearby parking and traffic on either end. Also, location near a pre-existing...

"Outline Map of Clinton County, Michigan" in Atlas of Clinton County, Michigan, 1873 The arrival of the Krämer family in Michigan followed a common path of immigration starting in Prussia, crossing the ocean, traversing the Erie Canal, and settling in Buffalo. From there families moved westward in search of land...

The Chapel was named after Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees (1841-1924). After a 17-year year engagement, she married Ralph Voorhees in 1887. The couple became philanthropists and spent the remainder of their lives distributing her inheritances from her father and brother. Their philanthropic activities extended from Asia to nearly all 50 states....