Posted 5 years ago
AnythingOb…
(1778 items)
UPDATE 05Jun2019:
I happened to be in Hot Springs again today, and traffic on Central Ave. (as usual around lunchtime on any warm touristy day) was typically crawling along such that I was able to grab a couple new pics of the now apparently completed and opened "new building" that occupies this street address instead of YeOlde Pullman Hotel. ;-) :-)
Still sorta tugs at my heart another block or two along where The Majestic Hotel is now nothing more than an irregular grass lot surrounded by various odd remaining concrete 'retaining walls/steps/etc' which make no sense whatsoever without a big 'ole fabulous antique hotel building standing behind them... :-( :-( :-(
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Further to the ongoing sorta discussion about the history of the HOTEL PULLMAN (HI, Vynil33rpm & keramikos) here's a few phonecam pics of the current goings-on at (thereabouts) 504 Central Ave., quickly snapped out of my driver's side window today [07Mar2019] while crawling thru the typical daytime Central Ave. traffic and otherwise trying not to get run-into by the rest of 'em...? <lol>
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/262571-504-central-avenue-hot-springs-arkansa
The Gangster Museum of America is indeed located just to the left of these pics, at 510 Central Ave.
http://www.tgmoa.com/
Still chasing a little more potential info about the PULLMAN, I didn't turn out to get any extra time-enough during my service call today to do anything more than make the detour thru downtown on the way home for these pics... <grrr>
Wow sure is a Lot(Park) different
THANKS keramikos (and the rest of y'all) but don't forget, "on the fly" (your term) consisted of ~3-5mph with my foot resting on the brake...consider also that Central Ave right there and now squeezes 2 lanes of motor vehicle traffic each way [+supposed 'bike lanes' +copious pedestrians] into the same general width first laid out over a hundred yrs ago for horses and carriages...? <LOL> I tried to take more pics on my way back thru going the other direction, but my dirty windshield and the angle of the afternoon sun foiled those attempts. <groan>
I'm presuming the current "pedestrian crosswalk to the parking structure in the background" was formerly the 'side street' which made the corner the Pullman sat on. That parking structure -- I'll also admit -- I'm not certain I've really ever noticed was actually back there until now...once more, Central Ave tends to be a street where people driving vehicles really need to pay more attention to the traffic than the sightseeing, and as I typically go there 'to work' instead, I just call myself lucky to know a few really good places around town to get a "cheap lunch"...? <LOLOL>
Here's, if anybody is curious, a link to the BUCKSTAFF BATHHOUSE which remains intact and functioning as-built to this day, <applause> sitting immediately across the street along with a few more such original and splendid buildings remaining in now what's commonly called "bathhouse row", all dating from the early 1900's or before. [Hot Springs IS, after all, "America's FIRST resort" -- that nickname is very real?!! ;-) :-)]
https://www.buckstaffbaths.com/
I have an email into the local Historical Society (as referred to by the local Library) to see if they can help us all ultimately answer the question of how big the PULLMAN ever was -- stay tuned y'all...! ;-) :-)
Keramikos, (and everybody) WE HAVE OUR ANSWER?!! <drumroll please...>
Here 'tis, in an email rec'd this morning not from Mr. Blythe, but that doesn't matter...:
<quote>
Dear Tim,
We double checked. The Pullman was always three stories. We looked at our 25 photos and also a Sanborn Insurance Company map (which lists stories) to be certain.
The artist who created the postcard took some artistic license!
<unquote>
MYSTERY SOLVED?!! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
Oh and PS keramikos -- I too am rather surprised at how well those photos came out, I hadn't even realized those signs were so visible in there -- also notice the traffic behind me in my rearview mirror, its totally typical (or even a bit thin) for a normal sunny afternoon on Central Avenue... :-)
It's MY PLEASURE keramikos -- actually has been lots of fun doing (probably not as much as you have?) 'sleuthing around' to find the answer. :-) To the 'story count' of the building (and as you're thinking) here's how I described it in my email to the Historical Society:
<quoting myself, snipped>
In a nutshell, the question is: how *big* was the "PULLMAN", originally or 'as rebuilt'? First prompted by a member who showed two different ca. 1910's-20's linen picture-postcards featuring the Hotel, another member quickly noticed that the depictions weren't quite the same -- one showing the building appearing as a '4-story' structure [street level commercial with 3 upper floors, plus a squarish 'tower' on its front corner] and the other showing it as a '5-story' building. [street level +4 upper floors, +tower]
That member then did some searching and found a ca.1900's photograph [from online Library of Congress Archives] showing the building as having '3-stories' [street +2] just like its neighbors to its left, which oddly enough remain consistently depicted as such in *all three* pictures.
<endquote>
'Photoshop a hundred years before photoshop'...whodathunkit. <LOL>
Mostly for keramikos & Vynil33rpm (but also for anyone else following along?) I just added a couple fresh pics of the now completed new 'mixed use structure' that occupies 504 Central -- I happened to be down there again today passing right by (3X, actually) so took the opportunity to try to grab a few photos each way by, a couple actually turned out OK. :-) :-) :-) Hope y'all enjoy the further 'end of the mystery'?!! <lol>