Hand Made Signs of Utica, New York

" Foto Fair. " Vintage hand made and hand painted sign. Columbia Street, downtown. This sign is on an old custom photo store which has been abandoned and vacant for decades. It won't be there much longer as gentrification expands or some ebayer steals it after I've drawn attention to it here!

Please keep in my that this was my first serious attempt at blogging so my technique is sometimes amateurish and awkward, yet evolving.
Contact:
petergumaerogden@gmail.com

" Bill's Barber Shop." 1500 Whitesboro Street. Dicey hood. Homicide. Not a place to be late
at night. Best of luck to Bill's for their courageous stand and optimism.

"Tropicana Spanish Restaurant." West Utica. Closed circa 2013.

" R.E.B. Demolition. " Lafayette Street, downtown.

" Skate - A -Rama. " I love the folky "third world" authenticity of this roller skating rink
 exterior which reminds me of a beach front dance club in Puerto Cortes, Honduras covered
   with hand painted murals that I observed in the early 1990s. Whitesboro Street, west Utica.

" Utica Velo. " Bike shop. Court Street, west Utica.

" Mountain Bikes." Vintage hand painted sign at Welch's Bicycles, Columbia
Square,  west Utica. The friendliest and most affordable bike shop in Utica as
of summer 2015.

" Screen & Window Repairs. " Columbia Square, west Utica..

 "Home Grown Fresh Sweet Corn." Has appeared in summers at Dari Del,
corner of Bleecker and Culver, east Utica.

" OPEN ." Sign from Off Center Records, Bleecker Street, downtown.
One of upstate New York'slast and longest continuously operated used vintage
record stores which has become increasingly popular with collectors
 in the past few years.

Industrial Signs of Utica, New York

" Nathan Steel ". North Utica.

" Clifford Fuel Co. ", north Utica.

" Pleeter Companies ". Washington Street, downtown.

" Tartan Textile Services ". Oriskany Boulevard, downtown.

" H.J. Brandeles ". Mechanical Contractors since 1897. Lafayette Street, downtown.

" Springer & Schmaltz ". Vintage sign, Carton Avenue, downtown.

" R.E.B. Demolition ". Lafayette Street, downtown.

" Utica Glass Division ". Varick Street. West Utica.

" H.F. Brown Machine Company ". State Street. Downtown.

Windows of Utica, New York, and Miscellaneous...

Authentic original cast stone streamlined Art Moderne bench at the Utica Aud circa 1950. Echoes of the dramatic design of the TWA terminal at New York's Kennedy Airport.w
Seward Ogden , Seward J. Ogden , Seward Jackson Ogden , Ward Ogden Elizabeth Webb Ogden Zizi Ogdenard J

Anonymous Troll and Dog snow sculpture that I came upon in the winter of 2012-2013 in back of the Law Library downtown.

High Victorian painted porch "gingerbread" wood turnings from a large Italianate mansion at Steuben Park.

Hotel Utica Window circa 1914. Downtown.

Cast Iron Decorative Victorian Eyebrow Window Grate. From a circa 1855 Italianate brick house at 521 Columbia Street at Fay Street, west Utica. Demolished in 2013 for the new arterial greenway. The demolition company, fortunately, appeared to be involved also in architectural salvage. Window grates of this vintage have become almost rare in Utica.

Interior of vintage locksmith's shop. Bagg's Square West, 2013.

Turned and Painted Wood Victorian Pilaster Pendulum. circa 1855-1865. A wonderful wood turner's whimsey. I have never before seen one of these and there are several of these on this building at the east end of Plant Street. It is amazing that such fragile and delicate decorations have survived out of doors for over 150 years of weather, storms and brutal building remodelings throughout the city. The owner of this apartment row must have a unique and wonderful respect for historic architecture and is to be commended.

Palladian Window with what appear to be cast [ possibly plaster ] floral bowers. Circa 1885. 1 Hopper Street, downtown.

Classical Revival window with broken pediment on 19th century Savings Bank of Utica. Corner Genesee Street and Bank Street, downtown.

Window with cast iron Greek key motif in one of the few remaining Greek Revival commercial buildings in Utica; at 98 Genesee Street; Bagg's Square West. This building is famous in local abolitionist history as the setting for the brief imprisonment of a "runaway" slave who was freed by an abolitionist "mob" who stormed the building.

High Victorian dormer window with Palladian influence, Ionic columns and rising or setting sun fan light at one of Rutger Street's better preserved "mansions": 408 Rutger Street. "Downtown".

Victorian window with Rococo Revival cast iron lintel circa 1860 in one of Utica's Victorian " mansions", 320 Rutger Street.

Richardsonian Romanesque dormer window at No.5 Rutger Park. This stone mansion with rusticated masonry was designed by Utica architect Jacob Agne and built in 1889 when it became the home of Thomas A. Kinney who was mayor of Utica in 1885 and 1897. Note the original fish scale slate roof.

Gothic Revival Mid 19th Century Church, semi-abandoned at 930 Bleecker Street, east Utica. Circa 2011.

Hand cut exterior wood fretwork "gingerbread" panel decoration circa 1860 at 511 Henry Street.



METALWORK

Large copper dragon weather vane atop Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute.

Below: Very large circa 1925 Moorish style hand made steel  or iron lamp in the entry way of 259 Genesee Street. Downtown. Below: The same lamp as a Buddhist themed poster available for purchase from: 
peter-gumaer-ogden.fineartamerica.com

Antique bronze bird of prey finial atop the Bagg's Tavern Monument. Downtown.


VEHICLES

Vintage Utica Police Patrol Car # 100. Oriskany Boulevard, downtown.

Corner Stores of Utica, New York.

" Benjamin's. " South Street, east Utica. Most of this building is circa 1830-1850.

"Amy's Grocery & Deli." South Street, east Utica.

" Mahanna's Market. " Site of s shooting homicide out front in 2014. Whitesboro Street, west Utica.

" East Side Market. " At the heart of one of the most "high risk" neighborhoods in Utica. This is not such a good place to be "hanging out" late on a Saturday night in the summer. The proprietors of this store might increase their security by following the latest recommended guidelines for safety in convenience stores to replace exterior front walls with large windows as much as possible to increase visibility from outside and thus potentially reduce holdups. Highly visible security cams might also help. All of Bleecker Street is desperately in need of trees. East Utica.

" Foodland." Court Street, west Utica.

" Express Deli. " Stark Street, west Utica, This sign needs a little maintenance!

" Court Street Market. " West Utica.

Old Timey Buildings of Utica, New York.

Utica is a treasure trove of old buildings, especially for those with the ability to recognize them under their sometime disguises.

" Munn's Castle ".  No. 1 Rutger Park. Italianate villa circa 1850 designed by prominent Victorian A.J. Davis. The original architectural plans are in the archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Rutger Park was an exclusive compound for a small Utica elite developed in the mid Victorian period. It is sited on a high hill with one of the finest sweeping views north of the Mohawk Valley. An interesting story claims that when the Erie Canal was first built across the valley below one of the park's high class female residents complained that "Clinton's Ditch " so destroyed her view that she was moving. I hear that the same was said by many of the Eiffel Tower " monstrosity " when it was first built in Paris.

Interesting how time can change widely held aesthetic opinions. Will people be referring to the giant new electric generating windmills across America as " romantic " in another fifty to one hundred years?

We are very fortunate that Munn's Castle has been preserved by our Landmarks Society very much as an authentic period piece inside and out. Nevertheless it seems rather sad that it has been vacant for years. It might be good if one or more of the corporations involved with Utica's evolving multi billion dollar nanotech industry could invest new life in the castle. Perhaps for a nanotech museum? It would be an stunning and dramatic contrast to have the history of this very modern, cutting edge technology displayed in an almost Gothic or " steampunk " setting.

Manse, First Presbyterian Church. Genesee Street, circa 1900.

430 Columbia Street. Downtown. Decorative Victorian cornice with painted terracotta tiles circa 1880.

Handcut porch brackets circa 1855 at 225 Rutger Street.

" Chamberlin of Utica ". One of the oldest extant commercial buildings in Utica. Note the "eyebrow" windows. Chamberlin closed around 2012. Building is circa 1835. Varick Street, west Utica.