Last September a descendant of the Cooley Brothers named Donna reached out to me. She gave me her phone number so we could chat further and I could learn more about the Cooley Brothers of Chinook, Alberta.
Of course, life was busy and I never got a chance to call. Now I have a little more time and I realize I lost the number.
So, Donna, if you see this, please reach out to me at dan@danocan.com
Thanks!
We lost another one.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-enoch-house-fire
It was early on this cold Saturday morning when I saw the news start breaking on my Twitter feed. The historic Enoch Sales house in downtown Calgary was on fire. When something that old catches fire, there isn’t usually anything left to save afterwards.
The house had been abandoned for many years, other than for the occasional squatter or urban explorationist. My personal suspicion is that it was likely a squatter with a candle trying to stay warm during this latest cold snap that will eventually be determined to be the cause. That is pure speculation on my behalf, of course.
Regardless of the eventual cause, the house is just another example of demolition via neglect. There never seemed to be a solid plan as what to do with the house and the extremely valuable property it sat on in the heart of downtown Calgary. Like too many historic properties, if the owner simply does nothing the problem eventually solves itself.
For some history of the property and interior photos, check out this link to Avenue Magazine which did a story on the house a while back:
I don’t know what’s more frustrating, the loss of another great old structure or the lack of concern so many show for our historic sites. If you want to feel saddened about the fight to preserve history, one only needs to read some of the comments on the CBC news story (link near the top):
“Authorities estimate the fire may have caused as much as $1 million in area improvements.”
“Another building that should have been torn down years ago goes up and smoke. Move along… “
I understand not everyone is as into history as I am, but the blatant disregard for the loss of this structure is baffling to me.
I’m still catching up with documenting our adventures from over the Christmas break. This time we check out “Croc Encounters”, a non-profit reptile rescue in Tampa Bay, Florida.
I’d like to give a shout-out to the forty people who have subscribed to our YouTube channel. We’re slowly working our way up to the triple-digit club and the 100 subscriber mark. Thank you!
You don’t need to know anything about architecture to know the name Frank Lloyd Wright. On our recent trip to Florida, we spent some time checking out the campus of Florida Southern College, which is home to a large collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings.
Between 1938 and his death in 1958, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a total of 18 buildings for the campus of Florida Southern. Twelve of those buildings were built during Wright’s lifetime. Come with us as we do a little architectural sightseeing in the sunshine.
It’s always a pleasure when you get to visit a historic site that you have wanted to see for many years. This time it was a visit to Promontory Point, Utah and the location of the driving of the golden spike which completed the American’s transcontinental railroad by joining the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railways.
I’ll have more to write later, but for now, here is the final of the Route 66 series — the Pacific Ocean, the Santa Monica Pier, the end…
