Two magnificent if rather worn-looking wooden grain elevators in Creston, British Columbia.
It was hard not to look closely at these geometrically unusual buildings without getting a weird sense of dislocation, a bit like vertigo on the ground. I wandered around them several times getting the flavor of those angles and lovely patterns created by the flaking paint, particularly on the white building.
They are situated at the west end of main street, close, naturally enough, to the railway tracks and make for a splendid landmark. I hope they remain and are preserved in future – they exhibit an unusual and rare design for an elevator these days.
Originally posted by musickna:
"Grain elevators are buildings or complexes of buildings for storage and shipment of grain. They were invented in 1842-43 in Buffalo, New York, by a local merchant named Joseph Dart, Jr. and an engineer named Robert Dunbar. Using the steam-powered flour mills of Oliver Evans as their model, they invented the marine leg, which scooped grain out of the hulls of ships and elevated it to the top of the marine tower.[1] Older grain elevators and bins often were constructed of framed or cribbed wood and were prone to fire. Grain elevator bins, tanks and silos are now usually constructed of steel or reinforced concrete. Bucket elevators are used to lift grain to a distributor or consignor where it flows by gravity through spouts or conveyors and into one of a number of bins, silos or tanks in a facility. When desired, the elevator's silos, bins and tanks are then emptied by gravity flow, sweep augers and conveyors. As grain is emptied from the elevator's bins, tanks and silos it is conveyed, blended and weighted into trucks, railroad cars, or barges and shipped to end users of grains (mills, ethanol plants, etc.)."
Ahhhh now I see… 😉 :up: I never seen such thing before sorry Sir Richard. And thank you I learn new things today 😀
They are. It's nice to think of them.:happy:
When I was a kid, my dad worked a summer in Hugo, Oklahoma, roofing the houses in a new subdivision. We rented a house in town, to be near him. Just a couple of blocks from the house we lived in, there was an old cotton gin. We played for hours in that gin, nearly every day.I've been fascinated with old gins, grain elevators and such ever since.Nice photos, Richard, and thanks for reminding me.:smile:
They sound like very happy childhood memories, Star. 🙂
:eyes: Elevators?
See grain elevator! 🙂
🙂 Thanks again Sir Richard 😉
Splendid! 🙂 They are common here in the grain growing regions of North America – not so much elsewhere, so I am not surprised that you did not recognize it. :):):)
I sure did get vertigo looking at your photos. We used to have several of these old elevators around but they have been torn down in the past couple of years to make way for highways and the light rail.
I thought that WAS a cotton gin, Richard, when I first saw it. I have been to cotton gins with my dad when I was little. They are, or were, in a lot of places in Texas. They grew a lot of cotton around Commerce, Tx. My mom and dad, sister Jean and brother and I would pull bolls every Saturday all day long, and after school when the cotton crops were ready. Mom and Dad got extra money for bills and we children got enough to help buy our school clothes.
Here in Spokane they would fix them up a bit and put shops in them. That's pretty much what we do with old buildings here. I hate to even think of the difficulty getting all the horizontals and verticals right on those shots. Nice job, Richard.
Thanks for your additions, Pam, Linda and Edward. 🙂 It's a shame to see them torn town, or prettified into shops for that matter. Personally, I think they would make great town museums.
Photography museums? (hint hint). :p
That's a great idea, Edward! 😀
Beautiful old grain elevator pictures. We have some modern ones here at my work but would be nice to see something as beautiful as these in real life. Thanks for sharing.