Exploring the Capitol (Olympia, Washington) (Oly 02)

Washington State (from netstate)

Olympia and Capitol Lake (Hasselblad XPan camera, 45mm lens, Fuji Reala film)

Olympia is the capitol of Washington State. The city is nicely situated at the south end of Puget Sound about one hour southwest of Seattle (or 2 or more hours during rush hours - which last much of the day). Olympia is a nice little city with a population of about 55,000, but that increases to around 270,000 if you include nearby Lacy and Tumwater. Olympia was only incorporated as a town in 1859, making it a relatively new city compared to where I have lived in the past. 

4th Avenue, view east

The downtown is reasonably well-preserved and active. But it did not strike me as especially dynamic despite being the state capitol. It definitely has a less frenetic pace than Seattle or Tacoma. In the business district, most buildings appear to have tenants, and I saw bars, restaurants, banks, coffee shops, and theaters. Some of the downtown has the look of Old American City, a place that may have enjoyed a more golden era decades ago. 

Railroad bridge over Capitol Lake (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens) 

The rail network through the city is a bit complicated. This bridge crosses Capitol Lake (see the aerial panorama above).

7th Avenue Tunnel from Columbia St. SW (50mm Summicron, ƒ/4.0½)

After the rail line crosses Capitol Lake, it turns north and then turns east through the 7th Avenue Tunnel. I met a homeless man emerging from the dark and he said people regularly walk through it (hmmm, not me). A few years ago, a homeless fellow was struck by a train and lost an arm.

7th Avenue Tunnel from Jefferson Street (90mm ƒ/4 Elmar lens, 1/125 ƒ/4.0½)

7th Avenue (50mm Summicron lens)

 It took some looking around to find urban decay topics, but I found some.

When I asked the homeless fellow where the railroad tunnel emerged, he said near the black house. I did not know what he was talking about until I saw this old house coated with black paint. (Update: the house has burnt down.)

Jefferson Street view north (90mm ƒ/4 Elmar lens, 1/125 ƒ/5.6)

The tracks run down Jefferson Street to the Port of Olympia. I thought they were unused until one evening, I heard the familiar clanging and horn of a locomotive. 

Lumber pier, Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation Area (90mm Elmar, 1/250 ƒ/8.0)

The Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation Area is northeast of downtown. The pier once served Weyerhaeuser Timber Company's rail cars bringing lumber from the south. Formerly known as the South Bay Log Dump, cranes loaded timber onto barges, which then took the wood to mills in Everett. Today, the pier supports colonies of yuma myotis and little brown myotis bats. They forage as far as Capitol Lake and eat tons of insects every night. 

No coffee today, 3525 Shinckle Road

This ends our short tour of Olympia. Type "Olympia" in the search box to see older articles.

The black and white photographs are from Fuji Acros film exposed at EI=80 in my Leica M2 camera. Northeast Photographic in Bath, Maine developed the film, and I scanned it with a Plustek 7600i film scanner. The aerial panorama is from 2004, when I spent a few months in Seattle on a work project at Willapa Bay. A friend flew me over Olympia and to the coast.

20-Year Memorial: Destruction of the World Trade Center, New York City

Background

Dear Readers, 20 years ago, the unthinkable happened. On September 11, 2001, foreign terrorists commandeered commercial jet airplanes and flew two of them into the World Trade Center Buildings in New York City. The first plane went into the North Tower at 08:46 am. The second plane flew into the South Tower at 09:03 am. Within an hour and 42 minutes, raging fires caused both towers to collapse into a gigantic pile of twisted steel, smoldering debris, concrete, and rubble. Several other buildings in the complex also collapsed. In total, 2,977 victims died and over 25,000 sustained injuries. At least 8,000 first responders have died since then from toxic dust at the site.

The War on Terror

America changed forever. We engaged in a "War on Terror," which had profound consequences on the countries involved, our adversaries, our allies, and us. In some ways, we prevailed. Jihadist organizations have not mounted a successful external terrorist act in the USA since 2001. 

But for 20 years, officials in the US Government lied to the American public about the success or lack of success in the wars. Deceit became entrenched, an unspoken conspiracy to hide the truth. We never learned the real goals of the war, the definitions of success, or the cost. The longer the war lasted, the more its “grotesque subtext” of nativism and racism moved to the foreground of American politics (Spencer Ackerman, 2021. Reign of terror, How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump, Viking Press). Thom Hartmann observed, "Bush’s presidency had devastating consequences to America in terms of international credibility, faith in our government domestically, the waste of trillions of dollars in tax cuts, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of human lives in unnecessary wars."

Many of the divisions, hatreds, suspicions, intolerance, and viciousness that we see today in our domestic politics stem from those two decades of warfare. In a long article by The Washington Post by Carlos Lozada titled, "9/11 was a test. The books of the last two decades show how America failed," Lozada points out,

Rather than exemplify the nation’s highest values, the official response to 9/11 unleashed some of its worst qualities: deception, brutality, arrogance, ignorance, delusion, overreach and carelessness. This conclusion is laid bare in the sprawling literature to emerge from 9/11 over the past two decades — the works of investigation, memoir and narrative by journalists and former officials that have charted the path to that day, revealed the heroism and confusion of the early response, chronicled the battles in and about Afghanistan and Iraq, and uncovered the excesses of the war on terror.

America was indeed knocked off balance. As William Galston wrote in American Purpose, the fact that the USA is now "weaker, more divided, and less respected than it was two decades ago" was due to our own choices, not prescience by Osama bin Laden or other jihadist theorists. 

• Now we have renewed domestic right-wing terrorism here at home, although the state's security apparatus may be able to keep it under control (or will it?). 
• We lie to and deceive ourselves, and we have the Covid pandemic running rampant, with anti-vaxxers engaged in a death cult. 
• The 9/11 terrorists did not manage to fly a plane into the Capitol, but American traitors attacked it on January 6, 2021. 
• We invaded Iraq to dispose an autocrat, but several contenders here in USA are trying to impose autocracy on the USA. 
• We tried to teach Iraqis and Afghans to hold free and fair elections, but in many US states, Republicans have undermined voting access for minority citizens, gerrymandered voting districts, and corrupted the vote certification mechanisms.
• The forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan soured the world's opinion of democracies as agents of development and good. 
• The endless wars led to today's revisionism and inward-thinking.

Civil war has come to the USA, and we did it to ourselves. 

How will history books a century from now describe the war and its consequences? Who will write these history books? What mythology will those writers try to relate to their readers? 

Will schools honestly relate the story, or will they be muzzled as per the racist restrictions on "critical race theory" and the banning of books?

Some Photographs

World Trade Center, May 30, 1997 

This is the view of the WTC from the rooftop of 270 Broadway. I attended a meeting in that building on the top floor, and the view was too good to resist. This is a vertical panorama using an Olympus Zuiko 35mm ƒ/2.8 shift lens, with one frame shifted fully down and the second frame shifted up. I joined the frame with Photoshop's >Automate>Photomerge function. It is amazingly effective. Click to see the panorama at 3000 pixels

South Manhattan panorama from 270 Broadway, May 30, 1997

This is a horizontal panorama from the roof of 270 Broadway. My lens was not wide enough to include the top of the World Trade Center towers. Click to see 5000 pixels wide.

West panorama from 138 Lafayette Street, New York, Dec. 9, 1994

I took this panorama from the rooftop of the old Holiday Inn at 138 Lafayette Street. Back in the mid-1990s, this was one of the few hotels in lower Manhattan. Now there are dozens of trendy hotels. The Holiday Inn was a bit grungy, but it was convenient to the Federal Center, where I had business. The smog is over New Jersey.

New York view south from roof of 138 Lafayette Street (Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/3.5 Elmar lens, Kodak Tri-X film)

This is another view south from the roof of the Holiday Inn at 138 Lafayette Street. The tall building in left center is the Jacob Javits Federal Center. Click to see the photograph expanded.

Manhattan view north from the South Tower of the World Trade Center, April 29, 2001. Panorama consists of four frames from a Rolleiflex 3.5F camera with 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens. The north tower is on the left of the scene. Click the photograph to see the full-size image.

Notes from the 10-Year Anniversary

I wrote about the World trade Centers on the 10-year anniversary. Please refer to these earlier articles:

The early years before 2011:

https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com/2011/08/before-and-after-new-york-and-world.html

The later years and destruction:

 https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-york-and-world-trade-center-later.html

Thank you for reading. I hope I can write an article in 2031 at the 30-year anniversary. Will we still be the USA then?

Pearl Street Houses, Vicksburg, Mississippi (North of Klein Street)

North portion of Pearl Street photographed from the newly-built rail embankment and track relocation. The embankment occupies the site of the former Mississippi Lumber Company (K25 film, Nikon F3, 105mm ƒ/2.8 macro-Nikkor lens) . 

This grade crossing at Klein Street is now permanently blocked.

This is the last article in my survey of Vicksburg's Pearl Street houses, covering the stretch north of Klein Street. The previous articles covered:

• South of Fairground Street
• Fairground to Klein Streets

Pearl Street east side

501 Klein Street (digital image)

501 Klein Street 

No. 501 Klein Street, at the corner of Pearl, was on the city demolition list, as shown by the spray-pained "DEMO" sign. But as of early 2021, a work crew has been painting and repairing the house.

Around 1989 or 1990, the owner of this house imported some pieces of the Berlin Wall. They were so heavy, they came in by truck. My friend at Annabelle told me that the Berlin Wall guy planned to sell pieces as souvenirs. However, the pieces looked like nasty grey chunks of concrete, and there was nothing to uniquely identify them with the Wall. They languished on the side yard for a decade or more and finally disappeared. I suspect Vicksburg is not quite the right market in which to sell Cold War nostalgia or GDR souvenirs.

2123 Pearl Street in 2003 (Kodachrome slide, 50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens)

2123 Pearl Street (Panatomic-X film, Pentax Spotmatic, 55mm ƒ/1.8 Super-Takumar lens)

2123 Pearl Street was in good condition in 2003, but then deteriorated to the stage where the city inspector placed it on the demolition list. But as of 2021, it has been painted and repaired.

Pearl Street West Side

Railroad Avenue (below Klein), view west (Panatomic-X film).

The view west down Railroad Avenue is rather bleak, especially on a rainy day. I do not remember when houses lined the street.

2014 Pearl Street (no longer extant; Kodachrome 25 slide)

2004, 2006, and 2008 Pearl Street (Kodak Ektar 25 film, Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar)

2008 Pearl Street

2006 Pearl Street

2004 Pearl Street (no longer extant)

These little cottages had their front porches at street level, while the rest of the structures were perched over the hillside, supported by wood piles. This was a common construction practice early in the 20th century in this hilly city. But today, the buildings cannot be rebuilt on these lots once they have been condemned. These steep hillside lots becomes uninhabitable. 

1804 Pearl Street (no longer extant; Kodak BW400-2 film, 5cm ƒ/3.5 Elmar lens)

The City demolished a large number of these houses in the early 2000s. I do not have more photographs. These were approximately across the street from the warehouses that were part of the Mississippi Lumber Company (1900 Mulberry Street). 

Pearl Street Heading Downtown

Pearl Street view south past Mississippi Lumber Company sheds

Pearl Street view north

Pearl Street view north towards the Harrah's Casino hotel

The hotel in this photograph, originally built by Harrah's Casino, has been closed for at least a decade. As usual around here, there appears to be no status. 

This photograph shows the new section of track built by the Kansas City Southern railroad to reduce the radius of the curve where the rails turn east and pass under Washington Street. The older track, on the right, was such a tight turn, rail cars regularly derailed.

Dear readers, this ends our short series on Pearl Street. I hope these photographs will remind former residents of what the neighborhood looked like decades ago.

Pearl Street Houses, Vicksburg, Mississippi (Fairground to Klein Street)

Pearl Street view north during rare snowfall. Note that no houses stand on the west (left) side of the tracks. Kodak Verichrome Pan film, Hasselblad 501CM camera, 80mm lens.

We will continue our review of historic Pearl Street in Vicksburg, Mississippi. This covers the houses north of Fairground Street. This is not a comprehensive inventory because I did not photograph every house. Please see the previous article for the area south of Fairground Street. The color photographs are scans of Kodachrome 25 film. Click any frame to see a larger view. We will proceed from south to north, with house numbers decreasing.

I previously wrote about Pearl Street in 2010 and 2014. Below I have repeated a few of the photographs from the earlier articles, but I reprocessed the scans to improve the color or exposure.

Fairground Street to Speed Street east side (odd number houses)

2529 Pearl Street (Leica 90mm ƒ/2.8 Tele-Elmarit lens)

2529 and 2531 Pearl Street (Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/3.5 Elmar lens)

2529 and 2531 Pearl Street at sunset

2531 Pearl Street (note the sealed doorway)

2521 Pearl Street

2521 Pearl Street

This venerable duplex has been perched on this hill forever. The brick front steps are impressive. The house has been in poor condition for decades, but I think it is occupied.

2515 Pearl Street

2509 Pearl Street

2423 Pearl Street (no longer extant)

2421 Pearl Street (Leitz 50mm ƒ/2.8 Elmar lens)

2421 Pearl Street

A wide grassy lot is just north of 2421. I do not know how many houses once occupied that strip. 

Undated post card from Tuminello's Restaurant

The building in which Tuminello's Kitchen was located is still standing at the corner of Pearl and Speed Streets, but the restaurant has been closed since the late-1980s or early-1990s. It was highly regarded in its day as one of Vicksburg's best restaurants. I ate there several times.

Pearl Street view south (Rolleiflex camera)

The brick-faced building on the left (north) side of the street is the former Tuminello's Kitchen.

Some handsome tour houses, including Annabelle Bed and Breakfast, occupy the east side of the block between Speed and Klein Streets. They are obscured by thick hedges and I do not have photographs of them.  

Fairground to Speed Street west side (even number houses)

2508 Pearl Street (no longer extant)

2430 Pearl Street (no longer extant)

2430 Pearl Street (no longer extant; 50mm ƒ/2.8 Leitz Elmar-M lens)

2428 Pearl Street (no longer extant)

2426 Pearl Street (no longer extant)

2426 Pearl Street

2420 Pearl Street

2418 Pearl Street (Leitz 50mm ƒ/2.8 Elmar lens)

2414 Pearl Street

2410 Pearl Street (house and store?)

Speed Street to Klein Street west side (even number addresses)

The old-fashioned store at 2328 Pearl Street was decorated with some nicely-done portraits of civil rights icons in the 2002-2005 era. The building now is a dingy uniform tan color and is closed. It is made of cinderblock, which suggests it was built post-WWII.

2304 Klein Street (no longer extant; Ektar 25 film, Rolleiflex camera)

2302 Klein Street (no longer extant)

North of the store, no houses are standing as of 2021. The level crossings at Speed and Klein Streets have been closed and blocked. This way, the trains do not need to sound their deafening horns. 

Railroad Avenue view downhill to the west (Fuji X-E1 digital image)

Railroad Avenue must have once been lined houses, but most are now gone. I am sure at one time, men from these houses worked at the railroad yard at the base of the hill. My friend said soot from steam locomotives soiled laundry.  

This ends our brief review of the central section of Pearl Street. The next article will cover the zone north of Klein Street.