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February 2005
 February 15, 2005, Tuesday, 7:00 PMHome of Diane and Chuck Oestreich 816 22nd Street The meeting will be a general meeting including officer election and committee appointments. March 15, 2005, Tuesday, 7:00 PM
Home of Pam Saunders 1330 20th Street April 19, 2005 Tuesday 7:00 PM
Home of Diana Alm 4601 14th Street
General business meeting
BLUE VINYL A detective story, an environmental documentary, and a rollicking comedy all rolled into one, BLUE VINYL balances horror with humor, and links popular entertainment with a call for corporate accountability in a way that is engaged and enlightened. BLUE VINYL was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 2003, for Best Research and Best Documentary and received the Documentary Excellence in Cinematography Award at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.
The Rock Island Preservation Society is bringing the movie to the QCA and is sponsoring one of the three public showings:
Additional showings of the movie will be: Thursday, March 31, 7:00 pm at Augustana College (639 38th Street, Rock Island, IL, Olin Auditorium. Sponsor is Geography Club, Contact: Cathy Dowd, 309/ 794-7325. See www.augustana.edu for campus map.) Admission is free to the public to all showings. The movie is approximately 90 minutes in length. For more information, call 788-1845.
WATCH YOUR MAILBOX!
2004 PRESERVATION AWARDS
GREEK REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE Greek Revival houses were popular in the United States from as early as 1820 until as late as 1870. The largest concentrations of extant Greek Revivals are in those states which had the greatest population growth during the period, specifically the line from New York west into the Middle West and the evolving states of the South. Because of the increased interest in classical buildings during the waning days of the 18th century combined with the archeological investigations in the early 19th century emphasizing Greece as the Mother of Rome, interest in Grecian housing models became popular. Further, Greeces war of independence (1821-30) aroused sympathy in the recently independent United States. Additionally, the War of 1812 tended to diminish affection for the British and the then-dominant Adam (also called Federal) style of domestic architecture.
Artists rendering of 625 23rd Street Six dominant subtypes of Greek Revival houses are distinguishable by their porch and roofline configurations: ENTRY PORCH LESS THAN FULL HEIGHT OR ABSENT subtype comprises about 20% of Greek Revivals. These houses have small entry porches not extending the full height of the faade. About 5% have no porches. FULL-HEIGHT ENTRY PORCH subtype has a dominant central porch the full height of the house but not the full width. These houses typically have a band of cornice trim coupled with rectangular windows over the entrance door. The door typically is recessed into the faade. Twenty five percent of Greek Revival houses are of this type and most are found in the South. FULL-FAADE PORCH subtype features a full-width porch over the entire faade. Like the preceding subtype, about 25% of Greek Revivals are of this type and most are located in the South. FRONT-GABLED ROOF subtype is not as common as the above styles which have side-gabled or hipped roofs. Small entry porches are prevalent on vernacular houses. The northeast and midwest has the majority of these examples. GABLE FRONT AND WING subtype has one or two protruding wings, usually of only one story. This subtype is rarely found outside of western New York and Ohio. TOWNHOUSES comprise the last subtype and consist of narrow urban houses with Greek Revival detailing. Porches are not always present. Predominant in the Atlantic and Gulf coast areas with expanding populations from 1830 1860, the house at 625 23rd Street is of this subtype, although it is not connected to other houses.
The following three details are distinguishing markers for Greek Revival homes: DOORWAYS are elaborate and a dominant feature in Greek Revivals. Single or double doors may be divided into one, two, or four panels. The top of the door is usually surrounded by rectangular glass in a delicate, decorative frame. The doors and surrounding windows are typically encased in a larger decorative enframement of wood or masonry. COLUMNS are typically classical in nature and are used as porch roof supports. Sometimes they dominate the entire faade. In other cases they are only found on the small entry porches. While classical columns are most common, square or octagonal columns can be found on 40% of examples, because of their ease construction. Greek Revivals were popularized through such guides and pattern books as The Practical House Carpenter and The Builders Guide by Asher Benjamin and The Modern Builders Guide and The Beauties of Modern Architecture by Minard Lafever. High style examples of Greek Revivals were designed by such prominent American architects as Benjamin H. Latrobe and his students Robert Mills and William Strickland and Stricklands student Alexander Jackson Davis. Public buildings in Philadelphia heralded in the beginning and ending of the Greek Revival style. William Strickland built his famous Bank of the United States in 1818 and Addison and Hutton constructed the Ridgeway Branch of the Philadelphia Library in 1870. Source: McAlester, Virginia & Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses, 1991, pp. 179-195.
Rock Island Preservation Society |