Thursday Doors – In Oshkosh

We weren’t sure if the Apostle Clock at the Oshkosh Public Museum was fully functional so we waited very patiently for the little doors to open and sure enough, when the angel at the top tapped out 11-o-clock on the chimes, they opened and out came Jesus and the Apostles.

My contribution to Dan Antion’s Thursday Doors Photo Challenge.

Thursday Doors – In Long Grove

Not only did my recent trip to Long Grove result in the successful conclusion of my quest for Marmite, but also the addition of many more pictures for the photo files. I tried to remember all the things I was supposed to look out for and came up with a few doors that I thought might merit a spot on Norm’s Thursday Doors.

Thursday Doors – Faith or Fate

Especially for Norm’s Thursday Doors, here are just a few of the entrances that I have come across during my travels so far this year.  We can never be certain where our path through life will lead us. For some it’s all a matter of faith. I prefer to think of it as fate.

Fourth Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago.

St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Madison Street in Chicago

Cathedral of Saint Paul in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Bartlett, Illinois.

For more on Norm’s Thursday Doors go to August 30, 2018

Thursday Doors – Remember The Alamo

It’s been a while since I came across any doors impressive enough to post on Norm’s Thursday Doors, but this one definitely deserves a mention. The entrance to the church at The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.

For more on Thursday Doors go to Thursday Doors – June 21, 2018

Thursday Doors – Mayslake Inside

Mayslake Hall, part of the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook, Illinois, was built in 1919 for coal magnate Francis Stuyvesant Peabody. This Tudor Revival style mansion is open for tours during ongoing restoration work and it’s interesting to see just how it’s coming along. Naturally, I paid particular attention to the doors and there were quite a few that were decorative as well as functional. The woodwork in the library is particularly impressive.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County now owns the estate and several of the rooms are used for programs, art exhibitions and wedding receptions.

Apparently the Peabody family were very health conscious and had a sleeping porch built that allowed for plenty of fresh air. There was more than a touch of irony when Francis Peabody died of a heart attack less than a year after they moved into the house.

Strangely enough, the plainest door in the building has the most interesting history attached to it.  Because of the unrest between coal miners, the unions and the coal mine owners, it is thought that Peabody may have had this hidden door installed in his private study as a means of escape in case of trouble.  It opens onto a flight of steps that lead down to the first floor and out of the house.  There were even rumors that an underground tunnel existed, although so far they have been unable to find it. It would seem that Peabody had the right idea, however, as it was in 1922, not long after the mansion was completed, that the Herrin Massacre, a bloody fight between striking miners and non-union workers, occurred in downstate Illinois.

For more on Norm’s Thursday Doors go to https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2017/11/09/thursday-doors-november-9-2017/

Thursday Doors – Mayslake Outside

The Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook provided some excellent opportunities for photographing doors, both inside and out. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many different styles in one building before. Mayslake Hall is in the process of being restored and up until now our only view of its doors has been from the outside.  The architecture is called Tudor Revival and if you look carefully you will see a representation of the Tudor Rose in a couple of these images.

Mayslake was built for Francis Stuyvesant Peabody in 1919 but he only got to live here for little more than a year when he died of a heart attack while out riding.  His family didn’t want to remain at the residence and eventually sold it to the Franciscan Province of the Sacred Heart who used the mansion as a retreat house.  The estate now belongs to the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.

Stay tuned for more on the inside doors of Mayslake in next week’s Thursday Doors.

For more on Norm’s Thursday Doors go to Thursday Doors – November 2, 2017

Thursday Doors – Fat Bottom Betty’s

During our visit to Marion, recently, we took a tour of the Williamson County Historical Society Jail Museum and Library.  From the basement to the attics, every inch of the building is used to display interesting artifacts from a bygone era.  I was also on the lookout for doors and there were several that caught my eye.

The museum is housed in the former Sheriff’s residence which was also the local jail (more of this in a future post) and not only can you see the original cells but also re-creations of a local bank, grocery store, doctor’s office and school room, amongst other things.  As I said, they utilize every scrap of space and we were amazed at how much they had managed to cram into four floors. It was one of the most interesting historical museums that we have ever visited.   After spending some time at the museum we drove on to Carbondale where we stopped at a gas station for a fill-up and I couldn’t resist getting a shot of some restaurant doors nearby.

Our reason for visiting Carbondale was to see the Jeremy Rochman Memorial Park, a father’s touching tribute to a 19-year-old son who was tragically killed in a car accident.  Jeremy was a great fan of Dungeons and Dragons and the park is filled with characters from this popular game (the subject of another future post.)

 

For more on Norm’s Thursday Doors go to https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2017/10/12/thursday-doors-october-12-2017/

Thursday Doors – In Marion

The first thing I thought of when we arrived in Marion, Illinois, was that I had to find doors.  Not just any doors but ones that might make a good picture, so off we went to Tower Square Plaza to see what we could come up with.  The Marion Cultural and Civic Center on Market Street looked like a good place to start.  After a fire destroyed the former Civic Center in 1997, a new facility was erected in 2004, incorporating parts of the old building that had survived the fire.  The ornate doorway was rather difficult to capture since it is so closely enclosed by the entryway but I gave it my best shot.

The red doors of the First United Methodist Church on Main Street really caught my eye.

The Marion Carnegie Library, made possible in part by an $18,000 grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, was opened to the public in 1916.  At that time it had 1,162 books and 680 borrowers.

Not nearly as grand are the green doors that can be found on the side of the old Post and Press building, built in 1907, that used to house The Marion Daily Republican newspaper.

After spending the morning looking around the downtown area in Marion, we went on to visit an interesting place called Mandala Gardens, more of which I’ll be featuring in an upcoming post.

For more on Norm’s Thursday Doors go to https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2017/10/05/thursday-doors-october-5th-2017/

Thursday Doors – Cantigny

It’s good to see Norm back at Thursday Doors with lots of great pictures after his well-deserved vacation.  Photogenic doors have been few and far between during my daily round, this year, but I did come across this colorful door in the Idea Garden at Cantigny Park in Wheaton the other day.

For more on Thursday Doors go to https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2017/09/21/thursday-doors-september-21-2017/

Thursday Doors – Cars

Looking for something bright and cheerful on a cold winter’s day, I decided on these car doors for Norm’s Thursday Doors.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m no car expert but I do appreciate the colors and aesthetics of some of the vintage cars on display at various places such as our local Bluesmobile Cruise Night and Volo Auto Museum.  For more on Thursday Doors go to https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2017/02/09/thursday-doors-february-9-2017/