The Demise of the Armstrong Lumber Company Building

 

In Dyersville, Iowa the Armstrong Lumber Company building stood for several decades...until 2015. Last February, I photographed a couple old time buildings that were positioned along the east-west railroad track in Dyersville. The wooden lumber building was interesting photographically having been long ago boarded up and abandoned. Four months later I returned to Dyersville to find the Armstrong building gone. Nothing in its place except for a newly crushed limestone parking area.

Its easy to imagine back in the day that rail cars would bring lumber to Dyersville, where it was unloaded and stored in the Armstrong building. Farmers and towns folk would come to the business and buy materials for farms, businesses and homes. While commercial and residential lumber business continues elsewhere in Dyersville, the removal of the Armstrong Lumber building along the rail lines is another chapter describing how cities transform in the Midwest.

Was something lost in the removal of the building? Certainly the owners eliminated a liability and a potential hazard, but a piece of the city's heritage was also removed. Perhaps documentation of the building and published accounts of the business are preserved at the local historical society or museum.

Behind the Fifty Shades of Red Door

Valentine's Day is about romance and love. Those emotions are generally equated to the red shades of the color palette. There is an opportunity in Dyersville, Iowa to seek the fifty shades of red beyond the red door.

Smoke Underlined

Saturday was a great day for photography. A smokestack at an ethanol plant on the west side of Dyersville, Iowa shows just how windy the westerlies were blowing. While the contrast of white smoke, silver stack and blue sky made for an interesting composition, those power lines made no positive contribution to the scene. Maybe some talented artist can Photoshop the lines away.

Military Artwork of American Legion Post No.137

The American Legion Post in Dyersville, Iowa knows how to make use of space by creating an impactual message. On the roadside face of an ordinary building an artist has created elements of the American military in action from World Wars I & II, Korea and Vietnam. The unifying graphic theme is that of the foot soldier in each vignette with nods to the other branches of service. I believe the panels were started in 2008 with the WWII graphic (see story here.) After visiting the "Field of Dreams" movie site a few miles away come by the north end of town by following the railroad tracks. There you will find this one of kind mural. Know that.

Field of Dreams: Post it and They Will Come

The 1989 movie, The Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster and others was filmed in Iowa (also in Illinois and Massachusetts.)  Just a few miles northeast of Dyersville, Iowa is the farm setting for the movie complete with baseball diamond, lights and of course the magical corn fields. Today the site was visited by the 42N team (our fifth or sixth) and a few photos were taken during a warm October day.

In the movie Ray (Kevin Costner) carves this heart into the top bleacher seat. Its still there 22 years later, weather beaten but still there.

People visiting the site today were from Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Visitors take to the field, hit a few balls and run the bases. But the big thrill for most is to walk through the gigantic corn stalks that ring the outfield, then try disappearing like in the movie.

The other big thing are hard core baseball fans paying homage to the field and movie. This NY Yankees fan was wondering around taking photos with his cell phone. Since I was there I offered to take his photo with his camera. Afterwards he sent them to his list of baseball buddies. Build it and they will come. How true it continues to be. Know that.