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The Cool Old Buildings Page!!

This page is dedicated to showing pictures of beautiful, old architecture! We live in Western New York, & there is a lot of fantastic old buildings! Their beauty, style, grace, & quality are rarely seen in modern structures. I hope you enjoy this page...& please...tell your friends!!!

Albion, NY

This is downtown, Albion, New York in the 1960's. Albion is an old Erie Canal town. It is the county headquarters of Oleans county, New York State. Albion has always been a thriving industrial town, with a great history. Almost all of downtown Albion is unchanged. Most of the buildings are 1800's, & were constructed using locally mined stone. To learn more about this quaint little town, just click the "Albion,N.Y." title above. It is in the center of Albion that I recently had the pleasure of touring a very old downtown building!!

These are some of the buildings in downtown at the "4 corners" intersection. You can see the Erie Canal bridge in the distance in the final photo.

This is the building! I'd like to thank the new owner, Tom Laine, for letting me tour such an incredible place! Tom recently acquired the building. He has 2 storefronts available in the front, & 3 apartments above. The storefronts are available for lease. Tom can remodel to suit the renter's needs. There are a few Antique Co-ops down the street, & this is perfect for any antique dealer! I have Tom's contact info available for anyone interested. Please email me, for his info.

This is the back of the building. Directly behind me when I took this picture.....the Erie Canal!

The previous 2 photos are inside the building, in the front of the storefront. The Fireplace is still in working order. Notice the beautiful woodwork on the ceiling. All original!

This is part of the original door hardware to the other storefront. It's a fantastic finished brass, doorhandle plate!

The previous 2 pics show the back of the first storefront. This woodwork is all original, finely detailed, & from the 1800's!

This type of woodwork is a lost Art form! Notice the intricate details, that the Carpenter's put into their woodworking. This is quality that speaks volumes both the building's construction....and the Artisans that helped create it!!

That detailing is visible at the upper left of the door, by the lightswitch.

This is from the front upstairs Apartment. Notice the old style windows.

This is in the same room, only looking straight up at the original 12 ft. ceilings!

A view from the back Apartment's classic kitchen! It's the 20's/30's for the style, the sink, & the plumbing!!

Looking out the kitchen's window. You'll notice 2 tiny houses off in the distance? Those are on the other side of the Erie Canal! The blue type structure to the left of, & in front of the houses, is a moored Canal Boat. A modern New York State Canal Boat...I might add.

And finally! Tom discovered some original light fixtures, buried in the ceilings of 2 Apartments! He believes that they may still be wired up. I hope to get some pics of these when he checks them out!!

Well, that's Albion! If you ever get the chance, Please take a drive & look at the town. The buildings are old, beautiful, historical, & absoulutely fascinating!! Please stop back again, as I hope to have other Architectural features on this page!!

Medina, N.Y.
A.L. Swett Iron Works Foundry

This building is all that is left of a former foundry, that is located in Medina, N.Y. Medina is just about 12 miles to the west of Albion. The town itself, just like Albion, is quite incredible. There are many buildings in town that go back to the mid 1800's!
The foundry was called the A.L. Swett Foundry. Sort of an ironic name. Anyways, the foundry was one of 2 different factories that had been on the property. At one time there were as many as 5-6 different buildings on the property. This building had cranes in the ceilings, as well as a track system built into the floor, for railway type carts of heavy material. According to the records in the Orleans County Century Atlas of 1913, the factory annually produced 3500 tons of goods; employed 130 people with a total payroll of $92,000 per year!

Commercial structural castings
Drainage pipes
Wrought iron rails & stairs
Stable fittings
Plumbing supplies & fittings
Hardware specialties
Jack screws
Steel & brass newel & balaster posts
Metal ornamental work for door & window frames

A side door to the factory. Note all the door hardware is still attatched!

Some more side views of the outside of the building.

This picture gives a good idea of the size inside the building. Also, notice the steel frame work up in the ceiling.

All I did for this picture was turn 180 degrees. This is looking the opposite way from the last picture. This part of the building looked to older than the other half!

As I had previously mentioned. The whole factory used a railroad type track system for moving material. These tracks are imbedded in the floor everywhere. This is a turning circle. Almost like a miniature railroad roundhouse, the person pushing the cart could spin the cart, & head off in a different direction! I even found spots where these tracks headed outside!

I believe that this may have been the oldest part of the building. The wall had at one time been an exterior wall, but now was enclosed with a roof.

This was part of the crane system that had been used. It was all steel, & very heavy.

This picture was looking at the old front door, from the inside. I couldn't resist taking it, with the sunlight peeking thru!

And finally....

I recently had the pleasure of obtaining this item thru Ebay! It is an all steel ladle that was produced by the factory. How was this used? I'm glad you asked! The factory made cast iron drainage pipes. There are millions of these type pipes in thousands of older homes, to this day! They are the big, black steel-like drainage pipes in older homes that come down thru the house into the basement. Anyways, when plumbers would put these together, they had to "seal" them. This was accomplished by cooking a little black pot of solder. The plumber would stuff the pipe joint with a steel pad like substance called, "Oakum". Afterwards, he would spoon the liquid solder over the oakum, down into the joint. This would harden & seal the 2 pipes together. This type ladle was used for scooping the liquid solder out of the pot, & pouring it into the joint. Note the 2 small spouts. This process by plumbers is still used quite often, when working with older cast iron pipes! So, now you know!!

This is the end of our website. Thank you so much for stopping by. Please....tell your friends. This site is done just for fun!

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Fleabees
Basom,	NY
U.S.A.
fleebees@yahoo.com

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Page Updated Sun Feb 5, 2006 3:13pm EST

The Cool Old Buildings Page!!

Albion, NY

Medina, N.Y. A.L. Swett Iron Works Foundry

Medina, N.Y.
A.L. Swett Iron Works Foundry