Dan Antion

From Deep in the Archive

Welcome to Thursday Doors! This is a weekly challenge for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post each (or any) week and then share a link to your post in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). If you like, you can add our badge to your post.

I’ve been moving some photos around. It’s an annual drill. My laptop drive fills up and I make a backup and then I move the photos to a large network accessible drive. This year, I had to do the same with my iPhone. It was either remove some photos or pay Apple for more space in iCloud.

The drive I move them to is pretty cool. I can access it from anywhere in the house, and I can access it via the Internet. That used to come in handy when I was traveling. One of the features of that drive is a search function that searches for stuff in the pictures. It’s nothing like what they use on NCIS, but it works well with some things. Ironically, it doesn’t work with doors.

However, I searched for buildings and since buildings have doors, I was able to find some photos that were taken before I was participating in Thursday Doors. At least I think so. I don’t know much about many of these, other than I like them. I found enough of these to last a couple of weeks, so I hope you like them, too.

I also hope you will visit some of the posts from the other participants. We always get a lot of wonderful doors, along with some interesting poetry an a bit of humor. If you miss any today, the Thursday Doors Sunday Recap will provide easy to follow links to all of them.

This is our Town Library
This was taken in October 2001 at a conference in Tampa where I was speaking. The exit door was for my escape :)
I remember pulling over in a town north of Burlington, MA to take this photo, but I don’t think I ever used it.
I have no idea where this is. It looks like a pictureI would have taken for Thursday Doors, but I wasn’t able to find it.
Doors on old buildings in the lower right. The “Boat” building, A.K.A headquarters of Phoenix Insurance
Faith examining an old building we found on a hike.
Before you leave – Is the coffee pot turned off?
I was helping a friend prepare this building for a store he was opening
I am guessing this building houses some equipment that is monitoring the river
The sign says “Tourist Information Center” but out of context, so I don’t know where. I’m guessing Massachusetts
A free public library, whereabouts unknown
I think this photo was taken in Iowa
I think this photo was taken in Iowa
I know this photo was taken in Iowa. I shared some of the photos from that trip, but not this one
A train station with a ghost door and some interesting brick work. I searched on ‘station’ and ‘depot’ but came up empty

If you are in a hurry and don’t wish to scroll through the comments, click to Jump to the comment form.


If you like magical realism with suspense, action and a bit of family sarcasm, you will enjoy these books:

Knuckleheads
The Evil You Choose
When Evil Chooses You

Series page on Amazon

My profile page (and books) on Lulu

All available on Kindle Unlimited!

139 comments

  1. Some great photos there, Dan and a reminder to post some of the door shots I took in Sydney because even though I haven’t posted here for a while, I still instinctively take door photos to share here. Stay tuned.
    Best wishes,
    Rowena

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  5. Hi Dan – interesting range of buildings … that impressive building is ‘impressive!’ – interesting to see … and I love your thought re the escape route … cheers Hilary

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • You’ve been “on stage” as it were, speaking in front of an audience, some of whose members might know as much or more about the subject than you do. I always enjoyed it, but it was always a little scary. Thanks!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Yup – sounds like me – now it’s an awful lot easier and I’m doing it more and more often – mostly informal announcements – but enough to keep my hand in, so to speak. cheers H

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

    • I think the train station photo had to have been taken BTD (before Thursday Doors) because I would surely stop and circle the building if I saw it today. I love the photo you shared with us today!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • I remember having to let the meter reader in my college apartment several times when the landlord forgot to leave the basement door unlocked. I was on the first floor, and had access to the basement. The town library has an interesting story. It was built with private funds, as the town didn’t want to have responsibility. It became popular and eventually the town took over the operation.

      Interesting doors and great poetry from you today – thanks!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • They’ve now hooked up the gas meters remotely, thank goodness. It was a pain to try to read the meter yourself and call it in when you missed the meter reader.

        A library is a necessity to any town, no matter where the funding comes from!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

    • Our winter has mostly been milder than normal, Gwen. Although, I got up to go for my walk half an hour ago and saw that it was only 14. I decided to wait. You guys have had a colder than normal winter, judging from the bloggers I follow. I hope spring comes early. I like that free library a lot. It must have been taken before Thursday Doors, or I’m sure I would have used it.

      Like

      Reply

  16. You have a handsome library, and the yellow building is a beauty, especially the entrance. The parking spaces on the right suggests it’s a business, unless the homeowners have a heck of a lot of company!

    The “coffee pot” sign is a hoot. Smokey the Bear is very happy!

    Love the barns/doors. Something quietly comforting and romantic about barns.

    I like the little train station with its ghost door. Reminds me of the small station in Hawthorne, NY where my grandparents lived. Grandpa, who worked in NYC, walked to and from that station five days a week, no matter the weather. Never missed a day! When my grandma heard that train whistle in the evening she started last minute dinner preparations! Today she would probably be calling for takeout when that whistle blew! 🤗
    Ginger

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • I think you’re right about that yellow building, Ginger. Good door-archeology work :-)

      I can only imagine how many times the coffee pot was burnt black and crusted before that sign went up. I was usually the first person to arrive at our office, and when we still made pots of coffee, I faced that sight many times.

      I like your story about the train. What a wonderful way to time dinner! It’s funny how easy things seemed then.

      Like

      Reply

  17. This was fun! I like the serendipity of it. I am in awe of that imposing yellow house — what symmetry! At the same time, I love the train station — imposing in its own way. As Ginger points out, train stations so often bring memories. Obviously if there are ghost doors there are ghosts.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I’m glad you enjoyed this, Maureen. It was fun to find these photos and to think about where I was when I took them. Most of my pre-Thursday Doors photos don’t have a lot of doors in them – what was I thinking? I’ve always liked train stations, but I’m sure I would have spent more time studying this one. I really like it. Ghost doors on train stations must hold a lot of memories.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Except for our rather new front door, none of our doors are interesting. I do have a post planned for later this year highlighting two doors to my workshop. One that I made years ago and one that I haven’t finished yet. Other then the photos I know were taken in Iowa, I think most of these are from between our house and Boston. I wish I had taken better notes.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  21. Great photos, Dan. I like all of them, but was struck by the “The Free Public Library.” The door is set perfectly into the facade, almost blending discreetly in. Clearly, great architectural thought went into its placement. I also liked that small wood shed with the half door and the iron block out front. Perfect coloration of browns, a testament to its weathering of time well.
    And, thank you for mining your archives! Much appreciated.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I really should do that, Sherry. I used to upload my pictures to Flickr, but I stopped for a while and then just never started back. I can usually tell where the photo was taken from the date, or from the context of the photos near it. Some of these are from 20 years ago and remain a mystery.

      I loved your collection today!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  28. Not knowing the location of these is kind of fun, though–you can make up your own stories. Did your friend open his store? That space is huge!
    The boat building is a pretty one. I wonder how difficult it is to build something like that–with all that ’roundness,’ you know?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • The store was open for a while. His business (hardware store) wasn’t doing well. This was the third location he tried. The Boat Building is pretty. I don’t imagine it was easy to build, and it wasn’t a very practical use of the space. But, it’s a city icon now.

      Like

      Reply

    • I’m sure Abbie could locate all these buildings in less than a minute apiece, but my software is less capable. Maybe I just need a bigger coffee (or whatever it is she drinks).

      Red doors are the best, and you have some great ones!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  30. Hi Dan, I’m back with a trip to Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, which is right near Circular Quay and ferry central. You can have a bit of a laugh at my expense as I struggled to find the way into the gallery only to find it was closed and I wasn’t meant to get in but being a contemporary art gallery, I thought they were being clever. Oh well. We live and learn.
    Here’s the link: https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/2023/02/03/visiting-the-museum-of-contemporary-art-sydney/
    Thanks again for hosting!
    Best wishes,
    Rowena

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • That’s amazing! Not only that you could find this article, but that it’s in Somers. The article mentions the Somerville Manufacturing plant. When I operated my cabinet shop (1985-86) I rented space for the shop in small building that had been part of Somerville Manufacturing. Now I understand when I took these photos. It was when a friend from England was visiting. I took him to see where my shop had been. I also took him into Hartford (which is why this is in the archive with the Boat Building). Thank you so much!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    • More excellent sleuth work on your part, Manja. I can’t remember why I was in Georgetown. Maybe I was going through there, or maybe I was there for a meeting of an association I belong to. They used to have meetings all over New England. Thanks you again!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  39. The Reed name on the cafe/restauraunt has me wondering on the part of Iowa you visited. My grandmother(Inez’sClippings) was a Reed. I’m sure there are a ton of them and would be cool to read (not trying to pun) that sign. Nice archive finds this week!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  42. The yellow house with its two red brick chimney’s is nice. I love that Free Public Library! It would be my “go to” if I lived near it. I love walking up to it every time. I am curious about how it is set up inside and what it what original stuff is still there.
    That tower and bay window are just lovely.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  45. […] Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2023/02/02/from-deep-in-the-archive/ […]

    Like

    Reply

    • Thanks Bruce. It turns out, The Free Public Library is in Somers, CT. Thank Manja (from Italy) for figuring that out. Her comments and my reaction are listed above. I think it operates as a part time museum. I hope to find my way back on a day when it’s open.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  49. Am still in disarray from the flight we took to California … flights have always been fun for me, but it seemed “everyone” was in a hurry or frustrated – oh, not to forget just before take off the lady sitting one row behind me thought she had a heart attack (and had 2 triple bypasses before) – it was eye-opening, so see a doctor on board at work , making quick decisions and involving the passengers “I need 2 nitrate- anyone? and I need a high 3.25 asperine, water “- at the speed of you reading it!
    – so no door today, but that does not prevent me what you found – I love the shape (am certain there is a name for it) of the second barn on the right!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  54. This is quite a collection of doors, Dan. If only I could find some treasure trove of doors like that and participate again🙂.
    I wanted to ask you about the drive- do you move your pictures to a external hard disk drive? I’ve been getting messages too, that I’m out of storage.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Smitha. Any old door works for us. We have plenty of posts that are one door amongst pictures of other things. Your posts are always interesting.

      I move the photos from my camera to my laptop, and then, after a while, to an external drive. They are also on a backup drive. I also retain the SD cards. The drive I used here, is a My Cloud device made by Western Digital. It’s much more functional than a backup drive.

      Moving photos from my iPhone to this device is not the easiest thing. I finally resorted to connecting my phone to my laptop and moving them manually. Then I had to go back and delete the photos from the phone, which I’m still doing because you have to select them in groups. I wish I could select “all within a range” but no such luck.

      Like

      Reply

      • That sounds great. I’d love to participate again with the picture of a door. I’m a little wary about taking pictures of doors in our area with so much security everywhere and embassies all around ( I got called off once). And so, I gave up.

        Thank you, Dan, for letting me know how to go about moving the photographs. I need to clear the pictures and videos from my phone to make space.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

    • If they had bologna in stock, I’m sure they would make it. They have daily specials, announced in advance, but when they’re gone, they’re gone (just like Mom’s place). Like most restaurants, they struggled during/after the pandemic, but they seem to be back in business.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • I remember how many trips and doors posts were from Massachusetts. BTW, I keep thinking of Norm. It would be wonderful if you did a doors post on his favorites, or if he came to the bar to talk about his doors….just thinking. Best to you, Dan.

        Like

        Reply

Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation. Markdown is supported.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.