An Afternoon In Blue Ridge

Recently, we were fortunate enough to spend a few days with some great friends at their cabin in the Georgia Mountains.  It was a much needed escape from the Atlanta heat.  We got to really disconnect, and enjoy each others’ company.  One afternoon we took a drive into the town of Blue Ridge, Georgia.  I saw some interesting things I wanted to share with you.  Click on the photos to see a larger image.

This is the town’s police station.  When it was originally built it was the City Hall.  I really like the stone in this building.  It has the right mix of refinement and roughness to make it really charming.  The building also has a great tile roof.

The train station was built in 1906, and still serves as a station.  These days the train goes on a “tourist loop” around the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I have always loved the proportions and simplicity of early twentieth century commercial buildings.

This coffee house was originally built in 1926 as The Fannin County Bank. This facade is much more dressed up than the previous example, but you can see the same great sense of proportion.

I am by no means a car guy, but it is easy to appreciate the design that went into classic automobiles.  We saw this great service station, and chatted with the owner.  He was busy restoring these cars.   Behind the garage doors were a Ford Model T and a Ford Model A that were being reconstructed.   It is easy to see how industrial and automotive design had a great deal of influence in architecture, and vice versa.  You can see some of the same forms, colors and details typical of these cars in the Art Deco Buildings of South Beach, Miami.

 This poor guy reminded me of the Constitution Building in Downtown Atlanta.  The Constitution Building is one of the few examples of the Streamline Moderne style of architecture in Atlanta.  It is easy to see how it was once great, and now it needs someone to rescue and restore it.  This car was fortunate enough to find someone to do just that, but will the Constitution Building have the same good fortune?

You can see the Constitution Building in the background of this still from AMC’s “The Walking Dead”… Unfortunately, they did not really have to do anything to it to make it look as if it had been through the zombie apocalypse…

These are some other images of the Constitution Building as it now stands.  I invite you to join the Atlanta Preservation Center,  and Docomomo Georgia as they work to find a way to save the building and find a new life for it.

Finally, I leave you with an image of a whimsical bench swing.  It brought a smile to my face and reminded me of childhood trips to the Florida Keys.

Thanks for visiting!