Well, it finally happened. I became a television star. I’m recognized on the streets and I have a loyal fan base (consisting solely of my  wife, parents and grandparents).  I think “star” might be an exaggeration. Perhaps “some random guy on public access” is a better term. How ever it’s defined, it was my first time on television and it was actually pretty cool.

The producer of the Springfield5 station saw the pictures I made for the Springfield, Ohio: A Glimpse of the Past collection and asked me to present them. It was a lot of fun sharing some of the history I learned about Springfield, Ohio. I’ve received a lot of great feedback from people, especially from those who remember when downtown Springfield was bustling. It was also fun seeing myself on tv though it was painfully obvious why I never perused a career in front of the camera.

In case you don’t happen to catch it on Springfield5, they posted it on their YouTube channel

I have a lot more pictures in that collection with several projects I haven’t even started yet so hopefully I get a chance to do it again in the near future.

I had blast making the photographs from my Past and Present Photographs of Springfield Ohio post. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve built a collection that I’m calling Springfield, Ohio: A Glimpse of the Past. I do a lot of walking around downtown and I find myself wondering what the buildings and streets used look like many years ago. To me, these pictures are a way to see that.

The collection can be viewed here. I’ll be adding more regularly so please stop by again.

I’ve recently become a history geek when it comes to my hometown of Springfield, Ohio. Over the past couple of years I’ve built a digital collection of old photographs of Springfield from various sources. Several of the structures and buildings in the pictures I found (some nearly a century old) are still here. I love taking on photography projects and I wanted to present theses old photos in a way that that showed how the buildings and structures have changed over the years. Inspired by Dear Photograph and the work of  photographer Sergey Larenkov, I Photoshopped the old photos with pictures I took of the current locations.

The Fairbanks Building:

Constructed in 1906, The Fairbanks Building housed The Fairbanks Hotel, The Fairbanks Theater and a number of store fronts. Later, after the hotel closed, the rooms were converted to office space. The Fairbanks Building is now called the National City Bank Building which houses PNC Bank (who acquired National City) and a number of other businesses. The area where the theater was has been converted to office space as well.

The Pennsylvania House:

The Pennsylvania House was built in 1838-1839 and served as tavern and inn for travelers on the National Road. In 1939, the old tavern was purchased by the Lagonda Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and operated as a museum. The old photograph I found of this location is dated 1967. In 2005, The Pennsylvania House began an extensive restoration. The Pennsylvania House is still open to visitors throughout most of the year.

The NW Corner of High and Center:

The picture I found was dated sometime in the late 1950′s. During that time, on this corner resided a pharmacy (directly behind the man walking in the picture) followed by a carpet and linoleum store, the Delscamp Paint Store, then finally the Tecumseh Building. The pharmacy is now the Senior Services CARE facility, the carpet and linoleum store is now the furniture store Bloomingdeals with apartments above, Delscamp has been converted loft condominiums and  the Tecumseh Build has sat vacant since the mid 1980′s and I very badly want to explore it.