Merchant's Row II - A Magnuson Kit.

[ACL1504]

I'll share a little family history here as well as some paint schemes on old Victorian structures.

My mother was born and raised in Vandalia, IL. Vandalia was the Capital of Illinois from 1819 to 1839. State Senator, Abe. Lincoln, petitioned the state to move the capital to Springfield in 1839.

The Old State House is, to this day, the oldest standing building in Illinois. It was built in 1836.



I last visited Vandalia, Il. in 2016. My younger sister and I gave the Vandalia Historical Society two land grant documents. One was dated 1840 and was titled to my Great, Great Grand Father Simeon Perkins. The Land Grant was for 40 acres and signed by President Martin Van Buren.

The second Land Grant was for Simeon Perkins, the same person, for 60 acres, and signed by Franklin Pierce in 1855.

Instead of keeping them here in a box, we felt they should be given to the Historical Society. I had the two signatures verified and took a huge tax deduction for the donation instead of selling them.

[ACL1504]

Across from the Old State House, is a three story structure that served as a wayside tavern/ hotel for visitors. It was built by a Mr. M. Hall in 1867. The building leans to the right. You can see how much it leans if you place a straight edge next to the lower bricks.

The door in the center on the second floor, lead to a balcony.

I like the color as it looks like a dark peach. The beige trim with the white window trim go well as three colors. I'll try to use this color on one of the Merchant's Row stores.

[ACL1504]

To the right of the Hall structure is an old Victorian Store. It is know as the Jerauld Building, built in 1892. It was, in 2016, painted all gray on the front. I wonder what wonderful colors were on it when built in 1892.

[ACL1504]

The photo below shows two more old Victorian Stores. The one on the left is the Jacob Fauke Building, built in 1891.

The store on the right was built by my Great Grand Father in 1892 and is know as the Perkin's Block.

It seems like more gray paint on these two, but the is some color to offset the gray.






According to my mother, her Grand Father, Simeon Perkins lived up stairs with his family. I spoke to the local historian in Vandalia and was told that both of these building were modernized with new lower store fronts sometime in the 1930's.

When Simeon died, his son, Ben Perkins took over and opened Perkin's Hardware on the left side. The center door lead to the upstairs.

[friscomike]

Howdy Tom,

Cool photos and memories.  Thanks for posting.

Have fun,
mike

[ACL1504]

In the early 1920's, my mother's Uncle, Ben Perkins, had a house built some three blocks from the Perkins Block Building. The house had no garage and what is now the garage was the carriage house and was open ended. Later, one end was closed in. There was no connection from the house to the garage as seen in the photo below.

In 1962 I stayed in the house for the last time. There was no deck around the front and side. The house-garage connection was not built then either. We stayed in the upper right bedroom. The two windows on the roof are attic windows.

The house now has vinyl siding and was white with green door and window trim in 1962.

[ACL1504]

Howdy Tom,

Cool photos and memories.  Thanks for posting.

Have fun,
mike

Mike, Howdy,

Thanks Mike, still having fun.

Tom

[deemery]

The Hall bldg looks like the brick was painted.  That was relatively common even back in the late 1800s.  The legacy colors on the upper stories on the Perkins building(s) is interesting to see.  I wonder when that was last painted, the colors look authentic but the paint is in much better condition than I'd expect for 100 year old paint...

dave

[ACL1504]

Dave,

Great info on the Testor's. I've used the squadron green in the past and didn't really care for the results.

I have no history on the paint. Mom said it was white as far as she remembers. She was born in 1918.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I decided to paint MR2 also. For the end store, I used Tamiya Light Sand. I taped and sprayed.

[ACL1504]

After spraying the rear wall section, I noticed a small gap in the wall where they were glued together.

When the paint cures, I'll used the plastic putty to fix it and then spray the putty.

[Rick]

Tom, thanks for the town tour.
Should give you good ideas on paint schemes.

[GPdemayo]

Enjoying the trip down memory lane, great photos Tom.....

[Jerry]

Hey Tom interesting history lesson.  I bet it brings back some nice memories.
I like the paint color on this building a lot.

Jerry

[PRR Modeler]

Doing great things Tpom.