Author: David B. Williams

Castle Car Wash: Limestone? Sandstone?

I have long had an interest in strange little buildings made of stone, as evidenced by my obsession with the petrified wood gas station in Lamar, Colorado, thus I am happy to report on a recent discovery of mine. It is another odd rock-clad structure, this time in the North Lawndale section of Chicago. The building has held various names and businesses but seems most often to be called the Castle Car Wash.

Photo by David G. Clark (His web site has more info on the building.)

Castle Car Wash began life in 1925 as the John J. Murphy Gas Station. Murphy had purchased the triangular property on the corner of S. Hamlin Street and W. Ogden Way in 1924. According to a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) nomination written in 2005, Murphy sold gas from 1927 to 1964. The property sold in 1970 and variety of gas stations, auto repair shops, and towing companies filled the premises until it evolved/degenerated into the Castle Car Wash in the late 1970s.

Murphy built the station on Ogden Avenue to exploit the road’s recent designation as US Highway 66, better known as Route 66, which terminated a few miles east of Murphy’s business near the shore of Lake Michigan. The early days of Route 66 were an exciting time as Americans began to rev up and hit the road. Between 1920 and 1930 the number of gas stations exploded from 15,000 to 124,000. By 1927, more than 20 stations dotted Ogden Avenue, along with garages, repairs shops, and dealers.

As I quoted in my chapter in Stories in Stone about Lamar’s filling station, “The gas station…is undoubtedly the most widespread type of commercial building in America,” wrote Daniel Vieyra in Fill er’ Up: An Architectural History of America’s Gas Stations. What had begun merely as a way to distribute gas, evolved into the full-scale sales and service center so familiar to the American roadside.

Vieyra breaks station designs down into four recurring themes. Most elegant were the Respectful buildings, which often resembled a Greek temple. Functional buildings catered to a motorist’s sense of efficiency, as exemplified by the simple, streamlined box. Domestic stations satisfied those seeking a more familiar or rustic look, such as an English or Tudor-inspired building. Domestic, Functional, and Respectful buildings did share one common theme; large companies designed them to foster a corporate image.

Some station owners eschewed corporate branding and endeavored to attract motorists with whimsy. They built stations out of old planes and modeled them after lighthouses and windmills. They made them look like tank cars, oversized gas pumps, Brobdignagian oil cans, and colossal shells. Vieyra labels this architectural style Fantastic and delineates its golden age as 1920 to 1935.

No one knows what inspired Murphy in his design but his little “castle” is definitely Fantastic, though the NRHP nomination describes it as Late Gothic Revival. The stone veneer building, with its corner tower topped by a crenellated parapet, must have been quite the sight in its glory days.

Photo used courtesy Charles Leeks

From a geological point of view, I cannot determine what stone was used on the building. It is clearly a heterogenous mix and I have been told that some of the rock is Salem Limestone but I have not seen such gray and yellowish blocks of Salem. Some of the blocks could come from limestone quarries in Joliet and Lemont, however, I am not familiar with what color stone comes from those sites. (Any observations that anyone has would be great.)

Photo used courtesy Charles Leeks

Like many other older, whimsical buildings, Murphy’s station has suffered through vacancy and minimal upkeep. And what has been done hasn’t been good, including boarding up windows and removal of the parapet, apparently for safety concerns. A recent survey has revealed that the castle is the only Late Gothic Revival station remaining on Route 66. In response, Landmarks Illinois, a non-profit devoted to historic preservation, listed the castle on their Chicagoland Watchlist in 2008.

Photo from Landmarks Illinois web site. Photo by Janine Wilkosz

Fortunately, the stone gas station building has apparently been protected, at least for now. A new owner has plans to open it as a restaurant and has hired an architect to help with restoration. The roof has been replaced and the building cleaned and tuck pointed, though the parapet is still gone. I do hope it will be preserved; the castle is a unique reference back to an important era not just of Chicago’s history but of our country’s history when the automobile was just beginning its long run into the fabric of our lives.

One last note, in researching John J. Murphy’s wonderful little gas station, I have discovered that North Lawndale is famous for its stone buildings, most of which were made from Salem Limestone. I plan to follow up soon with further information.

Writing a Book: Part 4, Promotion

Ah, sweet joy. Your new book is out in the world. Now, you can sit back, relax, and let the reviews, acclaim, and cash roll in. If only life were so wonderful and you could take some well-deserved rest after book publication, but unless you are Mr. King, Ms. Steele, or Mr. Gladwell, you will still have much work to do, particularly if you want others to read and buy your book.

Promoting Stories in Stone began long before it arrived in book stores. My first attempts at drumming up interest in the book began with social media. I started this blog and set up Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Obviously, I have kept working on the blog, figuring that each posting has the potential to attract someone new who might be interested in the book. I also write the blog because I enjoy it and am still a bit nutty about building stone. Facebook and LinkedIn have required less work, but still I had to seek out people and try to create connections to them. I know that using social media has been very successful for some people, who set up elaborate tours through their contacts.

I was fortunate that my publisher sent Uncorrected Proofs out to a long list of potential reviewers, such as newspapers, magazines, and radio shows. (For those not familiar with this edition, also referred to as a review copy or bound galley, it is basically a cheap paperback edition of the book, and about the last time a writer can make changes in the book.) Sending out the proofs does not guarantee a review as newspaper book review editors often receive dozens and dozens of books every week. These review books usually come several months before the book is published.

I also came up with my own list of specialized places for book reviews, such as science, stone, and architecture magazines. I continue to keep my eyes open for new places for reviews, and then ask my publisher to send hard bound copies of the book. Other outlets for potential promotion and reviews include talk radio, newsletters, blogs, and web sites, all of which require me to find and contact them. I have had some success with this though more often I have gotten no response. (And there are the games you can try to play with amazon.com, such as asking all of your friends to write reviews.)

I was lucky that I had the time and interest to do this. I have other writer friends who have hired people, generally college students, to be their publicist. This tactic still required the author to do work, such as approve promotional copy.

In addition to sending out the bound galleys, my publisher asked me to come up with a list of names of people that they could send a promotional postcard to. The idea being that if I knew the person, they might be more likely to look at the postcard and buy the book. The list was supposed to have 2,000 names. I was happy I could scrape together 400 or so.

Then there are the book readings. My publisher did some work on this but basically I set up all the readings that took place. I did not travel much for the book, though I tried to set up an east coast tour but it fell through. I had to come up with a list of stores, find contacts, contact them, pick a date, and try to spread the word about the reading. I didn’t and haven’t limited myself to bookstores, which can be hit or miss. (At one book signing, I was tucked into a small chair with a very small sign alerting people to me. The only interested parties were family members. This was also the same store that when I arrived the owner asked me if I had brought copies of the book to sell, which made me think, “Isn’t this a bookstore and isn’t that what you do?”)

In regard to bookstores, I know one author who regularly goes into stores and introduces himself to the staff. He offers to sign the books and if the store doesn’t carry the book, gently lets the staff know about the book. Of course, there is always the tactic of taking your book from its lowly, hidden spot and putting it in a more prominent location.

I have found better success by targeting my talks to groups that have regular meetings, such as geology department seminars, geology groups, and other interested clubs, which leads to a more guaranteed audience. (Another advantage is that I sell my books at the readings, which provides a little additional income.) I generally tailor my talk to such groups. For instance, on April 22 I will be giving a talk at the Rick Steves Travel Classes about building stone in Italy.

As some readers know, I also set up a virtual book tour, where I contacted other bloggers. I asked them to read the book and review it or set up some way for me to connect with their readers through my book. This was a great way to get the word out to others, including to a few blogs that had nothing to do with geology or stone.

Getting the word out on my book has been an on going process. It can be frustrating and challenging but I knew that if I didn’t do it no one would. I realized this the first time I saw a previous book of mine spine out in a bookstore and wondered how would anyone find my little book amid so many other books. I did do the simple thing of pulling my book out so people could see the cover but that was just the beginning. Good luck.