Subterranean Thoughts from the White Board - Oct 16

I had the wonderful opportunity yesterday morning to go underneath the Marion Hotel, one of Ogden's older and more storied buildings.  My wife works for one of the business owners who occupy shops that front the structure.  I told her (my wife's boss) about my midterm assignment for my Public History course (the one where I do research on buildings on 25th Street) and she told me that she was having some plumbing work done (this conversation was a week or so back) and would have access to the basement of the Marion, which in years past had housed in its depths illegal boot-legging dens and probably prostitution activities as well.  She offered me the chance to go, and I jumped at it.

The Marion Hotel was built in 1910.  This photo is from a few years back, based on the shops I can see.  It looks a bit nicer now, since Ogden City has been trying to spruce up 25th Street for the tourist trade and the business market. / Source: UtahHomeFinder.com

I got up a bit late on Monday morning, but still managed to get down to the Marion in time to join the plumber on his trip down into the depths.  It was... amazing.  The underground portion of the Marion is a maze of large rooms that continually branch off into small alcoves and cells. It's all decrepit and falling apart to some degree.  And there are some really odd things, like a pair of pool cues sticking out of a couple of bore holes in one wall in what have once been a billiard hall, or the boxes of apparently abandoned vintage toys in a small partially sheet-rocked room near the entrance stairs.  No, to answer your your unstated question, I didn't touch either, but left both pool cues and old toys as I found them.  I'm a historian, not a grave robber.

Luckily for me, there were overhead lights in most of the spaces down there, so I was able to navigate most of the place in safety.  There were a couple of spaces that were completely unlit, and seeing as I had forgotten my flashlight at home (but not my camera, of course), I didn't venture into those areas, but instead stuck the camera in as far as I dared and snapped off a photo or two.  With greater or lesser degrees of success, I might add.  A couple of great photos of an old bathroom, and a snapshot of 2x4 supports and blank concrete wall.  The one set was great, the other... underwhelming.

This was, to my way of thinking, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see something that few people get to see, and most probably don't appreciate when they do (to the plumber it is just another dirty and cobweb-festooned basement after all - nothing against him though, I appreciated his generosity in letting me tag along very much, and would give his work a recommendation if I could recall the name on the side of his truck... oops).  Anyway, the point is, it was awesome, and I'm sure the pictures I took will be highly appreciated by the Special Collections Department up at Weber State's Stewart Library, to whom the photos are promised.  Of course, I intend to keep my digital copy for myself too.  And in days to come, I might share a select few on this blog.  But I have much homework to do first, before I can get around to that.  So hang in there, folks.

Good times.  Now if I can just get the persistent feeling of a chest cold out of my lungs, I'll be ok.  Three hours down in that bad air was not good for me, I think.  I'll probably be coming down sick within the next couple of days.  Still, as long as it doesn't kill me, it was worth it.

Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person we become. - Jim Rohn

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do. - Henry Ford

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. - Will Rogers

If you really want something in life you have to work for it. Now quiet, they're about to announce the lottery numbers. - Homer Simpson

The parting comment:

Source: LolSnaps.com

 This is just one more reason why I rarely read books with covers and pages.  And one more reason why I don't want a cat.  Though I must say, our dog Sadie sure could be swapped out for this yellow-eyed fiend.  She (our dog) likes to be right there when you have a hand hanging free so she can lick and nudge it in a vain effort to get somebody to pet her.  Hmmm...  You know, that cat's yellow devil eyes are giving me the creeps.  Look deep into those soulless pits and you'll see the Ninth circle of Hell in there.  Some cats are truly evil.  Especially when they interrupt you in the middle of a good book.  Which is why I don't read books with covers and pages that often.  Say, this is starting to feel like an endless loop!  Somebody help me, I'm trapped in this line of thought!!