Retiring Guy's Digest

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Then and Now: The Edgewater Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin: You don't mess with a classic art moderne building

From Retiring Guy's postcard collection

(mid-1960s)

Opened in 1948. Remodeled in 2014.

What the building looks like today

Other Madison Then and Now posts:
2019
North and south of the Beltline and east of West Towne Mall. (4/30/2019)
North and south of the Beltline in the West Towne Mall area. (4/2/2019)
Beltline, Whitney Way, Odana Road, and University Research Park. (3/5/2019)
652 State Street. (3/5/2019)

2015
City-County Building. (9/1/2015)
Veterans Administration Hospital. (8/27/2015)
The Red Gym: When will the unobstructed view return?  ()7/22/2015)
UW-Madison College of Agriculture. (7/22/2015)
Wisconsin State Historical Society. (7/21/2015)
UW-Madison Memorial Union.  (7/21/2015)

2013
240 West Gilman.  (9/6/2013)
North Carroll Street between West Johnson and West Gorham. (9/5/2013)
East Mifflin & North Pinckney. (8/30/2013)

Then and Now: Middleton Public Library, 1990 and 2019 (part 1)

The first photo was taken around the time of the dedication of the new Middleton Public Library in April 1990.

Photos by Retiring Guy

On the countertop of the reference desk you'll find (from left to right)

reproducible federal and state income tax forms
Books in Print, then an essential title in a reference collection
Lists of fiction and nonfiction best sellers
clunky Compaq desktop computer (everything saved to a floppy disk, if I recall)
telephone
keyboard and the edge of a Geac library management system monitor. (An online public access catalog was still 4 years away. The card catalog is to the right of the frame.)

In the background, from left to right:

revolving audiocassette display (collection eliminated in mid 2000s)
seating area
3 ranges of reference collection shelving (behind reference desk)
pamphlet files (tan file drawers beyond reference collection)
back issues of magazines (first range of tall shelving)
fiction collection (next two ranges)
large-print books (tall shelving at right; young adult books shelves on other side)

In the fall of 2003, the library expanded into 10,000 square feet of previously unfinished space on the lower level. (We never called it the basement.) The following services and collections are located here:

reference desk and collection (the latter greatly reduced since 1990)
computer lab
study rooms
adult nonfiction
current and back issues of magazines and newspapers

The iconic elevator tower was designed to provide ease of access between the main and lower levels.

During this project, the main level underwent a thorough remodeling and freshening up. (Goodbye, mauve.)

Population loss in rural Oklahoma: Jefferson County

Population loss as in major -- 50% or more.

Source: Wikipedia (Jefferson County, Waurika)

Waurika is the county seat of Jefferson County.

Population loss by degrees: 80-89%, 70-79%, 60-69%, 50-59%.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts

Percentage of population 25 and older with a bachelor's degree:

12.5% - Jefferson County
24.8% - Oklahoma
30.9% - U.S.

Percentage of population 65 and older:

20.8% - Jefferson County
15.3% - Oklahoma
15.6% - U.S.

The last time Jefferson County voted for a Democratic candidate for president was in 1996, when Bill Clinton won a 2nd term. In 1964, LBJ beat Barry Goldwater by 51.8 percentage points, and third-party candidate George Wallace received 22.6% of the vote in 1968.