Show Us A Picture You've Taken Of Something Unusual, Uncommon or Strange

JonDouglas said:
I suspect there are few places in the world where you see 4 giant frogs as adornments on bridge pillars and where those pillars are giant spools of thread. Such, though, is what's found on a bridge in Willimantic, CT.

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Aside from being needed as a river crossing, the bridge is somewhat a memorial to the great Frog Wars of 1754 when a large number of these amphibia died a mysterious and cacophonous death. According to records and legend, settlers in the area were awakened by the scary noise and thought it was the French and Indians coming to the town and killing residents. It was later thought the frogs were fighting each other for the favors of female frogs. In any event, the bridge is at coordinates 41.710516, -72.209206.
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Been over this bridge, Jon. Our son and his family live nearby in Colchester and we've spent quite a bit of time in southeastern Conn.
 

Giant Frogs in Willimantic

"The story behind the giant frogs on the bridge: In the mid-1700s, local Windham-ites were awakened by a horrible flood of noises, a sort of bellowing and shrieking that seemed to come directly from above. The townspeople were terrified. This was during the French and Indian War, and many of the able-bodied men were up north engaged in battles. Many of those who remained in town thought the hideous noises were the war-whoops of local Indian tribes preparing to overrun the village, raping and killing everyone in sight. Others took a more spiritual tack, convincing themselves the horrible noises were from heaven and judgement day was at hand. Townspeople ran out of their homes (in various stages of undress) alternately shooting up into the air at an unseen enemy or falling to their knees in fervent prayer".

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A Strange Old Mill: There is something unusual about this old mill building.

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What's strange is the mill tower. Most old mills have a tower with a clock in them. This one has no clock and looks more like a huge, tall, barn cupola rather than a mill tower. Posted as private property, I did not intrude. Rather, I went across the street and launched the drone for a better look.

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There was nothing new to see from roof level other than what looked like concrete boxes laying all over the property. A little research showed a Doody Burual Vault Co. was or had been at this location. If the business has not gone under like so many others, I will go up and ask about the tower and seek permission to launch the drone on their property. The urge to say, "Howdy" will be strong but I will resist, however difficult it may be.
 
When A Mansion Becomes A Music School: Sometime In the mid 1800s, the Reverend Nathaniel E. Thayer’s wealthy sons constructed a palatial Victorian mansion on family property in Lancaster, Massachusetts. It supposedly had largest formal hall and staircase in all of New England. Around 1902, architect Ogden Codman (designer of the famed "Breakers" in Newport) redesigned the house in the Georgian Revival style. I posed the redhead in front of the place last year.

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In 1942, the now-defunct Atlantic Union College bought the building and it served in various capacities until 1972 when it essentially became the college's music department. In 2018, after Atlantic Union College closed, the Youth Ensemble of New England, a non-profit organization, began leasing the Thayer Mansion and running it as a school of music. Today, I stopped by the mansion and took some aerial photos. Below is one

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I don't know how many mansions have gone from manse to college building to music department to private, non-profit music school but it can't be many.
 
Here's something that hasn't been seen much since the early 1900s - an Autoped.

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This is a 1915-era, fold-up, gasoline powered scooter that I photographed in the basement of a (deceased) wealthy couple's carriage house. Autopeds were built from 1915 to 1922 by the Autoped Company of Long Island City, NY. Some period advertising of this scoot would suggest it was sold to and used by women of means and spirit. Indeed, one such woman was Isabel Anderson, who owned the above scooter and was a total, adventurous gearhead (that's a compliment, ladies). Below is a painting of said adventuress and a photo of some woman riding an Autoped.

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If you didn't know this before, you do now - scooters, including powered ones, are not a new thing. Oh, and women who ride them (or motorcycles) are cool like their scoots.
 
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Clyde: How often do you see a 12 ft. hobby horse like this?

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This horse is named "Clyde" and is located at coordinates 42.681904, -72.0533. The genesis of this horse goes back to the sick daughter of collar box maker Morton Converse. To make his daughter feel better, Converse made her a tea set from a collar box. Workers at his factory liked it so much they made them for their children and thus, a toy factory was born that became one of the world's largest at the time, employing nearly 1,000 workers. In 1914, Converse made a large replica of his most popular product (rocking horses) for the town's 150th anniversary. That was Clyde I, which eventually fell apart over the years, as did Clyde II. Clyde III, shown above, was built on the original base but made of fiberglass constructed to the shape of the original Clyde. As for the toy company, Converse's playboy son wanted his money, not the company, and sold it in 1934 after Morton died. Today there are no more toy companies in that town.
 
i take a lot of different kinds of photos, Nature, our furry family members, the sky all hours of day and night. When i first got a digital cameral i noticed that 'light artifacts seemed more common with it. So i even experimented with making them part of photos. But this one had me stumped. i was leaning against the side of my then home on north end of Laramie, WY to keep steady while taking shots of the moon (had way too many that were squiggly lines or multiple orbs overlapping. But this one, i can't figure how the arc could be so smooth, i certainly could never replicate the effect despite trying to do so:

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Want A College? There's one for sale that's been closed and mostly abandoned for several years now. I went on campus and took several aerial pictures, two of which are below.

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As you can see, the grounds and buildings appear to be well maintained. I believe I once read that it could be yours for the paltry sum of $10 Million.

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It's not that often that you see an entire college for sale.
 
Building a set of towers to honor your father's childhood friend is not something common. Below is the remaining tower built by Stephen Salisbury III in 1900 to honor George Bancroft.


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George Bancroft was a politician, historian, educator and statesman. As Secretary of the Navy, Bancroft established the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. MD. The tower is located at coordinates 42.276492, -71.815924.
 
These pictures were taken at the Hoboken (N.J.) waterfront park and were taken about 3 - 4 seconds apart. The first one was to my right in the direction of the park entrance. I was standing in the exact same spot when I took the next picture but facing slightly left. Puts a whole new spin on the term "partly cloudy".
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