Posted: 8/17/2013 4:29:04 PM EDT
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Tonight's featured avatar belongs to the member, BillythePoet - a member of the site since 2008. 
His avatar is that of Bannerman Castle, located on Pollepel Island in the Hudson River about 50 miles north of New York City. 
Now, to understand the castle, we'll need to learn about the man that it is named after - Francis Bannerman. 
Francis Bannerman was born in Dundee Scotland in 1851 and immigrated with his parents to the United States in 1854. The family began a military surplus business at the end of the Civil War and engaged in the business of buying and selling for decades while at the 500 block of Broadway in NYC. The business expanded in a huge way at the end of the Spanish American War. Bannerman's published an illustrated catalog which eventually expanded to over 300 pages. 
At this time, Francis Bannerman experienced a problem that many Arfcommers hope to have one day - he didn't have enough room for all of his surplus equipment, weapons and an estimated 30 million rounds of ammunition. So, he did what any enterprising businessman would do - he bought a small island for use as a storage facility. He purchased the island in 1900 and arranged for a castle to be built on site. The building went on for years, storing his surplus finds. If it hasn't dawned on you yet, Frank had created the ultimate ammo fort! 
Frank Bannerman died in 1918. In 1920, there was an explosion on a part of the island of over 200 tons of powder and shells which destroyed part of the complex. Sales gradually declined until the island and castle were purchased by New York state in 1967. In 1969, there was a fire which destroyed the roof and floors of the castle leaving it as a ruin. Some of the walls and structure have recently collapsed. However, it is still possible to arrange for a guided tour. 
....and now you know. 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Previously featured avatars: Maccrage Substandard 4v50 Vengarr Wwace amos1909 |
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I never realized that was Bannerman's castle, cool. It has been claimed by some that the castle was built using poor grade concrete, which aided in it's demise over time. The story goes that arms smugglers were using barrels of cement mix to hide guns and ammo in. The smugglers were caught and the barrels of cement mix were bought by Bannerman. Bannerman also used old musket barrels as rebar in some of the construction. He took the Scottish stereotype to the max, anything to save a penny. |
I think there's a lot of stuff in the Hudson that he just dumped there. It was the first (boatless) boating accident. 
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First one of these I've seen. Thanks for the heads up. I had my Vonnegut avatar for a few years and then I ran across an article, about Bannerman, in Shotgun News. It appealed to me on multiple levels, aesthetically and as a symbol of a bygone era. I also felt sure that Bannerman would have been an arfcommer, had he been born a few generations later.
eta: The castle avatar has seemed to make my username a little hard for some "to get", lol. It made more sense with the old avatar, as I am not poet... |
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Quoted:
I never realized that was Bannerman's castle, cool. It has been claimed by some that the castle was built using poor grade concrete, which aided in it's demise over time. The story goes that arms smugglers were using barrels of cement mix to hide guns and ammo in. The smugglers were caught and the barrels of cement mix were bought by Bannerman. Bannerman also used old musket barrels as rebar in some of the construction. He took the Scottish stereotype to the max, anything to save a penny. I lived in Scotland for four years, and even the Scotsmen joked that they had "short arms and deep pockets." 
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Quoted:
First one of these I've seen. Thanks for the heads up. I had my Vonnegut avatar for a few years and then I ran across an article, about Bannerman, in Shotgun News. It appealed to me on multiple levels, aesthetically and as a symbol of a bygone era. I also felt sure that Bannerman would have been an arfcommer, had he been born a few generations later. My pleasure. Your avatar was one of those "I wonder what the heck that is" avatars that I've been seeing. It's interesting getting the background info on them. ...and yes, Bannerman would have been an Arfcommer. Except all of his posts would have been in the EE. |
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Quoted:
My pleasure. Your avatar was one of those "I wonder what the heck that is" avatars that I've been seeing. It's interesting getting the background info on them. ...and yes, Bannerman would have been an Arfcommer. Except all of his posts would have been in the EE. Quoted:
Quoted:
First one of these I've seen. Thanks for the heads up. I had my Vonnegut avatar for a few years and then I ran across an article, about Bannerman, in Shotgun News. It appealed to me on multiple levels, aesthetically and as a symbol of a bygone era. I also felt sure that Bannerman would have been an arfcommer, had he been born a few generations later. My pleasure. Your avatar was one of those "I wonder what the heck that is" avatars that I've been seeing. It's interesting getting the background info on them. ...and yes, Bannerman would have been an Arfcommer. Except all of his posts would have been in the EE. Good thing tea comes off of touchscreens easier than keyboards, or you would owe me one... |
