Customer Reviews

The Buildings of Main Street: A Guide to American Commercial Architecture (American Association for State and Local History)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're interested in small commercial buildings from the late 1800s through the mid 1900s, then this is a good survey. The author presents a classification system and points out common themes (such as almost all theaters had vertical signs). Background information is plentiful but terse, although the sections on more modern building styles (1930 on) seem to get a short shrift. Maybe pricey for what you get - then again, I find myself refering to it a lot. A little more text and more / larger photos might have pushed it to five stars.

Longstreth develops a usable classification system for 19th and 20th century commercial architecture, that works in real-world situations. Examples shown are ones that we've all seen on our own "Main Streets". This provides a useful basis for survey, evaluation, historic designation, rehabilitation, and other preservation decisions about historic commerical architecture.