Hidden Trolley Lurking Within Old Building

We've often talked about find artifacts inside of an old house. Today's story puts a new spin on that concept.

Bill and Sharon Krapil bought some property last year in Weyauwega, Wisconsin. The lot included an old building that they planned to knock down. But as they began that process, it turned out that the building, as you can see above, had been built around a 1905 trolley, which served as the core of the structure.

There are lots of additional photos here (with a mildly annoying click-thru interface, sorry) and additional info here, along with a good video report below:

(Big thanks to reader/pal Jeff Ash for letting me know about this one.)

A Very Special Project: Baltimore Brick by Brick

The notebook shown above belonged to a high school student named Dorothy Bolden, who apparently used it in her English class in 1963. It's one of many objects that have been discovered in the course of a remarkable project that's unfolding in Baltimore.

The project is called Baltimore Brick by Brick, and it's a great example of what's called "unbuilding" or "deconstruction." It basically works like this: A group called Details Deconstruction has been given access to a blighted block of abandoned houses in East Baltimore. Instead of just demolishing the buildings and sending the demo'd materials to a landfill, they're taking the buildings apart — brick by brick, floorboard by floorboard, and so on — and making the materials available for resale and reuse. Along the way they're finding all sorts of interesting objects and artifacts, which they're documenting on the project's website. It's all very Permanent Record.

The notebook shown above was featured in the website's "Friday Finds" section, a weekly tally of found objects that's updated each Friday. (You can see the full entry regarding the notebook here.) There's also a gallery of the various wallpapers that have been found in the houses, a section devoted to the various people who lived at a given address, a closer look at the bricks that are being salvaged, and more. It feels like a really special project, and I encourage all PermaRec readers to poke around on the website, which is full of fascinating details. It's totally worth your time — trust me.

(Big thanks to Spencer Mierzejewski for letting me know about this one.)

Photos by Rachel D'Oro, Associated Press

If you're into Nazi memorabilia — and a lot of people are — you might be interested in an auction taking place this weekend in Anchorage, Alaska, where they plan to sell off some Nazi armbands, a Hitler propaganda booklet, transcripts from the Nuremberg trials, and a letter that signs off, "Heil Hitler!" They were all found in a trunk that was discovered in a long-vacant house that was about to be listed for sale.

The house and the trunk belonged to a woman named Maxine Carr, who apparently died at least 10 years ago. She worked on the International Military Tribunal staff in Nuremberg back in the 1940, which is presumably when she acquired the Nazi mementos.

Carr's trunk also included paperwork relating to her job performance prior to going to Nuremberg. A supervisor gave her a rating of "Fair" in 1944, but Carr appealed to the Civil Service Commission, writing:

I performed a great deal more work than any other girl assigned to the same type of position, and I certainly believe that I should receive a higher rating than "Fair" for work completed, especially considering the unfavorable circumstances under which I had to work.

Paperwork found in the trunk indicates that her appeal was denied, with the Commission ruling that Carr "had not altogether convincingly rebutted" her supervisor's assessment.

You can read more about this here. Meanwhile, here are a few more photos of items found in Carr's trunk: