Last week’s trip to Freeport showed old small buildings in various stages of renovation and abandonment - the usual. It seemed like small beer, without landmarks or signs of a prosperous past. That's because I saved all the big stuff for week 2, just to be contrary.

		The local paper: The structure — considered the largest and most modern — was built with steel, brick and concrete in 1916. The “fireproof” seven-story building became Pretzel City’s first skyscraper, at a cost of $250,000. Mr. Smith was the bank pres from 1925 to 1935 - and that leads us to another downtown structure . . .

The Smith Building! Trust me, it's as exciting as the name suggests.

History:

Around 1912 to 1913, the building was knocked down to its first floor and the structure was expanded to its current size of six stories, (local architect Christopher) Fye said. The building’s facade was redone in 1935, and since then there have only been some minor modifications completed, he said.

I would have guessed 1945.

Hi, folks! It's the future! Just passin' through!

Whatever that store was, I'll bet they could tell you.

“Can you line the vent up where the window is?”

(pause) “Don’t know why you’d want to go and do that now”

The bricked-up window and bricked-up door occupying the same space seems like the collision of parallel dimensions.

From the Sideburns-and-Acrylic-Plaid-Tie era of architectural design:

Everything in this picture is horrible, but it wouldn’t be a small town downtown without them.

The Obligatory 20s Hotel. Formerly the Stephenson:

The local paper said:

Owners are still researching the building’s history. However, the site is rumored to have had many famous visitors throughout its history. Rumors have it that notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone used to stay at the facility when he was in town, but this has not been confirmed, Misra said.

If it was confirmed, there'll probably a Capone suite with retro pictures, and it'll be "historical" and popular because guests check in with absolute certainty that no one will burst into their room and beat them to death.

If you had to guess, what would you say? Bank . . . government offices . . . newspaper?

I don’t know.

The abandoned factory:

It’s coming back!

This sad little structure probably had a rambunctious life; the train station is a block away, and the intersection once held a hotel. So the area was probably more lively, once.

Something it seems you can say about the place in general.

Oh Lord, the 60s slab bank with the acres of parking reaped by tearing down old structures. It’s impressive and makes a city feel as if it’s on the grow, but why not build it closer to downtown?

This glowering structure says PATROL over the door.

Fenced off pending rehab or demo? A story I read says the city was stepping up downtown demolition efforts, which seems a tragedy - there’s still a great little downtown there, waiting to come back.