Here’s an aerial photo, probably taken in the early 1950s, by a Chicago-based aerial photographer.
The chapels in the center strongly suggest a religious institution. The landscape and how closely the buildings are set together suggest the Upper Midwest. But this is an enormous institution for the time, and I’ve been unable to think of a college, seminary, or boarding school that would fit the bill.
Is it actually a college? I seem to recall several threads here recently discussing hospitals built in the same form.
Hmmm…
It’s got a smokestack and giant oil tank in the bottom suggesting a central steam plant.
The roundish end near the bottom right of the main structure looks like a monastery cloister house - or the same shape as the Canada House fo COmmons library. (So either seminary or library?)
The demolished central area suggests it once incorporated an older building that time or fire took down, only the foundation blocks remain.
The nice square pond at the top suggests the limestone blocks for th buildings were quarried right next door, then the quarry was abandoned.
Based on the shadows (“house” on lower left), I make the wild guess the picture was taken late morning and we’re looking NNW. The sun is at our back.
Hospital, seminary, or college.
Probably near Chicago my totally uneducated guess.
Where did you get the photograph? Who was the photographer? Tell us everything you know about him/her. What other photographs are in the same packet of photographs as this one?
“Large religious school in the upper Midwest” makes me think Notre Dame, but it looks like Notre Dame has a church with a quite prominent steeple not seen in that picture.
For that matter, though, I’m not seeing anything in that picture that says “chapel” at all.
St. Mary’s. Just up NW from Notre Dame.
The building in the background with 4 wings and the square tower?
Looking at it from the west,
Lake is now an ornametal smaller pond.
Saint Mary’s College
St Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN 46556
(574) 284-4000
Looking on Google Earth…
I google-earthed Minnesota college, then for Wisconsin, then Illinois, then Indiana - in each case it listed 10 colleges or more - check each for building types and topography.
St. Mary’s had the building with the best fit.
The lake has been filled in, the rectangluar garden before it turned into a square lake with island.
The foreground big building looks like it has a new white roof; flat instead of the peaked-looking one in photo.
Just checked St Mary’s on Google Maps. The building in the foreground of the OP’s photo is the Sisters of the Holy Cross; the background building is Le Mans Hall. The empty spot at centre is now occupied by the Moreau Center for the Arts.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your college grow?
That image was cropped.
Wait, you found it by just flipping through google maps of colleges in the midwest? That’s pretty impressive.
Google earth.
It’s fairy flat, but big trees. Pretty good chance it’s somewhere flat like Chicago to Minneapolis general area.
Use google earth and type “<state name> college” and it will pinpoint about a dozen choices with nice red markers. A quick zoom in will show the general layout of each. Most don’t have that complex an array of close, large buildings, or too built up, can be eliminated in about 10 seconds.
But yes, I was intrigued whether this could be done. Took maybe 20 minutes because I assumed the lake meant Minnesota and started at the wrong end.
Well done! Notre Dame was the first thing I checked, but I didn’t even think to look at St. Mary’s. Thanks.
Wouldn’t that be Google Avalon?
Doh! Typos!
Actually, it makes sense; it’s hard to fly if you’re top heavy; weight and balance is all thrown out of kilter.
IIRC from the movie, Tinkerbell at least had corresponding rear weight…
