May is National Historic Preservation Month, and as such Ogden City initiated a "Historic Property Scavenger Hunt". The idea is to take a pamphlet with small detail photographs and match them to the proper building within the Crossroads of the West National Historic District.
Being a history guru, I naturally jumped on the chance to explore this historic portion of Ogden, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the old Browning Brothers gun workshop was not only still standing, but was being restored!
But that wasn't what I was really interested in. Around the back was an exposed portion of the building next door, which exhibited some really neat texture. And I saw stars!
No I didn't get hit on the head, although the condition of some of the masonry in that area could very well have caused that to happen. What these are are staybolt washers - the bolts run through the wall and attach either to the wall opposite or to some sort of support post or beam inside. Its purpose is, naturally, to keep the wall from bulging outwards.
It is really too bad that washers like these aren't made any more. What was once a common architectural feature is now a thing of the past, to be found only on structures such as these.
Enjoy,
Josh
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