New Life of Old Things

I started a second position at the school I work at today. They needed an extra crossing guard and its a few extra bucks added to my paycheck, so no harm there.  Plus I am always happy to help.  The school I teach at is an older one in a smaller town, which means lots of old buildings.  There are five on the corner where I stand alone.  I've always loved the older buildings and homes.  So much more character than the modern ones.  Take this one for example:

This particular building used to be the town's bank.  You've got the faux columns, the neat detail around the edge of the roof, a flag pole to display our nation's flag, and even a clock to tell customers the time.

Sadly, like all old buildings, they are not used for the original reason that they were built.  The bank is no longer a bank, but a cake shop.  The bars are still up on some of the windows, the flagpole stands empty on it's rooftop and the clock no longer tells the correct time.  It is forever stopped at 3:35.  This isn't the only building that is like this.  Like I said, there is 5 old buildings that I can see from my spot on the corner while waiting to help kids cross the street.

There is a building with the name of "Susannah Hill" and the year 1916, built right into the bricks of the building and cute little fleur de lis trimming the edge of the roof.  I don't know the original purpose of the building but it is now home to a sports bar and grill that also offers it's customers video gaming.  Another building next door has an old, faded painted sign that says " Hermann's:  dry goods, shoes..." with the rest of it being covered by the leaves of a sapling.  Next to that is 2 buildings that share a wall but have different names in the brick: "Geo. W. Hermann, 1911" graces one while "Felix Kuhn" graces the other.  This particular building is now home to a bar and restaurant.  Directly across the street from the Kuhn and Hermann building lies an empty building with the word "Dentist" in all capital letters.  Judging from the layout of the building, the front must have been the office space while the home of the dentist laid in the 2-story part in the back.

When you look at these types of buildings, one has to wonder what they originally held, who worked or dwelled within them (a few of these buildings being 2-story, with possible living quarters above the business).  Would the ghosts of the original owners be proud or saddened to see what now occupies where they earned their livelihoods?  What stories could those walls tell us if only they had mouths to speak?

This is what I often think about when I see old buildings or houses.  I'd love to know the history behind them and what was going on during that time to give the buildings the character they now possess.  The new bank now sits within a block of the old one, right in plain sight of the old bank"s front door.  The flag pole no longer has a flag flying proudly on the rooftop and bank customers no longer walk though the beautifully decorated doorway,  being greeted with the correct time.  I wonder if the building's soul misses all the townspeople walking through it's doors, guarding their hard earned money within it's safe.  I could ask, but I'd only receive the building's silent reply.