Haunted Houses of the HABS

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 HABS imagery often shows buildings in advanced stages of decay. The photos might very well be the last record of these beautiful old structures, recorded by the government for posterity.
One archival collection contributed more to HAUNTIBLES's visuals than any other. It's known as the Historic American Building Survey (HABS).

During the Great Depression, America's historic buildings were falling into ruin. So, the government hired architects to survey and document them. The program continues to this day and has chronicled thousands of buildings into a vast, spooky collection that includes - ancient asylums, crumbing lighthouses, derelict mansions, and every haunted structure you can imagine - all catalogued and meticulously archived within the Library of Congress.
HABS is the nation's oldest federal preservation program.
It includes not only photographs, but sketches and floorplans as well.
Much of the HABS collection is digitized, but a few surveys exist only in hardcopy. To view them, you'll need to go in person to the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Reading Room (located in the Madison Building), where you'll find a long row of card catalogues dedicated to HABS.

   
   
I love leafing through old catalogues. Occasionally, I'll stumble upon a hidden gem that I would've missed if a computer had taken me directly to the file I was seeking.

A film professor once told me he felt the same way about the old-fashioned method of film editing. He used to love the fact he had to rewind these long reels because doing so offered up new ideas and connections hidden in the footage. Digital editing has now made this a thing of the past. Sometimes, it's worth taking the scenic route rather than the quickest path, even if it takes a little longer.
 
These HABS catalogues hold a secret. Drawn onto the back of some cards are hidden sketches - architectural renderings from the survey! I'd have missed them if a librarian hadn't kindly clued me in on this detail. One never thinks to check the back of the card!

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