Coming out/Northeast

While this may look like just a block of old buildings in a decaying old industrial city, it's actually an important site. One of these buildings (I believe the green one) was the home of the Cadillac Bar. In the early 70's days of Gay Liberation, the Cadillac was the bar/social center for much of the Binghamton Gay Liberation Group, a group consisting mostly of students from SUNY Binghamton (now Binghamton University). It was what was then a fairly traditional gay bar with many customers being closeted. In fact, most people didn't actually use the front door of the bar, but went in and out the back door where there was almost no risk of being seen by anyone. It was mostly us college students who were becoming activists, who used the front door...

Where I worked while in college at SUNY Binghamton. Being from the south where everything was relatively new, the building was my first exposure to the historic style of library architecture. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

The detail was surprisingly scholarly for an older, industrial, city library. Visible only in the larger pictures are the inscriptions "Homer" and "Plato" in stone work above the windows. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

One of the great things about Binghamton, and many of the older industrial cities of upstate New York, is that fairly sparsely populated countryside is very close. The bridge in the distance crosses the Susquehanna River

Most of downtown and in quite a bit of the surrounding areas are retail and factory buildings built in the late 1800's and early 1900's. When I was there in the 70's there was an effort to encourage business in those buildings, but it didn't seem very successful. On my visit in August, 2007, the conditions didn't seem to have changed very much -- many buildings appeared to have relatively successful retail businesses on the first floor and many empty spaces above. It is always disheartening to me, to see the dramatic architecture from those earlier eras being unused -- but that seems to be just part of the business cycle. The next several photos in this set are of various buildings downtown. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

Historic buildings, downtown Binghamton, NY Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

Historic buildings, downtown Binghamton, NY Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

Historic buildings, downtown Binghamton, NY Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

Historic buildings, downtown Binghamton, NY The brown building towards the center of the picture is a good example of what happened all too often in the 60's and 70's -- putting a modern facade on an older to make it more marketable. This example is surprisingly odd, since usually there was more of an effort to try to hide the age of the building. The blue building on the right side of the picture was a very nice restoration that seemed to be occupied on most floors. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

In the late 70's, a second (see first photo in set) gay bar opened in Binghamton at this location. Apparently there's been a gay bar in the location ever since, though it has changed names.

On the north edge of downtown was this older factory or warehouse that appeared to be vacant, but had a surprising high-tech antenna in the top floor (see adjacent picture) Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

(see adjacent picture) Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

The Binghamton Greyhound station, a good example of streamline-modern architecture. Also, though, an important site in Binghamton gay history -- the blocks around the station were a key cruising area, mainly for older men who were uncomfortable with the 'Gay Liberation' perspective (see next photo in set).

Apparently the area around the bus station (see previous photo in set) is still a popular cruising area.

The last passenger service in Binghamton had been a train between Chicago and New York on the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, passenger service ended in 1970.

The last passenger service in Binghamton had been a train between Chicago and New York on the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, passenger service ended in 1970.

The last passenger service in Binghamton had been a train between Chicago and New York on the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, passenger service ended in 1970.

The last passenger service in Binghamton had been a train between Chicago and New York on the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, passenger service ended in 1970.