Monday, April 19, 1926: "CEI pulling their cable through bridges."

Friday, Oct. 8, 1926: "[Walsh] not seen for almost an hour. Was found dead, having fallen off crane..."

This was work for the historians. They were gathering information they could use to better serve people who turn to their archives for help.

But it was sentimental for some.

Next to some green plates from the Silver Grille, was a menu cover and book filled with hand-written recipes -- grape ice cream, eggs baked in cream and peach jam, where the first ingredient is 50 pounds of peaches.

Cuyahoga County Archivist Judith Cetina remembered going to the restaurant as a girl, watching fish swim in a fountain on the floor at the center of the restaurant.

"They had crusty rolls so fragile you couldn't spread butter on them," she said.

The tour was over by then, but Rolik volunteered to add the Silver Grille to the itinerary. Down one elevator and up another in the labyrinth of lifts that keep foot traffic flowing up and down the tower.

Beyond the construction of Cleveland's new casino in the old Higbees, the doors to the Silver Grille were already open. Workers were setting up for an event.

Cetina walked toward the fountain. The fish were gone, it was dry and the rail that once kept children from falling into the water was missing.

But Cetina said the fountain was in the same place as it was when she was a child. And the historians continued to swap stories about the history of Terminal Tower.