|
Boyhood Recollection of Front Street by LaVern
F. Pagel, 1983
There has been much interest in the Front
Street and Motson Street area since the demolition of those buildings on
the East Side [It is still the East Side to me.].
The photo [above] taken by Mr. Francis A
Richards clearly shows the now razed buildings and their location.
My parents moved to Chicago Junction in 1904
[when] I was two years old. We lived on the East Side until
1922. Most of that time we lived on the south side of Spring
Street in what is now the second house from the intersection of Front,
Keefer, and Spring Streets.
Facing Motson Street on the North Side and west
from First Street, a livery stable was next to the alley. The
building [in 1983] is still standing, but not visible in the
picture.
West of the alley toward Front Street was the
Franklin Hotel, Griffin & Meier Meat Market, and Fulper's Shoe
Repair Shop in that order.
Facing Front Street opposite the B & O
Railroad from Motson Street was Irwin Robinson's Barber Shop, George
Ehrman's Grocery (later {Frank} Ehrman & {Charles} Bradley's),
Troutwine Hotel (Parker House in the picture), Fulper's Restaurant,
Barber Shop, Meat Market, Jake Baab's Saloon, and the Arlington Hotel.
From this point on toward the Akron Division
railroad tracks, I am not certain of the small building, but I do
remember the Casper Saloon, the last of the taller buildings.
This is also John A. Wallace, Sr.'s recall of
the building occupants. Mrs. C. E. Heimbaugh verified the location
of the Fulper Shoe Repair Shop. Mrs. Heimbaugh's late husband was
a grandson of the Mr. Fulper of the Shoe Repair Shop.
On the south side of Front Street across from
Troutwine's Hotel was an approximate 15' X 30' building that the Express
Company used as a receiving and loading dock. The Express Company,
and then Wells Fargo, had a horse drawn dray used to deliver packages in
town. Fred Hough, a retired express employee, remembers the
horses' names, Dick and Phoebe, and also remembers that the Express
Company's employees referred to the small building as the "Celery
Shed."
On the same side of Front Street there was a
crossing watchman's shanty. There, the crossing watchman could be
sheltered from the weather and cold.
© Willard Memorial Library,
2004. Do not copy anything on this page without
permission. You may download pictures for personal use only.
Commercial use is prohibited. |
