January 2011

January 31, 2011

Star Service Station

These guys looked vaguely familiar, but when I saw the coin changer and the Star book peeking out of the shirt pocket, I KNEW where this was taken: The Star Service Station at 600 Broadway.

I bought a lot of gas from them over the years. They were in the perfect location: across the street from Nowell’s Camera Shop, on my way to The Missourian, and close to the Rialto, where Lila worked. Oh, yeah, also nearby to Tony’s Pizza Palace. What more did a young man need in the 60s?

Grand Opening December 1965

I filled a bunch of those Star Stamp books over the years. Ninety stamps would earn you $1.50 worth of free gas. I’ve never been a smoker, but my eyes open when I see smokes for a quarter a pack.

This was a full-service station, too. None of that pump-it-yourself stuff in those days. I don’t remember if they’d vacuum your car like Brune & Eaker’s Phillips 66 that I wrote about earlier.

Locksmiths, shoe stores, jewelry, gas stations

When I searched for stories about 600 Broadway, I found that it has been lots of things over the years. Here’s a sample:

Oct. 18, 1932 – Joseph Mosley, formerly of Dongola, Ill., today opened a jewelry sales and repair shop at 600 Broadway, in a building with Ed Randol’s shoe repair shop.
May 25, 1937 – Wm. Hartung said today he will move his sporting goods store possibly Monday from 611 Broadway to 600 Broadway. The store has been located on the south side of the street for nine years. The new location is near Frederick St., where a shoe repair shop formerly was located. The building interior is now being repaired and repainted, this building also being owned by the Hartung family. Both the store and the repair shop will be transferred to the new quarters.
Aug. 26, 1948 – Hartung’s Key & Repair Shop has a newly painted red and silver front. Wm. C. Hartung, owner, has been in the present location the past 48 years. His father, G. Hartung, owned the business before him.
Apr. 25, 1989 – A representative from Wisdom Oil reported on Monday the theft of gasoline from 600 Broadway.
Nov. 11, 1990 – At first glance, the service station at 600 Broadway here may appear to be the victim of a business gone bad. There is no attendant, and the building behind the pumps appears to be boarded up. Jamie Estes, president of Par Enterprises, which owns Par/Gas explains, “This station is a Par/Gas Fueling Club station. You can be a member if you have one of five credit cards – Par/Gas, Sinclair, Master Card, VISA or Discover. You drive up to the pump, insert your credit card, wait about 20 seconds, follow the instructions, and pump your gas. It’s all that simple.”
May 28, 2003 – Broadway Station is set to make another go at it at 600 Broadway, this time thanks to new owner Stephen Majeed, who also owns Sprigg Street Station. His station will have gas pumps and sell everything expected at a convenience store except liquor and beer. That’s because it’s too close to a couple of churches. He’s remodeled the interior and has added a drive-through.
Nov. 21, 2006 – Broadway Station reopened at 600 Broadway for a short time. Owner Steve Majeed opened the station to unload the 6,000 gallons of gasoline still in the tanks, selling the fuel for $1.29 a gallon. Majeed wanted to get rid of the fuel because he planned to build a new strip center there called Riverside Mall.

Stevies Steakburger in 2009

Stevies Steakburger was in the building when I was in Cape in October 2009. The white building on the right is Annie Laurie’s Antiques, formerly Brinkopf-Howell Funeral Home.

January 30, 2011

Strack Quarry or Dalhousie First?

I was researching the history of SEMO Stone, which was once Federal Materials and was originally the Edward Hely Limestone Quarry. It might even be older than the cement plant quarry, but I’m still checking.

Anyway, I’ve been following the Fruitland quarry controversy with half an eye without developing any strong opinions one way or the other. One of the players also owns Strack Excavating and Hauling, which owns the quarry I featured Jan. 7, 2011,

I recalled reading some back-and-forth in The Missourian about which came first, the quarry or the houses in the Dalhousie golf community. I took the lazy way out and activated the timeline feature in Google Earth. Here’s what I found.

May 22, 1996, both properties undeveloped

The first photo available shows both the quarry area and the golf development undeveloped and being used for agricultural purposes. The street overlay makes it look like there are streets, but they don’t exist. Hwy 74 and Bloomfield Rd (CR 205) are about the only real roads. (Click on the images to make them larger.)

Jan. 1, 2003, no Dalhousie homes

In this USDA Farm Service photo from Jan. 1, 2003, we can see that both the golf course and the quarry are taking shape. The housing area, though, is still forest.

May 11, 2005, Dalhousie starts clearing

In this photo from May 11, 2005, the quarry is beginning to show some depth. Clearing has begun in the Dalhousie housing area. Some of the streets are paved, some are still under construction. Google also had a USDA photo from June 15, 2005, but it was similar to this one and of poorer quality, so I omitted it.

June 16, 2009, Dalhousie homes appear

By the time 2009 rolled around, the quarry had gotten substantially deeper and the homes on the bluff overlooking it had been built. Most of the roads are paved.

Nov. 6, 2010, aerial photo

My Nov. 6, 2010, aerial photo shows a slightly different angle from Google’s, but the situation is pretty much the same. The quarry is much deeper. I don’t think any additional homes have been built.

Chicken or Egg conclusion

I’m going to have to say that these photos show that the Dalhousie Golf Course and the Strack Quarry were both developed at roughly the same time. There is no doubt, however, that the quarry was well established before the first home in the development was built.

January 28, 2011

Capaha Lagoon Swimmers

I see in The Missourian that the city is going to pull the plug on the Capaha Park swimming pool, literally. While rooting around trying to find pool pictures, I ran across these kids picking the lagoon instead of the pool.

Mystery swimmers

The top shot feels vaguely familiar, so it might have run in the paper. There wasn’t a date on the negative sleeve, so I didn’t have an easy way to track it down. There were kids swimming in a pool in other frames, but it wasn’t the Cape pool. It looked like it might have been a swimming class taught at a local motel pool.

Still looking for pool pictures

I’m still digging for those pool photos. I know I’ve got the stuff from the Millie the Duck series, Lila’s synchronized swimming team, swimming classes, swim meets and diving competition. Be patient.

If you DO need a Capaha Swimming Pool fix, here’s some photos of a dance party held there one night.

January 27, 2011

Picasso’s Clown

All I know about this photo is that the negative sleeve said “Picasso’s Clown 5/6/1967.” I scanned Missourians for two months after that date and didn’t see anything that looked like this.

It’s an art class somewhere with a live model, but I don’t know if it was a high school class or one at SEMO. The two young women look vaguely familiar, but I’m not going to toss out a guess.

Anyone? Who, what, where, when and why?