Hobbs Chapel Cemetery

Hobbs Chapel CemeteryWhen you live in the land of skinny pine and palm trees, you forget how impressive the big trees of the Midwest are. I’ve taken photos in the Hobbs Chapel Cemetery before, but I can’t lay my hands on them just this minute.

What caught my eye Sunday, though was not the gravestones, it was the big tree dominating the cemetery.

Chapel completed in 1892, burned in 1993

Hobbs Chapel CemeteryMissourian photographer Fred Lynch had a photo of the church in his July 15, 2013, blog. I’m not sure, but the skinny tree in one of the photos taken by One-Shot Frony in 1935 might be this one.

 

Kage School Rehabilitation

Rick Hetzel Kage School restoration 04-02-2014_2199

Every once in awhile we win one. The last time I photographed Kage School, I figured it was only a matter of time before the cracked walls would come tumbling down, taking with it a progressive school that educated area children for 112 years. Then, I saw a small notice in the paper that Rick Hetzel had bought the property and was going to rehab it.

Fred Lynch shot a photo gallery of the early stages on March 24, 2014. (He’s a real photographer who has to answer to an editor, so he went to the trouble of lighting the interior. I just wing it with available light.)

Will be used as rental apartment

Kage School Restoration 05-02-2014When I got into town, one of my first stops was at the school, where I was lucky enough to run into Rick, who said he was turning it into a rental apartment. I was glad to hear that it was going to be used for an actual purpose instead of becoming a gift shop or mini-museum. Rick is going to keep as many of the original fixtures and furnishings as possible, he said.

He reminded me a bit of Chad Hartle, who took the old Schultz School and turned it into Schultz Senior Apartments, a textbook case of turning a white elephant into something the community can be proud of.

Kage School photo gallery

Here are photographs I shot on April 2 and May 2 of the work in progress and the men doing it. Click on any photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move through the images.

Jackson Frozen Food Locker

Jackson Frozen Food Locker 04-15-2014In the days before homes had freezers and refrigerators, people trusted their meats and fruits to frozen food lockers. Almost every small town had one. A quick search of newspaper archives turned up mentions of lockers in Cape, Advance, Dexter and Jackson.

Judging by the newspaper stories, most of the businesses were family-owned and long-term fixtures in the community. The Daily Statesman had a story about Al Banken that mentioned that he had owned the Dexter Food Locker for 40 years.

The Missourian’s obituary for Paul Beussink noted that “Paul ‘Pops’ Beussink, 82, of Advance, passed away April 18, 2014. He and his wife Judy operated the Advance Food Locker for years and were blessed with many loyal customers from the surrounding area.”

Jackson locker opened in 1949

The Jackson Frozen Food Locker’s website history says that William Daniels, with Carlton “Cotton” Meyer as the general manager, founded the business at 400 High Street in 1949. Daniels operated the Cape Frozen Foods business on Broadway in Cape until it closed in 1971. (Fred Lynch has a Frony photo of it on his blog.)

Carlton bought the locker in 1972; from the late ’70s through 1993, Carlton’s youngest son, Charles Meyer, managed the business. In 1993, a third generation of Meyers took over the locker when Charles’ son Craig became manager. Carlton Meyer died January 28, 2005, at 86.

Rental lockers were popular

Until 1993, locker rental was popular. At one time, more than 400 freezer lockers were rented, each capable of holding 200 pounds of meat and vegetables. The locker also sold tons of frozen fruits each August up until the late 1980s when the demand for wholesale frozen fruits dropped off.

The locker’s main business is custom processing of locally raised beef and hogs. In the 1960’s the business attempted to put a slaughterhouse in the basement of the building, but the City Council voted against allowing it, due to concerns of “the smell.”

Showing that even an old business can learn new tricks, it started selling over the web from AsktheMeatman.com in 2000.

 

 

 

McGinty’s Jewelers

McGinty's Jewelers - 117 N Main 12-10-2011One of the bright spots – literally – on Main Street is McGinty’s Jewelers at 117 North Main Street. It’s refreshing to see how much that block has spiffed up in the last few years. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

The McGinty building is one of the more impressive ones in the downtown area, but the First National Bank that occupied 115-117 North Main from 1905 to 1959 may have been even more impressive, based on the description in Fred Lynch’s October 11, 2013, blog.

First National Bank

McGinty's Jewelers - 117 N Main 12-10-2011From the blog: The bank was constructed of brick with a facade done in Bedford limestone trimmed in bushhammered rock, the building featured a massive arched entrance that was 28 feet tall, 26 feet deep and 24 feet wide, with marble steps that led to the entrance doors. The building featured elaborate detailing around the windows, with an enriched and projecting cornice, brackets and dentils. The roof was highlighted with a balustrade. The interior of the bank was designed elaborately, with a 16-by-30-foot prism skylight supported by six carved Iconic columns. Italian marble wainscoting, mahogany wood trim and a mosaic-type floor were some of the many details found inside.

 First National Bank was established in August 1891 and was first at 118 N. Main St. In 1956, the bank relocated to the northwest corner of Broadway and Main Street. Charles Hood, who became the owner of the stone-faced building in 1959, decided to renovate the structure by tearing out the interior, filling in the basement, and removing the stone arch. However, two months into the project, Hood made a change in plans and had the building razed in November 1959.

Downtown jewelers offered personal touch

McGinty's Jewelers - 117 N Main 12-10-2011A February 27, 2005, Missourian story talked about how four long-time jewelers had found that downtown is where they wanted to be. It’s worth a read. The point was made that “Other stores in other parts of town may get more walk-in customers who may be just looking, but when someone comes to Lang Jewelers or McGinty’s or Zickfield or Jayson, it’s a special occasion for them. Their customers come, all the jewelers say, because their parents bought diamonds or watches there, and service and tradition mean something to those families.”

The four businesses mentioned in the story:

  • Zickfield Jewelers and Gemologists – 29 North Main Street – in business since 1939
  • McGinty Jewelers – 117 North Main Street – about 25 years in the downtown
  • Jayson Jewelers – 115 Themis Street – “two generations” according to their website
  • Lang Jewelers – 126 North Main Street – started as N.S. Weiler Jewelers in 1905 and became Lang in 1916. It closed in the fall of 2012.