June 2014

June 6, 2014June 7, 2014

Jones Drugs Since 1871

When I was up in the dome of the Jackson Courthouse on a hot summer day in 2012, I took a picture of a white building at 125 Court Street, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.

When I was back this spring, I shot a couple of frames of it from the ground, but they were just building mug shots in case it burned down or figured in the news in some other way.

Jackson Uptown Commercial District

I was still curious about it because of the sign on the front that reads “Jones Drugs Since 1871.” My first Google attempts didn’t bring up anything about the history of the place, so I was ready to stick it in the “nice try” stack. A couple pages down, though, was a National Register of Historic Places registration form for the Jackson Uptown Commercial District.

The form describes the building at 125 Court Street as being “a two-story brick, two-part commercial block building with a stepped parapet wall. The original double hung one-over-one windows remain on the east and north elevations. They have segmental arch brick hoods with stone sills. The cornice line is simple but original and intact. The storefront of has large glass display windows – two bays on the south side of the recessed center entrance and three bays on the north side.”

Here’s the really cool part

Just about the time my eyes were glazing over, I got to the really cool part: “In 1908, when the new courthouse was completed, the city of Jackson implemented plans to beautify Jackson causing the street design plan to change to create the Courthouse Square. Jones Drug Store was scheduled to be demolished, but Mr. Jones contracted with a St. Louis firm to have his building rotated to face the new street. Using horses and wagons to rotate the building, Jones Drug Store became the first building in the local region to be moved and turned to face in another direction.”

You never know what you’re going to find when you tug on a thread of history.

June 6, 2014June 6, 2014

Jackson Frozen Food Locker

In 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.

June 5, 2014

Perry County Courthouse

The Perry County Courthouse on the square in Perryville catches the last rays of golden sunlight on a chilly November day in 2013.

The courthouse was built in 1904. The Cape County Courthousein Jackson was built in 1908.

June 4, 2014

View from the 200 Block

I saw Tim Kincaid from Edgewater Glass doing some work on what is now the Mount Moriah Missionary Church and decided to pull into the parking lot. I got a quick look inside the church and had good intentions of going back to shoot the interior, but that will have to wait until the next trip to Cape.

It looks like Boyd Hobbs, who painted the church steeple in 1967, needs to come back to put on a new coat.

Common Pleas Courthouse

It’s early enough in the spring that there was a clear view of the Common Pleas Courthouse. When I photographed the 200 block of Broadway in the late 1960s, it was full of buildings, including the Boy Scout office. It’s all green space these days.

Lots of decks

I had never had a clear view of this house on Bellvue before. That’s quite a collection of decks and tree houses. It’s in the vicinity of Civil War Fort A overlooking the Mississippi River. Click on the photos to make them larger.