History of Hall County, Nebraska, Part 40

Author: Buechler, A. F. (August F.), 1869- editor
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Pub. and Engraving Co.
Number of Pages: 1011


USA > Nebraska > Hall County > History of Hall County, Nebraska > Part 40


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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The following notice published on October 10, 1873, will sound like one still seen occas- ionally in the papers of the present day :


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TO THE PUBLIC


In consequence of the present unsettled condition of business, and the stringency in monetary matters throughout the country, the undersigned business firms of Grand Island resolved that on and after the 15th day of the present month (October, 1873) they will sell goods for CASH ONLY.


They do this with the firm conviction that such a course will prove ultimately beneficial to buyer and seller, and will enable them ultimately to furnish their patrons with mer- chandise at proportionately lower rates than heretofore.


W. R. McAllister. Makenzie & Greve. Cornelius & Petersen.


John Grimes.


J. E. Meth. Richardson & Ellis.


C. Wasmer & Bro.


A. B. Veeder & Co.


W. A. Platt & Co.


B. B. Kelley.


Hall & Thomas. James Cleary. Jacobs & Michelson. Fred Nabel. Probstel & Barks.


E. R. Wiseman. Louis Engel.


C. W. Thomas.


H. N. Chapman.


R. C. Jordon, Agent O. K. Store.


Geo. T. Hoagland & Son.


T. J. Hurford.


Ira Lewis. William Wasmer. Jenneman & Dunphy.


The first firm to register in the Record of Firms and Corporations doing business in Hall County, Nebraska, as kept in the office of the county clerk, was Bowers, Thormahlen & Co. (John J. Bowers, John Thormahlen and Lizzie C. Handy), dealers in grain, vegetables and groceries. On September 20, 1875, the second registration was that of C. Wasmer & Bro., retail dealers in general merchandise, grain and produce, (Christian and Charles Wasmer). Another entry filed on September 29, 1875, was that of Peter Thums and Cornelius Pett- inger, as Thums & Pettinger, for wholesale and retail dealing in liquors and cigars and manufacturing of vinegar, and a similiar regis-


tration for liquors and cigars was made by Henry Baumann and Hugo Oelrich.


Two additions to the business interests of the town in 1874 had been the store started by John W. and W. H. West, as West & Brother, a partnership registration for which was made on October 2, 1875. The year 1874 also marks the establishment of the Wolbach store which has been conducted in Grand Island now for forty-five years. The regis- tration of an association, doing business under the firm name of Wolbach Brothers for general mercantile business, was filed by Samuel N. Wolbach and Jacob S. Wolbach on March 8, 1881.


Indicative that business interests were ad- vancing in other parts of the county was the filing on October 6, 1875, by County Clerk Wallichs, of a notice that the following per- sons had associated themselves together as the Cooperative Association of Patrons of Hus- bandry of Hall County: D. C. Smith, Alda ; Edwin Searson, secretary, Grand Island; Martin Ennis and W. J. Burger, Orchard City; Geo. L. Warner, Wood River; J. H. Andrews, Alda; Charles E. Towne, Wood River; John Irwin and Wm. Stolley, Wood River.


BUSINESS LEADERS OF THE FIRST DECADE


A short review of the men who started and developed the first business in Grand Island during the first ten years of the history of the town develops a list of remarkable pioneer business men.


Henry A. Koenig, who had located in the county in 1862, became the founder of many of the city's business and industrial enter- prises. He had started the O. K. store in 1862, and with Fred Wiebe brought it over when the town finally located on the railroad line. His father, Fred A. Wiebe, is credited with having started the first lumber yard. Mr. Koenig started the mill, and in 1871 had started the State Central Bank of Nebraska, the only banking institution of the town dur- ing its first decade.


Fred Hedde conducted a store early in the


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history of the county. In 1873 he was con- ducting a general store, and in 1874 he added a lumber yard, but in 1880 switched his atten- tion solely to agricultural implements, until he changed his activity to the editorship of the Independent.


W. R. McAllister opened his first store in a very small room on Front street in 1867. During practically all of the first ten years of the town's history he was its postmaster. In 1858 he had located two miles west of Fort Kearny, where he was freighting for a time, and then had worked on the Union Pacific Railroad for a time. In 1871, as heretofore noted, Mr. McAllister erected a building near Third and Pine streets, a site which now is occupied by the substantial brick block which bears his name. He afterwards served as mayor of the city and took part in many ac- tivities during his long business career.


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James Michelson came in 1860. He was passing through the old settlement and they persuaded him to stop off and settle among them. He was a blacksmith by trade and at that time the scattered community with a store on one farm and some other enterprise on another desired the services of a blacksmith. When the new settler had selected a site the neighbors gathered in and donated their ser- vices, and in about three days built him a house. At that time a great many overland trains were going through, and it was neces- sary for these trains and groups of emigrants to stop off for several days and have their oxen shod. At times the little country shop had four or five blacksmiths working. A charge of $16 was made for shoeing a yoke of oxen. Numerous members of the early blacksmithing fraternity of the county origin- ally came to this vicinity to accept employ- ment in the river shops. Mr. Michelson kept a ranch with open house for travelers, as well as the wagon shop. In 1866 he moved into the new town and elaborated on the idea of furnishing accommodations for the transient guests of the community by building the Ne- brska House, at Pine and Front streets, the first hotel in the town (excepting, of course, the railroad eating house). In 1871 he built


a building on the site of the present commo- dious brick Michelson block, and by 1872 was a member of the mercantile fraternity. The store of Jacobs & Michelson was later sold to Joseph Kilian, who conducted it for a number of years and closed out the stock.


C. W. Thomas established his grocery and boot and shoe house in January, 1, 1868, but sold that stock to W. R. McAllister on Sep -. tember 1, 1869. On October 19, of that year, Mr. Thomas purchased the Koenig & Wiebe grocery stock and erected a store building in 1871. He then purchased a stock of dry goods from R. C. Jordon, agent, and some from Peterson & Ruelberg, but sold this department to H. H. Glover in 1879. In 1879 he joined with Gregg Bros. and Fred A. Sears in the erection of a grain elevator, but in 1880 sold his interest in that to Mr. Sears. Mr. Thomas is now residing in Detroit, Michigan, engaged in brass and metal manufacturing.


James Cleary established his hardware house in 1870. He came from Ireland in 1859, and later. settled in Hall County. He continued his hardware business for about twenty years, later conducted a grocery business, served the town as mayor, and in 1919, practically fifty years after his entrance into the commercial lists in Grand Island, is still actively engaged in business, having a real estate office in the new office building he erected a few years ago on West Third street.


W. H. Platt came early in 1866, opened a drug store and law office, and continued the store until 1870, when he was admitted to the bar and switched his attention to the practice of law. He is reputed to have assisted in building the first business house on the town site in July, 1866. This drug store was on Third street, where the Rexall store (Pease Drug Co.) is now located. Fred A. Sears and Fred Ackerman conducted a drug store in this location after Mr. Platt left that line of business. For most of the time since then that location has accommodated a drug store.


John G. Raine opened a jewelry store in 1876. He was located next to the Platt drug store. Mr. Raine continued in this business for approximately twenty years. H. C. Held


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established a jewelry store in September, 1872, on a site that is now part of the Wolbach store block. He also remained in the jewelry business for approximately a quarter of a century. H. O. Brown was another watch- maker and jeweler of the 'seventies.


Edward Hooper opened a blacksmith shop on the banks of the Platte in 1861, and moved to the new town in 1866, and engaged in sell- ing implements until 1879, when he aided in establishing a foundry that was a high-water mark in the early industrial and mechanical history of the community.


H. Thomas came to Hall County in 1871 and a few years later established the meat market of Thomas & Hall. Later he opened a grocery store at Alda and in 1880 joined his brother in the produce trade.


In order that some of the other business interests may not be overlooked in this resume, the list of business men of Grand Island, given by Dr. Patterson in 1876 in his centennial sketch is here given:


E. W. Arnold, register of U. S. land office ; Joseph Fox, receiver, U. S. land office; W. R. McAllister, groceries and post office ; Wasmer Brothers, grain dealers and general merchants ; West Brothers, dry goods and groceries ; Jos. Kilian, dry goods and groceries; Fred Hedde, groceries, lumber and agriclutural implements ; Daniel Morgan, groceries and provisions (lo- cated on Third street on the present site of the Shuster cafe) ; John G. Raine, H. C. Held and H. O. Brown, jewelers; L. M. Bryan, books and stationery, and news depot; Wol- bach Brothers, dry goods, clothing, etc .; E. R. Wiseman, dry goods, lumber and grain ; C. W. Thomas, dry goods, clothing, etc .; H. S. Elkins, groceries and provisions ; R. C. Jordon, blacksmith and agricultural implements ; Thams & Pettinger, P. Dunphy, liquor deal- ers; Louis Engel, R. Frohberg, merchant tailors; L. M. Beebe, C. E. Jerome, Hugo Hald, D. Sass, E. B. Chandler, were conduct- ing the hotels of the town; Fred Nabel and Henry Mayer, bakeries and confectioneries ; C. E. Lykke, blacksmith shop; J. E. Meth, furniture ; John Fonner, John Windolph and C. E. Jerome, livery stables ; P. Voitle, con-


fectionery and grocery; D. L. Harrison, photographer; James Cleary, T. J. Hurford, hardware, stoves, etc .; Charles Probstle and Frank P. Barks, Harness shop; Sears & Ackerman, and C. F. Goodman, drug stores ; James Hall, Schwaiger & Co., John Eggers, butcher shops; Mr. and Mrs. S. P. Mobley. C. P. R. Williams, newspaper publishers and job printers; William Abbott, books and sta- tionery; Mrs. L. H. Van Antwerp, millinery store; Wilford Goodchild, Theo. Bernstein, barber shops ; Rannells & King, dealers in real estate; Wm. Connow, gunsmith; Wm. Spiker, auctioneer ; F. M. Bacon, proprietor, Crescent House; C. D. M. Washburn, Charles Howell, Peter D. Thomsen, express and dray lines ; A. W. Cornelius, groceries ; S. D. Rannells, agri- cultural implements; Ira Lewis. coal dealer and Gay & Baldwin, John Kraft, M. M. Foote, Oehlrich Bros., John Riss, Fred Greve, and J. E. Reed, billiard hall.


Of the foregoing only the Wolbach store is still continuing but those who have retired from the lines of business named and are living here are Fred Nabel, C. E. Lykke, James Cleary, Wasmer Bros. J. W. West, Henry Mayer, John Windolph.


DURING THE NEXT TEN YEARS


In the period that elapsed between 1876 and 1886, a great many business changes took place. By 1886 some of the most prominent stores of the first ten year period had either been closed out, merged into other business, moved away, or lost their identity and became historical memories. The O. K. store, the Wasmer store, the West store, the Kilian store, the Hedde stock, the Thomas store, and the Wiseman store were among that list. The Wolbach store remained in existence as it has ever since then. The Held and Raine jewelry stores kept on, and a number of the other business houses will appear later in the recital of the various lines of business.


But during that decade there were many new arrivals among the business houses of the city. Adam Blunk erected the Platte Valley grist mill in 1877.


Henry D. Boyden established a drug and Digitized by


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paint store in 1881, in the Michelson build- ing, where the Brunswick billiard hall is now located. He came to Nebraska in 1879 and. entered the employ of the Sears and Acker- man drug store. He conducted this store ot that location until he built a structure in which to house his store on the northeast corner of Third and Pine streets. He after- wards built the brick Boyden block on that same site, and conducted the drug store until he went away to study medicine. He later conducted the drug store again for a short period after he had been admitted to practice.


H. L. Burkett established a furniture store in 1878, which he sold in 1882 to A. W. Wil- helm, and he then established a stock ranch in Howard County.


F. D. Collins established a clothing house in September, 1881. Henry Elsner came to Grand Island in December, 1881, and opened the grocery, tobacco and crockery store of Conely & Elsner.


H. H. Glover opened a dry goods house in 1879. He later was in business with Wiebe, as Glover & Wiebe, and at another time as Glover & Pike. Mr. Glover has remained in business at various periods ever since. The Glover block still remains in his active charge, though he has in recent years sold his various stocks of merchandise.


Christopher Ispen started the drug store in March, 1882, with which he was connected for practically twenty years, in the location where the Kaufman store is now located.


Charles Ivers came to Grand Island in 1871, and opened a grocery store in June, 1881, and completed his store building in May, 1882.


G. T. Jordon opened a hardware store in March, 1880, in partnership with Justice, and conducted this store on Third street near the new First National Bank building. The Led- erman hardware store first opened in May, 1879, and A. C. Lederman and his brothers were in business for about thirty years.


James Martin opened a meat market here in 1880, coming from Crete where he had settled in 1877. M. Murphy settled here in 1877 and opened a photograph gallery on east Third street between Pine and Sycamore, on the


south side of the street. James B. Murray & Co. established their grocery house in March, 1882. James C. Pederson opened a grocery store August 1, 1879. Mathews Reif- ers added the State Central brick yard to the industries of the town in May, 1878. George F. Ryan moved from Merrick County -to Grand Island in 1877. In 1881-1882 he was a member of the produce firm of Thomas & Co. .


A. A. Sawyer started a grocery house De- cember 1, 1878. Fred A. Sears owned the grain elevator on the Union Pacific tracks,


DRUGSTORE


BOYDEN DRUG STORE Corner Third and Pine, Grand Island, in the '80s


at Grand Island in the 'eighties, but the L. A. Von Wasmer Co. built another elevator on the


- B. & M. tracks after that railroad arrived. O. U. Wescoatt opened a livery stable in De- cember, 1878.


It is practically impossible, or at least im- practical, in the space alloted to this phase of life of the community, to attempt a complete list of all the business houses that have been established and conducted in the city, but after the completion of this second decade a brief resume of those establishments that have been conducted for any considerable length of time. in a number of the different lines of business will be given under that system of classifica- tion.


DURING THE LAST THIRTY-TWO YEARS


Grand Island has always been a clearing house and transfer for the vast amount of traffic, trade and travel through the state of Nebraska. A person residing in the commun-


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ity may lose sight of the importance of the hotels, restaurants, livery stables, garages, barber shops, and those business institutions of the town that devote probably the major portion of their efforts to the service and com- fort of people who may be simply stopping off for a few hours or days on their way through the town and across the state, or who may be temporarily making their homes in the town. Just as Grand Island in early days was


come into Grand Island every day, transfer from one railroad to another, stay over night, or take a meal here, and perhaps do some trading here. This has always been propor- tionately true in the past. So in summariz- ing the commercial interests of the city, in the past and at present, we will first treat that class of institutions which cater to both travel- ling, visiting, and outside interests as well as to local and home interests.


FRED HERDE'S GRAND ISLAND STORE Being first hotel in Hall county


the stopping station for emigrants, traders, and homeseekers, and the trading point for ranchers, cowboys, and homesteaders, alike, for a great many miles, it is now after sixty years of settlement, the clearing house for trade and transfer point for a good share of the traffic over the west and northwest por- tions of the state. It is no small item of im- portance that something like three hundred travelling salesmen and district representatives of the business houses and industrial institu- tions of the country headquarter and travel out of Grand Island. A great many more will move to this city when the present re- stricted building situation relaxes and homes can be built for them. Hundreds of people


THE HOTELS


The hotels of the town were very modest in 1866. Near the first depot was a boarding house for the railroad men. The Nebraska House was built by James Michelson that same year, and provided a place for the gen- eral public. The railroad eating house built that fall, with some additions, continued in use until 1875, when it was moved away in two sections by Fred Hedde and P. Touhey, and the Union Pacific Hotel erected. This hotel was the first very large structure built in Hall County. In 1869 or 1870 the Tremont was opened. Another famous early hotel was the Wyoming House, built by Detleff Sass and destroyed by fire during the 'eighties. A little Digitized by Google


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later, the Traveler's Home, with Hugo Hald as proprietor, was established. The Herman House has been mentioned in another chapter. By 1885, the hotels of Grand Island were: The Pacific, 40 rooms ; the Jordon, 35 rooms (located on Pine street, between Third and Front, where the Altoona now stands) ; the Commercial, 30 rooms; the Estes, at Kimball and Front, 30 rooms (opened in 1880) ; the National, between Oak and Kimball, 22 rooms ; the Clarendon, on Pine street between Third


GRAND ISLAND'S NEW TEN-STORY HOTEL UNDER CON- STRUCTION - FEDERAL BUILDING TO RIGHT


and Front, 20 rooms ; the Colorado, 15 rooms : the Omaha, 14 rooms; the City, on Third between Pine and Sycamore, 12 rooms; and Powers' on Front between Pine and Locust. The New England was re-opened in Novem- ber by Jordon. The old Grand Union Hotel was refitted in February, 1885, and opened by Mr. Baker, under the name of the Com- mercial Hotel. The Wisconsin Hotel was opened on Front between Kimball and Oak about that time. By 1887, some other hotels in operation in addition to those named above were; The Jamieson Hotel, opened about 1886, at Front and Sycamore. This hotel is still in operation, though for the last five or six years, it has been called the Savoy. The


Scarff house was operating in 1887. In 1887 the Palmer House was built, through the energies of C. W. Scarff. This four-story building at Second and Sycamore, in its day a most magnificent structure costing about $80,000, was as important a step ahead in the career of the community as the new ten-story North American Hotel is to this generation, and after its thirty-two years of continuous operation, until the completion of the North American or some other modern structure of that class, remains the second best hotel build- ing in the city. In recent years this hostelry has been under the management of Henry Schuff and son - with Lester Schuff giving it his personal attention. Some of the small hotels in the town in 1887 were the farmers Home, on Spruce Street, Girard House on Sycamore; Grand Island House, at Front and Oak ; Millard Hotel between Pine and Locust, on Front ; and during the next couple of years the Cottage House was opened at 408 North Plum, in the vicinity of the Burlington depot and Grand Island Sanitarium at 121 East Front. As the Union Pacific depot in those days was farther east than its present loca- tion, it will be noticed that the hotel and restaurant trade was centered around Front. in the neighborhood of Sycamore, Kimball and Oak, and Pine was virtually westward for such trade. The hotel erected by Mr. Dunphy was known as the Dunphy Hotel. This struc- ture was on Pine street, near the present Altoona. In 1891 and 1892 Richard Bros. were running the Jamieson, and C. E. and E. A. Brown, the Palmer; the Union Pacific Railroad Co. owned the Pacific Hotel; M. R. Meek, the City Hotel; Dunphy had the Dun- phy Hotel; G. I. Estes conducted the Estes Hotel; Mrs. K. A. Shephard, the Commercial House; the Nickel State Hotel was at 122 North Pine; N. P. Nelson, the Grand Island Hotel at 319 East Front ; the Hall House was at 412 N. Plum; T. Hillebrand received guests at 109 E. Front; and J. Windnagel at 317 E. Front. Another Nebraska House sprang up in the early 'nineties, at 408 N. Plum, under the management of J. A. Richardson, and the Park Hotel at 107 W. Front, owned by N. H.


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Hurford. A well-known and successful hostess of those days was Mrs. Thralls, who first came here from Michigan in 1880, and conducted the Thralls restaurant for some years. She went to Tacoma for a period and on her return managed various houses in the city, notably the City Hotel, situated about where Lechsinky's photograph studio is now located, the Thralls restaurant, and in 1896 was managing the Jamieson, and at one time for a short period, the Occidental (now St. James). H. N. Lord succeeded the Browns in the management of the Palmer. The Hall House became the White House, about 1896.


By 1900 the hotels in operation were the Jamieson, Palmer, and the new Koehler which had been erected in 1892, the Crawford, at Fourth and Kimball, the Occidental Hotel, at 109 West Fourth, the White House, and the Union and Vienna restaurants ..


The Koehler, erected by Gus. Koehler at an expense of about $100,000 was the first hotel structure in the city to eclipse the Palmer House, and still remains the finest hotel in town, pending a new modern structure such as the North American. Built almost thirty years ago, it is still an imposing structure and built on such solid and substantial proportions that it can still outlast this generation of people and many more. The building has approximately 100 guest rooms, large lobby and reading rooms, several sample rooms, with dining room and' cafe quarters adjoining it on the south. The Koehler in 1897 was under the management of H. H. Hake and has passed through several changes of manage- ment. F. J. Coates was proprietor and man- ager for some years.


In recent years the property has belonged to the Koehler Hotel Co. of which Charles G. Ryan and George B. Bell are the principal stockholders. R. L. Word and Mr. Berend were recent lessees or managers, and U. P. Koenig is the present lessee and manager. Between 1900 and 1910 not so very many new hostelries were started in Grand Island, notably the Makely House, a revival of the Jordon or Dunphy location, which afterwards became the Altoona about 1910, and is still


operated as the Altoona, and the Central at Fourth and Kimball. The Gold Cure Sani- tarium at Front and Kimball thrived as an institution with a great mission for some years, but has now closed out as a sanitarium and is occupied by a boarding and rooming house. About 1910 the Boquette was built at 317 East Third street. This is a very narrow structure but five stories high, and is now in operation as the Hammond Hotel. The Brewster, at 703 West Third, is a large brick structure, built with the idea of making a family hotel in the residence district, but is now unoccupied. The B. & M. Hotel at


WYOMING HOLL


WYOMING HOUSE.


OLD WYOMING HOUSE


514 Plum street flourished for a number of years, but is now out of existence and when the new Burlington depot was built, a few rods west of the old depot, it was necessary to move several buildings. The present hotels of the city are the Koehler; the Palmer, which has been owned in recent years by Henry Schuff and Son, and of which Lester Schuff is now manager; the St. James (old Occi- dental), W. S. Hayman, proprietor until recently J. A. Smith took over its management ; the Altoona, the Savoy (old Jamieson) ; the American, formerly the Vienna, Schuff & Son, proprietors ; the Hammond; Cottage Home, 411 E. Fourth; the Bachelors, east of the Bartenbach (Opera House) block, which has been very successfully conducted for a number of years ; and the Y. M. C. A. dormitory, fur- nishing accommodations for about eighty-eight people.




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