Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

Mr. Otto Fielding. The long, narrow building on the
west had tenants but I am unable to recall the identity
of them. The Thoeming meat market was next, then
the Fisher cigar factory and tobacco store. The next
building was vacant a good share of the time. until
John Westphal, Dutch Westphal's father, opened a
barber shop and billiard parlor there. In 1914 the
building next to the alley was vacant. and later the
Consumer's Mercantile Company opened a grocery
store managed by Lon Webster.
West of the alley George Walker had a bakery in the
basement. It was later moved to the main floor. Then
came a millinery shop run by the Flaherty sisters, and
next a jewelry store run by Mac. the Jeweler McCrosky.
Next to it was the Crystal Theater, a movie house, and
on the corner was the W.S. Barker Grocery. Rows of
hitching racks were along the sidewalk west of Barker's
store. Barker had a long case, just inside the front door.
on the right, filled with penny candy. and attracted a
mob of kids enroute to school every day.
On the southwest corner of the intersection of Main
and Garnaviilo was Bert Cotton‘s iixit shop. He
reupholstered furniture. framed pictures, and did all
sorts of small repair jobs. Next door on the west was a
dwelling occupied by the Scroggs family. Proceeding
west we found the office of the Anamosa Gas Co.. then
the Airdrome, a movie theater, which operated only in
the summer, as it was open to the air—no roof. Candy
Bill Leach ran a second-hand store in the building now
serving Dr. Sunlin as a chiropractor's office.
The medical doctors, dentists, lawyers and other
professional people in Anamosa all maintained offices
on the second floors above the commercial enterprises I
have listed herein before. Dr. J .D. Paul, physician; Dr.
Wilkinson, dentist: Dr. Patton, an osteopathic
physician; and Clifford B. Paul, a lawyer, all had office
space above the post ofiice and Gibbons drug store.
Park Chamberlain had an office in the rear of the
Anamosa National Bank; George Gorman, lawyer,
above the National Bank: B.E. Rhinehart, lawyer, over
the Citizens Savings Bank: J.E. Remley, lawyer, over
the Niles and Watters Bank. Dr. Hejinian owned the
building in which Lee Sanner had his cleaning
establishment. and the Dr. had his oilice on the second
iloor. Dr. Hunter had his office upstairs over the
Flaherty sisters‘ millinery store. Dr. Fred Sigworth had
his ofiice in his dwelling just south of the post office, on
Booth Street
I think I have accounted substantially for all of the
places of business on Main Street as they existed in
I915. my earliest memory of the town. Others may
have better recall than I of some of the business places,
but I have tried to evoke the chord of memory in writing
the above to the best of my ability. The business
community was pretty tightly defined. There were no
neighborhood convenience stores. no shopping plazas
or malls, and no outlying drive-in businesses. I must
mention the circular horse trough in the center of the
intersection of Main and Garnaviilo, where the
teamsters stopped to refresh their horses. It was an
integral part of the business district.
In the words of the song. “Those were the days, my
friends—-we thought they'd never end—", but they did.
Peace to the ashes of all those stalwarts who were with
us then. Hail and Farewell!
Osborne Bros. Livery Stable. located on North Huber
Street, now the site of the R.E.C. (Submitted by
Kathleen and Larry J. Conmey)
The Roller Skating Rink
Big “fad” in 1ss3
by Bertha Finn
In 1883 Martin & McGuire leased what was known as 50 pair of skates provided proved far too insufficient to
Shaw's Hall, over Clancy 61 Son's, for use as a skating accommodate those wanting to try out this new
rink. This proved far too noisy. even for Clancy, and pastime. A large majority of the skaters were
within a few weeks the site was abandoned. However. inexperienced and there were numerous instances of
the initial success of the venture caused Will McGuire shin-peeling, blister-raising happenings.
to contract Col. Shaw to erect a building especially for It was expected that this new rage would supercede
this purpose. This was built on the site of what was pretty much every other amusement, as the rink was
later the city park, and now the REC building on Huber well-lighted and conveniently located.
street.
In a matter of weeks. the scheduled entertainments
The building was 50 feet X 90 feet and cost $1.000 to were attracting a large number ofspectators. One of the
build. It opened in the middle of December, 1883. The first events had judges who evaluated the young
female socialites of the city. Those performing were:
Misses Alma Beach, Mamie Stacy, Jessie Curry, Eva
Van Ness, Alma Hickox, Celia Martin. Flo Noyes and
:9!
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Maggie Gillen. The judges were Dr. A.W. Gawley.
Lucien Ellis, and J .G. Cudworth.
The three finalists were the Misses Noyes, Stacy and
Gillen. Miss Noyes was awarded the best exhibition,
although it should be admitted that this was done by
lot. as the judges regarded all equal in proficiency. The
final award was greeted by applause, although several
were ungracious enough to express their disapproval
by hissing.
The roller staking mania was spreading into other
towns in Jones county. Fairview, Olin, Wyoming,
Monticello and Oxford Junction were roller skating too.
In January 1884. a Grand Masquerade was planned.
Orders were taken at the Martin 8: McGuire restaurant.
Admission was 10 cents. If skates were wanted, this