Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

house to First Street.
In 1913. Roy McMickel remodeled his drug store
with dark oak and a mirrored wall behind the soda
fountain. He sold the store in 1942 to Horace Edison.
who hired a pharmacist. Edison sold the store in 1949
to Wilson Kouba. The soda fountains were taken out in
1953: and in 1970 the old Citizens Savings Bank
building. on the east. was purchased and utilized. Keith
Kouba joined the firm in 1974. He is presently the fulltime
pharmacist.
In 1914 there was a problem of an insufficient supply
of hitching racks off Main Street. There was talk of
providing ‘off street parking‘ to alleviate the unsanitary
conditions of hitching teams on the Main thoroughfare.
But in order not to discourage the farmers’ business, it
was quickly noted that they helped in the building of
the city, and their convenience must be considered.
Also. in I914. the Finnigan Mfg. Co. was preparing to
sell a new steel garage. the result of Philip Gardner's
endeavors. The garage was built of sheet metal and
angle iron. It was fireproof and portable.
C.W. Metcalf built an addition to his building on
North Ford Street. located between the mill building
and the creamery. to be used in connection with the
Hale and Corbin garage. This was in 1914. Also that
year the Mystic Workers had fine, new quarters over
the building. with a new floor for dancing and a lodge
room.
Advertisers in 1924 included GROCERIES: Hale
Grocery. Tyler & Downing, A.L. Remley. W.S. Barker.
Mills B1 Holtman. R.D. Gordon. and Miller & Miller:
RESTAURANTS: Gus O'Deen. The Grill, and The
Vendome: DRY GOODS: The Lenzen Store. The Racket
Store. Aments Dry Goods, Miller & Miller. R.D. Gordon
and M.P. Conway; LUMBER: Anamosa Lumber Co.:
CLOTHING: Gildner Bros. & Hanson and M.P. Conway:
SHOES: Fischer Bros.. McNamara Boot Shop: Gildner
Bros. 8: Hansen and M.P. Conway: DRUGS: McMickle
Drugs. Stoughten Drug Store and W.B. Skinner:
HARDWARE: Scott Hdw. and Monroe Hdw.; FARM
IMPLEMENTS: J.A. Hartman: MILLINERY: K. lit A.
Flaherty. The Racket Store and Aments Department
Store; TOBACCO: Jack's Place: AUTOMOBILE AND
SUPPLIES: Durant 8: Star. M.R. Landis, Chipman's
Accessory Store. Anamosa Auto Co.. S.M. Prentice.
William Grafft. Ed McGowan. J .A. Hartman and The
Buffalo Oil Co.: BAKERIES: Anamosa Bakery. and Mills
8: Holtman: JEWELER: E.S. Stone: PHOTOGRAPHY:
M.H. Weiss: BANKS: Citizen Savings. Niles and
Watters. Anamosa National; MISCELLANEOUS:
Le'Fields Beauty Shoppe. Anamosa Bottling Works.
Anamosa Creamery and Walton 61 Son. The Kleanall.
Brown Hotel. Hotel Vendome Cafe. Perkins & Perkins.
chiropractor. T.C. Loder. D.S. Ellison, Mershon Quality
Market.
In 1924 Miles Landis started his 12-passenger bus
line that would travel to near-by cities.
In 1925 a permit was issued to Joe Miller to erect a
gasoline filling station on the corner of Elm and Main
streets. He tore down the brick building to make room
for a driveway. This brick building had been built in the
1860s when that portion of town was the business
center.
In 1925 the lunch counter opposite the courthouse
(Shaw Block) was rebuilt in a fireproof construction,
and set back from the street a bit.
That year the Anamosa Bottling Works remodeled.
John Rady was proprietor at the time. The excavation
work. under the Beam & Miller store on the corner of
'-‘ii’ 9
Main and Ford. brought to light the 35-foot well in the
basement. The well. in an excellent state of
preservation. was dug to alleviate the problem of
drainage for the owners of 40 years before.
In 1926 the A & P located in Anamosa. The T & D
moved from the Kaufman building two doors east.
where A.L. Remley. grocer. was located for many years.
At this time. T 8: D's and the Hale Grocery began their
own delivery wagon routes. Most merchants, who had
shared delivery service. were establishing their own
delivery service.
The Dodge Motor Co. moved to the floor above the
W.S. Barker Grocery in -1926. This was in the Holt's
Block. at the time owned by E.F. Winkelman of Cedar
Rapids. William Grafft was the local Dodge dealer. The
upper fioor included the old Crystal Theater and the big
dance hall.
John Cartano moved into the vacated space left by H.
Weiss. known as the Dr. J .G. McGuire Drug Store
[presently the site of Dr. G.M. Fisher's office). This was
in 1926. Cartano would use the place for a cigar store.
In 1929 the old landmark. on the southwest corner of
Main and Davis streets, was torn down. The site was
Corner southwest of South Garnaviilo and Main.
now the site ofMoenk Real Estate.
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