Monday, October 22, 2012

Woolworth's Store a Landmark in Downtown Austin


The Woolworth’s store on Austin’s Main Street lives on in the memories of many residents. The first store opened in 1937. Twenty-six years later a major remodeling project was carried out. Some of the details from an article in the Austin Daily Herald on September 6, 1963:
“Austin’s new Woolworth Store will be open for business about the middle of October, C. W. Wilson, store manager said today...
Wilson, who has been assigned temporarily to the firm’s store in Albert Lea, returned to managerial duties in Austin this week. He said that Del Aharam, St. Cloud, previously assigned to the Milwaukee store, has moved here and will begin work as assistant manager.
Two former employees, Mrs. Inga Larson, stock clerk, and Mrs. Marion Waldron, bookkeeper, came back to work here this week...
The old Woolworth store was closed Jan. 26 and the building torn down. The new, modern, fireproof structure will have two selling floors, a lunch counter, and a floor for offices, stockrooms and public restrooms.
Wilson left here Feb. 4 and has been working in Albert Lea, except for a period in June when he assisted in opening a new Woolworth store in Fergus Falls.
“That store was very similar to our new one in Austin, and I gained a lot of valuable experience there,” he said...
Wilson said that he was especially proud of the new 48-seat lunch counter. He said only two other Woolworth stores in a six-state area would feature such modern equipment.”




Tuesday, October 16, 2012

George Hirsh Builds on Corner of Main & Water in 1901


Last week we explored the old Medical Building which housed Drs. Leck and Morrow in the 1930s and 40s. Before erecting their own building, the physicians were tenants in the Hirsch building, on the corner of Main Street and what was then Water Street (now 4th Avenue). There was even an operating room on the second floor.
George Hirsch came to Austin and opened a clothing store on the south end of Main Street, what is now Hastings Shoe, in 1887. Hirsh immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1873. He worked in several states, then set up a store in Council Grove, Kansas. After a fire destroyed it, Hirsh came to Austin on the recommendation of a wholesaler.
In 1901, Hirsh built the store that still stands, now occupied by Brick Furniture. The second floor and basement were rented over the years by a variety of concerns including Kinney and Detwiler, architects, Brown Brothers Barbershop, S.A. Emerson, plumber, Dr. Abe Mackoff, dentist, Albertson and Albertson, osteopathic physicians, J.W. Mann, insurance, A. J. Coon, barber and the Austin Rotary Club.
Hirsh's clothing business was taken over by his son, Alex Hirsh in 1927. In 1967, Jack Keenan purchased the business from Alex.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Old Medical Building Built on Site of Former Steamboat Landing


In 2009, consultants Bolton & Menk, Inc. researched the history of the Old Medical Building at 605 Main Street in downtown Austin. Their report is on file at the Mower County Historical Society and has some interesting details. Researchers drew heavily on articles in the Austin Daily Herald from 1928 and 1929.
"The Medical Building was constructed during the year of 1928. It is located near the current intersection of Main Street and 1st Drive NW (previously Lansing Avenue). The building was funded and designed by Dr. Clifford C. Leck who was a prominent physician in Austin, Minnesota since at least 1902. Dr. Leck had received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota in 1900.
The building was built in a vacant lot on the north end of Main Street, in between the Manhattan Oil Station and the Wagner Construction Company office. It is also the former location of a steamboat landing which took day passengers to Columbia Park located up the Cedar River. The steamboat could carry as many as 75 people in one trip. The steamboat was in operation until at least 30 years before excavation began, roughly 1898. When the location was no longer used as a landing, it was a convenient dumping ground for household, farm, and construction waste. The location was easily accessible for people to dump their farm manure...
The first floor primarily housed the medical offices of Dr. Leck and Dr. James Morrow. Other offices on the first floor were reserved for a dentist and two optometrists. Four private apartments were constructed on the second floor, with modern amenities including an electric refrigerator and closet beds...
The Medical Building had many amenities including a laboratory, an x-ray machine, a fluoroscope, a minor surgical room, and a large reception room complete with a fireplace."

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Y-Teens Rennovate Basement in 1955

 
A report written in 1956 by Helen Baird Vance tells about early programs of the YWCA, including the founding of Y-Teens.
"In the past ten years the young adult program has been expanded and interest and hobby groups added. In 1953 girl's work was introduced. This was not a new program for the Y but it's Girls Work in the early years became the Girl Scout program. So in responding to requests for "something for teen-agers" Y-Teens came into being with Mrs. Maynard Lawrence, the director. She was followed in 1955 by co-directors, Mrs. Dale Foell and Mrs. Harold Collins. Under their guidance Y-Teens have developed a program for themselves which has proved stimulating and purposeful. Christmas wreath sales yielded an excellent profit and they are using it to improve their basement room, painting and decorating after school and on Saturdays. Their program planning, their devotions, their interest in others are rewarding experiences.
In 1951, a swim camp program was inaugurated and little girls from seven to twelve are learning to swim, each summer. The high school pool or the municipal pool have been utilized with Mrs. Art Hass as director and a corps of qualified assistants. Sixty to one hundred girls participate each year.
Perhaps the most intangible but certainly an important segment of community service is job placement and counseling. The YWCA maintains a list of women and girls seeking employment as well as a room registry. Transients are housed either at the Y or at an approved room. If they are short of funds, the Y provides for them. Personal services account for about 2,000 calls a year."