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Post by The Alton Route on Aug 15, 2004 22:40:22 GMT -6
Anyone know what the oldest building on Main St. is?
If I had to guess I'd say the buildings where Papa John's and Grump's are located. They're the only buildings I recognize in an 1870s-era photo of Main St. in Biography in Black.
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Post by John on Aug 16, 2004 5:54:22 GMT -6
Good question Alton Route. I never really thought about it but it would be interesting to find out. It shouldn't be hard to pinpoint. You can't really go by the facades as so many of the original ones have been changed. I'm sure the Streatorland Historical Society could help. Did you realize that the buildings in the photo below, with the exception of the UB building, are all that is left in the 200 block of East Main St.? This is the center of our downtown! This block used to be completely full of buildings and all occupied! Anyone else remember Friday nights downtown? The stores were open til 9:00 P.M. and the sidewalks were crowded with shoppers.  |
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Post by The Alton Route on Aug 16, 2004 17:47:08 GMT -6
yeah...I remember when when that block was full or nearly full. I can remember 2 buildings west of the Chinese restaurant and of course the rest of the 3-story buildings on the east, not to mention the Harvest Bakery next to Union Bank. I always liked the 3-story "Merriner" buildings. I think the owners of the buildings, in true Streator tradition, let the buildings decay badly, and, not surprisingly, the old buildings eventually collapsed.
Another building that always irks one is the one on the northeast corner of Hickory of Bloomington. It could be a really nice place. But you look at it and half the windows look as if they're about to fall off. What's wrong with this town?
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Post by John on Aug 16, 2004 20:07:36 GMT -6
Another building that always irks one is the one on the northeast corner of Hickory of Bloomington. It could be a really nice place. But you look at it and half the windows look as if they're about to fall off. What's wrong with this town? Ah ya! The old Schultz Hotel. Did you know this used to be the bus station in Streator? And behind it on Hickory was Montgomery Wards Tire Store. |
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Post by John on Aug 16, 2004 20:41:20 GMT -6
Here is what that same block (200 East Main) looked like in July of 1957.  |
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Post by The Alton Route on Aug 16, 2004 23:32:18 GMT -6
Speaking of buildings disappearing, I was reading that if the resort plan goes ahead on Main St. in Ottawa, the rest of the buildings on the Jordan Hardware block will be demolished. Just a few years ago that block was completely full.
On another note, do you have any photos of the Wabash RR in Streator?
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Post by John on Aug 17, 2004 6:15:31 GMT -6
This is only one of two pictures that I have of the Wabash in Streator. This was taken behind the Wabash Depot on Bridge St. on June 15th of 1940.  |
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Post by John on Aug 18, 2004 11:50:03 GMT -6
Anyone know what the oldest building on Main St. is? If I had to guess I'd say the buildings where Papa John's and Grump's are located. They're the only buildings I recognize in an 1870s-era photo of Main St. in Biography in Black. It is hard to tell just by looking at them because of all the renovations that have been done to them. For example, the Ford Hopkins Drug Store Building on the SE corner of Main and Monroe (Steve's Bakery) has a marker on the upper front of the building that says "1880 Arthur Bros". This building does not appear to be 124 years old because of the cosmetic changes to it's exterior architecture. |
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Post by The Alton Route on Aug 18, 2004 22:37:27 GMT -6
That stone marker has to be right. If you look, you can see where the decorative stonework above the windows was covered over with stucco.
The old Union Bank building was also (unfortunately) remodeled. From what I've seen in old photos, in the old days the building was much more ornate, with a lot of stone friezes.
In my opinion, this turn-of-the-century architecture is America's most beautiful. So many great architects like Louis Sullivan and Burnham & Root made our cities beautiful. It's a shame that so much of their work has been lost and replaced with hideous modern skyscrapers.
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Post by John on Aug 20, 2004 20:35:08 GMT -6
The old Union Bank building was also (unfortunately) remodeled. From what I've seen in old photos, in the old days the building was much more ornate, with a lot of stone friezes. Like in this 1913 photo of the Union National Bank.  |
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Post by John on Aug 26, 2004 13:09:09 GMT -6
We have some pretty old residential structures also.
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Post by Job on Sept 7, 2004 20:09:59 GMT -6
These photos, and others done by the same young man, are simply fantastic. Whoever took them has a gift for the art of photography.
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Post by Eva Ryman on Sept 25, 2004 17:54:45 GMT -6
I first visited Streator in 1971, and I do remember the town looking much different. But looking at the old photos helps to understand ''why'' the town seems different now, when compared to my early memories. I am not sure I comprehend the ''remove all old buildings'' attitude, that seems to prevail,more in this town than others, but it seems, a shame. Although, I probably just don't have all the information behind those decisions.
Someone mentioned the row of buildings on Main St. in Ottawa, unless I have totally misunderstood, the reason for taking those down, was/is due to structural damage, caused by the Jordan fire some years ago. The hardware store was the oldest, I believe, of that section of buildings.
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Post by DumDave on Sept 26, 2004 12:28:00 GMT -6
When I was just a squid & we lived in the 400 Block of S. Vermillion, Mom used to take us three shopping every Saturday. Two of the last stops (unless we had to go to Wards) were the two bakerys near the Union National Bank bldg. One was on Main St just East of the Bank & the other was just around the corner on Park. St. (This was the most popular of the two)
I was shocked to see how little is laft of this block. The part of the building that got torn down at the N/W corner of main & verimillion was the location of the nation Tea store before it moved to Westgate Plaza. BTW, when the flood came the Central Bldg. @ Westgate was just about to open as the first Doctor's (more than two) Medical Center. The existing nursery/flower shop was Harts on Bridge St. My older Bro. used to deliver flowers in their truck after HS got out. (He told me of going to all of the funeral homes & looking a dead people to freak me out. He did!)
-Dave
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Post by The Alton Route on Sept 26, 2004 12:50:43 GMT -6
Speaking of disappearing buildings, the last time I drove through downtown Bloomington, I noticed that the old Catholic high school is completely gone. About two or three years ago that church also tore down another school building that, I later learned, dated all the way back to the Civil War. There are still a few remnants of good architecture in downtown Bloomington, but I'd hate to imagine how much has been lost in the past 50 years.
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