A Moment of history.

Start at 52 minutes.  This was so moving.  The poem, the remarks and of course the raising of the flag.

Ginny's Research - Bridges and Buildings

My sister has been doing some research on the family.  Our great grandfather was John Cole and he and his Son and Brother Ben and Lew started a construction company and did much building. Lew withdrew from the firm but over the years the family built many bridges and buildings

She writes
Due to the Memorial Union's 85th Birthday celebration Monday night; I have been researching Ben Cole. Holy Crap his company built a lot of cool things!! Some I knew about. I also found photos on web-sites without labels as to who the lovely ladies are. Do any of you know?

Many of the photos are from the Ames Historical Society (Linked on the right) but since I gave them the collection of family pictures so that everyone could enjoy them I am certain that I still have some "rights" to use them

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Ben Cole & Son

of Ames, Iowa

View Exhibit map

BNSF Railroad Bridge (Lucas County, Iowa)
Built 1937
Arch bridge over BNSF Railroad on 200th Avenue
Open to traffic

CNW Grand Avenue Overpass #2 (Story County, Iowa)
Built 1937
Lost pony plate girder bridge over Grand Avenue
Removed

Herrold Bridge (Polk County, Iowa)
Built 1921
Concrete deck girder bridge over Beaver Creek
Closed to all traffic

Main Street Overpass (Story County, Iowa)
Built 1938
Steel stringer bridge over Grand Ave. (US69) on Main Street
Open to traffic

Skunk River Bridge (Story County, Iowa)
Movers, 1876
Warren through truss bridge over Skunk River on a vacated road in Ames
Abandoned

UP Grand Avenue Overpass (Story County, Iowa)
Built 1938
Steel stringer bridge over Grand Avenue on Union Pacific Railroad

Herrold bridge

County:	Polk
Alternate Name:
Constructed:	1921
Bridge Type:	concrete cantilevered deck girder
Physical Status:	replaced; still stands
Length:	feet
Width:	feet
Spans:		Click to view larger image
FHWA:	282190
Jurisdiction:	Iowa Army National Guard
Address: NW 88th Avenue over Beaver Creek, .6 miles north of Herrold, Section 22, T80N-R25W, on Camp Dodge
Description:  Built in 1921, the Herrold Bridge spans Beaver Creek near the abandoned town of Herrold on the Iowa Army National Guard installation in west-central Polk County. This outstanding early structure is comprised of three arched concrete deck girder spans, cantilevered from concrete abutments and piers. County engineer M.D. Blue surveyed the site late in 1920 for a new bridge that would replace an earlier timber pile structure here. That year engineers for the Iowa State Highway Commission's Bridge Department designed the new concrete structure, as well as a 150-foot steel through truss--the two configurations to be bid as alternates. As drawn up by ISHC, the deck girder alternate was comprised of a 64-foot central span, flanked on both sides by 42-foot girders; the bridge would consume some 607 cubic yards of concrete and 52,000 pounds of reinforcing steel. Polk County solicited competitive bids for the two bridges early the following year, using ISHC's designs and specifications. On March 29, 1921, the county awarded a contract to Ben Cole of Ames, Iowa, to build the concrete girder bridge for $24,550. Cole began work on the substructural excavation soon thereafter, completing the new Herrold Bridge later that year. It has functioned in place since, in essentially unaltered condition. The choice to use a rather esoteric structural type at this crossing was for the Highway Commission a logical extension of its design policies. ISHC had first developed the design for simply supported concrete girder bridges--designated Standard Series H--among its first standardized bridge plans in 1914. Three years later the ISHC designed its first cantilevered deck girder for a three-span structure over the Boyer River at Woodbine. The Woodbine Bridge was followed by a handful of other cantilevered girders in the 1910s and 1920s, including spans at Goldfield in Wright County, and this one at Herrold in Polk County. In its 1917 annual report, ISHC deemed the cantilevered deck girder design "particularly well adapted for use on deep drainage ditches and streams subject to widening." A cantilevered span could carry more weight over a greater distance than a shorter, simply-supported girder. Moreover, the arched profile of ISHC's cantilevered girders was considered more architecturally accomplished than the straight spandrel of simply supported girders. The Beaver Creek structure allowed the ISHC the opportunity to demonstrate the superiority and flexibility of concrete for bridge construction. With a 68-foot center span and a total length of 156 feet, the Herrold Bridge is an excellent example of this type of construction. It is one of the most technologically significant of the state's numerous concrete girder bridges [adapted from Crow-Dolby and Fraser 1993].

Burlington Railroad Overpass

County:	Lucas
Alternate Name:
Constructed:	1937
Bridge Type:	riveted 3-hinge deck arch
Physical Status:	remains in use
Length:	322 feet
Width:	30 feet
Spans:	6	Click to view larger image
FHWA:	226430
Jurisdiction:	Lucas County
Address: Co. Road S23 over Burlington Northern Railroad, Chariton Vicinity, 4.3 miles northwest of Chariton, Section 14/15, T72N-R22W (White Breast Township)
Description:  In the 1930s the Iowa State Highway Commission designed a handful of steel arch structures to function as grade separations in various locations in the state. One of these structures was this overpass over the Burlington Northern Railroad in central Lucas County. For this crossing the commission in 1936 drew up a single-span, three-hinge arch supported by concrete arch pedestals. The highway commission designated the project WPGS-620 and let a contract for its construction to Ben Cole and Son of Ames, Iowa. The overpass was completed and accepted by the highway commission in June 1937. It has since carried traffic in essentially unaltered condition. Until recently the last two steel arch overpasses in the state were located in Lucas and Clinton counties. The Clinton County arch has been replaced, leaving the Lucas County structure as the last remaining example of this bridge design trend. It is thus significant as a rare example of ISHC aesthetics and a unique structural type in the state [adapted from Fraser 1992].

Cole Contractors

from the September 26, 1939 Diamond Jubilee issue of the Ames Daily Tribune

In 1865, Ohio resident William Cole got western fever and came to Iowa on the railroad which was being built across the state that year. One of many who moved west after the end of the Civil War, he bought 390 acres on the bluff west of the Skunk River.  When he and his sons arrived with the family’s goods, depot conditions in Ames were very primitive. Their possessions were unloaded onto a wagon and it immediately became stuck in one of early Ames' famous bogs!  With the aid of a logging chain, the wagon was pulled to firmer ground.  The family’s farm included the area where Homewood golf course and Carr's Pool are now located, as well as some acreage on the east side of the Skunk River.

John, one of William’s sons, was 19 when he arrived in Ames in 1866, and had spent three years in the army during the Civil War. He was a husky lad who had not been able to attend much school, but was naturally bright.  John bought land in the area of 13th and Burnett and continued farming. Eventually, he turned to brick making and owned a plant at 13th & Burnett and one northeast of town on his father’s farm. He later became a well-regarded general contractor, a business he pursued for 35 years.

Two of John’s four sons, Lew and Ben, and then later Ben and his son Herman, continued in the building business. Ben passed away in 1939. John Cole's home at 13th & Burnett was occupied by family members from 1866 to 1967, when the last of John’s daughters died. The house was sold to the First Assembly of God and was demolished to make way for a church.

The jog in 13th Street at Burnett was caused when John planted a row of trees along the road.  When the city wanted to straighten and pave the street, John refused to let them cut down the trees to do it!

In addition to Ben, there were three other boys.  William continued to farm on land south of town.  Clarence Dig graduated from the Veterinary Department of Iowa State and was in charge of the Agricultural Experiment Station on the bank of the Skunk River, east of town. It was the forerunner of the National Animal Disease Laboratories.  Lew and Dig were members of Ames High's first football team.

The girls were Elizabeth, Jess, Nell, Catherine (Kate) and Avis.  Elizabeth, Jess, and Kate homesteaded in South Dakota and then returned home to Ames.  Avis taught first grade in Old Central (east of Clark between 5th and 6th) and Roosevelt School for about 40 years.  Nell was a school teacher at the Ray School and Catherine was with the Iowa State Extension Service for many years.  The girls were all active in social clubs of the day.  Catherine and Jess were members of a merry social club called the Bachelor Maids which started when they were in high school and continued until all were quite advanced in years.

There are fourth, fifth, and sixth generations of the Cole family still living in Ames.
 

click to enlarge image

This downtown Ames construction photo shows John Cole (in vest) and a work crew.

click to enlarge

the Cole steam-powered trenching machine

click to enlarge

another view of the Cole trencher and crew

click to enlarge

1917 bridge building project by Ben Cole & Co.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge image

Cement mixer working next to a riverbank

(next page)

Living quarters on site

click to enlarge

Examples Of Cole-built Structures (John, Lew, Ben, or Herman) Ames Savings and Loan Building Bridges     Logan, Lincoln Highway         (largest viaduct in Iowa)     Mahaska County, Highway No. 2         (longest bridge in Iowa on state highways) City of Ames      City Hall (formerly Ames High School)      Filtration Plant & Reservoir      Implement Shed      Lincoln School addition      Louise Crawford School (1930)      Underpass on Grand Avenue (1938)      Water Softening Building & Plant College Savings Bank Cranford Apartments Duitch (Max) Garage Fair Store (1895) Fareway Grocery at 417 Kellogg (1938) Iowa State College buildings     Armory     Chemistry     Fraternities & Sororities          Adelante          Alpha Sigma Phi          Beta Theta Pi          Delta Delta Delta          Delta Sigma Phi          Gamma Phi Beta          Kappa Delta          Pi Kappa Alpha          Sigma Phi Epsilon          Sigma Sigma      Memorial Union 4th & 5th floors Knapp (Herman) residence Lechner Building (formerly Adams Building) McFarland Clinic at 313 5th Street Octagon (formerly Masonic Building) St. Cecilia Catholic Church on Lincoln Way      (now demolished) Sheldon-Munn Hotel addition to the west Standard Oil Station Tilden Building Tribune Building West Super Service Station Yates Oil Co.

Memorial plaque at the north approach to the Grand Avenue underpass built by Ben Cole

 

 

    Citation: 118.647.4 (Full image size: 91Kb)

This photograph was taken, in about 1895, of a construction job on the south side of Onondaga (Main) Street in Ames of a structure which today [2010] is 236 Main and is occupied by Gilger Designs. The building to the left of the store under construction (west of it) is wooden. The brick store to the left of the store under construction (east of it) was occupied for many years by the Fair Store. The Fair Store and the store here under construction were built by John Cole, a Civil War veteran, who came to Ames in 1865 at the age of 19. His son Ben also became a builder [Ben Cole & Son] and built many of Ames's iconic stuctures (the Sixth Street overpass, the 1937 Ames High School building, which in 1990 became the Ames City Hall). The men in this photograph are not identified except for John Cole, the man in the vest on the far right.

---

BEN COLE & SON

    Citation: 197.1121.5 (Full image size: 56Kb) 

Construction of the Grand Avenue underpass got underway in 1936. Shown here are changes in the street grade being made at the Fifth Street corner. A Ben Cole Construction truck can be seen. Photo, courtesy of the Iowa Department of Transportation.

    Citation: 127.700.2-4 (Full image size: 60Kb)

Bids for the construction of the Grand Avenue underpass were received in August, 1936. The contract was awarded to Ben Cole & Son of Ames. Looking southeasterly in this photo from the mainline of the railroad we can see the excavation partly completed. The Ames High School Field House, on the south side of Lincoln Way, at upper left, was in its prime. Kimler Coal & Ice office is at far left. (See also: 131.718.5-6) Photo, courtesy of the Iowa Department of Transportation.

    Citation: 131.718.2-4 (Full image size: 69Kb) 

Construction workers build the Grand Avenue underpass. Heavy timbers were used to temporarily support the railroad tracks that continued to carry their traffic while construction of the underpass proceeded. Ben Cole & Son, which was also building the new Ames High School at the same time, was the contractor. One of the company's trucks is shown here. During construction all of the Grand Avenue traffic was detoured over a temporary railroad crossing south of Brookridge Avenue, which later became permanent. The underpass was completed in 1938. Photo, courtesy of the Iowa Department of Transportation.

---

 

- Tuesday This 'n That

Wait For It!  

The cartoonists are fast.  Benny made the announcement he was leaving the Papal Throne this morning and by evening this appeared on Facebook.

Deganawidah

I just finished reading a great book called 1491 - New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann. (Video here.) In it he mentions Deganwida. Supposedly born of a virgin he came to the people of the Americas in the early 15th Century and brought peace to waring tribes.  I had never heard of him before so I did some more research and found out a little about him.

Deganwida was the great prophet who appeared to the Seneca First Peoples who came across Lake Champlain in a stone boat.

Deganawida taught the Seneca the ways of Peace. The same "Man of Peace" who appeared to the rest of the tribes on Turtle Island, and also the tribes of the Old Testament. He appeared to the Lakota Sioux, bringing the Peace Pipe and teaching the ways of Peace. To the Myans, the Aztecs, the Cherokee. All tribes. He constructed the Articles of Confederation the League of Five Nations while with the Seneca. Then he appointed Hiawatha His disciple and sent him out to convince other nations to make peace among themselves and join together to fight this new peril from the North. The Pale One, man of peace, the Peacemaker, the great Holy Man appeared in many forms to all of the Native Peoples.

Deganwida and his disciple Hiawatha worked to bring the five tribes away from their waring ways they set up a system where the women owned the land and they chose the leaders.  The five tribes were organized into a confederation. They lived in peace and Their constitution and democratic system of government was admired by the newcomers, (those who came from Europe to colonize this country) particularly Benjamin Franklin, and this, along with its similarity, has given rise to the belief that the American Constitution is based upon the constitution given to the Iroquois Confederacy by Deganawida and Hiawatha.

Source - Here  

Ceremony of Condolence here.

Real History story here.

Another story here.

Wikepedia article here

I found 1491 to be a fascinating read.  It gives a far different story of the indigenous American peoples prior to the time when Christopher Columbus arrived. In that time (as a friend wrote me) "Native Americans lived in harmony with nature, never wasting stuff, never screwing stuff up. They deliberately killed off entire herds of animals to minimize their effect on their gardens, and burned so much forest that it created warming in Europe..." 

The civilizations of the Western Hemisphere were many and sophisticated. I learned a lot and have a much greater appreciation for the earliest inhabitants of our hemisphere.  Jon and I went to several sites in our travels including some mounds.  What I had not realized was how much manipulation of the environment was going on by these people and how many people were supported by their technology.  

I really recommend that you read this book.  If you are interested in history this will open your eyes. 

The Iowa Legislature

Some folks in the legislature have proposed a bill House File 147 which would criminalize the sale of U S Flags manufactured outside of the United States.  It would be a misdemeanor and a vendor could spend a year in jail or be fined $1875.00 for doing so.

First this is a stupid thing to wast time on especially since the legislature is not even following its own law for the second year in a row by not setting the allowable growth for the schools.  Second, if they are going to do something like this why not extend it to other things such as smartphones, TVs and cars. It might drive Walmart out of business.  We buy a lot of things which are not made in the USA (although we should look for the Made in the USA label) so why limit to flags.  I wonder if they would include a shirt with a flag sewn on it as made outside the US.  Pardon me while I go find a wall to hit my head against.
*****************************************************
And finally.  I read this story which brought a tear to my eye and gratitude in my heart that there are people like this.  Go read..Oh and read all the way to the end.
th1

Simple Gifts.

Some years ago I gave this game table to the Ames Historical Society.

My grandmother had it in her shop. I don't remember where she got it but my grandfather refinished it.  After he retired he refinished a  lot of furniture for my grandmother who sold them in her antique shop.

I liked the table but felt that it would be something I could give to the community.

This is one of two matching chairs that I also gave to the Society.  It belonged to the Underwood family.  My grandmother was an Underwood.  You really could not sit in them because they are somewhat fragile.  I thought they would look good in the museum.  They were thinking of getting rid if then but the decision was made that they could   risk the chair as a prop with a stereopticon, a quintessential Victorian item.  A small sign reads "Please do not sit in chair."

The Cole Family

 I also decided that the family pictures which were sitting in my basement really belonged to the community and they were given to the Society.  That way family members can visit them and use them (one cousin from out of town has already done this) and they are part of the heritage of the community.  I am glad they are there where they will be preserved.  You can click on them to see a larger version.

The Cole Girls

 The Underwoods.

My grandmother was an Underwood and my grandfather was Cole (Irish) and Gordon Clan (Scottish)  So I have always said I was Scotch, Irish and English on my mother's side.  My father's family came from Germany and originally were names Silmser.

In 1976 I got a letter from a company wanting to sell me a flag to fly during the Bicentennial.  They kindly informed me that the Simsers had been in the country since the Revolutionary War and I should send them $40 (or so) to let people know that the Simsers were a "Bicentennial Family."  I wrote them back and told them that I was indeed proud of my heritage but that it was the Coles and the Underwoods who had fought in the Revolutionary War on the side of the Colonies.  The Simsers were United Empire Loyalists who went to Canada following the war and then returned to this country in the 1800's.  I enjoyed writing that letter and I never heard from that company again.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hugs.

My Train Pictures

A couple of posts down you can see the pictures which Bob Kelley took of an historic train which passed through Ames.  As luck would have it I had just taken some train pictures myself.  I found myself at the head of a line of cars waiting for a train to pass the Duff Avenue Intersection.  I was looking at the railroad cars and the graffiti which seemed to be painted on all of them.  I really like these moving works of art.  And while the artists would probably be arrested for their work I admire their spirit and bravery for expressing themselves.

 I always have enjoyed looking at trains as they passed and remember the passenger trains which used to go through town and watching the people enjoying their rides to places unknown.  When I was little we used to meet my great-aunt Erma when she came to town for a visit.  I was fortunate in later years to ride coast to coast on the train.  First to Los Angeles to visit my aunt Ellen and then the next year with my classmates to Washington DC and New York City for our Senior Class Trip.

There were a lot of different types of cars on this train including some oil cars and many full of lumber.  I got to thinking about how important the railroad is and has been to our country.

 You can click on any of these pictures to embiggen them.  The intersection where I was sitting is right across from the place where the my family arrived in Ames. They arrived before the station was built.  It was not much of a station and was replaced with a large brick one on the other end of Main Street.  It is no longer there although the brick station where we met the passenger trains is still extant.

I have posted this somewhere in the past but to ask you to search through the 4,838 posts on this blog is a bit much so I am just going to reproduce the pertinent bits below.  It is the story of how my Cole ancestors arrived in Ames and the 1865 train journey taken by my great- great-grandfather's family.  Enjoy.  It was written by Uncle Henry.

In the winter of 1865, father and Alvin took a trip to Iowa; liking the central part, father bought 390 acres near Ames, after he bought 80 acres north of Nevada. He paid $4600.00 ($64,743.18 in 2010 money) for the 390 acres. (worth $2,223,000 today)

We lived stayed in the old house with the other family, but there was plenty of room. In early spring we began to get ready for the trip west.

We boxed most of the household goods, and took everything including the cook stove and barrel of pork.

Alvin and I (Henry) were selected to come with the car, which also contained the horses. I had seen railroad cars but never been on one and Alvin’s experience was the same. We were told the car would start from the junction on the west side. A switch engine was pulling some cars about, one of which was ours. We learned that when the train was made up a caboose would be would be attached in which we would ride, so we eased up a bit to wait, then watched the train pull out, sans way car and us.

A man told us the train was pulling out, when the rear and was not far past. We took a run for it. At first we gained and could almost touch the last car, then it became an even race and we buckled to it desperately. Then the train began to gain, and after a half mile or strenuous running we gave up, feeling decidedly foolish.

We took a passenger train which overtook the freight about half way to Toledo. There was still no caboose, so we rode the top of the car. It was April 17, (1865) and was cloudy, damp, and we rode for hours, through and extensive swamp, filled with water, vegetation, and chills and ague. We nearly perished, but no way to get out of it, so we rode to Toledo. There we got off the train we determined to keep our car in sight. When the switch engine whisked it away, we raced back and forth with it, among the thousands of cars in the yards. Finally it eluded us and a man who saw us frantically searching, told us to go to a lighted building where we would find a string of cabooses and we could get into the one whose number gave us, and go to sleep. As there was nothing else we could do, we did as he advised and when we woke up, we were in southern Michigan.

We had brought food and pails of water for the horses but we were to eat where the trainmen did. Our experiences made us wary of leaving our car, and we had nothing to eat for over twenty-four hours. The fare we got then was stinking steak and rotten eggs, but we were hungry.

In Chicago we changed from the M.S. + N.I. to the C + NW. Ry. At the Wells Street station we got the C + NW car, unloaded out goods and repacked them.

We had unloaded the horses in the yards and led them to a stable. Chicago at the time had no hard surfaced streets, at least where we were, some were planked, but we led our horses through miles and miles of mud like black tar. We were misdirected or misunderstood directions several times. We got comfortable bed and good meals at a hotel and next day we started on, and had a comfortable bed and good meals at a hotel next day we started on, and had a comfortable trip as far as DeKalb. Here we found one of the horses very sick and kicking things to pieces, so we had the car set out and got the horses unloaded. Although it was midnight, we found a Veterinarian who took the horses to his barn, and cared for them. We went to a hotel, and next day being Sunday, we were unable to leave until evening.

At Clinton we dipped water from the river for the horses. At Belle Plaine the caboose was a box car which was very uncomfortable; it had hard wooden seats and not enough of them. An emigrant family was added to our fellow travelers. An old lady wore the pants and had a gift for making known when she was abused, and the way she went for the car, the railroad company and it’s employees was both entertaining and satisfactory. So much so that the engineer of a push engine threatened to run his engine under the caboose and shove it from the track if she did not cease her tirade.

We got to Ames after 7 ½ days, arriving in the middle of the night. I jumped off the train and landed in water to my knees. There were few houses in the town, and we bunked on the floor at the home of the agent. Nothing since has tasted so good as the ham and eggs we had for breakfast. There was no depot at Ames, no platform where could unload. We borrowed some plank at the lumber yard, and made sort of a ramp and led the horses down and got the wagon off and put it together and were loading the household goods when my father came. He had come ahead of the train. A man standing by told Father not to load too heavily, or we might get sloughed. We, never having heard the term applied to mire, felt insulted as where we came from it meant getting drunk, we paid no heed to the advice. We started off, and coming to an innocent looking patch of moist ground, drove on unsuspecting. Soon both houses were down. We got them unhitched and extricated, but the state of the wagon seemed hopeless. Among the effects was a log chain, a long one. We led the horses far enough away to be sure of firm footing, and attached the chain to the end of the wagon tongue. The horses were large and strong, so succeeded in pulling the wagon out. Without any more trouble, we reached our new home, a two story log house on a bluff overlooking the Skunk River.

I had one place pictured in my mind, but it did not resemble what we found. There was a family of five still living in the house, and they continued to live there until mid-summer.

Mr. Riddle, from whom we bought the land, was confined to the house in the last stages of consumption, and a girl about 24 died in the house a few days after we arrived.

A week later the rest of the family arrived, and the house was crowded. There were Father, Mother, Alvin and his wife and Alice, Aliva, John, myself (Henry), Arthur, William, and Julia. Mary, Susan, and Laura were married and living in Cleveland.

The house was in the timber. We had 200 acres of it, mostly hardwood, oak, and hickory. We could have bought land on the prairie for half as much, but no one lived on the prairie; although that would have been a better investment at the same price as timber. There was no income from the timber, except the scanty pasture, and what we needed for fuel.

There was 75 acres in cultivation and we proceeded to plant corn with a hoe as we had in Ohio. We had a fair crop.

Trains have always been important in our country.  It is unfortunate that we must be in such a hurry so that we have to fly everywhere. If we had put as much effort into repairing and replacing and rebuilding our train infrastructure we might have less pollution and global warming.

My family helped build this town.

Probably the most wonderful traffic convenience in our town is the underpass.  This is a picture of it being built.  It came from the Ames Historical Society Web Site.


Why am I featuring it?  Because today I want to brag about my family. This is a picture of my grandfather and his three brothers

The Cole brothers, left to right: Ben, William, Lew, and Clarence.

The four Cole brothers, who were active in the business and professional life of early Ames.  Lew Cole (1880-1954), a farmer and owner of a Landfill South of town; William (Will) Cole (1871-1955); Clarence "Dig" Cole (1882-1968), a veterinarian who from 1927 to 1952 was the head of the Hog Cholera Station, the forerunner to the National Animal Disease Laboratories, in Ames; and Ben Cole (1873-1939), a builder whose company, Ben Cole & Son, constructed the Grand Avenue underpass in 1937-1938 (See picture above) and the new Ames High School (since 1990, the Ames City Hall) which opened for classes in the fall of 1939 on the west corner of Sixth Street and Clark Avenue. 

Again from the Historical Society's connection to the Farwell T. Brown Photo Archives


John Cole, (My great-grandfather)  a Civil War veteran, came to Ames in 1865 at age 19. He became a builder and erected this building on Onondaga (Main) Street in 1895 at the commission of Professor Joseph L. Budd, head of the Horticulture Department at Iowa State College. 


The building's first occupant was the Fair Store, founded by Joseph Jacobs in September, 1895. Located on the south side of Main Street, east of Kellogg Avenue,... Shown here (around 1913) are E. W. Valentine, Joseph Jacobs, three unidentified male clerks, Catherine Cole, Ethel Meeker, and Kate McMichael (later Mrs. Lew Cole). 


My great uncles were a part of my life as I was growing up from 1941 until my mother remarried and we moved to Atlantic Iowa in 1951 (?)  My Uncle Lew and my Aunt Kate (Kate McMichael in the picture above) were my school lunch program while I was in school.  Their home at 522 Crawford was about 4 blocks from school and I would go there every day for lunch and also on Wednesday evening.  On Wednesdays I would hang out with the slightly older boy who lived with his parents in the apartment upstairs.  I loved the house and the neighborhood (still do)  It had been built by my maternal great grandfather George Underwood who was tall and built it with high ceilings and doors.  He was mayor of Ames for a period and was also Master of Arcadia Lodge #249. (His daughter is in the picture just above Ethel Meeker).  


My Uncle Billy is a more distant memory because he was killed in a car accident when I was little. I don't remember Uncle Ben at all but I do remember his son who took over the Construction Firm.  My mother and I lived with my grandfather who did not like the name Clarence and went by "Doc" or "Dig" (He and the other Clarence who worked at the station called each other P.T. I found out later that the initials stood for Pig Turd.  They did work at the Hog Cholera Research station after all.)


There were five sisters - Elizabeth, Avis (school teacher in Ames for 40 years at Roosevelt School,)  Catherine (Kate) who worked at the University (in the picture above)  When I was little three of them lived in the "home place" at 13th and Burnett Ave. Aunts Jess and Nell were married and I did not know them very well)

Every Saturday night I would spend the night there and we (Aunt Kate, Aunt Kate Mike, Aunt Avis and I would all pile into Uncle Lew's car and go for a drive.  Many times we would stop outside "Red Shipley's Barber Shop in Campus town and wait while Uncle Lew went in and got his hairscut.  I remember his old Nash and how neat it was when I was finally able to stretch from door to door.  Uncle Lew seldom closed the door to his car.  He would just get in and gun the engine and the doors would close automatically. People describe him as a hard man to work for and he probably was but he treated his great nephew wonderfully.  I adored him and would ride around with him and go to the land fill where people were going through the mounds of trash to find things of worth that they could pick.  I suppose they were the first American Pickers.


William was my great-great grandfather and he was the one who brought the family to Ames in 1865. With all the history of the Cole family and the building that they did in this town it seems strange to me that there hasn't been a Cole Street somewhere in the town. 


Why did they come to Ames in 1865.  Simple - that was as far as the trains went at that time.  I think that it was a good move.  Ames has been a great place to live and I think my family has made some good contributions to Ames.


Oh, one more thing. Mrs. Meeker (my grandmother's sister) was a photographer and took lots of pictures.  I had books and books of pictures which I had in the basement for a long time.  No longer...what did I do with them?  I donated them to the Historical Society.  Seems to me they are better preserved there.  


Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed the little story. Hugs, j

Saturday's Surprise

U.S. Highway 30 crosses Iowa from East to West (or West to East depending on which way you are driving.  In 1959 (the year I graduated from High School the Iowa Department of Transportation made a film of a portion of that road to convince people that it needed to be modernized and made safer.

Someone on Facebook found that film and the Web Site where it resides today.

It was taken using a ladder on the back of a station wagon and a brave cameraman (camera person) probably tied to the top of the ladder.  I don't know where they had the musicians who played the background music.

Relocation Film from Iowa DOT on Vimeo.

The thing I found most engaging about it was looking at the cars and the fashions of the women when they passed by them,  I was sorry I could not get it to embiggen as it would have been fun to see a little larger perspective.  It only lasts about 20 minutes and I hope you will enjoy it.  You can also view it on this Web Site in a clearer larger format.and it has more information about how it was filmed.