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| Meacham's Hardware store on the east side of Dorchester's main street in 1910. |
It's duck hunting season in the late fall of 1910. What do you do?
You walk -- or drive the Model T or take the horse -- to Dorchester's bustling business district on main street (Washington Ave.) and stop in at Meacham's Hardware to get hunting supplies. After all, in 1910, Meacham's Hardware billed itself at "The Winchester Store."
Remember, this wasn't long after electric lights appeared in Dorchester, powered by electricity generated from a Pleasant Hill mill water wheel on Turkey Creek -- although electricity outages were common until around 1916, when an electric power was provided by the Blue River Power Company.
We found this amazing photograph, preserving for all of us proof of what Dorchester's main street storefronts looked like a century ago. (We had our photo editor enhance the picture so we could capture more detail for our readers. Click on the photo for a better view.)
Meacham's Hardware was in operation from 1903 until 1931, operated by Charles H. Meacham, Sr., and his son, Charles H. Meacham, Jr. (Charles Meacham, Jr. and his wife Mary's daughter Elizabeth Ann -- born in Dorchester in 1936 -- passed away in October 2015 in Overland Park, Kan.)
Of course, the building that housed Meacham's Hardware no longer exists. It was in the "Longanecker Building" -- destroyed by fire in 1973. The Longanecker Building stood where Tyser's Welding and Repair Is today.
Meacham's Hardware occupied the northern most ground-level portion of the Longanecker Building, while Dr. Panter occupied the second story directly above. C.W. Crain Insurance and Colson's Cafe were next door. Also in the building were Joy and Edward's Grocery, the telephone office, and a dentist's office.
We found this amazing photograph, preserving for all of us proof of what Dorchester's main street storefronts looked like a century ago. (We had our photo editor enhance the picture so we could capture more detail for our readers. Click on the photo for a better view.)
Meacham's Hardware was in operation from 1903 until 1931, operated by Charles H. Meacham, Sr., and his son, Charles H. Meacham, Jr. (Charles Meacham, Jr. and his wife Mary's daughter Elizabeth Ann -- born in Dorchester in 1936 -- passed away in October 2015 in Overland Park, Kan.)
Of course, the building that housed Meacham's Hardware no longer exists. It was in the "Longanecker Building" -- destroyed by fire in 1973. The Longanecker Building stood where Tyser's Welding and Repair Is today.
Meacham's Hardware occupied the northern most ground-level portion of the Longanecker Building, while Dr. Panter occupied the second story directly above. C.W. Crain Insurance and Colson's Cafe were next door. Also in the building were Joy and Edward's Grocery, the telephone office, and a dentist's office.
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats some cool history. I didnt know dorchester had store windows like that at one time
ReplyDeleteDidn't Mary Meacham do income tax in the 1960's & early 1970's?
ReplyDeleteHello, dad said my grandpa Jay Frank Longenecker (wondering if there is a type-o on the building name) left Dorchester for Crete after a fire (however they had a farm in Crete while dad was growing up) Not sure how it all ties together. It seemed it was long before the 70's as far as leaving for Crete, but IDK. Anyway he was a newspaper man as well. Not sure if it was in Dorchester or Crete. Any info would be great.
ReplyDelete