Dead Man's Curve

"The curve west of Ainsworth on the Lincoln highway" — there is only one.



It may be haunted by a Fort Wayne "booze runner" who met his untimely end there sometime in 1923.


Hobart News, 24 Jan. 1924.

$200 in 1924 would be nearly $4,000 today.

That spot is also known by the locals, so I am told, as Whiskey Corner (because people who drank and drove tended to smash up there).

Merrillville Then and Now: 73rd Avenue at Madison

Yet another view of the Walter Bros. garage, from a postcard I bought a few months ago. The photographer, C.R. Childs, stood along present-day 73rd Avenue and pointed his camera east toward Madison.


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Here's a screenshot from Google street view, 2024:

Image courtesy of Google Maps.

In spite of its stylish design, which I totally love, the back of the postcard is not helpful for purposes of fixing its date …



… but we know it dates to 1913 or later, since the photo is captioned "Lincoln Highway."

I consulted the Ainsworth vintage-car expert for further help, and he tells me:

There are a couple of cars (like the one closest on the right) that appear to be Model T Fords (not new looking). Ford's last year for gas headlights was 1914. Headlights were electric after 1914 and the car on the right appears to have gas lights. Walter Brothers sold Buicks and the truck in the doorway could be a late teens Buick delivery truck. The cars on the highway fit the 1916/1917 timeframe.

So I'm estimating the date of this photo to be circa 1917.

Concerning the starting date of the Walter Bros. garage business, A Pictorial History of Merrillville says this:

Like their father, Ernest "Cheese Henry" Walter, the three sons, Howard, Leslie, and Clarence, were capable business men who undertook their enterprise in 1917 when they were only 18, 20, and 21 years of age, respectively.

At first, the young entrepreneurs operated out of Elbert's Garage, an old wooden building; later they relocated to the Keilman building on the southwest corner West 73rd Avenue and Madison Street [i.e., where this photo was taken].

But in the on-line local newspapers, I found this 1913 item:


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Lake County Times (Hammond, Ind.), 2 Dec. 1913, p. 6.

This seems to say that they were already running a car-rental business in 1913, at which time Howard (b. 1893) was 20, Leslie (b. 1895) was 18, and Clarence (b. 1897) was 16.

I also found this 1915 item:


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Lake County Times (Hammond, Ind.), 10 Apr. 1915, p. 7.

So they were selling Fords and Overlands already.

But I found nothing to specify where their business was located at any particular time.

We Tried to Warn You

In spite of the new warning signs and the trimming of corn and hedge at the dangerous crossing of the Lincoln Highway south of Ainsworth, another wreck happened there early in October 1923. But this time, no one died.


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Hobart Gazette, Oct. 5, 1923.

This is the first I've heard of "Dr. Willard Smith, the Winfield veterinarian," and I can't identify him exactly. The 1920 Census of Winfield Township shows a "Williard" Smith farming there, with two sons who are veterinarians (Harvey and Walter), but none who is an auctioneer.

Warning Signs at the Death Crossing

After the recent fatal accident at the Lincoln Highway intersection south of Ainsworth, a private organization put up warning signs, and other steps were taken to improve visibility.


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Hobart Gazette, Aug. 31, 1923.

Two columns over, a couple other stories caught my eye.

I've mentioned Charles Boyd before but never took the time to figure out exactly where his farm was. Here is his land as it appeared in the 1926 Plat Book:


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I don't know exactly where the house and burning barn were.

Below that, we find H.W. Traeger — probably the same man who gave that awful Traeger crossing its name — warning people to stay off not only his land, but "the land known as the Garden City, controlled by" him. Does that mean the former site of the Garden City brickyard, on the east side of the intersection of County Line Road and S.R. 130? It seems likely, with that land being so close to H.W. Traeger's own land. I find it interesting that the Garden City name stuck, although the brickyard had stopped operating long ago.

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Here's the social news from south of Deep River for the last week of August 1923:


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Hobart News, Aug. 30, 1923.

Sudden Deaths

Not two years after Alvah Fisher was killed in an accident at the Lincoln Highway crossing south of Ainsworth, that dangerous intersection took another life.


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Hobart News, Aug. 23, 1923.


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Hobart News, Aug. 23, 1923.

Both articles mention tall corn on the northeast corner blocking the view. I take this to mean that there was no building there yet, at the future site of the Tonegals' business.[1] The article below the main story in the Gazette implies that there was not so much as a stop sign at this intersection.

I can't identify the driver of the local car involved in the wreck. The News gives his name as John Myers; the Gazette gives him no name but says he is the son of John H. Meyer; both describe his home as being in Winfield Township. I've found the death certificate of a John Henry Meyer, gored to death by a bull in Winfield Township in 1927 (Indiana Death Certificates), but I can't find him there in the 1920 Census, or any other census for that matter. The 1920 Census does show a Meyer family farming in Winfield Township, but no John among them.


Speaking of dangerous corners — a couple weeks earlier, a fatal accident occurred near Valparaiso, at a location the Gazette described as "the Clifford turn west of [Valparaiso], called the 'death corner'" ("Auto Accidents," Hobart Gazette, Aug. 17, 1923). "Clifford" was probably a major landowner nearby. If I go looking for Cliffords owning land just west of Valpo in 1923, I find a lot of them. The most dangerous-looking "Clifford turn" is circled in red below on the 1928 plat map (which I'm using because it shows the road better than the 1921 map), on a stretch of road now called Clifford Road:


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Image from https://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1928Plats/Center-1928.jpg.

The intersection and crossing at the southeast end of that road look even more dangerous, but I don't know that they would be linked to the Clifford name. A couple less dangerous corners by Clifford land are circled in green. There must have been more than one fatal accident at the "Clifford turn" to earn it the name of "death corner."

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President Warren G. Harding died unexpectedly on Thursday, August 2, 1923, just when he seemed to be recovering from an illness. Eight days later (the day of his burial), a memorial service was held in the auditorium of the Hobart High School on Fourth Street. "The attendance of citizens was disappointingly small. The room should have been crowded but it wasn't. … Attorney John Killigrew, who had met the president on two occasions in 1920, spoke praisingly of his personal attainments as he saw and judged him at those times." ("Hobart Holds Memorial Services," Hobart Gazette, Aug. 17, 1923.)


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[1] The county records state that the building now housing Sharp's School Services was built in 1980, but we know that is incorrect.

Dr. Joseph L. Gordon of Wheeler

Back when I was researching the Gordon house, someone asked me whether the Dr. Joseph Gordon who practiced in Wheeler was related to the Gordons of Hobart. I didn't know the answer then, and I don't know it now, but this article from July 1923 tells us a little about Dr. Joseph Gordon's background.


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Hobart Gazette, July 20, 1923.

His parents, Samuel and Frieda, farmed near Wheeler. Here is their land in 1906:


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From https://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/1906Plats/Union-1906.jpg

So Wheeler was home to Dr. Gordon; no wonder he set up his practice there.

According to a 1927 biographical sketch, he would be practicing in Gary within a few years.

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An item above the article about Dr. Gordon gives us a little update to the C.O. Mize story. In the next column to the left, we learn that the speed limit on the Lincoln Highway was 25 m.p.h., and that it was frequently broken.

Hit-and-Run on the Lincoln Highway

Two accounts of a serious accident that happened on July 8, 1923, along the Lincoln Highway just west of Randolph Street.


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Hobart News, July 12, 1923.


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Hobart Gazette, July 13, 1923.

Donald was the son of Edward and Tillie Niksch, who had turned the former Deep River schoolhouse, on the northwest corner of Randolph and E. 73rd Avenue, into a dance hall.

I find that casual hospitality interesting: strangers from Gary traveling along the Lincoln Highway just happened to stop at the Niksch place for water, and for the lady to amuse herself playing the piano in the dance hall, though no dance was going on. Then she got thirsty again and gave the little boy a dime(!) to fetch her another glass of water. That's when everything went bad.

But little Donald recovered from his injuries and went on to live a full life.

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Below that story in the Gazette we find another accident, caused by drunk driving, involving Charles and Etta (Sohn) Kisela, who were a few weeks short of their first wedding anniversary.

The story in the News about camping along the Deep River mentions Camp 133, which we know about, but also some other camps that I've never heard of. The early summer's hot weather probably helped drive people out of their stuffy homes and into tents by the river.

Truss Bridge on the Old Lincoln Highway

Courtesy of Daniel Kleine, here are some photos taken circa October 1981 showing the truss bridge that used to carry the old Lincoln Highway (East 73rd Avenue) across the Deep River.


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Photographs by Daniel Kleine. Used with permission.

The photographer and subject are in Deep River County Park.





A similar bridge carried Ainsworth Road over the river when I first moved out here in 1990. It was soon replaced — around 1991, I think, but I was pretty oblivious to my surroundings back then. I do not know when the bridge in the photos was replaced.

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Here's my attempt at the "now" part of a then-and-now, rendered difficult by the lush vegetation of August:


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The block of concrete is still there. The railroad-tie stairs are gone.

You can just catch a glimpse of the new bridge through the greenery.



About ten feet north of the new bridge stands the crumbling abutment of an old bridge.



That, I am told, held a wooden bridge that was replaced after the mill-pond dam broke — which may refer to the 1922 break — but since this is third-hand information, told to me by someone who heard it from someone who has since died, I'm stating it as legend rather than fact.

The Farmers Win One

It's an old story, you see. Little guy criticizes something big guy did, big guy sues little guy for defamation to shut little guy up. Sometimes little guy shuts up, since fighting a lawsuit is expensive and big guy's pockets are deep. Sometimes little guy fights it out.


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Hobart News 26 Oct. 1922.

All right, I admit that Sam Woods, Alex Boyd, and Roy Hack were not exactly little guys in Ross Township, but when they went up against the Federal Paving Co. "backed by practically all of the large contracting companies of the United States," I suppose you could say it was a David-versus-Goliath situation.


Over in the left-hand column is a little notice for a community Halloween masquerade to be held in the basement of the W.G. Haan School.

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At the top of the left-hand column is a fragment of a story out of Hammond that, even though it nothing to do with Ainsworth, I was considering writing about just because it was so bizarre. However, a little Googling into the Hazel McNally "twin-doll murder case" revealed that other bloggers have saved me the trouble, and if you are interested, you can read about the case in various places, like this one.

What Was It About Seattle?

The "Local and Personal" column of the Hobart News of October 5, 1922, included this item: "Lee Thompson, residing south of Ainsworth, formerly of Hobart, left Monday evening for Seattle, Wash. where he expects to be employed in the markets in that city."

I think "south of Ainsworth" referred to their rented farm near the Vincent schoolhouse.

Perhaps Lee had heard from the Hazelgreens how great Seattle was. Or maybe there was some boom going on there in 1922 that could draw him out of Indiana.

This might explain why I couldn't find him around here in the 1930 Census; on the other hand, we already know he was back in Hobart by 1940.

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The fact that 60 property owners were petitioning for an "asphaltic concrete top dressing" for Cleveland Avenue in October 1922 suggests that it was still a gravel road at the time … if not a dirt road.


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Hobart Gazette 6 Oct. 1922.

That was the route of the Yellowstone Trail, competing for traffic against the Dunes Highway (still under construction, I think) to the north and the Lincoln Highway to the south. And crews had been at work on the Lincoln Highway during summer of 1922, pouring fresh cement.

The "south road … between Hobart and the Lincoln Highway" refers State Road 51.

Goat-Powered Commerce

One day long ago, a peddler who carried his wares in goat-drawn wagons stopped along the old Lincoln Highway to trade, and perhaps to rest — and to be photographed — at the Tonagels' store in Ainsworth.


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Images courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

This man, and others like him, traveled around the area selling whatever they could carry in their wagons. The most visible wares in this picture are those contraptions with sails and tails — weathervanes, I suppose. But the wagons look well stuffed with other goods.

The adults who bought from them may have known the peddlers' names, but the photos come to us from one who was a child at the time and knew them only as "gypsies."

In another photo, this peddler is joined by some people we know:



The tall, dark-haired man in overalls is Cecil Tonagel. Next to him is his father-in-law, Charles Rosenquist. Of the five children crouched beside them, we know only the middle one — Donald Tonagel.

The photo is undated, and we don't see any cars that would help us fix a date. The photo must have been taken after the Tonagels started operating The Pantry in 1935 but before Charles Rosenquist's death in 1953. Donald Tonagel, born about 1929, looks perhaps twelve years old here; assuming he's been identified correctly, we can date the photo roughly to the early 1940s.

The photographer stood out front of The Pantry, pointing the camera southwest toward the intersection of 73rd and S.R. 51.

Walter Bros. Garage circa 1919

We've seen the Walter Bros. Garage before, but here's a slightly different view:


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So that would be the Lincoln Highway passing in front of the garage. It does not appear to be paved. I believe this photo dates to 1919 or earlier, based on the verso evidence:



We do see "1919" in what appears to be a postmark. But also, the message was written by someone named Paul who is linked somehow to a Lina or Lena, and a little Elmer; and in the 1920 Census, taken in February of that year, we find a nine-month-old boy named Elmer, the son of Paul Bourquin and his wife, Lena, who were farming rented land in Ross Township. (They also have a two-year-old son, Paul.) Paul Sr. and Lena were both natives of Switzerland whose mother tongue was French.

The message is written in German. Now, what little I know of that language, I learned against my will in grade school, so it's not surprising that I would have trouble reading the postcard message. But I think in this case the difficulty is not just my own ignorance — this doesn't seem to be the proper German we learn in school. I have no idea whether Paul is being playful by writing incorrectly, as people sometimes do, or whether this is a regional dialect of German, or whether it's just the sort of German you might expect from a native French speaker.

Anyway, I've attempted a loose translation:

Hello there! (We) have received on Good Friday morning a healthy splendid little boy (Buebchen). Here it is Good Friday morning and we're as sound as turnips. All are doing well, all 4 are healthy and jolly. When you get married we will all quickly come across, so don't keep us waiting. When you get married, get over here right away so we won't be left suffering any longer. Lena wants to get little Elmer baptized. I hope you and all the rest are healthy, and my hearty greetings to all. Paul.

Perhaps some German-speaker will stumble across this post and help me out. [Update: the corrected sentences are from Jon Casbon's comments to this post.]

I can't positively identify Paul in any official records other than the 1920 census. Nor can I find any mention of him in my newspaper notes … until August 1922:


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Hobart News 17 Aug. 1922.

To find a Goodrich farm meeting that description, we have to go all the way back to the 1891 Plat Book, where we find this parcel of land, shown on the 1908 Plat Map as belonging to Eli and Levi Boyd, owned by a Thomas Goodrich.


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This image from the 1908 Plat Map shows the Thomas Goodrich farm as shown in the 1891 Plat Book.

Now I have to stop and ask myself who Thomas Goodrich was. Born 1826, died 1891, he was the father of Charles Goodrich, whose family has been mentioned several times already in this blog. I can't find him in Ross Township any earlier than the 1870 Census, where he and his wife, Sarah, with their three children (Anna, Levi P.,* and Charles), are farming in what seems to be roughly the vicinity of the "old Goodrich farm."


But to return to the Bourquins — that 1922 farm sale sounds as if they are getting ready to move, doesn't it? If so, I don't know where they went, any more than I know where they came from.

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*Levi seems to have preferred his middle name, Perry, as evidenced by the census records and various newspaper items. I think Perry may have continued farming the old Goodrich land for some years after his father's death.

To Yellowstone Park via Yellowstone Trail

It was only fitting that Paul Newman, local trailsman, should travel the Yellowstone Trail himself. He and his wife, Margaret, set out from Hobart on June 26, 1922, driving west on the Trail. They were halfway to Yellowstone Park when they sent a progress report back home:


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Hobart News 13 July 1922.

They completed the westbound journey on the Yellowstone Trail. The return trip followed an alternate route that included parts of the Lincoln Highway. After six weeks of traveling, the Newmans arrived back home in Hobart.


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Hobart News 10 Aug. 1922.

Tonagel's Tourist Cabins

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that at last we have some photos of the tourist cabins that stood out back of the Tonagel family's store.

The bad news is that we probably do not (as I had believed) have a photograph of one of the cabins in the Cozy Camp, with Dacre Nelson lounging in front of it. Turns out that Dacre Nelson was a guest at the Tonagel place, and more likely that's where he was photographed.

So the search for images from the Cozy Camp/Chester's Camp must continue. In the meantime, however, let's get to those cabins out back of Tonagel's.

These first two pictures were taken from the southeast, with the photographer standing in almost the same place for both — but not on the same day. The first photo, undated, shows the cabins looking brand new. In the second, taken on July 5, 1937, the cabins seem to have a little wear on them.


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Images courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.



I am told that these cabins were not built from scratch, but came pre-manufactured and only required assembly. They appear to be six- or eight-sided; each of those six or eight sides was a separate piece (with a matching separate piece of roof). The owner fastened the pieces together, and voilà ‐ a cabin!


Also taken on July 5, 1937, the next photograph shows The Pantry at left, and from the center toward the right, you can just make out those three cabins, behind the main building and the summer foliage.



The photographer was standing on (or near) the Lincoln Highway, just east of The Pantry.

If we judge by their chimneys, the cabins had a stove inside. They did not, however, have indoor plumbing. Guests in search of a toilet or a shower had to go to the main building (specifically, its east side, toward the back).


The camera was busy on July 5, 1937. Here's another shot from the same day:



Per notes on the back, the people are Cecil Tonagel, Esther Fridh, and Janice Fridh. (Esther was the sister of Cecil's wife, Ruby, and the mother of Janice.*)

The last photo from that day was taken from the west. It focuses on a swing in the area between the cabins and the back of The Pantry.



I suppose the swing could be used by the Tonagel family (who lived behind their store) or the guests in the cabins. The building in the background at right, I am told, is still standing, though remodeled; I would never have recognized it.

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*Relationship of Esther to Janice based on 1940 Census. Relationship of Esther to Cecil based on obituary of Ruby (Rosenquist) Tonegal's father, Charles ("Former Chesterton Area Farmer Dies in S.B. Hospital," Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso) 20 Oct. 1953).

A Triangle, Two Rectangles, and a Little Sunshine

Albert Verplank ventured into the business world of Hobart in May 1922, when he purchased the "triangle" bounded by Main, Center, and Front Streets. The seller's name was given as William Foreman; I assume he was the Hobart William Foreman, not the Ainsworth one. (See "Albert Verplank Buys Triangle of Wm. Foreman For Sum of $2,000," Hobart News 25 May 1922.)


Elsewhere, we find the Scharbach lumber people building large rectangular signs for the McAfee woods campground, one of which will be placed along the Lincoln Highway south of Ainsworth — which makes sense; with that highway being closed for construction, why not send the detoured traffic to the Yellowstone Highway?


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"Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette 26 May 1922.

Two weeks after being stolen, John Killigrew's car is still missing.

I believe the Ed Sauter leaving Gary for South Bend and its Studebakers is Edward Sauter, Jr., now almost 30 years old. I haven't been able to find him in the 1920 Census, but we know he was living and working in Gary when the U.S. entered World War I (WWI Draft Cards).

George and Pearl (Severance) Yager were celebrating the christening of their little "Sunshine," born January 25, 1922.

Visiting the Farm

In May 1922 Julius Triebess came down from Chicago to remind me that he existed, and to visit his farm just south of Ainsworth. I do not know who was living there at this time; the last I heard (autumn 1919) it had been rented to the Harris brothers, but in November 1921 they had held a sale of livestock, machinery, etc. ("Public Sale," Hobart News 17 Nov. 1922) — an event that usually preceded a departure.


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"Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette 12 May 1922.

Among the other items that caught my attention was the detour sign "at the Deepriver schoolhouse"; that is, at 73rd and Randolph. So which way did that sign direct travelers? North, I suppose, along Randolph, and thence the motorist would take Ainsworth Road, to County Line Road, and again turn north, and take either the road (450 N) that passes by the site of the Hoosier's Nest, wend their way along the back roads to Wheeler, thence to … no, they'd probably be wiser to stick to main-traveled roads, taking County Line Road north all the way to Cleveland/700 N, then known as the Hobart-Valpo Road.

Speaking of the (former) Deepriver schoolhouse — yet another dance there. It was a lively place.

I have often noticed the dignified two-story brick house on the north side of E. 10th Street, just east of the intersection with S. Hobart Rd. Now I know it was George Lutz's house. Here is his property as it appeared in the 1926 Plat Book:


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A Lincoln Highway Death

On September 19, 1921, at the crossing of the Lincoln Highway south of Ainsworth (the present-day intersection of Grand Boulevard/S.R. 51 and E. 73rd Avenue) a speeding car struck a turning car, and the result was death.


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Hobart News 22 Sept. 1921.

William Raschka* came upon the scene just after the wreck and probably helped organize the rescue. Maria Fisher was carried to the Hobart doctor in John Chester's car, Alvah Fisher in a car belonging to George Hall of South Bend (probably the "man from South Bend" mentioned as a witness in the above article).

Maria was too badly injured to attend her husband's funeral. A week later she was still in the hospital but reported to be "improving nicely."

"Wm. G. Fisher, brother of the dead man," who sought to have the other driver charged with manslaughter, had experienced a car accident of his own, though much less serious, just a few weeks earlier.

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Happier things were going on elsewhere; e.g., George Sauter's grocery store. I never heard of the Wilson & Co. meat-packing company before, though I've certainly heard of Wilson sporting goods.

Just above that article — another race at the Hobart Speedway, and Everett Newman continues to win.


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*William had previous experience in dealing with a bad accident.


Additional Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Death of Alvah Fisher." Hobart Gazette 23 Sept. 1921.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 30 Sept. 1921.
♦ "Reckless Driving Again Brings Death." Hobart Gazette 23 Sept. 1921.

Hard Times at the Brickyard

The Kulage Brick Works had gone through some kind of slowdown, if not shutdown, in the summer of 1921; now, in September, the brickyard is shutting down "indefinitely," throwing forty men out of work.


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Hobart News 15 Sept. 1921.

Whoever, in the midst of these hard times, could afford a car would soon have some improved Lincoln Highway mileage to drive it on.

Weekend Wreckage Report

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Hobart News 25 Aug. 1921.

The first accident occurred at the intersection of present-day E. 73rd Ave. and Grand Blvd./S.R. 51. That spot may have been particularly dangerous, with Lincoln Highway tourists adding to the traffic, and heaven knows if there was even a stop sign at the intersection.

William Fisher (husband of Jennie Hurlburt) was innocently getting the honey from Joe's bees when an anonymous driver struck his car on Old Ridge Road.

The column to the left of the "Week-End Accidents" relates the adventures of the local young men in the National Guard. I believe the John Fisher mentioned in that story was William's nephew.

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In other auto-related news, I now learn of yet another named highway that (like the Yellowstone Trail) I'd never heard of before; but the "Liberty Highway" is so obscure that I have not been able yet to determine whether it, too, was a cross-country route, or ran only between Kokomo and Chicago.


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Hobart Gazette 26 Aug. 1921.

In addition to a reminder of the hard times the nation was experiencing, the "Local Drifts" column notes the purchase by Joseph Wegesin of the Thomas Roper farm "south of Deepriver." The only farm I can find matching that description shows up in the 1891 Plat Book in the northeast corner of Winfield Township:


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Image from the 1939 Plat Book.

Blog-wise, I've ignored the Wegesin family up until now. In my newspaper notes, I've recorded only two mentions.* One was in 1911, when Mrs. Conrad Wegesin (Joseph's mother) came down from Chicago to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fasel, Sr. for Mrs. Fasel's 54th birthday party. The second was in May 1920, when Joseph's oldest daughter, Gladys, attended a birthday party for Lillie Fasel, who was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fasel, Sr. (I wonder if the Wegesins had a family connection to the Fasels?)

From a brief look at the official records, I gather that sometime after Joseph's birth in Ohio in 1881, his parents, Conrad and Mary, moved the family to Chicago, where 1900 census found them. About a year later, Joseph married Martha Semmer, who also went by the name Magdalen in some censuses. By 1910 Joseph and Martha-Magdalen had moved to Hobart. Ten years later, they had seven children of their own, plus a niece and a nephew living with them.

I'm not sure I'm going to have to pay much more attention to this family, as it appears that by 1930 they had moved to Muncie, Indiana.

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*There may have been more, but I did not record them.


Additional Sources:
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 3 Feb. 1911.
♦ "Young Lady Surprised." Hobart Gazette 28 May 1920.

Lincoln Highway Progress Report

It's late June 1921 and the Lincoln Highway has been paved from the town of Deep River west to the "Smith corner" — which I previously identified as the junction of present-day E. 73rd Ave. and Ainsworth Rd./Greene St. The "Boyd corner" would probably be the Mississippi Street intersection.


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"Local Drifts," Hobart Gazette 24 June 1921.

Among the social items on that page we find a party at the home of Mrs. John Fleck, whom we first knew as Daisy Raschka. As for the Deppe farm … well, I thought perhaps I should mention it, if only because up until now I've ignored the Deppe family and dropped the name of the "Frank Deppe farm" only in order to say that I didn't know where it was. I still don't. But here's the farm shown in the 1926 Plat Book as belonging to Catherine Deppe:




OK, now let's get back to the Lincoln Highway progress report:


Hobart News 30 June 1921.

(Also, the Gem Theater has changed hands.)