Do-Over, Twice

This housekeeping project finally gave me the push I needed to go and fix two then-and-now posts that I had got wrong. Which meant going out on a cold, windy day and taking uninspired pictures in the thin winter sun … but that's better than continuing to be wrong.

See the corrected posts here:

Main Street, Looking South from Front

Georgiana and Illinois Streets

Renovation on Third Street

While I was waiting for my Moo Shoo Chicken at the Panda Restaurant yesterday, I snapped a picture of the building at 651 E. Third Street in Hobart. It houses law offices now (and has for many years, I believe). Recently it got a new façade.


(Click on image to enlarge)

This building is on the site of the old Scholler blacksmith shop — that link leads not only to a couple 2011 views of the façade just replaced, but also to photos of the original building. The remodeling has raised an echo of the old blacksmith shop! Some of the details — the arches over windows and one door, and the decorative patterns in the brick on the left — while not identical to the Scholler building, are reminiscent of it. This new façade could stand on its own merits, but it also pays homage to part of Hobart's history.

Housekeeping Hiatus

I thought I could keep up with daily posts and do the code-fixing in my spare time. I was wrong. It's got to be done, so I've just got to take the time to do it. Maybe I'll be able to post once in a while. Crocodile.


2/17/2014 update: I know a lot of the image previews are just error messages now ("This image or video is currently unavailable"). You should be able to view the full-sized image by clicking on the broken preview. This will eventually get fixed.

I apologize for disrupting the Ainsworth experience for my readers (all six of you).

To My Valentine

(Click on images to enlarge)
Images courtesy of E.H.



This little valentine card, found in the steamer trunk, was from William Rossow to his daughter, Minnie. Long after his death, Minnie said of him that "he had a wonderful personality and lived to be a successful farmer, a kind husband and a wonderful Dad." (Minnie Rossow Harms. "As It Was Told to Me." 1952-1978. MS. Hobart Historical Society, n.p.)

Centennial, West Third Street

From the steamer trunk.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of E.H.

This is a scene from Hobart's Centennial celebration in July 1947. We are on Third Street, west of Main. In the background toward the upper right corner you can see where Third and Main intersect.

The distinguished gentleman in the light waistcoat and dark top-hat is Herman Harms.

What the Heck?

Now the 1926 Plat Book has me confused again because it shows some land being owned by Christian Heck that he reportedly sold in April 1921:


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From the Hobart News 14 Apr. 1921.

Here it is in 1926:



I don't know why I care, except that (1) Christian, with his parents, Frederick and Doretta, lived in Ross Township (northwest of Ainsworth) in 1870 and 1880; and (2) in 1900, when he farmed his own land south of Tenth Street, he shows up as a neighbor of Augusta Rossow, the second wife (and by then the widow) of Henry Rossow, who was Minnie Rossow Harms's grandfather. Augusta was renting (I believe) the land shown on the above map as belonging to William Lute, but in her time the land had belonged to Jacob Fiester, so it was known as the Fiester farm.

♦    ♦    ♦
In other news, John and Goldie Ensign had a new baby, John Jr.




Sources:
♦ 1870 Census.
♦ 1880 Census.
♦ 1900 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ "Births." Hobart News 14 Apr. 1921.
♦ "C.F. Heck Sells His 187-Acre Farm to Louis Kelle of Gary." Hobart News 14 Apr. 1921.

Anonymous, Androgynous

I thought I'd scan this little photo before it fades away completely, but it may have nothing to do with Ainsworth or Hobart.


(Click on images to enlarge)

I bought it at a Hobart antique shop many years ago — long before I even dreamed of this blog — because I thought it unusual, in that the subject appears (to me) to be a young woman dressed in men's clothing. The suit just doesn't fit right.

Much later I would find that temporary cross-dressing was not so very unusual, and there were plenty of trouser roles for women in local amateur theater.

And, after all, it may not be a cross-dressing woman — just a pretty young man.

Here I messed with the light values and contrast to try to un-fade it a bit.