Friday, December 11, 2009

OK I’m Kind of Hooked on Old Time Columbus

Sorry carriage people but I’m stuck in a rut. I have a bunch of cool old Columbus postcards and I’m having fun putting them out there on the blog. Columbus is a very old Midwest community. When this little town was established it was a prosperous community so for a small town there are some pretty interesting structures.



I love this shot of the train depot. I can’t see a date on this card but there are horse drawn vehicles in the background and an old steam train. Probably late 1800’s. back in those days I’m guessing the train depot was a busy hub of activity in Columbus. This train depot is still in operation as one of only a few Amtrak stops in Wisconsin.



I nice shot of the Kurth Brewery. Back in the day the Brewery was a huge complex consuming most of a city block. If you look closely on the left you can see the original stone office building which still remains today. Beyond that you can see a little red barn that must have been a farm that remained on the edge of town at that time. Today the brewery is open a couple of nights a week and is still owned and operated by the Kurth family. It is one of the really unique little gems of this community.



I have never seen this view of the canning factory before. Quite the complex when it was up and running. The building still remains and it is now the Columbus Antiques Mall which is the largest in the State of Wisconsin. The Amato family has operated the Antique Mall in the canning factory building for I’m guessing twenty years. Columbus is fortunate to have promoters like the Dan Amato who attracts thousands of visitors to Columbus annually.



Here we have the infamous Udey Dam. The Dam was originally build to power a mill in Columbus. The mill is long gone but the dam remains as a hot topic of conversation yet today. For the last few years the dam has been a political hot potato. Some people want it removed. Some want it to remain but it is in need of substantial repair to comply with modern DNR regulation. As it stands today the City has committed to repair the dam.



A nice shot of James Street looking South. In the forefront you can see the Farmers and Merchants Union Bank on the right. The former bank building is on the left which is now the State Farm insurance office. Beyond the State Farm office is the Bellack’s Clothing Store. When I was a kid it was a men’s clothing store and I can recall shopping there on many occasions. We are the current owners of that property and we are fortunate enough to still have the original sales counter from Bellack’s.

Had a nice little run/walk this morning but a little on the nippy side…

Have a great Friday!

Best!
T

7 comments:

Rod said...

The F&M bank looks lie it has a new facade. There was a major fixing of the building in the recent years - was it just structural? Looks about the same now.

I have to recreate that shot (without getting run over).

Anonymous said...

Maybe someone else has said this, but it would be neat if you could recreate some of these shots and post them on your blog. Will say though that I appreciate the carriage pictures too.

M said...

I love old photos-- they're so much fun! Keep 'em coming!

John R., K.O.P. said...

Cool to see the old BELLACK'S sign on 152 W. James in that old picture. Obviously that went with the BELLACK'S OSH KOSH B'GOSH wall sign in the back alley.

When is Colonial Carriage gonna get their own wall sign like that?

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