At one time Second Avenue was an operable street that ran west from North Webster Street to North Cedar Street. East of Webster it jogged to the north, dividing the Platt & Frees’ Lumberyard location from the W. N. Richardson property. Its closure is confirmed in the comparison of the 1897 Sanborn Fire Map to […]

In 1898 Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph, also known as “The Bell System,” agreed to establish phone service to Red Cloud if forty subscriptions were sold. This was achieved in just over a week. George Warren was named the local LT&T manager in 1899. At that time, the switchboard was moved to his 1893 residence on […]

Gentleman Standing Next to WCTU Fountain in 1914 Another beautiful structure to serve as sentinel at this same intersection was a large ornate cast iron fountain. It was placed there in 1908 through the efforts of the local Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Reports in the local newspapers note various labors they went through to […]

  Crabill streetcar livery barn Whatever one’s needs or wants, the livery barns competitively offered a wide variety of amenities for their customers. Sanborn Fire Maps confirmed some Red Cloud businesses owning their own livery barns. One local enterprise needing a barn was the Red Cloud Street Railway Line which operated from 1888 to 1917. […]

Now to complete the chapter on “Old Ella” . . . Eventually she became quite close to Will O’Brien, a local chap who was employed at Miner’s Store by day and lent many of his talents, such as speech, diction, and dancing to the local aspiring youth. He had previously studied Shakespeare in Boston and […]

Evidently, the Wieners decided against residing in the lovely apartment that was above their business and continued to live in their home. It was located two blocks west of downtown and was across the alley from the Charles and Virginia Cather family. They occasionally used their downtown space with its beautiful bay window for entertaining […]

Since the library’s completion, the building’s basement has also been instrumental in providing services to the community. For many years, various clubs, such as the Federated Woman’s Club, used it as a meeting area. Always known for doing community good, the junior branch of this same club founded a Ding Dong Playschool in 1956. Their […]

The Boy’s Home Hotel was built in 1873 by George Zeiss who also operated it as a tavern. It was located on the northwest corner of East Fourth Avenue and North Elm Street. The name “Boys’ Home” might have been a bit of a misnomer or was possibly used in reference to men who behaved […]

Joh & Bogardus – Red Cloud, Nebraska C. B. Hale Trade Token – Red Cloud, Nebraska R & R Trade Token – Red Cloud, Nebraska Reigle & West Grocery – Red Cloud, Nebraska P. A. Wullbrandt Home Grocery – Red Cloud, Nebraska Before the days of clipping coupons and scanning quick response (QR) codes, the […]

One, if not the first, of Red Cloud’s manufacturers of tobacco was the duo of Addison & McEgan. Beginning in 1886 their operation was based out of the small frame building that was located two storefronts south of the Farmers and Merchants Bank building. At that time the bank would not yet have been constructed. […]