Early Main Street

This image of Main Street appears to pre-date 1884 as none of the more permanent buildings we've come to know on that street appear.  The 1880's was the benchmark for brick and mortar construction.  In that decade, for instance, we saw the construction of the Scott Building further west at the corner of Milwaukee and Main, as well as the Odd Fellows Hall that housed The Clothes Shop for many years.  At the time of this photograph, the Loescher Building at the corner of Main and Racine has yet to be constructed.  As of 1884, it did appear on Sanborn maps of the city.