Security Bank

Part of the fun of doing this blog is the detective work involved in tracking down dates and facts about the materials I showcase here.  And it's the little things inside these photos that make dating them either a breeze or an exercise in frustration.  Until I noticed that the Bank of Menasha was suddenly being billed as "Security Bank," I thought this was just another late 1970's picture of the square.  But thanks to the internet, I've determined that this photo dates between 1983 and 1985. See below:

1983-03-21	BANK OF MENASHA was renamed to SECURITY BANK.
1985-12-06	SECURITY BANK was renamed to FIRST WISCONSIN BANK OF MENASHA.
1988-09-12	FIRST WISCONSIN BANK OF MENASHA was renamed to FIRST WISCONSIN BANK OF APPLETON and moved to 212 NORTH DURKEE STREET APPLETON, WI.
1992-09-14	FIRST WISCONSIN BANK OF APPLETON was renamed to FIRSTAR BANK APPLETON.

Data courtesy of the Federal Reserve System's National Information Center, a central repository of data about banks and other institutions.

Koch Building

Once upon a time, this area of Tayco Street was a booming business district that threatened to rival the downtown Main Street area. In the 19th century, there was a wagon bridge that crossed Little Lake Butte des Morts and entered Menasha just down Water Street.   For a quarter-century it allowed farmers easier access to the flour mills in the Twin Cities.  Area merchants welcomed selling them supplies for the return trip back to their farms. Except for a short time about 1856, when the bridge was damaged by a steamboat enroute upstream, the bridge functioned well until the mid 1870s, when the wood began to deteriorate and it was abandoned.  This building was constructed with faith that that bridge was to be rebuilt, but it never was.  As a result, trade in the Tayco Street area languished until the early 20th century when further efforts were made to improve the area, to include construction of the Brin Building in the late 1920s.

Built by Carl Koch in 1882, this building held his general store in the lower left half of the building. This 1982 photo is courtesy of the Menasha Public Library.

Coming Soon

April 19, 1928 Appleton Post-Crescent

By 1928 the automobile was definitely commonplace and had crossed over from being a rich man's toy to being firmly entrenched in the American transportation scene.  Full service was now available downtown at Gibson's. 

National Hotel

from an 1873 map of Winnebago County

 

What with all the attention surrounding the demise of the Hotel Menasha, it was only fitting that I should come across this beautiful rendering of the National Hotel which sat upon that same ground until it burned down. As we've detailed here before, the National Hotel was built in 1869 by Reuben M. Scott and was run by John Roberts, who later established Roberts Resort on Doty Island. The hotel had 42 steam-heated rooms that let for $2.00 per day. As the center for social life within the city for its time, it was sorely missed after the fire in 1901. The Hotel Menasha was built on the site four years later. 

Schlegel Grocery

 

Schlegel Grocery, listed on back of photo as "2nd from end on the square."   Standing in the doorway is clerk, Engelbert "Bert" Bach.

from 1916 Menasha High School annual, The Nicolet

 

 

Photograph courtesy of the Menasha Public Library

Wheeler Bus Line

 June 1898 Souvenir Edition, Menasha Press

 

The Wheeler Transfer Line and Livery was originally at 328 Tayco Street, between Main and Chute Streets. Founded in 1894, the company eventually moved to Chute Street, just west of what became Menasha Furniture.

 

November 1, 1907, Cycle & Automobile Trade Journal

 

photo courtesy, Menasha Public Library

N-M Grocers

 

 

September 7, 1939 Appleton Post-Crescent 

 

With the exciting news of a new grocer coming in to the old Super Valu facility at Second and Milwaukee, let us hearken back to a time when neighborhood grocers and markets proliferated around Menasha, and needless to say, almost any town.  This ad from 1939 tells the tale.  How many do you remember from your childhood?