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Same    2007 Historic Picture Calendar Same text as last year   Front Cover: Downtown Blair   (Fall 1959) Looking northeast down Washington Street at a Dana College Homecoming Parade.  (Photo courtesy the Dana College Archive.)

This Civil War monument, erected in 1898 “To the Memory of Union Soldiers Buried in Washington County, Nebraska,” stood at the intersection of Colfax Street and 16th Street, then known as Walker Avenue, before it was moved to the west side of the Courthouse grounds. When several Blair streets were renamed in 1958, Walker became 16th Street . The Congregational Church is at the northwest corner of the intersection.

George Hall (American Family) NEW COPY Washington County Bank Same Long's OK Tire    NEW

Tax & Business consultants Same Advance Cleaners Same S E Smith Same Judt Electric Same

January  2007

In 1925 the railroad replaced the original flat-topped Whipple truss railroad bridge, built in 1886, with the round-top Parker truss bridge that’s still in use. This photo shows the replacement on the left and the old bridge on the right; the middle section is under construction. Note the car ferry in the left foreground. The photo was taken by A.E. Hanna, a well-known Blair photographer. (Postcard from the collection of Nathan Kramer.)

Dennis Carlson NEW Blair Dental Clinic Same but Moved Heartland Family Dentistry Christiansen? & Blaha  NEW Country Gardens NEW

Blair Small Animal Same Memorial Hospital Same Smittys Auto Same  Move from June

February  2007   Thursday,  February 8  (Member's Meeting & Program)

Looking south at the corner of 17th and Washington , this photo shows the Sas Brothers building on the right side. This large brick store was built in 1897 by John, Fred and Rudolph Sas. For many years it housed Kolterman’s Dime Store, which was also known as the Ben Franklin Store.

Parkside Apartments Barr Pharmacy new Central Court Same  (moved from May)

Talbot & Truhlsen Same Sid Dillion Same Godfathers Same Blair Abstract & Title Same

March  2007

Nine leading citizens pose in front of the Washington County Courthouse. The man identified with an “x” is Mayor Magnus Johnson. (Photo from the collection of Janet Foley O’Hanlon.)   SEND

Blair Real Estate Same Good Shepherd Home Same Blair Garden Center Same

April  2007

These cars at the intersection of Washington and 17th Streets are decorated for an early 20th-century Fourth of July celebration. The two-story corner building, the “Monroe Block,” stood at the northwest corner as early as 1880. The store sold groceries and general merchandise. Its front doors faced east, and to its north was “The Shoe Man.” The building was demolished in 1950; its basement foundation supports the one-story structure that today houses Ace Hardware. (Postcard from the collection of Nathan Kramer.)

NP Dodge New Crowell Home Same Ace Hardware Same

May  2007   Annual Meeting       Thursday, May 10 National Historical Preservation Week

Joe Gutschow and his son Walter F. Gutschow are in the center of this 1903 photograph. Behind them is the Mayle & Hungate building on the northwest corner of 16th (then Walker Avenue ) and Washington Streets. The Gutschow General Merchandise Store was on the main floor, and the Commercial Hotel, operated by J.M. Mayle, was on the second and third floors. The Blue Goose grocery store was one of several businesses that later occupied the building. The third floor was removed in the late 1950s. Today the renovated structure houses Fernando’s Café and Cantina. (Photo, courtesy of Shirley Young Gutschow.)

Jim & Connie's Blair Bakery Same Fernando's Same Blair Area Chamber New

June  2007   Gateway to the West  June 7-9, 2007 Sunday, June 10  Old Homeowners Picnic

Samuel F. Martin, owner and operator of the Mount Hope Fruit Farm at the south end of Wilbur Street , built this house on the corner of 15th and Colfax Streets, east of the Washington County Courthouse. The house is now owned by Barbara and William Thomas. (This photo was published in the 1908 Washington County plat book.) SCAN

Woodhouse Same

Edward Jones Same Ortmeier's tv Same Carnes Paint Same Schmidt Monument Same

July 2007

Sometime before 1894, a brick schoolhouse was built at the corner of Grant and 8th Streets (now 13th Street ). In 1902 the school closed, and students attended “ Central School ” just west of the Courthouse. It then served as the local hospital -- with the addition of an east wing and a front porch -- until November, 1956, when the new hospital opened. In the 1960s the building became the Kelley Nursing Home. An apartment building now stands on the site. (Photo, courtesy of the Washington County Historical Association.)

Blair Community Schools Same Customer1 new Have

Blair Book Store Same NoFrills Same Kindermusic New

August 2007 Thursday,  August 9     (Member's Meeting & Program)

Dana College ’s Old Main is at the center of this early (circa 1912) photo taken from the southeast. (Photo, courtesy of the Dana College Archive.)

Subway New Hipnar New Thones Animal New  HAVE

Country Tire Same Dana College Same Farm Bureau NEW

September 2007

Blair’s railroad depot was built in 1910 just north of the corner of 14th and Front Streets.  Its unique design fitted into the “Y” created by two merging tracks – the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad line to Fremont and the north/south line of the Chicago , St. Paul , Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad. This photograph shows the west end of the station. The abandoned brick building was razed on October 19, 1987.

Enterprise Publishing Same

WCHA Same :  Just Smaller Hansen Agency Same Cafe on Main New

October 2007

This church at the corner of 18th and Lincoln Streets has been the home of First Baptist Church since it was built in 1892. (The steeple was later removed.) The history of the Baptists in Blair dates to 1869, when the Rev. E.G.O. Groat preached a sermon on the platform of the railroad station.  SCAN

Pounds Printing Same HunTel Inc. New

Cargill Same

November 2007 Thursday,  November 8   (Member's Meeting & Program)

This building at the southeast corner of 15th and Front Streets housed a “Farmers’ Supply” store before it became the Danish Lutheran Publishing House in 1893. After it burned in 1953, the Publishing House replaced it with a one-story brick structure. Several businesses occupied it over the years. The corner is now part of the Great Plains Communications, Inc., parking lot.  (This photo was published in the 1908 Washington County plat book.) SCAN

Blair West Pharmacy Same Pizza Hut Same Carlson Dreft Kelly Ryan Same

December 2007

New Sponsors
Blair Area Chamber   1/4  June
Cafe on Main  1/4
Country Gardens  1/4
Customer1  1/2
Dennis Carlson 1/4   (Need copy)
Farm Bureau  1/4
Heartland Family Dentistry     (Bus. Card plus Blaha)
Hipnar    1/2   Center Ad
Kindermusic       1/4 August
Long's OK Tire   1/4   (Need Copy - Ed)
Subway  1/4
Thones Animal 1/4   (Need Copy from Ed on Friday)