Caldwell County MO Archives History .....BRICK BUILDING BOOM OF THE EARLY 80S IN HAMILTON 
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Karen Walker khw4@yahoo.com September 4, 2008, 1:47 pm

THE BRICK BUILDING BOOM OF THE EARLY 80S IN HAMILTON
	Narrators:  Ollie Howard and W.J. McBrayer

     Although Hamilton had been founded 1856, yet until early in the 80s, it 
was largely a town of frame business houses.  Many of these were two stories, 
but a large number were one story with a false front, extended up to the 
height of two stories to give a good impression from the street front.
     Late in the 70s, the brick buildings in Hamilton could be counted easily 
and were often used as guide marks in giving directions or in store ads in 
placing a store.  There was the Rohrbaugh Moore block (later the Anderson's 
store block) which is now the Bram store.  This was erected about 1872.  There 
was the bank, directly north of it, first built by Banker Cochran in about 
1868, and later the Houston, Spratt, Menefee banking house.  It was known for 
many years as the "brick bank."  There was the brick building, owned by Wm. 
Goodman in the Goodman block of buildings in the middle of the first block on 
the west side, on the north side of Main.  There was the brick portion of the 
O.O. Brown Dry Goods store building on Broadway.  There was Frank Clark's 
brick flouring mill build about 1878 after the mill burnt.  There was the 
north side school building erected 1872 and a small brick house in the north 
east end of town, where the McElroy and Robertson family lived.  The old 
Fisher farm house to the south of Hamilton was also standing.
     Early in the 80s, changes began to appear.  John Morton bought the S.E. 
corner lot (now P.O. corner) where previously there had stood the A.G. Davis 
cottage and he built a two story brick, in part of which he moved his hardware 
stock, into part of the building went the Post Office under Mr. Morton's 
brother William.
     D.G. McDonald and Russell bought the S.E. corner of the first block south 
of the railroad on west side where had stood the old Witwer wagon lot for so 
many years.  They built the brick store building now standing there, still 
known as the Cash building.  George Hastings and A.G. Howard, merchants on 
Broadway, bought the lot directly north of McDonald Russell, and they built 
each a brick building, which were burned when Howard's store burned.  (Site of 
Advocate office and building to the north.)
     Frederick Graer blacksmith on east Mill (Berry) street, replaced his 
smaller frame with a two story brick shop to be used for blacksmithing and a 
wagon shop.  (Site of the Johnson garage 1935.)  Mr. Manning bought the N.E. 
corner of the first block south of railroad west side which had been site of a 
small frame office of Lawyer Holladay and he built a two story brick, which in 
later years became home of First Nat. Bank (site of First Bank).
     On the east side of south Main street, Gid Prentice bought the still 
vacant lot at the S.E. end and built a brick two story which was destroyed in 
the fire of 1886.  He rebuilt the present brick, which the Wheeler Junction 
Cafe occupies.  The rest of that block continued in frame till the fire of 
1886.
     James Cowgill bought the old Rohrbaugh frame store building (Penney site) 
which had been used last by the O'Neil and Wilson dry goods store.  The frame 
was moved down into some of the gaps on the west side of south Main and 
Cowgill erected the present Penney store building in which he and Robert Cash 
opened up a store.  On the same block, E.S. Low (Gene) and the Hamilton 
Savings Bank built new bricks about in the middle of the block.  This all 
happened before 1884.
     Harvey the dry goods merchant made a brick for his store which is still 
standing (Vaughan store).  A. Ketchem, furniture man, built a brick to the 
side of Harvey.  
     After the fire of 1883, on the west side of the first block north of 
railroad, there was a general rebuilding in brick, and of course the same 
thing happened the next year when the whole side up to Anderson's store 
burnt.  When the west side was being rebuilt, C.B. Franke, a Jew merchant here 
bought the south lot which had been vacant for many years, and built the 
present McLean hotel (Hamilton Hotel).  He designed it for a hotel, and it has 
stayed in that business.  On the east side, across the street, after its fire, 
Dr. Clayton Tiffin, a man of some means, new in Hamilton then, built a block 
of brick buildings which still stands, the Baker Drug store being part of it.
     Thus we see that fires while destructive at the time, have done much to 
build up Hamilton's business district, and we also see how quickly it was 
done, in less than a decade.
     Interviews  1933-4.



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