This photo shows the Commercial Avenue bridge as it was in the 1880's soon after the railroad came to Lowell. The circa 1860's Union House Hotel building can be seen on the upper right. The home on the right is now Lowell's Pizza House restaurant.
-- there once was a bridge over Cedar Creek on the south end of Halsted Street? The steel pipe railings were very close to the present antique shop on one side and a long-gone blacksmith shop (that spanned the stream) on the other. The bridge was demolished when the course of the stream was changed in the 1950's and the site was filled. The nearby Commercial Ave.-Washington Street bridge has been rebuilt this summer of 2006.
-- there was a 'fly-over' during the Lowell Labor Day Celebration of 1920? Called the "Flying Circus," two men were flying in a Curtis "Jenny" World War One airplane. After a long program of stunts, they were dropping aerial bombs when one blew up in the aircraft killing the bombardier and injuring the pilot, who was able to land the old plane in a nearby pasture.
-- 1952 was the first year that the Labor Day parade was formed in the east part of Lowell? In the early years it was formed near Liberty Street and Commercial Ave., and a very loud aerial bomb was exploded to let the spectators know that the parade had begun. The parade route was east on Comnercial Ave. to Burnham Street, north on Burnham, west on Main, then south on Mill Street and west on Commercial on the way to Oakland Park on Oakley Ave.
-- many types of musical instruments, both winds and strings, were available in the 1902 Sears & Roebuck Catalog for less than $5.00 ?
-- there was a sanitarium at Shelby in the very early 1900's? The Dickey Sanitarium, for opium and alcohol addiction, was housed in a large brick building near the site of the depot (Pioneer History, Feb. 2006).
-- the Town of Schneider was so-named in 1906 after Fred J. Schneider?
-- a very large lake once existed near the present town of Lake Village? Drained in 1873, Beaver Lake was said to be the largest lake in the State of Indiana, and was the site of the old village of Conrad and the mysterious "Bogus Island," where counterfeiters and horse thieves hid in the swamp for decades.
-- the "Lowell Photo Album" at the Lowell Public Library web site features hundreds of old time photos of local people and scenes of places and events in the South County area ?
-- one of the new additions at the Halsted House Museum is a relic of the big fire of 1898? A partially melted clear bottle was excavated many years ago in the basement of the McCarty barber shop at the northeast corner of Commercial Ave. and Clark Street. That corner was the site of a three story frame building that burned in the fire (John Viant's General Store).
-- in the pioneer days of Lowell the "Pine Tree Treaty" was signed between Lowell pioneer Ashton and the chief of a tribe of marauding Indians? The Indians were caught stealing everything that they could find until the pipe of peace was smoked and the treaty was signed.
-- a 1909 Lowell Tribune headline read "1000 People Wanted" (to sit in the Lowell Grandstand during the Cobe Auto Race)? The big stand was built on North Clark Street "on a high embankment where racers can be seen for miles." Tickets were to sell for $2.00 per day, a high price for the era. Few bought tickets and most spectators stood or sat along the road to watch the famous race, the forerunner of the Indy 500 Race.
-- William Buckley, early settler of 1849 who came from Ireland with his father, worked for a time for Melvin Halsted to help build the Halsted House that same year?
-- an estimated 7000 spectators came to see the big parade, a circus and an Indian show on July 4, 1872, here in Lowell?
-- Indian ladies stood near the chiefs during important council fires to listen to the history being made and to pass the information to future tribal generations?
-- electric lights came on in the Town of Lowell in 1897? The power came from a steam powered generator near the present post office.
-- the Old Timer invites everyone to watch for upcoming programs at the Halsted House Museum?
Return to Lowell History
Return to the "Pioneer History" A to Z Index Page
Contact referenc@lowellpl.lib.in.us