Pioneer History by Richard C. Schmal
Strange, Unusual & Interesting Historical Facts No. 19
(from the November 27, 2007, Lowell Tribune, page 3)- Did you know that --
-- a circa 1881 hotel once stood on the present site of Legion Park, just north of the Post 101 American Legion building? For a time it was called the Dalke Hotel, then the Ceiga Hotel, the Seramur Hotel, and was known for years as John Hepp's Tavern.
-- in 1901 a bill for $1.25 was presented for payment at the Lowell Town Board meeting? It was from Peter Stanley for corn cobs. Perhaps they were using them to start the fire in a cast iron stove at the town hall.
-- the buildings at the Knickerbocker Ice Company at the south shore of Cedar Lake were destroyed by fire in March 1901?
-- a newly opened Model Railroad store is in a historical building in downtown Lowell? The well-preserved structure was built in the early 1890's for Lowell's first bank.
-- the pretty 2007 Christmas Tree ornament now on sale by the Three Creeks Historical Association features the horse-drawn delivery wagon of Grant Bros. Department store, a tradition in downtown Lowell for decades.?
-- the area near Evergreen Park was called "Driscoll's Woods" for many decades? Pioneer John Driscoll built his 1835 log cabin near what is now Joe Martin Road.
-- Pokagon, well known Chief of the Potawatomi, studied for three years at the University of Notre Dame at South Bend in the 1840's, when it was a vocational boarding school operated by French Missionaries?
-- there is a tall granite stone in memory of pioneer historian Timothy H. Ball at the Creston Cemetery? -- But the preacher/historian is buried at Whatley, Alabama, near the home of his daughter.
-- in 1898 the townspeople of Lowell were enjoying water from the new town well? The deep well on Liberty Street furnished soft sulphur water, but some families opted to get their drinking water from the pump in front of the old hotel on West Commercial Ave. A rusty tin cup was always handy near the pump.
-- during the early 1900's Lowell's stores advertised men's suits for $10.00? A bushel of corn sold for 30¾ cents
-- during the pioneer era, the west side of the Town of Lowell was the site of the "Pine Tree Treaty" with the Native Americans? Local pioneers smoked the pipe of peace with the Indians.
-- there once was an old wooden farm wagon bridge over Cedar Creek at the north end of Halsted Street in Lowell? A bridge also stood on the south end of Halsted Street, west of the present Tish's Antiques shop, which was for many years the home of a harness shop.
-- after the Civil War the people of Lowell were often entertained by the "Silver Cornet Band"? Owen Sutton was the director, and Theron Halsted, son of Lowell's founder, played one of the four cornets.
-- the Old Timer insists on writing about the great beauty and the enchantment of the Kankakee River, especially before the Marble Power Ditch was dug?
-- Lowell's first newspaper, the Lowell Star, was first printed on May 25, 1872? Later issues told about the plans being made for the annual Fourth of July Celebration in Lowell, with entertainment featuring a large circus and Indian show.
-- this is a reminder that the intersection of I-65 and Ind.2 is the pioneer town of Dinwiddie? The Dinwiddie family once owned hundreds of acres of prime farmland in that section. The Gifford Railway (Chicago and Wabash RR) once serviced the old elevator, coal and lumber yard.
-- in 1869 Melvin Halsted captured sea lions and sold the four caged animals for $1200? In his autobiography, Halsted wrote that he "went off on a lark and hunt" after two busy years of business on the California coast, during one of his many trips to the west.
-- there was a bright prospect for a sugar factory to be built at the village of Shelby in 1901? Many acres were planted, the plants grew well, but for some reason the building was not erected.
-- on April 11, 1902, the wheels began to turn at the Indiana Steel Mill at Indiana Harbor. It later became known as Inland Steel.
-- George Waters, whose name is cut in stone on the façade of the Colfax Lodge building, was fatally injured when hit by a Chicago streetcar in 1902? His drugstore was on the lower level of the building.
-- an iron gate on West Oakley Ave. in Lowell has the initials "OP" in the center? The "OP" stands for the former Oakland Park, now school corporation property. It is near Parkview St.
-- during the early 1920's the Old Timer joined other' explorers' when the door of the old 1881 elevator was found open? The group was in awe as they looked at the large steam-powered equipment and the huge bins for storing grain, and they enjoyed a scary trip up the tired old stairs to the tower at the top. The building was west of the Lowell Depot until 1927, when it was demolished.
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