Cleaning out old papers this spring I found a couple of copies of a program for the grand opening of the Talbert-Schaab Lumber Company 61 years ago, on September 17, 1949.
The first page reads:
After Half A Century ...
For more than 50 years, Jasper County folks have been relyng on the Talbert-Schaab Lumber Co. location to fill their building supply needs.
It was in 1895 that J.W. Paxton came to Rensselaer from Hamilton County, Ind., to acquire an interest in the Coen Hay & Grain firm and head up its lumber operation.
After 10 years, Mr. Paxton sold his lumber interests to J.C. Gwin, who for more than 30 years operated the Gwin Lumber Co.
Upon his death in 1937, his son, J.I. Gwin, operated the yard briefly, selling it in 1938 to Robert Holman. In August 1938, H. E. Talbert purchased the yard, which by subsequent additions grew to include the entire block on the north side of Vine Street, as well as the southeast corner lot.
Today marks the high peak in this 54-year history, for your presence here adds to the celebrations as we dedicate Indiana's most modern lumber yard to replace the venerable structures which have for so long been landmarks in Rensselaer.
That provided a pretty complete history of what had been on the site previously.
There is too much text on the middle pages to type it all out. Click on the image below to get a larger view. It must have been a pretty grand grand opening to have some of the acts that were heard on WLS radio from Chicago present.
I wonder how many of the companies listed below are still in business. The days in which people used coal for heating were just a bit before my time--I never lived in a house that required coal heat.
Below is the back of the program.
This building was still a lumber yard, but not with the Talbert-Schaab name, when I came to Rensselaer, and then continued to sell building supplies after it ceased being a lumber yard. After sitting empty for a few years, the building now houses a small machine shop.
2 comments:
I am familiar with the site as the home of Jasper County Distributors.
In the late '60s the building there before the present truck repair building was a real rabbit warran that housed all kinds i=of beer products. It did that until Ralph and John Smith built the new JCD on Vine and Cullen near the old RR station in mid '70s.(edfeicht)
You have a copy of this because you were there, and kept it as a souvenir, right?
Happy Birthday a little early :)
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