Old bridges and old pictures (updated)

As you enter Remington from the south, you can see an old Bridge along the west side of US 231.

It was built in 1955 and once carried CR 1730 over Carpenter Creek. It was removed in April, 2013 and will eventually be part of a walking path.

At one time bridges like this were common. Now that most have been demolished and replaced, the last few are deemed worthy of preservation. Only a few, though, are preserved in place, such as the Conrad Bridge in Newton County.

Steinke Funeral Home occasionally publishes pictures of what Rensselaer used to look like. Here is a picture of one of Rensselaer's old bridges, the bridge over the Iroquois on Washington Street in 1910. It was replaced in 1941.

Scrolling through their pictures, the next old picture shows Washington Street in the early 1900s. The large building on the left burned long ago and was where Jack's Uptown Service is now. Next to it and looking much smaller is the building that is now eMbers.

Here is a picture of the old Horton Building.

A picture from the court house tower shows lots of awnings. I remember that my father had an awning in the store he had in Little Falls, MN and I occasionally put it up or down.

In this really old picture of a parade, it appears that Washington Street is unpaved and unbricked. There are also some pretty large trees downtown.

In 1939 the St. Augustine Church was under construction.

In 1957 the turret of the drug store was a prominent feature of the downtown.

Here is a picture of the old Indian School, now Drexel Hall. I think the building will be open during St. Joe's Homecoming if you would like to look inside.

A 1921 view of Rensselaer High School.

Another early view from the Court House tower.

A view of Rensselaer High School from the late 50s or early 60s. Someone who remembers the cars may be able to date it more precisely.

The old armory stood where the Fire Department is now.

In 1949 downtown Morocco was a busy place. So were the business districts of little towns all across the country. Fifteen years later most would be shadows of their former selves as people drove to larger towns to shop.

The old Jasper County Jail was demolished before I came to Rensselaer. It does not look like a jail--no bars are visible.

There is now a parking lot where the old Jasper County Hospital once stood.

A view of the downtown from the 1930s. I do not recognize the buildings and would not know where this was without the information given.

Looking east on Washington Street in 1910.

The old Creamery Bridge on College Avenue.

Repairing the Court House Roof in 1954.

An now for something completely different.

On their Facebook page Alliance Bank linked to an article about a business in Francesville.

A local student at SJC is having a lot of fun making short videos. I especially liked his public service announcement on procrastination. A few years ago one of classes decided that they suffered from a learning disability that we called IPD or something like that. It stood for Involuntary Procrastination Disorder (or something like that). Since it was a learning disability, they thought they should get special consideration.

Fair Oaks Farms has broken ground for a new sit-down restaurant south of the VC.

Finally, all around Rensselaer streets were being ripped up on Thursday. The fall repaving program is underway.

Update: Here are a few more tidbits to add to this meandering post.

There is a new house under construction in the Sunset Ridge subdivision.

Saint Joseph's College has a new sign on the east side of the highway. It replaces an old brick structure that was demolished several years ago.

McKinley Street (US 231) opened this morning at the railroad crossing. In mid afternoon there were a couple of guys working on the track just to the west of the crossing. They cut about an inch of track off, made some adjustments the to track, and then were preparing a mold so that they could pour hot steel in and merge the tracks together.