The Town Mall lot: what used to be there (Updated)

The half block that was engulfed in fire last year is now mostly empty, the exception being the Langley Insurance building. Some of the past history of that half block can be seen in the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.

(Update: When I first published this, I misidentified the color code. The key to the color code is here. Blue is concrete or concrete block. Green indicates a special fire hazard.)

The first map for Rensselaer was published in 1886. What is now Kellner Street was then Cornelia Street. Yellow is a wooden structure, green blue is cement or cement block, and red is brick. There were two dwellings on the half block, and they remain throughout the series, as does the blacksmith shop. On the right there is a small carpenter shop and and even smaller print shop. There is no evidence of the alley.

 A few years later in 1893 a substantial brick building has been built housing agricultural implements. There is another small carpenter shop in the middle of the half block. There may be an alley; there are no longer buildings sited in what is now an alley.

 Six years later in 1899 the brick building is a billiards and bowling alley. The two green carpenter shops are gone, though one of the buildings may still stand but may be less of a fire risk with a new use. A business selling coal and wood is now occupying the middle of the block.

 Five years later in 1904 the billiards and bowling alley is gone and the brick building is being used for storage. The coal and wood business has greatly expanded and is also selling feed.

 There is not a lot of change in the 1909 map other than the brick building is now a furniture store. The coal yard may be called Mains and Hamilton. One oddity, there is a building labeled "dove cage" along Cornelia.

 The next map is twelve years later and it shows big changes. The coal yard is gone, replaced with a cement block building with a brick facing selling farm implements. Next to it are an auto supply and an auto repair shop. The brick building is now furniture and undertaking. I wonder if this is Wright's business.

There is a later version of the Sanborn map that the Rensselaer Library has but it is not now accessible.

All the wooden structures and the blacksmith shop were later demolished. The old Sears building that became the Town Mall was not a single building but a collection of buildings joined together. I suspect that most of the red and blue above were part of the Town Mall.

The source for these maps is here.

For reference, below is the picture of the lot from google maps. (It has not yet updated to a date after the fire.)

The "angry birds" mural was painted on the alley end of the building that was built between 1909 and 1921. I have put a picture of it as the header of this blog in my attempt to keep the memory of it alive. The original brick building had a basement, which was clear after it burned. Much of the rest of the structure had a concrete floor that took a while to break up and truck away.

One of the businesses that was displaced as a result of the fire has a new location. Amerimac is at 619 N. McKinley, across Vine from the Marathon station.

I noticed that the Marathon station had gas at $189.9.

 A CSX crew was stationed at the Cullen Street rail crossing. Looking at the markings on the ground, I guessed that they were going to replace the crossing lights with gates. I asked a worker to check and he confirmed that that is what they were going to do.

 Finally, many years I post pictures of crocuses because to me they are a first sign of spring. My crocuses have been blooming for about a week.
In a few months I will be posting a picture of asters, the first sign of on-coming winter.

Since almost everything has been canceled, expect a few more history posts in the upcoming weeks.