Thursday, February 23, 2017

Bunker Hill in the Days Before the Automobile

Pictured: (l-r) The business buildings seen thin the picture start at the corner of East Warren and Washington Streets.  Hale Drug Store, Bastian's Barber Shop, Frank Teichgraber's Saloon and Boarding House, and Charles Folkert's Grocery with saloon in the rear.

    Folkert's Grocery and Provision Store was at the corner of East Warren and Pine Street (the alley) and was the home of the Gazette-News in the 1940's.

Pictured: Folkert's Grocery and Provision Store (Now Gazette-News)


Pictured: The new building on the west side of Washington Street (February 28, 1894)

    There have been some changes made in the corner since those days.  The hitch racks, well, lamp post, and beer barrels are gone as is the Huggins pear orchard, which covered the ground from the Huggins House, which is now Dr. Bley's office (where Dr. Hess's office was located) over to the Congregational Church.  Pine Street (the alley) was then unopened and, where we travel with cars now, there was at the rear of the Gazette-News building a large gate into the pear orchard.

First Automobiles in Bunker Hill
Gazette-News - August 18, 1905

Pictured: An early Bunker Hill automobile

    Up to Tuesday, there were no automobiles in Bunker Hill.  Within 2 hours, there were two.  W.P. Powell came in with a Cadillac at 6 P.M. from Staunton and Al Goodall from Galesburg with a Gales two hours later.  There are others contemplating buying autos and within a month there will be 4 or 5 in town.



Pictured: Bunker Hill Business District (circa 1947)



 ...Read this and other Bunker Hill, IL historical stories at https://bunkerhillhistory.org/

--Cite this story: The Bunker Hill IL Historical Society. "A Look Back in Bunker Hill History." Bunker Hill Gazette-News, February 23, 2017.

Redford, Carol, and Betty Triplett. "Bunker Hill History." In Reflections: A History of the Bunker Hill-Woodburn Area, p. 26. Bunker Hill: Bunker Hill Publications, 1993. Provided by the Bunker Hill Historical Society.

No comments:

Post a Comment