Snapshots of History
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Last week was a look at some church parsonages and I have information on a couple more.
In June of 1985, Reverend John and Bessie Biddle answered the call to pastor the Assembly of God Church in Mount Ayr.
Their first residence was 105 East Monroe, which was a parsonage. I didn’t know that house used to be a parsonage.
In 1961, the First Baptist Church razed their former parsonage at 105 W. Jefferson under the leadership of Pastor Orville Rinehart.
The house at 105 Sunset Lane in Mount Ayr.
Work began in September 1961 and the new parsonage was dedicated May 5, 1963. The three-bedroom house came with an attached garage and was heated by propane. Rev. Rinehart had been at the First Baptist Church for seven years at the time of the dedication.
The house is still there but no longer serves as a parsonage.
So, do you ever lie awake at night wondering, “When was Sunset Lane developed?” Yes, we all do. Sunset Lane is a dead end street extended north from the 900 block of West Madison.
As I searched the phrase “Sunset Lane” in the digitized newspapers, it came up for the first time in November 1961. And with some fanfare.
Milt and Marion Henderson held an open house at their new home at 102 Sunset Lane on the occasion of the completion of their Gold Medallion home. The phrase Gold Medallion refers to an all-electric house.
The open house showcased the new house whose plans were drawn by D. E. Huffman of Clearfield and built by Leland Dalbey of Dalbey Lumber Company.
Many locals worked on the house or lot including Loren Lamb, Loyd Mickael, Wayne Jarred, and Sweeney & Butler.
The house was built with two bathrooms and a two-car, attached garage.
An all-electric home was a big deal back then as natural gas didn’t come to Mount Ayr until 1965. Most homes were heated by coal, wood, propane, or fuel oil at this time.
In July 1963 Fred Roberts arrived to replace Art Schmidt as manager of Anthony’s Clothing Store. The Roberts family would occupy the house at 105 Sunset Lane which was owned by Bill Rissler and is shown with this week’s article.
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Rissler held an open house for this Gold Medallion home on May 13, 1962 and offered the home for sale or rent. The Risslers already lived in a new home on Sunset Lane.
Oh, but these were not the first Gold Medallion homes in Mount Ayr. The first was Bill and Kathleen Harover’s house at 606 North Hayes. Open House occurred on August 7, 1960 for the all-electric home built by D. C. Watts Construction Company.
The most interesting feature I found was the appearance of telephone jacks in several rooms. I never thought about when phone jacks gave homeowners the option to move their phones around. Another detail was that the drawers were mounted on nylon rollers. Interesting.
I sometimes retrace my old newspaper route and see how many new houses have been built on that route since 1971. New houses tend to be one-story with attached garages and central air-conditioning.
Senior housing has changed how older people live so those small cottages are disappearing. I remember a woman on my paper route named Nellie Cook who lived in a small cottage with a brick pattern, asphalt siding like my great-grandmother used to have.
I remember when folks burned their trash in the backyard. I remember Weldon Bolinger hauling trash to the city dump. And I remember the cinnamon rolls at Ruth’s Steakhouse.
Yes, we all do.
