Snapshots of History

By Editor | June 18, 2025 |

By Mike Avitt
This is a beautiful view of the newly constructed Ringgold County Courthouse in the winter of 1927-28.
In two years our courthouse will be 100 years old. Amazing. We should have a celebration or an ice cream eating contest or something like that.
The construction of a new courthouse was a major event in Mount Ayr in 1926-27 and yet I have never seen a photograph of the courthouse under construction. I know the work was photographed, so where are the pictures? Let’s look at some other photographs I don’t have.
Around 1894 a hotel was built on the lot between the former Brand’s Standard and the old laundromat.
So, about 208 N. Taylor Street. It was called the Commercial Hotel and was the nearest hotel to the depot.
In 1896, an addition was built onto the hotel and it stayed in business until it burned in February in 1916. But, I have no photos of it.
Another large hotel was located where Lefty’s Club Tavern is today, but it burned in 1889. Smaller hotels were located where the Senior Center is today and in between the current Podium Ink and the former Farm & Home.
I don’t have a good photo of a livery barn. McCullough Apartments was built by converting an old livery barn, so one of the old livery barns is still with us. Another big one was located where American Family Insurance is today. I have a photo where this barn, the Tullis Barn, can be seen in the background. The Clemons Barn was across the street west of the Tullis Barn.
I have two photos that show two billboards in the background where the Hy-Vee parking lot is now. I can’t see what is on the billboards, but they are side-by-side about six feet off the ground. One photo is from 1939 and the other is from 1945.
There were church congregations that met before their church buildings were erected but I don’t know if they had a previous building or met in members’ homes. The former Assembly of God Church west of the old Hawkeye Lumber opened in 1952, but announcements for services appeared in the newspaper years ahead of the opening. I could not find an address for these services.
So, I don’t have photos of all the religious meeting places in Mount Ayr.
Then there are less glamorous business places like blacksmith shops and shoe repair shops which, I’m guessing, were not photographed much. I think I have two photos where a blacksmith shop can be seen in the background.
Action photos are fairly scarce. I have many photos of sports teams posing for the camera but very, very few of sports stars in action. Likewise with workers. Employees posing for the photographer but few of workers doing their job.
Portraits and family photos were common before 1890 but street scenes were very scarce. The shutter speed on cameras in the old days was very slow so photographers used tripods to keep the camera steady while shooting. Photographs are special to me.
A photograph freezes a moment in time. The subject of the photograph ages but the photo remains the same. If you want to see a dirt road in the Mount Ayr city limits, it can only be done in photographs.
Speaking of that – I remember a dirt street in Mount Ayr in the mid-1970s. It was East Jackson Street from the intersection of South Garfield. About two blocks east of that intersection was dirt and there was a barn at the top of the hill on the north side of the street. I hid some beer in that barn about 1973 and that’s why I remember it. The barn is gone and the street is paved. And the beverages have been consumed.
By the way, this week’s picture came from the scrapbook of Zella Campbell Swartz which was donated by her niece, Norma.