Snapshot of History by Mike Avitt

By Mike Avitt Take notice of the upstairs windows. There are four upstairs windows on the left storefront and five on the right; same building. I have never seen that before. Tingley’s Opera House was built in 1894 and had quite a formal opening. Colonel William P. Hepburn, a Republican Congressman from Clarinda, Iowa, was…

By Mike Avitt I took this week’s picture in April 2011 and in 1949, the storefront nearest the camera was the home of Mount Ayr’s first television set. Ted Marrs had a radio shop in that location and he put a new TV on display there in July 1949. But, who had the first radio?…

By Mike Avitt Automobiles first began to appear in Ringgold County in the years 1905-09. By 1910 cars were becoming more common and in need of maintenance and fuel. Autos advanced well ahead of roads and service stations. Tires were inferior and roads were treacherous. Repair and blacksmith shops were already in existence ahead of…

By Mike Avitt This is a great view of Knowlton as seen between the years 1905-1915. The view is looking southeast and shows all three of Knowlton’s brick buildings. The photo appears to have been taken from the upstairs window of the two-story, wood-frame high school which was built in 1894. What we know as…

Kellerton High School’s gymnasium was built in 1951 and beginning in 1952, the remaining Ringgold County Girls’ Basketball Tournament games were played here. Prior to that, most of the tournaments were held at Beaconsfield. The first tournament in the modern era was played in 1942 with the Delphos girls as champs. After that the Tingley…

By Mike Avitt Here’s what the Tingley Vindicator newspaper had to say about sports in its April 2, 1903 edition: “Basketball is becoming as much of a menace to life and limb as football.” The Vindicator was not in the minority on this issue. I have read several articles in local newspapers warning against dangerous…

By Mike Avitt Charles J. Lewis was born in Taylor County in 1877. He moved with his family to Redding a few years later and pursued education. He graduated from Drake University College of Law in 1905 and entered into business with his father. By July 1962, Lewis was a district judge and made an…

By Mike Avitt In this week’s photo we see Ben Thompson being recognized for fifty years of continuous service with the Mount Ayr Fire Department. Ben lived in rural Ringgold County until 1888 and joined the department in 1889 when he was twenty-five years old. Mr. Thompson’s retirement gift was an upholstered chair and ottoman.…

Sometimes folks need to be motivated and on May 10, 1879, they were. Fire broke out in the early morning hours on the north side of Mount Ayr’s square and didn’t stop until it had reached the alley in the middle of the block. Going the other way, the fire turned north on the northeast…