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Picture of Wm Reinking Portable Studio
    How many can remember when William (Peggy) Reinking did his picture taking in a portable studio? Pictured above is his studio in the early 1900's. It was located next to the present Loren Coppess apartment house on south McKinley Avenue, Lowden. (For more information on Wm Reinking's photo business, see page 36 in the Lowden Centennial Book).

A Bit Of Postal History

    Postal history for the Lowden community began on January 25, 1858 when William M. Dugan was appointed postmaster, and when it cost three cents to mail a one-half ounce letter if its journey would not be more than three thousand miles, and ten cents if it went over that distance. The post office was the store that Mr Dugan* operated.

     In 1859, the post office was discontinued for a few months, but reopened again with Gausper H. Rorick as postmaster, and he served in that capacity for almost two years. The post office was then located in the general store which Mr. Rorick operated at what is now Licht's Department Store**. The third postmaster was David W. Baird who served for twenty-five years in that capacity. It was during that time that the distance differential of the postal rate was eliminated, and all letters were mailed at a rate of three cents. The most common stamp in use would have had a portrait of George Washington and would have been pink in color.

     The citizens of this community had given it the name of “Louden”, and the railroad concurred in this, but the government named the post office, “Lowden”, and this is the name that has stayed with us.

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    Postal rates did not always change as rapidly as they do now. From 1883 until 1932, a period of almost fifty years, with the exception of the war emergency rate of three cents during the time of late 1917 to mid 1991, the cost of mailing a letter stayed at two cents.

     Albert W. Mensing was postmaster when the rate was raised to three cents, and that rate held for twenty-six years. During the past eighteen years however, we have seen the rate go from four to five cents, to six cents and then to eight, and shortly to ten cents and now to thirteen. It is to be understood however, that the local postmaster has no control over the postal rates.

     Over the years, a number of buildings have housed the post office besides those already mentioned. As long as it was a 4th class post office it could be operated in a place of business, and this was the case for much of our postal history. Buildings used were ones in the area of the Rainbow Laundry***; the former drug store which is now the Ceramic Shop****; the building which is now Mary Ann's Barber Shop*****; and the present building****** which was erected in 1961. I would be interested in knowing of other buildings used.

     Following is a listing of postmasters as secured for me by the present postmaster, Herbert W. Wiebel:

William M. Dugan	January 25, 1858
Gausper H. Rorick	December 14, 1859
David W. Baird	November 16, 1861
William F. Hahn	January 14, 1886
Gustav W. E. Baumgart	April 10, 1888
Frank M. Henry	June 22, 1889
George W. Mueller	July 13, 1893
Nicodemus D. Henry	June 18, 1897
Charles H. Reid	March 17, 1906
Peter H. Jurgensen	September 14, 1914
Lambert H. Meier	December 19, 1923
Albert L. Mensing	May 29, 1928
Edward J. Rutenbeck	April 20, 1936 (acting)
	May 1, 1936 (assumed charge)
	May 13, 1936 (confirmed)
Mrs Delia M. Lafferty	April 30, 1951 (assumed charge)
	July 12, 1951 (acting)
Herbert H. Wiebel	March 13, 1952 (confirmed)
	April 30, 1952 (assumed charge)

              Paul C. C. Jordan

    *Dugan's Store before 1859 was located on the site that is now occupied by Strackbein's Inc. machine repair shop on the west side of south McKinley Avenue. In 1859, Mr Dugan built another store which became the present site of Freund's Dept. Store which is located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Main Street and McKinley Avenue. The store at present is not in operation and unoccupied.

     **Mary Ann's Barber Shop is located just south of Freund's Dept. Store.

     ***Licht's Dept. Store is located at 510 Main Street.

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     ****The Rainbow Laundry is located just south across Main Street from Licht's Dept. Store, just west of the alley.

     *****Lowden Savings Bank, now Mr William Norton's law office is located at 508 Main Street, just across the alley to the east of Licht's Store.

     ******The Drug Store, now the Ceramic shop is located just east of the Norton Law Office.

     *******The present Post Office is located just north of Main Street at 308 Washington Avenue. It is also just north of the Lincoln Hotel.

* ~ * ~ *

Picture of 510 to 518 Main Street
    The building located directly behind the street light plus the shop addition to its right was remodeled and changed to the present one story structure that is known as the Amvets Hall. The part of the building to the right of the picture is Licht's Dept. store located at 510 Main Street. To the far left is shown part of the two story building at 518 Main that is located on the northeast corner of Main and McKinley intersection. This building recently had been used by The Lowden News and is now occupied by the Sun-News. The building just left of the Amvet Hall has been torn down. The next building to the left of that, with a sign over the sidewalk was last used as a Cafe and was operated by Edward Kramer, is destined to be torn down. A more complete description of the business establishments and the proprietors of these buildings can be found in the Lowden Centennial Book, pages 40 to 44.

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Picture of the First Petersen Brothers Store
    This is the two-story building that was constructed for August, Julius, Herman and Emil Petersen. The top story was used as a private school for a time, dances were held there, and it was used for theatrical performances. The ground floor was used as the store, and the basement, according to one source, was used as a saloon. Banking accommodations were provided by the Petersen Brothers which was continued by August Freund and American Express Company. Money Orders could also be purchased from the store. This building, known as Petersen Bros. Store, burned down in 1878 and the present building known as Freund's Dept. Store, was erected in its place.

* ~ * ~ *

WE REMEMBER WHEN -

. . . . . the special treat two times a week was – as little girls our mother took the time after supper, or in mid-afternoon, to take us to the depot to wait for the passenger trains to go through. Sometimes it meant seeing passengers arrive and leave. It wasn't very far away by today's standards, but it was special to us.

              Hulda and Anne Nieting

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Picture of W. N. Henry Store
    This picture of Carl Deichmann's shows a store that was located between what is now the American Legion Hall and the E & A Cafe.

* ~ * ~ *

BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF LOWDEN IN EARLY 1900'S

Picture of Bird's Eye View of Lowden
    This picture was taken from the grain elevator. You are looking east down what is now Main Street.

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Picture of H. L. Deichmann Store
    This store was built by H. L. Deichmann in 1901 and operated by him until 1917. The man to the left of the store entrance is Mr Deichmann and to the right is an employee, Julius Miller. This building is located on the northwest part of the intersection that is now Washington Avenue and Main Street. This building is now occupied by Chapman Home Furnishings.

Picture of Lowden's Main Street, 1907
    Taken about 1907 – George Twachtmann with draywagons and team on the north side of Main street just west of the Washington Ave. & Main St. intersection. The brick building to the left was owned by Henry Busch and has the words, “Furniture & Undertaking” on the awning. This is now Olsen's Store. To the right is the same building as above.

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Picture of Conrad Lbr. Yard in Early Days

CONRAD LUMBER IN AN EARLY DAY

    This is the lumber yard that was built by D. W. Conrad in 1897 to replace the buildings that were first used by Mr Conrad (picture on page 98 in the Lowden Centennial Book) when he bought the business from Kossuth Pauls. During the years, 1933-1938, the yard buildings were remodeled as they presently appear and since 1938, it has been known as Conrad and Conrad Lumber and Hardware business. See page 46 in Lowden Centennial Book for more details.

* ~ * ~ *

Picture of Depot Hotel and Lunch Room

THE DEPOT HOTEL AND LUNCH ROOM

    This building stood west of the C & NW Depot. Only two persons in the picture have been identified. From L to R, the 6th person in the picture is Louise (Lizzie Reinking) Boettger and the last person is Frieda (Reinking) Dircks.