View From the Attic - A Weekly Series
Fremont County Historical Society,
Week of December 21, 2009

This concludes Moseley's article about the way the Sidney square looked in the early 1900s.

At the northwest corner of the square, at the site of the former Standard Station, was a large general store. To the east where the doctor and dentist clinics are located, was another bank, farther east a hardware and implement store, a bakery on the site of the Schnepp building, and a vacant lot where the post office is currently located.

No other buildings were east of the intersection, except a dwelling where the Sinclair Station is located. In 2009, Casey's stands on this corner, east of the alley, where Doty's shop stands, was the site of Eclipse Lumber Company which covered the entire east half of that block.

Going south, down the east side of the square, there was a dwelling on the lot now occupied by the Soil Conservation building. No other buildings until the two story building north of the Moseley and Orr building. This building was a print shop on the ground floor and a telephone exchange and photo shop on the upper floor. There was a dwelling where the present Moseley and Orr office building is located.

On the northwest corner of the present museum building was a small wagon shop. On the southwest corner of the same lot was the city fire station with one hose and ladder wagon and a hose cart with about one thousand feet of hose.

Going south were two dwellings where the Skelly Station is now located. A harness shop and pump shop was where the Trewet building is now; a paint shop was where the Abshire building is located. The S.B. Ambler Drug Store was on the corner. East on the next half block was the Brandon Brothers Lumber and Supply. East of the lumber yard, on the site recently occupied by the Henderson and Mather residences, was the Park House, a large frame hotel.

My sources of information could not tell me for certain whether or not the two or three brick yards, which we know once existed, were still in operation in the early 1900s or if the furniture factory was still in existence.

East side of the Sidney square, with Ford garage, that later became the Fremont County Historical Museum.

What a treasure it would be if every town in Fremont County would check back in their history and see if they can find this kind of early information, about their businesses. If such records exist, please contact the Fremont County Historical Society, Box 671, Sidney, Iowa 51652, to see how the stories can be saved in their files and shared through our View from the Attic series.