McCallsburg's second half century began with the ending of World War I. Most of the thirty men who served in this conflict were mustered out in the first half of 1919. Not one fatality was suffered in action.
The business district was nearly the same size as at present. Cars were parked crosswise in the middle of the street, and the side streets were lined with hitching posts for horses. The horse watering tank was in front of the old jail house on the site of the present fire station. McCallsburg could boast of two banks, a department store, grocery, meat market, hotel, drugstore, hardware, pool hall, garage, restaurant, newspaper, post office, blacksmith shop, and two grain elevators.
Dillin's department store was located on the site of the Burg Cafe. The original Dillin's store, on the site of Mills Plumbing, had been destroyed by fire in 1911. Dillin's sold groceries, dry goods, clothing, shoes, furniture, machinery, and in later years added a service station which was recently vacated by the Co-op. Hougen's Grocery was just across the street to the west of Dillin's and is now Dorcas Hall,
To the south was Holland's Meat Market, now occupied by Nelson's Carpenter Shop, The State Bank occupied the present Auestad's Grocery. The McCallsburg Variety Store was previously the location of Reid's Hardware. The original post office stood on the lots on which the Tett Implement building was constructed. To the west of the post office was a drug store, restaurant, the Security Bank, and an implement shed. These four buildings were all destroyed by a spectacular fire on the night of November 17, 1925.
Mrs. Sarsfield's residence on the south side was once used for a hotel. The Laundromat building was originally two stories high, with the lower part being used as a restaurant until it was converted into a tavern with the advent of 3.2 beer. Doctor Mills had his offices upstairs for many years.
McCallsburg has a very fine brick hotel, built in 1916 and called the Thelma Hotel. It is now being put to good use as a retirement home. Diagonally across the corner is another fine brick building built by Amos Hanson in 1915. Hanson and his sons operated a garage here until his retirement in the early forties. In the early twenties, Frank J. Tett erected a two-story block building on the west side of the present Dorcas Hall.
Frank Tett operated a harness and shoe repair shop in the front part of the building, and his son William entered into the garage business in the rear portion Of the building. The upstairs hall served as a community hall for at least a score of years. Both local churches and other organizations held social events here until they acquired facilities of their own. Private parties and public dances were held frequently in the hail, and in later years the hall was used for merchant-sponsored movies once a week.
Around 1920 consolidation of the town and country schools of Warren Township was approved. Four of the one-room schoolhouses were moved into town and lined up on lots across from the old two-story brick schoolhouse. This brick building was a few yards east of the present McCallsburg school. These one-room frame schoolhouses served as classrooms for the first four grades, and the upper grades and high school occupied the brick building. This one had replaced the old wood schoolhouse which burned at about the turn of the century.
The new schoolhouse, which was to serve the McCallsburg Consolidated School for nearly forty years, was ready for occupancy in the late fall of 1920. The old brick schoolhouse was torn down by the W.P.A. in 1932, in one of the projects used to provide work for the unemployed during the depression.
The one-room schoolhouses were sold to the highest bidders and moved, except for one which is still on its lot as the home of the L.G. Ellingsons. The others are now the homes of the John Hauptlys, John Hellands, and Virginia Meimann. George Auestad's residence was also at one time a country schoolhouse.
The McCallsburg District was one of the first to use motorized school buses, while many neighboring schools still used horse-drawn rigs to transport country children. There were about eight buses with a capacity of about 24 passengers each. The chassis were Republic and Reo trucks, and later a Model "T" Ford truck was added to the fleet. These buses, which were owned by the school district, provided transportation for many years. As the buses wore out, the routes were let out on bids to private individuals. The school still provided the wood bodies to be mounted on privately-owned chassis. During the depression years, many of the routes were bid for about $50.00 per month. This system continued until economic conditions improved and the district was able to purchase complete units. Only the main roads between towns were graveled, and it was common for the buses to be late because of mud or snow. Needless to say, these buses were not as comfortable and convenient as the buses today. They had bench seats on either side, and the passengers entered and left by the rear door.
Many of us have fond memories of the basketball games which were played in the old gym. Although it would now be regarded as a "cracker box," it was one of the better gyms and was the site of many tournament games until bigger and better gyms were built. Many fine basketball teams played in this gym, including the fine boys' teams coached by Les Shafland from 1934-1937.
Nothing in the history of McCallsburg was more damaging than the disastrous fire on the night of November 17, 1925, which destroyed four business buildings on the north side of main street. Shearer's Drug Store, Roy Baumgardner's restaurant, the Security Bank, and a machinery shed owned by Howard Reid were leveled in less than one hour. The fire started in a shed at the rear of the restaurant building, which was on the site of the present bank building. Tragi-