Town Hall on Valparaiso Street, circa 1910 - Chesterton, Indiana : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Town Hall on Valparaiso Street, circa 1910 - Chesterton, Indiana / Shook Photos
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示 2.1 |
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| 説明 | TOWNHALLVALPARAISO ST. CHESTERTON INDDate: Circa 1910Source Type: PostcardPublisher, Printer, Photographer: P. L. HuckinsPostmark: NoneCollection: Steven R. ShookRemark: This image represents the present day intersection of Calumet Road, looking south, and Broadway Avenue. The horse and buggies to the right in this image are parked adjacent to Railroad Park, known today as Thomas Centennial Park.The following newspaper item appeared in the August 15, 1902, edition of The Chesterton Tribune"TO HAVE TOWN HALL.Chesterton Officials Order its Erection and Advertise for Bids.The Board of Trustees of the Town of Chesterton have passed an ordinance providing for the erection of a town hall in Chesterton, the same to be built on the south 22 feet of lot 4 in block 3. The ordinance provides that the building shall be 22x60, two stories and basement, and that the contract shall be let after three publications advertising for bids, and that work on the building begin immediately after the contract is let. The ordinance and advertisement for bids is printed in legal form in another column of this paper.The plans accepted by the Board have been carefully drawn, and are said to be good ones. When the building is completed the town will have a home for its fire apparatus, and a place in which to hold public meetings, and the Board will have a meeting room. The building will cost to complete about $4,000.-----------The following newspaper item appeared in the September 12, 1902, edition of The Chesterton Tribune"Chesterton Chips.The contract for building the new town hall for Chesterton was let to Joseph Ameling for $3,300 and work on it is to begin within a few days. Ameling was the only bidder for the job. His price is said to be very reasonable by other contractors, if the specifications are followed strictly.-----------The following newspaper item appeared in the January 23, 1903, edition of The Chesterton Tribune"Chesterton Chips.Chesterton's new town hall is about done, there being only a few finishing touches to be made before it is ready for occupancy. The fire engine and apparatus is already in place, and the town fathers are holding their meetings in the building. The formal dedication of the hall will be held on Feb. 13, in the evening at 8 o'clock. The speaking and other ceremonies will be held in the hall on the second floor, and at their conclusion the fireman [sic] will give a ball in Moroney's hall. It is desired that everybody turn out and help make the occasion a memorable one. -----------The following newspaper item appeared in the February 6, 1903, edition of The Chesterton Tribune"Chesterton Chips.The dedication of the Chesterton Town Hall will take place next Friday evening, Feb. 13, at 8 o'clock, the ceremonies being under the auspices of the Chesterton Fire department. A short program has been arranged for the occasion and an address by Harry B. Darling, of Laporte. The general public is invited to attend the dedication of the building and inspect the same. A great many of our people have never been in the building, and it is the desire of the Town Board that all citizens interested in the welfare of the town to inspect the structure and see what the Board has been doing with the public funds. After the dedication ceremonies the Fire Department will give a dance in Moroney's hall to their friends. The proceeds will go towards furnishing necessary supplies for the company.-----------The following newspaper item appeared in the February 13, 1903, edition of The Chesterton Tribune"Chesterton Chips.The fire department have completed arrangements for the dedication of the new Town Hall Friday evening, and they expect the building to be crowded to the doors. The public is invited to these exercises, and it is expected that everybody will turn out. The exercises will begin promptly at 8 o'clock, ad the following program will be rendered:Music . . . Mandolin ClubPrayer . . . Rev. A. L. UmplebySolo . . . Mrs. R. A. WoyahnRemarks . . . J. B. LundbergSolo . . . Mrs. L. F. DiddieDedicatory Address . . . Harry B. DarlingMusic . . . Mandolin ClubBenediction . . . Rev. A. L. Umpleby-----------The following newspaper item appeared in the February 20, 1903, edition of The Chesterton Tribune"TOWN HALL DEDICATED.Fine Structure Formally Dedicated Last Friday Evening.Harry B. Darling, of Laporte, Delivers Appropriate Address – Large Crowd Present.The Chesterton Town hall was dedicated last Friday evening, Feb. 13, in the presence of a large number of our citizens, many of whom had never been inside the structure before, and many expressions of surprise and satisfaction were heard from those present. The exercises were under the auspices of the Chesterton Fire Department, J. B. Lundberg, president of the Town Board, acting as chairman. The exercises began at a few minutes after eight by a selection from the Chesterton Mandolin club, which was well received and loudly applauded. Rev. A. L. Umpleby offered a prayer, which was followed by a vocal solo by Mrs. R. A. Woyahn, who sang, “The Three Lovers,” in a clear soprano voice. J. B. Lundberg followed with a short speech and recounted the improvements that had been made since the town had been incorporated. A few years ago there was not a sidewalk in town excepting in the business center, and there was no such thing as a crosswalk, now there is about four miles of sidewalk in the residence portion of the town and nearly forty crosswalks. About sixteen hundred dollars had been expended for street and curbing, which was raised by special assessment against the abutting property, and other substantial improvements that had been made for the betterment of the conditions here. Mrs. L. F. Diddie, who is always a favorite with a Chesterton audience, sang “Forgotten” in her usual charming manner. She was followed by Harry B. Darling, city editor of the Laporte Argus Bulletin, who delivered a masterful address, relating a great deal of history of Chesterton from the time of the first settler, before the Lake Shore railroad was extended through to Chicago, up to the present time, and pictured a bright future for our little town. Mr. Darling has been under the care of a physician for some time, and together with the fact that he delivered an address at a Lincoln birthday celebration the day before, he was unable to commit his address for this occasion. Mr. Darling, however, gained the admiration of the people here and many of our people have expressed a desire to hear him again. He has a clear voice, a masterful delivery and is a master of the English language. His address was especially prepared for the occasion and required a great deal of study and search among the archives of northern Indiana. Mr. Darling said in part:This is a great day for Chesterton, the proud young capital of Westchester. You, my friends, who are building a city here, building possibly better than your plans call for, cannot trace your municipal history back to legendary days of the early thirties for your village life began but a half century ago. Chesterton was born in the wonderful time when steam was young -- younger than electricity is now -- in the vigorous and glorious days of rapid western growth, when railroads from the east were pushing each other in rivalry for first entrance into that young giant city of Chicago. Think of it! The impetuous rush of events in the great state of ours! Chesterton was born into the world in the year that the Lake Shore railroad ran the first passenger train from the east into Chicago. There are men here tonight who could relate the scenes of that time from their own storehouse of memory. Why, fellow citizens, that was not so long ago. We have a man over in LaPorte whose mind goes back to a time when within a league of this spot there was built a rival for the city of Chicago, and he is only a hundred years old -- John Plum Teeple --who, entering upon a second century of life, finds it sweet living in the sunshine of the Master. That rival was Old City West, husbanding its puny strength at the mouth of Coffee creek just to the north of here -- how many ever heart of it? It was dead, erased from earth, and forgotten before Chesterton was born, and yet Daniel Webster once turned aside to make a Fourth of July speech there, and the hopeful citizens surrounded him at breakfast urging him to persuade congress, with his matchless oratory, that neither Chicago nor Michigan City could present such inducements as could City West. Lingering yet another moment in that roseate era of prehistoric legend we recall the story that even in the distant day when the great expounder of the constitution passed along the road, a little to the north of us there was a grist mill grinding merrily here on Coffee creek and within calling distance there was a little say mill, both driven by water power, and the very first of their kind in Porter county. The jolly miller was Elijah Casteel, who is deserving of a toast on this occasion, for he was Chesterton’s simon pure, blow-in-the glass first inhabitant, and he was a man of consequence in those days. He sat on the first petit jury in the county and he once received eleven votes for justice of the peace, coming within 17 votes of an election. He would have succeeded, it is said, but a lot of Lake county fellows came over and voted in a man from their own bailiwick, claiming afterwards that they did not know the line. As we gather in this newly dedicated temple of municipal administration let us hope sincerely that never again will the ballot be corrupted in this community as it was when our ancient friend Casteel lost the honors of the justiceship. Bit, however interesting these bygone days may be, this auspicious moment in your civic life fixes the mind more profitably upon the things and hopes that are now present. It is the Chesterton of the rapid moving railroad age, the Chesterton that stands in the county second only to the county seat, the Chesterton that is striding forward with the springy and confident step of youth, reaching our for the good things of the future with firm young hands. This is the Chesterton that is before me now. Let us turn our eyes from the dim and smoky candles that would emphasize the gloom of the corridors of that time which is past and gaze hopefully into the golden sunshine that makes the future radiant and beautiful. Has this town, then, a future or will it speak its little part and then pass off the state into oblivion? I do not know, you do not know, but none of us can fail to know, though some may neglect to think, that this and every town is and will be what its builders make it. This town has all the useful attributes that constitute the glorious crown of youth, and before it lie the magnificent opportunities that are afforded nowhere else in this western land of promise and fulfillment of promise. Towns have sprung up and passed away. Other town have stretched forth their hands and become great, though apparently they possessed advantages no greater than did those that failed. It is not all a question of environment in the case of a city, any more than in the case of man, and every man is the architect of his own fortune. Civic pride speaks loudly in this assemblage of citizens gathered for the purpose of dedicating to its proper use this public hall wherein the chosen ones shall meet to do the people’s will. Not less audible is the voice of pride in these well kept streets, these shaded lawns, these beautiful and comfortable homes, these public improvements that are the constant objects of your care and solicitude. And in ringing cordial tones your pride shouts welcome to the tillers of the broad and fertile prairies all about, welcome to their influence in all that makes for good and growth. Pride, the twin sister of self-respect, is a tremendous motive power in human affairs and here, I am assured, public pride is not confined within the four lines that bind your town to Coffee creek, but it is ambitious and comprehensive, including within the scope of its ambitions all the greatness that can grow in the teeming garden of hope. Here in the northwestern corner of Indiana, seven decades after the magic wand of civilization was first waved above it, we witness a forward movement in agricultural methods that was hardly surpassed in the days when our fathers bought the land at public sales, a movement that is in itself sufficient to sustain the markets now established. But above and beyond the impetus that is filling and enriching the farm lands more wonderfully than we imagine, unless we pause to think about it, above that solid and substantial foundation for civic greatness, there is another movement that we all perceive -- the onward march of irrepressible industries.After the address the Mandolin club rendered another selection and the program was closed by Rev. Umpleby asking benediction.After the exercised many of those present went through the building for the purpose of examining the same, and all believe that the town board has erected one of the best and most substantial buildings in town. It is built from good, sound material, well put together, and will long be a monument to the thrift and enterprise of Chesterton, a credit to Joe Ameling, the builder, and is a step forward and up.The basement is to be used as a jail in rear and storage room in the front part. The ground floor is to be used exclusively for the fire engine, and is all in one room, with a drying trough against the north wall. The second floor contains two large well lighted rooms, the front room will be used by the town board and the fire department for meeting rooms, and the rear room will be used as a court room and a place for holding public meetings by the citizens of the town as occasion may arise.After the services at the new town hall the Fire Department gave a dance in Moroney’s hall to their friends, which proved to be one of the most successful events of the kind ever given in Chesterton. The hall was crowded with both young and old people, and dancing room was at a premium during the early hours of the night. In the meantime the newly dedicated building had been cleared of the seats and a fine supper was prepared for the guests.A delegation of nine from the Valparaiso fire department were present, and were entertained as the guests of the local fire department. The Valparaiso boys speak very highly of the apparatus of the Chesterton company, and say that they themselves worked for many years with a machine that couldn’t be compared to this. The boys returned to their homes vowing that they had the best kind of a time, and hoped to be able in the near future to have the Chesterton boys come to Valpo as their guests. Those present from the Valpo company were:Jas. A. McNay, assistant chief; Theo. Thimmings, captain; S. W. Chester, driver; V. H. Wendt, F. L. Faley, E. T. Chester, Bert Wise, Geo. LaForce and wife, James Jones and wife.The Valparaiso fire department donated $5.00 to the Chesterton company, and the same will be used to procure necessary supplies for the company. The boys here appreciate the visit of their brethren from the county seat, and it is hoped that the friendly feeling will be to the benefit of both companies, and that the same will be extended through all time to come.The proceeds of the dance, which amounted to about $38.00, will be used in furnishing rubber coats and other supplies for the company. The boys feel grateful to the Chesterton business men for the liberal support, every one taking at least one ticket for the dance, and all expressed that they believed it was a very good cause.Sources:The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; August 15, 1902; Volume 19, Number 19, Page 1, Column 5. Column titled "To Have Town Hall."The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; September 12, 1902; Volume 19, Number 23, Page 5, Column 4. Column titled "Chesterton Chips."The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; January 23, 1903; Volume 19, Number 42, Page 5, Column 4. Column titled "Chesterton Chips."The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; February 6, 1903; Volume 19, Number 44, Page 5, Column 4. Column titled "Chesterton Chips."The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; February 13, 1903; Volume 19, Number 45, Page 5, Column 6. Column titled "Chesterton Chips."The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; February 20, 1903; Volume 19, Number 46, Page 1, Columns 3-5. Column titled "Town Hall Dedicated."Copyright 2019. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook. |
| 撮影日 | 2019-11-13 03:34:16 |
| 撮影者 | Shook Photos , Moscow, Idaho, USA |
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