The Michigan Road |
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Side trip: Downtown GreensburgThis is the east side of Greensburg's square, taken from the north. Notice that the first building is marked "I.O.O.F." for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a national organization that had a very large presence in Greensburg. The south side of Main St. (State Road 46) from Franklin St. The fire escape on the front of this building struck me as unusual. This is the entry to the building on the left in the previous photo. Levenstein's is still in business selling carpet, but they've moved away from downtown Greensburg. The Decatur County Courthouse, in the center of Greensburg's square, has had a tree growing out of its tower since the 1870s. The original tree died many years ago, but other trees have somehow found the tower fertile enough to support them. The current tree is a mulberry. This photo is taken from Main St. Source: The Swem Block building was interesting to me because of the columns in the top corners. I wonder what the building looks like behind those two facades on the lower level. The "Restaurant" sign on this Main St. building had clips for neon, but the tubes were gone. The Greensburg Daily News has been published since 1894. Its current building is about a block away, just south of Main on Franklin St. Its old building on the corner of Main and Broadway is, as you can see, obscured by a tree, making a decent photo nearly impossible. Source: Minear's Department Store has got to be one of the last small, local department stores anywhere. The sign says, "Since 1865." This postcard shows Minear's in its place on the block in 1911. The store was in a different building, but it looks like it was on or near the same spot. Seeing the store's name painted in the windows like this (with the merchandise on display behind them) transported me back to a time that has long been gone. At the north end of this block stands another Oddfellows building. I'd sure like to know more about the story of the Oddfellows in Greensburg, seeing as they had so much real estate here. You can see this building at the end of the block in the postcard I linked to earlier. The Oddfellows building was, at one time, home to a G. C. Murphy Co., store, a chain of variety stores commonly called "dime stores" or "five-and-ten-cent stores." Both entryways on Broadway St. are tiled like this. This building with its interesting little balcony stands on the Washington St. side of the square. The 1881 First Presbyterian Church stands northeast of the square. Some older photos of the church arehere. On Franklin St., between the church and North St., stands 1846 Lathrop-Shannon house. |
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Created 10 January 2009. Updated 7 March 2009, 2 January 2012. |