A Walk Around the Block

Imagine walking out the front door of our house in 1960. Saunders School is directly across the street. Turn right and head east on the sidewalk in front of our house and you come to the alley.

Just across the alley is Mrs. Hall’s big barn. Behind it on the alley is a chicken coop. There is now a house where the barn used to be. In the time I lived there I never got inside that barn. Jim McCabe and I did throw rocks and break windows out of the chicken coop. We blamed it on Jim’s brother, Pat, and I think he was forever scarred by the experience. Moving on past the barn and Mrs. Hall’s big yard is the house. It faces White Street. To me it is a big house and the only house on the block I was never in.

Moving clockwise around the block turn the corner and walk past the front of Mrs. Hall’s house and the next house is the Baptist parsonage. Reverend Troxell lived there with his family about this time. His son, Ronnie, the child nearest my age. I don’t suppose it would be a good idea to tell about the folks who have lived there during my childhood so I will just move on.

Just past the parsonage is Taylor’s Hatchery. Then on the corner is Taylor’s house. It faces Monroe Street. Their youngest daughter, Barbara was famous when I was growing up. There was almost nothing she couldn’t do. I shot baskets with her a few times and didn’t stand a chance. Barb was the kind of person who went after her goals and achieved them. In spite of the odds she became an architect.

Heading west past the front of Taylor’s you come to Mrs. Nelson’s house and then the alley. As I mentioned in a previous piece, I mowed this yard. I don’t remember much about Mrs. Nelson. I was always impressed with this house and thought she must be rich.

We are now about half way around the block. Across the alley is Wauneta Hobby’s house. Mrs. Murphy lives in the upstairs apartment. This is the friendly house. As many times as I walked by this house and saw the folks living there they were always friendly. It still seems to be true. Wauneta still lives there.

The Clarks live on the corner of Monroe and Van Buren. I don’t know much about this family. When I was growing up they were an older couple. I wrote previously about stealing the flower bulbs from their garden. We wouldn’t have done it but they made perfect hand grenades.

Dan Winter’s house was next. Dan was a mailman and close family friend. By 1960 his children had grown up and his wife was no longer living. I don’t know what happened to her. I know Dan was a nice man and my parents admired him.

Next was the Wendell’s. Their property bordered the very back of our yard. They had children that were closer to Nancy’s age. Pearl was a baker and had emphysema. He had a bakery on the North side of the square and one in Keokuk. Loween was a close friend of my mother. She was an Avon Lady and got my Mom started in the business.

The Hodsons lived on the corner of Madison and Van Buren streets. Charlie was a tall, thin man and a heavy smoker. Gladys was rather large and loved to laugh. In the summer they sat on their porch almost every evening. If you went over to say “hi” it was almost impossible to get away.

And then you are back at our house again. It is much smaller in 1960. The kitchen and dining room addition hadn’t been thought of yet. Dad is, this year (1960), paying off Melvin Smith for putting on the new siding. It is slate and many people thought that was unusual. It was a brighter yellow than it is now.

The block has changed some since then. Hall’s barn and the hatchery are gone. The barn and Hodson’s house have been replaced with a newer home. The parsonage no longer belongs to the Baptists and has been added on to considerably. The block is not all that different but my mother is the only one left of those who lived on the block in 1960.