{"id":639,"date":"2015-01-27T22:12:21","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T22:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=639"},"modified":"2015-05-25T14:25:31","modified_gmt":"2015-05-25T14:25:31","slug":"adventures-archives-history-mysteries-solved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/adventures-archives-history-mysteries-solved","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in Archives: History Mysteries Solved"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>Our recent German Days post<\/a> led to two interesting developments that help illustrate why we launched Archiving Wheeling<\/em> in the first place.\u00a0\n

\n

History Mystery One: The Unidentified Building<\/h2>\n

First, we asked for help identifying the unknown building in this unusual 1908 Real Photo Postcard showing men, many dressed in aprons, posing with a German language sign advertising a German Day festival at Mozart Park. Frankly, we didn\u2019t think we would be successful. After all, there wasn\u2019t much to go on, and it didn\u2019t seem likely that the unremarkable building would even still be standing after more than a century.<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/a>
Workers at an unidentified business display a sign for German Day at Mozart Park in this 1908 real photo postcard. Ohio County Public Library Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Suggestions from comments on the post itself and on the corresponding Facebook<\/a>\u00a0post included Steinmetz Box Factory (later Marx Toy Warehouse) at 25th and Wood, the Wheeling Corrugating Plant on 19th, Wheeling Closure, Weimer Meat Packing, or Norteman Meat Packing. Then, reader Bryan Lemasters noticed the similarity to the Pollack Stogies factory building<\/a> image (from Forward Wheeling<\/em>, Chamber of Commerce, 1931), a scan of which was displayed on the Ohio County Public Library\u2019s Flickr page<\/a>. We confirmed that the images showed the same arches and that the windows in both photos are 16 over 16. Furthermore, Pollack Cigar employees were likely participants in a German Day festival as founder Augustus Pollack<\/a> (a German Jewish immigrant) had always been heavily involved in German American events and social organizations in Wheeling. Some of these men were probably involved in a German singing society, such as the Beethoven. Cigar making would also explain the aprons.<\/p>\n

\"Pollack<\/a>
The Pollack Stogies factory at 18th and Eoff became the Ott-Heiskell building.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jim Thornton then added that his father once owned a bar called the LaSalle across the street from the Pollack factory. This triggered a memory for Chuck Schultz that the LaSalle and Pollack Factory were both located at 18th and Eoff. Mr. Schultz then pointed out that the Pollack building across from the LaSalle was later known as the Ott-Heiskell building, which still stands<\/a>. We compared the buildings and noticed that the old drain pipe visible in the 1908 image is still on the Ott-Heiskell building. Many of the doors and windows have since been bricked in, but the buildings are a match. Mr. Thornton posted a \u201cthen and now\u201d version, lining up the two buildings, confirming the match. As it turns out, the mystery building is only a block away from the Ohio County Public Library. We present an enhanced \u201cthen and now\u201d gif comparison here for your consideration.<\/p>\n

\"German<\/a>
The background of this 1908 RPPC has actually changed very little in 107 years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This architectural-historical-detective work was both fun and informative. The process included the kind of community participation we hoped for when we launched Archiving Wheeling<\/em> to make local archival material more accessible.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0History Mystery Two: The Rebecca Harding Davis House<\/h2>\n

The second development related to this Real Photo Postcard showing Arion Hall at 20th and Main during the 1906 Saengerfest.<\/p>\n

\"Arion<\/a>
Arion Hall at 20th and Main Streets is decorated for the 1906 Saengerfest parade in this real photo postcard. Ohio County Public Library Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When he saw the image, Jeremy Morris, Director of the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation<\/a>\u00a0(WNHAC), remembered that Dan Bonenberger, Associate Professor in the Historic Preservation Program<\/a> at Eastern Michigan University was looking for such a rare period view of 20th Street (then known as Webster) looking east. Why? Because Professor Bonenberger and his class are doing research on noted Wheeling author Rebecca Harding Davis<\/a> and her family, and the Harding Family once lived on 20th Street, between Arion Hall and Second Presbyterian Church. In fact, the Harding house, two up from Arion Hall, marked here with an arrow, is visible in the image.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An enhanced version of the Saengerfest postcard. The gold arrow shows the location of the Davis house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Photographs of the Harding house are extremely difficult to find, and professor Bonenberger was very happy to see this RPPC.<\/p>\n

\"Saengerfest<\/a><\/p>\n

In this instance, Archiving Wheeling worked just how we hoped it would when we wrote the mission statement<\/a>: it helped an educator and a group of researchers to find material that will prove helpful to their research \u2013 material that they might otherwise have never seen.<\/p>\n

We at Archiving Wheeling couldn\u2019t be happier with the response to our German Days post. We look forward to continuing to solve history mysteries with all of your help and continuing to virtually connect Wheeling\u2019s archival collections with researchers.<\/p>\n

\n

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