The Lowell Area Historical Museum presents a new weekly online series. Missing Along Main explores the buildings that once occupied Main Street but are no longer there.
103 E. Main St.
2nd door east of the Old Post Office
The first building at this location shows up on the Sanborn map in 1900 and is listed as Agricultural implements. It is surmised that Brown-Sehler implement dealers who occupied the building next door east must have put up this building to help house their implements.
In 1912, Will C. Stone, tailor, occupied the building. He advertised “Dyeing and Dry Cleaning. Also Mending and Patching with rubber thread. If you want a fine suit made to your own measure, come and let me show you samples. Suits run in price from $13.00 to $50.00. Coats relined. Straw hats cleaned.”
In 1914, U. B. Williams removed the original buildings and erected two new buildings adjoining the post office at this location. Each was 18×50 feet, frame, one-story high with a gravel roof. One (101 E. Main) was occupied by Mr. Macham’s barber shop and the other (103 E. Main) by Naum & Terppa and was a wholesale and retail confectionery and ice cream business known as the “Sugar Bowl.” The sign over the store reads “Ice Cream and Soda”.
The Sugar Bowl ad in 1916 reads “FREE CONCERTS every Saturday evening by the Joseph Pavese Four-piece Orchestra. All the latest popular standard and classical music. … Come in and enjoy a dish of ICE CREAM along with the music. Our Ice Creams and Ices are Home Made, 100 percent pure and made fresh every day. Ice Creams and Ices, 25c per quart. Take a quart of ice cream home—only 25c.” Naum & Terpas, Proprietors. Ownership of The Sugar Bowl changed to Jarvis & Lagos in 1920 and Gus. Spuguzza in 1925.
In 1940, the Lowell Good Housekeeping Shop operated by W. J. Smith was here. He sold ranges, refrigerators, radios, and washers.
In 1949, the Home Service Store occupied this location. Clarence Dollaway was the proprietor. He offered complete plumbing and heating service and sold bottled or bulk gas for cooking or heating. Other items advertised included: automatic water heaters, gas home heaters, gas- coal- or oil-fired space heaters and furnaces, gas refrigerators and ranges, radios, kitchen cabinets, and water systems.
Herman and Molly Wepman relocated the Wepman Clothing Store from 107 E. Main to this larger newly redecorated building in September of 1950. Herman died unexpectedly from an acute heart attack that same month. Molly went on to raise her two children, ages 6 and 8 at that time, and continued operating the business until 1958 when the building burned. She didn’t give up. She had her store rebuilt and continued her business until she retired in 1976.
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