Good Old Days  

By Dee Zimmerman

An 1870’s view of East Sixth Street at the Hewett Street intersection:  At that time, Sixth Street was Neillsville’s main business street and the original “Snake Street,” a nick-name given to Seventh Street in later years.  As the Photo indicates, it was the days of boardwalks and un-surfaced streets.  There were livery stables, the old Wisconsin House Hotel (sometimes referred to as the Foster House) plus other clapboard wooden structures occupied by businesses on both sides of Sixth.  Note the electricity pole on the corner.  The lower portion of the pole was wrapped with wire to discourage horses from chewing on the wood, a pat-time while they were tied to the post, waiting for their owners to return from shopping.  The fisherman sitting with pole in hand is believed to have been the trickery of the photographer who spliced that into the photo.

A photo as Neillsville appeared when Clark County reached the Centennial Mark in 1953, an aerial photo.  Hewett Street at the center, with the milk Condensery in the background.

Ruth Ebert and Claude Auman portrayed the “Gay Nineties” couple as

They joined in the Clark County Centennial Parade of 1953.

An old traction steam engine made its way along he Centennial Parade route and was entered by the B & F Machine Shop.  As the sign indicates, the B & F Shop started business in 1928, owned by Earl “Slim” Bruhn and Max Feuerstein.  Those standing by the old engine were William Schwellenbach, at left, who operated the engine, Max Feuerstein and Jay Bruhn.  Steam engines proceeded tractors and w3ere used for powering threshing machines in the farming communities.