305 W. Main the "White" Building

There once was a two storefront brick building between the Strand Theater and the former Larkins Saloon in the space that is now open.

An 1883 newspaper said that D. L. Sterling would erect a wareroom for agricultural implements just west of McGee’s Grocery. No such building appears on the 1885 Sanborn map but one did appear in 1892. The building was set back from 303 W. Main just to the east. The map said it was a Repository, the term used for agricultural implement storage or sales; it was a one-story building.
Between 1900 and 1910, the building was rebuilt. We know this because in 1910 maps show it was in line with 303 W. Main Street and was a 2-story building labelled as “storage.”

This building was called the Condon building. William T. Condon had a business in Lowell from 1892-1895 involving livestock and farm produce. He then left the building for a time. Perhaps he built the second building when he moved his business back into the building in 1908. He sold a strip of land to the Strand Theater in 1937.
Webster Bros. Motor Sales was located here in 1929. Managed by Peter Oneill, Webster’s sold Chevrolets and Buicks. They later moved to 508 W. Main.

The barbershop of Burt A. Charles moved into this building in 1936.
Downtown Dairy, owned by Winton Wilcox, moved to this location beginning in March 1938 and was here until the mid-1940s. Milk cans were brought to the back of the building along the driveway next to the Strand Theatre. Milk was pasteurized and bottled in this building. When Wilcox’s daughter Joyce rode into town, there was room behind the building for her pony to be tied to the tree.

The white building was demolished before 1961 so that McQueen Motor Sales, which was located across Main Street, could use the lot to display Used Vehicles.

Images:

Prior to being white, the building to the right of the Strand had a one-story awning type roof over a loading platform, c. 1928. (Postcard image courtesy of Gordon Hubenet)

The White building can be seen between the Café and Theater

Glass milk bottles of the Downtown Dairy had messages on the front and the back. Downtown Dairy was owned by Winton Wilcox who moved to this location in 1938 from Riverside Drive.

Evelyn Powell (nickname Blondie) standing across Main Street with the white building in the background, 1947. The Downtown Dairy is on the sign above the front door.

1892 Sanborn map                                                                         
1910 Sanborn map

Sanborn map images show the footprint of the buildings prior to the Strand Theater when there was a small dwelling just east of Graham house (Museum) and another building adjacent to Larkins.