Englehardt Library Block

Englehardt Library Block
The area bounded by Monroe St. and Avery St and Lafayette (Riverwalk) during the 1870s through 1890s  was filled with lumber era activity. The King, Quick, and King Lumber Mill office sat on the southwest corner fronting on Avery Street. Just north of the office were two lumber sheds and a horse shed and then the sawmill about where the boat launch is today. The 1892 Sanborn map also shows three houses and a livery at the southeast corner lot. In 1905, this livery burned. It had been operated by J. T. Jones and owned by F. T. King.

The prominent Victorian home of B. C. Smith faced Avery St. This location was convenient for Smith as his business was located one block south just around the corner on the bridge at 115 E. Main Street. He was a tailor and seller of men’s furnishings for 39 years (1883-1922).  “All work done by Smith, The Tailor.  The very latest fabrics and patterns to choose from.” (1908) “If Smith makes ’em they fit.”(1899)

In 1911, E. L. Kinyon purchased a lot from A. F. Dahlquist (formerly the C. E. Clark residence) and the Brower lot (possibly where the livery had been) to build two or three greenhouses at 206 N. Monroe St. His advertisements read “E. L. Kinyon, Plants, Cut Flowers and Floral Designs”.  E. L. Kinyon died after an operation in 1923 and his wife Nettie continued the business.

In 1941, Edward Kiel purchased the greenhouse from Mrs. E. L. (Nettie) Kinyon and the news article said the greenhouse would be under the management of Dell Kinyon who was Nettie’s brother-in-law. It was known as Kiel’s Greenhouse and by 1944, they also had a small building called Kiel’s Flower and Gift Shop at 517 E. Main Street next to the Baptist Church. The following ads flooded The Lowell Ledger in 1946: “Cemetery, Porch and Lawn Urns…Also Bird Baths.  See them at Kiel’s Greenhouses and Gift Shop. One block north of City Hall.”

Fire destroyed a large portion of their Monroe St. greenhouses in April, 1950. In May, Kiel rebuilt and enlarged the Main Street location, the store was to be 18 feet x36 feet, and the added greenhouse, 30 feet x100 feet. Kiel sold the business to a new family in town in 1954 and it became Ball Floral.

Images:

“Nettie Kinyon’s Greenhouse”.  It fronted on Monroe St. at Avery St.  The B. C. Smith house (Home Economics House) shows in the background to the west.

The 1870 Lithograph shows only four houses in the block bounded by Monroe St, Avery and High Streets. The block to the north contains Lowell’s Central School with its bell tower which was built in 1862.

1929 Map shows the E. L. Kinyon green houses with the office in the center and their dwelling to the north.  The house to the west of the greenhouse was owned by Lyle Webster after WWII into the 1950s.  After that, Lowell Area Schools used it for cooking and sewing classes. It was torn down in 1975.

B. C. Smith’s house in 1893. He was a merchant tailor in Lowell, 1883 to 1922 when his building on the Main Street bridge burned. This became the Home Economics house.

Photo (1905) shows a small building in the center with an old lumber shed (ice house in 1900) to the left (north) and a horse shed behind it. The building on the right was the Jones’ Livery at the corner of Monroe and Avery Streets. There is a dwelling in the trees which was the house later used by Lowell Schools for their Home Economics
classes.

A hailstorm broke about 75 percent of the glass in Kiel’s Main Street greenhouse in March 1954.  Mr. and Mrs. Harold Ball purchased the greenhouse in May 1954.
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"American Kitchen Styled in Steel" the new kitchen in the Home Economics Department at Lowell High School was designed by Sally Gee and installed by Clark Plumbing and Heating. This postcard was mailed to Mr. and Mrs. Wm. A. Roth June 5, 1953. This was the “green kitchen” in the Home Economics House.