Once in a while you fall down an internet rabbit hole and don't come out for hours! Last weekend I was poring over the Sanborn (Insurance) Maps on the Library of Congress website and for some reason one particular city block stood out for me. The block bounded by Grove, Center, Main and Olive (now occupied by the county jail) seemed the perfect little neighborhood to me in 1886.
On this block all the services a city dweller could desire seemed to be present. For those seeking entertainment, there were the billiard halls and saloons. For the hungry, there were two groceries and a bakery. There was a boarding house above the restaurant and Wolcott's undertaking parlor and a carpenter was doing business on the block. Although one building was noted to be a shooting gallery, in the city directory, it was just another saloon. There was even a doctor for one's medical needs! A carpenter could make repairs at your house or build you a new bookcase, and the blacksmiths could shoe your horse!
Especially interesting was the fact that two of these businesses were operated by women. Sophia J. Osborn was a widow and living in a large house on the east side of the block. She was a baker and confectioner. She had been widowed in 1854 when she had three small children: Agnes, Riley and Samuel. Samuel always lived with Sophia and Agnes married the farmer and civil war veteran, William H. Horine. A stone at Evergreen says that Riley died months after his birth, but his name appeared in the 1860 census at the age of 7. Samuel worked as a driver for the U.S. Express office and later as a brakeman for the railroad. He had some serious injuries, once while working, when he was thrown from a wagon and run over by the wagon. Another time, two buggies became entangled on Olive Street outside the Osborn home and Samuel went to the rescue of the women who were riding in the buggies. Samuel was badly injured during the rescue and two different reports were made of his adventure in the Pantagraph. In 1891 Samuel left the Express company and took a job as a brakeman with the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Samuel Osborn was killed in a mysterious accident in the rail yards of Chicago in August 1893. His body was found on the platform with fatal injuries to his legs and groin. His death was reported on the front page of the Pantagraph, but no one was able to find out how the accident happened. Sophia Osborn died in November, 1899 of old age, still living in the home on Olive Street.
Margaret Dodge operated the restaurant beneath the boarding house. Her restaurant was at one time called the Boston Restaurant. Like Sophia Osborn, she was a widow. Her husband, James D. Dodge worked as a machinist for the railroads. In 1880 the family moved to Colorado for his work with the railroad there. In 1882, they moved again, to Brainerd, Minnesota. In Brainerd, James Dodge died in 1883, leaving Margaret with three small children, one an infant. Maggie's ad in the Pantagraph advertised 25 cent meals and a plan of day boarding for $3.50 a week.
In 1896 very few of the same businesses existed on this block. Only the undertaker and one saloon were still in the same locations. A farm implement business had taken over the space filled with two groceries and the shooting gallery. One of the homes had been razed and the boarding house was now the Damon Hotel.