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Here's this week's Flashback Friday, a historic photo and description of the era or business featured, from Waterloo and Cedar Falls.

This week, Flashback Friday features the north bank of the Cedar River in downtown Waterloo. This undated photo shows the Illinois Central Passenger Depot, Cutler Hardware and Black's Department Store, as well as many other businesses.

Ferdinand E. Cutler came to Waterloo on Dec. 3, 1866, according to Courier archives. He incorporated Cutler Hardware Co. in 1891, discontinuing retail in favor of wholesale hardware trade in 1901, and built their five-story business block in the 400 block of Sycamore Street, shown here, in 1910. At its peak, Cutler Hardware served 700 hardware dealers in eastern Iowa.

The business closed in July of 1975 and was demolished after an agreement to locate the Waterloo Post Office and a municipal parking lot on the site was finalized. Cutler's parent company, Minneapolis-based George A. Clark and Son, complained to the Courier that the Waterloo Community Development board did not offer the company a large enough settlement to relocate or construct a new warehouse.

This week, Flashback Friday features the Rath Packing Company water tower, a Waterloo landmark which came crashing to the ground on May 7, 1991.

A bulldozer yanked on two cables attached to the severed sections of two legs to bring it to the ground. The portion of the tank with the Rath logo was purchased by a Waterloo man who planned to restore the trademark.

The water tower also featured a visage of Saux chief Black Hawk, which branded Rath's bacon and hams -- "American favorites for decades," according to a New York Times profile of the company after it fell on hard times in 1985.

Rath Packing, a hog-slaughtering plant that became the city's largest employer for a while, including the city's first racially-equitable union, constructed its four-story building at 1515 Sycamore St. in 1925, adding on in 1940 and 1950. It closed its doors after more than 90 years.

The city purchased the sprawling, two-million square-foot complex on the Cedar River's north bank at a bankruptcy auction in 1985, according to Courier archives. Crystal Distribution redeveloped and reused more than 700,000 square feet of it, but the rest languished amid promises and pipe dreams from out-of-state developers.

In 2009, after gaining the title back from one such developer, the city facilitated the creation of a "human services campus" in the Rath Brownfields Redevelopment Area by donating land and vacating a street, allowing the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, Operation Threshold and the Women's Center for Change to co-locate there.

In 2012, the city entered into an agreement with Crystal to construct a $2 million refrigerated food processing facility expansion of 11,000 square feet, which opened in 2013.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1968 aerial view of the Highway 218/Tunis Speedway area, which is where the Tunis Circle area of Waterloo is as of 2021.

Judd Tunis bought the land and built a half-mile dirt track for horse racing in 1947. In 1948, he and Ira "Speed" Chumley, who owned a used car lot in Waterloo and raced so-called "midget cars," added a quarter-mile dirt "speed oval" for automobiles inside the horse track. According to a history by Jim Volgarino, Tunis spent nearly $50,000 to construct the track's surface, build the grandstands and install necessary buildings -- different than the sulky-style horse racing events he was used to hosting there.

Because the Black Hawk Motorcycle Club agreed to build the grandstands, Tunis agreed that the first two races on the track -- then called the Tunis Speed Bowl -- were motorcycles; one informal one in 1948, and a sanctioned race in 1949 that drew over 3,000 spectators.

In 1949, the first official auto races of midget cars were run, according to a Tunis Speedway Facebook group. Full-size auto racing began in 1950, when the Speed Bowl changed its name to Speedway.

Tunis Speedway was in operation for over three decades. In its heyday, it routinely attracted 3,000 to 5,000 spectators, according to a 2013 Courier article profiling a Tunis Speedway reunion. A sign from that era advertised "stock car races every Sunday night."

In 1979, Tunis -- by then in his 80s -- was "tired" of running the track and sinking money into it, according to Claus Stricker, the last full-time manager of the Speedway. The weekly track events ceased, and only special promotional events were held. The last race was in 1983, promoted by Keith Knaack.

This week, Flashback Friday features a scene, taken during the early years of the Waterloo Boat Club and River Improvement Association, showing a few of the boats which made use of the club's facilities along the Cedar River.

The nonprofit was incorporated in 1927, according to records.

The clubhouse was located near the present site of the Waterloo Center for the Arts.

This week, Flashback Friday features this photo from the "Waterloo: A Pictorial History" book, taken sometime between 1875 and 1905.

The caption from the book reads as follows: "As Waterloo became more prosperous, its citizens took on trappings that reflected the new wealth. People kept fine carriages and horses and even little girls were transported in style such as this graceful landau."

If you have more information about who is pictured in this photograph or where it was taken, please share with us at newsroom@wcfcourier.com.

This week, Flashback Friday features an aerial photo of Commercial Street (to the left) and West Fifth Street in downtown Waterloo, taken in the early 1950s. The photo was likely taken from the vantage point of the Russell-Lamson Hotel.

This block was one of Waterloo's earliest bustling commercial districts on the "west side," or south of the Cedar River. In 1868, when Waterloo was incorporated, city offices were located in a law office on Commercial Street. By 1873, the highest concentration of businesses was along that street, in the two-and-a-half blocks between Bridge (now Park Avenue) and Fifth streets, according to the Waterloo City Directory from that year. Commercial Street was the original retail and market center on that side, while East Fourth Street was similarly built up at the same time on the north side of the river. Burnham's Opera House (later Brown's Opera House) was completed in 1877 at West Park and Commercial streets, later burning down in 1906, and the local Masons first gathered in rented rooms at Commercial and West Fifth streets in the mid-1800s.

Businesses there around this time included the Irving House, later called the Irving Hotel, at the northeast corner of Bridge and Commercial streets, owned by C.L. Kingsley; Montgomery Ward, which moved in 1933 to the two-story building at 510-516 Commercial St., then in 1938 across the street to a 3-story building at 509-515 Commercial St. until 1969; and the Russel-Lamson Hotel, an 8-story building built in 1914 at 700-712 Commercial St., still standing but now converted to apartments.

By the late 1920s, automobile usage in Black Hawk County had taken off, increasing to more than 16,000 registered vehicles, and auto-related businesses like gas stations, garages, auto parts stores and car dealerships proliferated. including along Commercial and Fifth streets -- taking the place of horse livery businesses that had previously occupied those storefronts.

While the tall Waterloo building at top left still stands as of 2021, at that time there were also an assortment of cafes, taverns and small shops that had been landmarks.

By the 1950s, the city blamed the downtown's decline on insufficient parking and began to provide on-street metered parking and 10 off-street parking lots, though they were on the "periphery of the main downtown area" along Sixth and Third streets. Chicago consulting firm De Leuw, Cather and Co. recommended in June of 1956 that the city construct two parking ramps, and one of those would become the four-level structure now present at this corner.

The buildings seen in this photo were demolished in 1957 and the parking ramp was open in May of 1958.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1970 photo of Herberger's Fabrics upon its grand opening.

The store was located at 2761 University Ave. in Waterloo, and was formerly the J&R Auto Store.

Herberger's Fabrics was an offshoot of the popular department store Herberger's, which began in 1927 in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The company opened seven separate fabric-only stores in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. The fabric stores didn't last, however: The stores were sold in 1973.

This week, Flashback Friday features this undated photo of Hubert E. LaPole's newsstand on the sidewalk of the south corner of Sycamore and East Fourth streets in downtown Waterloo.

LaPole was 11 years old when his father died. His mother worked and LaPole -- the oldest of five children -- got a special permit in 1918 to sell the Waterloo Morning Tribune before school, the Waterloo Courier noon edition during his lunch hour and the Evening Courier after school -- plus "extras" at all hours. By 15, he was in charge of as many as 50 other newsboys in the area.

In addition to the newsstand, LaPole had various other occupations over the years, from cutting asparagus during the Great Depression, working at the Waterloo Liquor Store for eight years, and sandwich and ice cream stands. He said in a 1971 article they were all "sidelines to the selling of newspapers."

In 1944, a routine renewal application met with opposition from nearby property owners, including Rhey N. Cowin, upset LaPole was allowed to operate on public property and impede pedestrian traffic.  In April of 1944, LaPole's license was renewed by the city council on a 4-2 vote, and he paid $50 for the privilege, according to newspapers.com archives.

In June of 1944, attorneys for Cowin took the city to court, saying it didn't have the right to grant a license to the sidewalk and ordered LaPole's newsstand removed. Attorneys called the newsstand "unsightly" and said it interfered with pedestrian traffic, passengers exiting from vehicles and patrons trying to enter stores. In March 1945, a judge agreed, ordering LaPole to remove his newsstand and prohibiting the city from licensing the newsstand on public property again.

LaPole continued to operate his stand and appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. In February of 1946, the court ordered LaPole to remove his stand from the sidewalk, saying the city had a duty to keep its sidewalks "free from nuisances."

Though LaPole took the stand down, he kept selling papers on the corner through a mobile "news wagon," according to a November 1971 article profiling his business. By the time of that article, LaPole -- then 67 at the time -- only operated from that corner on Sundays, but delivered Chicago and other newspapers to news dealers and downtown businesses during the week.

This week, Flashback Friday features a photo of the Spiral Thriller roller coaster, an early wooden roller coaster that was at the amusement park at Electric Park.

Electric Park was established in 1902 by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls and Northern Railroad, or WCF&N, at the intersection of Westfield Avenue, Conger Street and Rainbow Drive in Waterloo. During this era, it was common practice throughout the country for railroad companies to operate amusement parks to attract passengers to their trains and provide entertainment for employees' families.

The railroad only owned the electricity and lighting facilities, and the Waterloo Amusement Company assumed responsibility for the park, charging 10 cents' admission, according to a July 1913 issue of the newsletter Electric Traction. They also charged patrons "10 cents a dance or 50 cents for the evening" at the park's dance hall at that time, as well as 10 to 30 cents to see "a four-act vaudeville show with no pictures," which the company did not make money on but made up for it in concessions. Friday night attendance at the gate ran "as high as 2,000, which is good for this sized park," and patrons could come and picnic on the grounds during the day for free.

R.E. Peterson, who ran the park and bought it outright in 1922, built two roller coasters during that time. One was "a rather ordinary, traditional figure-8" coaster, typical of amusement parks of the era, according to a history of the park. The other was Spiral Thriller, described as "a roller coaster supreme" for those thrill seekers who found the figure-8 coaster "too tame."

Peterson also added other attractions: the Carry-Us-All, a merry-go-round with three horses abreast; the Barrel of Fun, a "very popular" and "one of the largest rides of its kind ever built," which attracted children too young to try the roller coasters; and the Dodge-Em Cars, similar to bumper cars where each car was attached to a trolley connected to an electrically charged wire ceiling.

The entire park was electrically powered, which was unusual for the time -- hence the name Electric Park -- and visitors entered the main gate with "Electric Park" spelled out with hundreds of glittering lights.

The exception to the electricity was a water-powered Ferris Wheel, believed to have been the only one of its kind in the Midwest.

The Spiral Thriller was said to have been constructed in 1912. But on Nov. 21, 1933, the park's Fun House burned down and was never rebuilt. During the subsequent Great Depression and the nation's changing tastes in amusements, the park languished. By World War II, most of Electric Park's rides disappeared, and all that remained was the Electric Park Ballroom, which remains in existence in 2021.

The photo, courtesy of Robert Levis, was taken from the "Waterloo: A Pictorial History" book.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1980s photo of the YWCA, located at 425 Lafayette Street in Waterloo.

The Young Women's Christian Association in Black Hawk County was founded in 1911, according to Courier archives. Early supporters included Courtland Fowler and Frances Grout.

But the idea was planted in the city even earlier, in 1884, according to another account. Winnie Fish, Belle Ayers and Carrie Rutledge returned home to Waterloo from college after hearing of England's successful Young Women's Christian Association, and decided to form their own.

The three rented rooms on Bridge Street, now known as West Fourth Street, and hosted Sunday Vespers, social activities and afternoon "thimble teas" at which they'd sew clothing for orphanages and low-income residents.

When the building was sold in 1887, another location was opened in 1889 with educational and gymnasium classes, though funds ran out in 1893.

In 1911, an official YWCA board of directors met and rented space at the Century Building, 611-613 Sycamore St., while they raised funds for a permanent location. It later moved to the 100 block of East Fourth Street.

Mortimer Cleveland designed the building shown in this photo, still in operation as of 2021, which opened in 1924.

In addition to gym, swimming pool, club rooms, cafeteria and dormitory, the Frances Grout Memorial Convalescent Room was housed on the third floor, where any girl recovering from an illness could receive care.

During the Depression, free activities were offered and women reached out by sewing and canning fruits and vegetables for relief agencies. When World War II began, women and girls worked swing shifts at local factories and spent evenings at the Y's supper meetings and classes. The WAVES were offered temporary housing and the use of Y facilities.

Young women could receive training and skills through education and training programs at the YWCA from the 1920s to the 1950s. By the 1960s and '70s, the organization was offering programming for displaced homemakers.

Girl Reserves formed in the 1920s and 1930s, which included more than 800 elementary school girls organized into 18 clubs led by 41 volunteers. High school girls participated in Friendship Clubs, later known as Y-Teens.

The YWCA opened Camp Wahpaton in 1942 on the Shell Rock River, north of Janesville. Built on 130 acres donated by the Rath family, it was the first integrated camp facility in the area. In the fall of 1944, German prisoners were housed at the camp.

In the 1950s, the Live Y'ers formed, with local high school students dancing to the calls of Jesse Cosby.

In later years, the Y added child care and transportation during events, as well as programs benefitting the Spanish-speaking community.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1977 photo of The Scissor Wizards, a hairstyling center that had recently opened on the Water Street side of the three-story structure at Water and East Fourth streets in downtown Waterloo.

This week, Flashback Friday features the opening of Country Kitchen, at 1422 Headford Ave., which was part of Highway 218 North, in this newspaper clipping from October 1969.

Rodney White, left, was assistant manager, and Dick Eaves was the manager,  standing in front of the newly completed building in this photo.

According to a Courier article from September of 1969, it was the first Country Kitchen in the area.

In a January 1970 ad, Country Kitchen was advertising roast turkey with dressing for $2.10 on Sundays, Salisbury steak for $1.55 on Mondays, chicken and dumplings for $1.55 on Tuesdays, Swedish meat balls for $1.55 on Wednesdays, beef tenderloin tips for $1.65 on Thursdays, fish and chips for $1.49 on Fridays and Swiss steak for $1.85 on Saturdays.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1973 photo of Professional Office Services Inc., located at 2757 Burton Ave. in Waterloo.

Professional Office Services, or POS, began in 1970 and was originally located on Rainbow Drive.

The new building, four times the size of its former location, was one of the first in the Wendell Lockard Industrial Park.

Harry Grant was at the time president of the firm, employing 30. As of 2021, Mike Williams was president and CEO.

The company, which does "branding for a variety of healthcare and dental specialties," is still in operation at that location. It was named a 2021 Courier Employers of Choice.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1958 photo of Powers Manufacturing Co., then and still located at 1340 Sycamore St. in Waterloo.

The company, begun in Waterloo in 1902 by Leonard Powers, is as of 2021 still in operation at the same location. It "provides athletes with superior quality, custom uniforms," according to the Powers website.

At the time of this photo, Powers employed 190 people in this building and was one of the country’s largest athletic uniform makers.

As of 2020, the company employed around 95 people, and also worked with factories in the Dominican Republic and El Salvador. Its company president at that time was Leonard Powers' great-great-great nephew, Grant Weidner.

Powers makes custom team athletic uniforms under its own Powers brand and is the North American licensee for Under Armour custom team uniforms.

In 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic and resulting shortages of medical supplies, the company retooled its operations to produce medical-grade hospital gowns for health care providers at UnityPoint Health-Waterloo, according to a May 2020 Courier article.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1978 aerial photo of Chamberlain Manufacturing Corp., located at 550 Esther Street in Waterloo. 

The street running along the bottom of the picture is East Fourth Street. Gates Park Golf Course is at the top, behind the plant.

The company was founded in 1906 by Andrew Chamberlain, a "prominent butter maker" who originally started it to service the butter-separation industry. It first evolved into the Waterloo Rope Belt Company, "producing products associated with the large separators in creameries," according to a history done by The New Waterloo Project.

In 1913, the company pivoted again to become Chamberlain Machine Works, and when World War I began a year later, the machinery used for creameries was re-adapted to manufacture artillery shells for the U.S. war effort. It continued to do so through World War II, manufacturing different types of ammunition.

In 1978, the date this photo was taken, Duchossois Industries Inc. of Elmhurst, Illinois, purchased the company, and continued to work as a major contractor for the Department of Defense.

But the facility, which sat on 23 acres, also manufactured metal washer wringers, aluminum awnings and refrigerator shelves along with ammunition, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

It closed in 1994 and the site was vacant until the city of Waterloo purchased it in 2006. The city worked with the EPA and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to conduct environmental studies of the soil, groundwater and asbestos abatement prior to and after the 24 building structures were removed in 2012 and 2013.

Because of the extensive contamination of the site, the city has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in Brownfields Cleanup Grant funding to conduct the studies and cleanup of the property.

The EPA also issued Chamberlain Manufacturing a Unilateral Administrative Order in 2010 to determine "the extent of vapor intrusion of volatile organic compounds into homes and methods to reduce it," and Chamberlain is continuing to conduct soil and groundwater investigations, according to the EPA.

As of 2021, the city was still considering its options on what to do with the site and creating a land use plan.

This week, Flashback Friday features Upper Iowa University defeating Wartburg College, its "traditional northeast Iowa rival" at the time, in a football game circa 1945.

The photo is from a collection of sports photos donated to The Courier by the family of Clyde A. Artus, a former Courier sports photographer and writer.

If you know when this game was played or who the players are, drop us a line!

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1969 aerial photo of College Square Mall in Cedar Falls, still under construction at the time.

Shoppers could visit Marc's Big Boy Restaurant; Cedar Falls Trust and Savings Bank; Wards Tire, Battery and Auto Center; the center complex itself and the just-opened Gil's Valu Center.

For department stores there was Wards, at the top of this photo; Younkers, in the center; and Woolco at the bottom.

This week, Flashback Friday features this photo of the Woolco Department Store that opened in 1969, the second department store to open in what was then the new College Square Shopping Center in Cedar Falls.

The store opened with 300 employees, and departments ranging from apparel to hardware, appliances and more, as well as the Woolco Red Grille.

Woolco closed in 1982, and the area's first Wal-Mart opened in that space in 1984. Walmart then moved to its current location on Viking Road in 2003.

This week, Flashback Friday is featuring this 1968 photo of the President Hotel, located at 500 Sycamore St. at the corner of East Park Avenue in downtown Waterloo.

The showcase hotel was built in 1929 and operated by a succession of companies until it was sold in 1968 to Elders Inc., a non-profit group composed of four Waterloo churches. It was converted to federally subsidized housing units for low-income and disabled residents, and the name was changed to Park Towers Apartments.

Local developers Brent Dahlstrom and Jim Sulentic bought the building in 2011 and sold it to Huntley Witmer Development of Los Angeles, which renovated the building to the tune of $12 million in 2017. At that time, the building retained 84 units of subsidized housing. The name was then changed to Hotel President.

The Hotel President was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1973 photo of the Pillsbury Company’s expanded grain handling facility in Waterloo.

The photo shows a loaded grain truck hoisted by the massive ram hoist, capable of lifting 150,000 pounds and unloading it in minutes. A half-million dollars in new equipment was installed and it was expected that some 7 to 20 million bushels of corn, soybeans and oats would pass through the elevator that year.

The Minneapolis-based Pillsbury Co. sold its 48 Midwest grain elevators, including the Waterloo one, to Conagra in 1988.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1984 aerial photo of the Highway 20/Highway 218/Interstate 380 interchange after it was newly completed, with Crossroads Mall in the foreground and downtown Waterloo in the background.

The final link of Interstate 380 linking Waterloo to Cedar Rapids was completed between Urbana and Gilbertville on Sept. 12, 1985. Prior to that time driving between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids along two-lane Highways 218 and 30 took up to two hours; the new stretch made the drive around 50 minutes.

There was opposition to the 380 project. A group of property owners between Center Point and Jesup, called the Farmland Preservation Association, fought the freeway for several years in the late 1970s, before the Iowa Department of Transportation Commission and in the courts.

Several options were considered, including the route directly north through Independence; one more or less following existing 218 through Vinton and La Porte City; and one following an old Waterloo-Cedar Rapids interurban railroad right of way that is the present-day location of the Cedar Valley Nature Trail.

But the Highway Commission stayed with the recommended route after numerous hearings an deliberations. A federal judge in 1979 upheld the Iowa DOT's decision on the highway location, saying the state had adequately studied alternatives and options for the road.

"It has made not only the commute between the two cities a whole lot easier, it's pulled the cities closer together," said Mike Blouin, former director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

The opening of the interstate, and a massive metro highway system reconstruction conceived by former Waterloo Mayor Leo Rooff, opened the floodgates of economic activity in the Cedar Valley and made the area an attractive investment for companies in Cedar Rapids and beyond.

This week, Flashback Friday features this photo of Hurwich Discount Carpet Mart, then located at 406 and 410 Sycamore St. in Waterloo.

The store closed in the late 1970s since the site was part of the urban renewal project, and the U.S. Post Office and MET Transit bus station now sit on the former site.

There was also a Hurwich Furniture Co. located at 500 Layfayette St., now the site of a downtown parking ramp.

This week, Flashback Friday features this undated photo of Mitvalsky’s Fine Furs – "dependable fur headquarters since 1901" – which was located at 189 W. Fourth St. in Waterloo from 1933 until 1982.

The retail store, owned by F. S. Mitvalsky, offered muskrat, lamb, seal, lynx, fox, raccoon, opossum, squirrel and mink coats, with prices ranging from $195 to $995.

The store began in Cedar Rapids in 1901 and was "the largest fur manufacturing institution in Iowa," with fur originating from Germany, Russia, Belgium, France, England and what was then Czechoslovakia, according to Courier archives. The company had a cold storage capacity of "more than 10,000 coats," one of the largest in the Midwest at the time.

Mitvalsky's opened its Waterloo branch on July 22, 1933, with James Kirchner and Francis Louda as managers, and the store noted in a July 24 ad they "sold three times more merchandise than we expected" during their grand opening celebration.

"It is indeed with pleasure we realize our theory that Waterloo is again assuming its rightful place as one of the leading business communities in Iowa," the ad read.

In 1969, Mitvalsky's was sold to Leonard Petra and was rebranded Petra's Custom Furs, "Waterloo's Only Exclusive Furrier," though it retained its relationship to Mitvalsky's.

By February of 1982, Petra's sold off its stock of remaining mink coats -- by then selling for thousands of dollars each -- citing it was "due to Department of Transportation taking F.S. Mitvalsky and Company's building and factory out of business."

There is no such address in Waterloo at the moment. The store would have been located near what is now the Waterloo Building and Stifel Nicolaus.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1966 photo of The National Bank of Waterloo drive-in bank facility, then located at 315 E. Fifth St.

The facility, which featured "banking by television," opened in 1965 and included a walk-in customer lobby as well as two television remote control units and one conventional drive-up window.

Law firm Clark, Butler, Walsh and Hamann occupy that building as of 2021, with the address of 313 E. Fifth St., across the street from the Black Hawk County Courthouse. The building still says National Bank of Waterloo carved in the granite façade at top.

This week, Flashback Friday features this photo of the Hanna Monument, a bronze tablet set in stone. The monument pays homage to the location of the first home built by Europeans who stayed permanently in Black Hawk County, George W. and Mary Melrose Hanna.

Mary Hanna was born on Jun 9, 1821, in Edwards County, Illinois. She married George in 1837 and died of a stroke Nov. 6, 1912, at the age of 92 as the oldest resident in Black Hawk County. George was born in 1817 and died in 1890. The couple had seven children and are are buried at Elmwood Cemetery.

The couple founded Waterloo township on June 19, 1845, in what is now the west Waterloo commercial district. The home site is across from the area of the former Platt’s Nursery, near what is now the McDonald's on University Avenue.

The Hanna home was an 18-foot by 24-foot log cabin, built "on the edge of a blooming prairie," and the couple along with Mary's brother John Melrose farmed the area. They increased the land they claimed as their own until they owned "a considerable portion of the land on the west bank" of the Cedar River. They then "freely gave" their land, in small tracts, to developers that would later construct the Stewart Blacksmith Shop on Fourth Street as well as the first schoolhouse near the corner of Jefferson Street and West Park Avenue.

The Hannas moved into town in 1852, purchasing a brick structure they made into a store, and were residents there for seven or eight years before moving back to the original farm.

Mary Hanna befriended Indigenous members of the Pottawatamie, Meskwaki and Winnebago tribes that lived nearby, learned a bit of their languages and taught some of the women English, according to an early history of the Hannas. Some of the tribes made sugar in "the immense sugar tree groves, which wooded the hills along the river to the northwest of Waterloo," which they traded with the white residents for flour, according to that history.

The Hanna home was "home, church and courthouse to suit the needs of the time," according to that history. George Hanna was the county's first justice of the peace, and religious services were held "every Sunday."

The memorial site was offered by the couple's daughters, Mary Tiller and Edith Knupp, to the Early Settlers Association of Black Hawk County on the condition the grounds would be "perpetually cared for," according to a Sept. 1, 1935 article in The Courier.

The Early Settlers held annual reunions at the site until the middle of the 20th century, when descendant Emily Hanna George built an estate on the site known as "Texowa." The Early Settlers Association disbanded in 1958.

Platt's Nursery later bought much of the Texowa estate for their business and kept the monument, though it was later moved when University Avenue expanded and, with no one officially in charge of it, fell into disrepair.

The marker appears to still be standing in the grass strip between University Avenue and South Hackett Road in a July 2019 Google Street View photo.

This week, Flashback Friday features Monument to the Elm, the 18-foot sculpture carved and chipped from the trunk of a dying 150-year-old elm tree in 1974 at the University of Northern Iowa Lutheran Student Center, at the corner of College Street and University Avenue in Cedar Falls.

The towering, wooden statue, with arms reaching upward in a gesture of anguish, was carved with the intent of allowing it to decompose as a tribute to the quirkiness of Mother Nature.

It was taken down after 20 years and replaced in 1995 by "Tragedy to Triumph," a 15-foot stainless sculpture that still stands on the Lutheran Student Center's property as of 2021.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1966 photo of the Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, which had just opened at 3314 Waterloo Road in Cedar Falls.

Shakey's Pizza locations in both Cedar Falls and Waterloo, the latter of which opened in 1974, were owned and operated by Arland "Axe" Haugen, who also served for 20 years on the Cedar Falls City Council.

The establishment featured pizza, beer and soft drinks along with “sing along” music.

Haugen, who was once named a Shakey's franchise dealer of the year, closed both locations in 1995. He died at the age of 90 in 2017.

Shakey's Pizza was one of the first pizza chains in the United States, founded in 1954. At the height of its popularity in the 1960s, it had 342 locations.

That address -- at the intersection of University Avenue -- is no longer being used as of 2021.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1973 aerial photo of Crossroads Shopping Center in south Waterloo.

Crossroads officially opened in March of 1970, and at the time was Iowa’s only two-story mall. It featured more than 20 stores at the opening, with expectations of an eventual total of around 60 stores on the 240-acre site at the intersections of Highways 218 and 412. It was once a part of Orange Township farmland and former site of a country school.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1939 photo of the Hawkeye or Caward building, located at 205 West Fourth Street at Commercial Street in Waterloo.

The building was erected in 1924 by Caward Investment Co. It was tenanted soon after by the Paul Davis Dry Good Co. Store, then Lauerman Brothers Department Store in 1927 and, later, by J. C. Penney in 1944.

J.C. Penney's original Waterloo location was at 95 E. Fourth St. before moving to the eight-story Caward Building in 1944.

The building was demolished in the early 1980s to make room for the Ramada Hotel. As of 2021, the address is where the Best Western Plus Executive Residency now sits.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1968 photo of the grand opening of the Rasmussen Furniture and Gift Store, then located at 1216 La Porte Road in Waterloo.

Bud Rasmussen was the owner and operator of the establishment. The store had 15,000 square feet and 25 different lines of furniture and appliances.

As of 2021, that location is the Image Pointe screen printing shop.

This week's Flashback Friday features a 1966 photo of the Waterloo Municipal Airport, as well as Niederhauser Airways and Ben’s Aircraft Service. The airport was dedicated on June 10, 1951.

This week, Flashback Friday features this July 15, 1979 photo of the soda fountain at Hieber Drug on Main Street in Cedar Falls, operated by James Quegg and his wife.

In 1897, Ben Hieber and L. O. Hieber opened Hieber & Co. Drug at 222 Main Street. They specialized in drugs, paint, wallpaper, hammocks and, of course, had a very fine soda fountain.

Among the items on the Hieber soda fountain menu in 1910 were Chop Suey Sundaes, Egg Lemonade, Colfax Lemonade, Orange Julep sodas, Celery and Iron drinks, Near Beer sodas, and Coca-Cola.

The location, as of 2021, is now the restaurant Montage.

This week, Flashback Friday features the 1906 photo of the Waterloo East Side Fire Station No. 1, featuring Chief A.A. Jeff Dunham's new car on the far right. It was the first motorized piece of fire equipment in Iowa.

Fire companies had existed in Waterloo as early as 1861, but all were private until the first public fire stations, staffed with all volunteer firefighters, were built on the city's east and west sides. This one was the first, Fire Station No. 1, built in 1904 on East Fifth Street. The second, Fire Station No. 2, was built at 716 Commercial St.

In this era, men had to don their jumpers, slide down the pole, snap the horses' collars and lines and climb onto the wagons. The horses were so well trained that at the sound of a gong, they dashed to their places at the rigs.

Fire Station No. 1 went out of use in 1969, and was demolished in 1977. Fire Station No. 2 also went out of use in 1969 and as of 2021 serves as the El Mecca Shrine Club.

This week, Flashback Friday features what Waterloo's Post Office and Federal Building, then located at the corner of West Park Avenue and Commercial Street, looked like in the summer of 1938, just after it was constructed.

The original Post Office and Federal Building (page 28 of the PDF) was built on the same site in 1904, after Iowa Rep. David B. Henderson secured $150,000 for its construction. It was a two-story, marble-faced building constructed in the Classical Revival building style, and was in use until 1938 when the new building was constructed.

The new, modified Italian Renaissance-style building pictured here cost $340,060, designed by supervising architect Louis A. Simon and constructed of dolomite limestone by the John E. Ericson Company of Chicago.

In 1940, Edgar Britton, who was a student of Grant Wood, painted two murals inside the post office's lobby, for which he received a $2,500 grant from a New Deal program that funded art in federal buildings. "Exposition" depicts the National Dairy Cattle Congress, and "Holiday" is a picnic scene. The murals are tempera applied directly onto the walls using the fresco technique.

Voters in 1977 approved a $3.65 million bond issue to buy and renovate the building, merging the West Side Library at West Fourth and South streets and the East Side Library at East Fifth and Mulberry streets into that location.

The city of Waterloo purchased the building from the postal administration for $325,000, with the stipulation that the murals remain. The post office relocated to its current location, 300 Sycamore St., in 1979.

The two libraries moved into their new combined building in 1981, relocating more than 150,000 books and other items in an all-volunteer effort. An opening dedication for the new library was held April 26, 1981. As of 2021, the building still houses the library.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1937 photo of the Irving Hotel, which was located at 509-515 Commercial Street, at the corner of Commercial and West Fourth streets. It had been in existence for more than 50 years.

The hotel was razed a year later, in 1938, to make way for Montgomery Ward & Co. The retailer had previously started in 1928 at 612-616 Jefferson St., which later became the VFW building in 1928, then moved to 510-516 Commercial St. in 1932 and then moved across the street to the former Irving Hotel location. In 1969, Montgomery Ward moved again to the College Square Shopping Center in Cedar Falls.

It began as the Irving House and changed its name to the Irving Hotel by 1915. For a time, it was owned by C.L Kingsley, who was also the vice president of Leavitt and Johnson National Bank.

The Waterloo Courier, shown to the left of the hotel in this photo, would later purchase the former Montgomery Ward building to use for its printing operation. That would be in use until printing operations were shuttered in the early 2000s, and after The Courier moved its offices across the Cedar River to 100 East Fourth St. in December 2011, both buildings were purchased by Muscatine businessman Roy Carver Jr. They remained vacant as of 2021.

This week, Flashback Friday features the 1969 photo of Gil’s Valu Center in Cedar Falls.

With the claim of being “Black Hawk County’s largest grocery store,” Gil’s opened its doors in the College Square Shopping Center in 1969. The 25,000 square foot store was the third in a chain of stores operated by Gil Hoeg of Waterloo. It featured a coffee shop, delicatessen and bakery.

This week, Flashback Friday features the aerial view of Hawkeye Institute of Technology, now Hawkeye Community College, in 1972. It is located at 1501 East Orange Road in Waterloo.

The Hawkeye Institute of Technology was established in 1966, according to the college. The Waterloo Area Vocational School, operated by the Waterloo school district, was transferred to the college. Travis Martin was hired as the first superintendent, and that fall's enrollment was 227 students.

Its first training programs in drafting, manufacturing, engineering and electronics were developed with Deere and Co., beginning a longstanding partnership with the Waterloo agricultural manufacturer.

Construction began on the first building on Hawkeye's main campus in 1968. Previous to 1968, the college had operated entirely in rented facilities. By 1972 -- the date of this photo -- the college had opened Butler Hall, Buchanan Hall and Bremer Hall.

It would become a comprehensive community college with arts and sciences transfer courses in 1991, and change its name to Hawkeye Community College in 1993.

This week, Flashback Friday features the 1972 photo of the Starlite Drive-in Theatre, 4000 University Ave., and the aerial view of the theatre in 1968.

The Waterloo drive-in was Iowa’s first, opening in September of 1947. The theater, managed by Dick Cobbler, celebrated its 25th anniversary in August 1972.

It closed in 1990 and was demolished, replaced by a Hy-Vee and Walgreens. The HyVee closed in February of 2018 and as of 2021 remains vacant.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1957 photo showing the newly modernized front of the Gambles store at 211 Main St., Cedar Falls.

The facade included a wide panel of special paint-impregnated aluminum, new windows and door. The improvement was made at a cost of approximately $3,000.

This week, Flashback Friday features the Santa Claus Industries building, built in 1965 on a 25-acre tract of land fronting Airline Highway in Waterloo.

The building was dedicated on Dec. 3, 1965, and was a gifts and novelties business.

(Do you have more information about Santa Claus Industries? Drop us a line at newsroom@wcfcourier.com and tell us!)

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1977 photo of the Snowden House.

The house was completed in 1881 of Victorian Italianate style by William Snowden, a Waterloo pharmacist.

During the winter, heating of the home was so difficult that the family retreated to their apartment over Mr. Snowden's pharmacy. Thus, it became known as the Snowden Summer Home.

Since Mr. Snowden had three daughters, the home was a gathering place for many young people, and became a center of culture and music. Originally, the large drawing room was a parlor with a sitting room to the northeast. The drawing room also served as a music parlor where many young people were instructed in their first piano lessons.

William Snowden died in 1889, making his wife, Delia, the sole owner, and she transferred the property to Lillian Russell Lamson.

On September 15, 1922, the Snowden House was purchased by the Waterloo Women's Club. The Snowden House Foundation, created in 1984, owned the property until August 13, 1997, when it joined the Grout Museum District.

The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its exterior.

(Information provided by the Grout Museum District.)

This week, Flashback Friday features the 1967 photo of Thos. Meisch Food Market delivery service. Since 1911, Norbert Meisch (pictured) and his father before him delivered groceries to the homemakers of Waterloo. Pictured is the original wagon used for deliveries before they switched to using a truck.

This week, Flashback Friday features the 1983 photo of the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Depot on West Fourth Street. Known originally as the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway Passenger Depot, the depot was built in 1890. It ceased being used as a depot in the 1960s, but it served as a freight station for several years afterward. It was later renovated by Heaton, Adams & Co.

This week, Flashback Friday features the Jan. 11, 1983, photo of Simpson Furniture after it was destroyed by fire. The furniture store was located at 515 Main St. in Cedar Falls. Firefighters said the blaze was the worst in Cedar Falls since Gilchrist Hall burned up in 1972.

This week, Flashback Friday features snowstorms from the 1970s. The top two photos are from January 1979. The left one shows an abandoned car on Newell Street a couple blocks east of Idaho Street. The right one doesn't have an address but there is a Goodyear sign in the background.

The bottom two are from 1973. The left one was taken at West Fourth and Brynes Park (no month listed on photo). The right was taken around April 9 and features a couple and their child as they resort to walking on the street in downtown Waterloo in order to move about due to the heavy snow.

This week, Flashback Friday features the 1959 photo of the new storefront for Gene Enderlein Men’s Wear, which was located at 220 W. Fourth St. in Waterloo. The new front followed the completion of a $5,500 remodeling project. That store, as well as the building and the address itself, is now gone, replaced by what is now the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center.

This week, Flashback Friday features the 1980 photo of the J.C. Penney building being demolished. Thousands witnessed the few seconds it took for the building to crumble with the detonation of 250 pounds of dynamite. The 55-year-old structure was demolished to make way for a $9 million hotel, which as of 2021 is now the Best Western. It would be connected to the ConWay Civic Center by skywalk, which as of 2021 is now the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center.

This week, Flashback Friday features the 1981 photo of the One Stop Shopping Center, located at Cleveland and University Avenue. The shopping center featured the One Stop Lube Center, One Stop Food Mart and the Sandwich Co.

This week, Flashback Friday features this 1891 photo of Iowa State Normal School, the forerunner to the University of Northern Iowa. The first classes of the model school at Iowa State Normal School were held in Gilchrist Hall (left), erected in 1882 and destroyed by fire in 1972. Other buildings are Central Hall (second from left), built in 1869 and destroyed by fire in 1965; North Hall (third from left), erected in 1876 and torn down about 1912, and the president’s home (right), erected in the late 1800s and used as the UNI Culture House.

This week, Flashback Friday features the 1968 photo of Greenbrier Elementary School, 1554 Oakwood Drive, which was at the time the newest school in the Waterloo School District. The school closed less than 20 years later in 1987 as one of seven schools closing under the Waterloo School District's reorganization plan. It reopened in 1995 as the district's Discipline Center, and beginning in 2001 has been serving as the district's Food Service Department.

This week, Flashback Friday features a photo of the Middleditch Block, 210-212 W. Fourth St., Waterloo -- the oldest building that was still standing on the Conway Block before it was demolished. It was built around 1868 and later extensively remodeled, with the third floor removed.

When this photo was taken, in 1898, the top two floors housed the Waterloo Electric Cure, operated by Dr. Alvardo Middleditch, for whom the building was named. On the street level was the Weeks-Rustan Shoe Store and a crockery store owned by Moses Brown. It had most recently housed Avco Finance and TV showrooms.

This week, Flashback Friday features the December 1940 photo of the Rath Packing Company in Waterloo., which closed Dec. 28, 1984, after 93 years in business. In its heyday, Rath employed 8,500 workers at its veal, beef and pork meatpacking plant, and was one of the area's largest employers for decades. It also was one of Waterloo's first plants to unionize across racial lines, providing middle-class wages for Black workers as well as white. 

Here's this week's Flashback Friday, a historic photo and description of the era or business featured, from Waterloo and Cedar Falls.

Here's this week's Flashback Fridays, a historic photo taken somewhere around the Cedar Valley. Have memories of this place? Share them in the…

Every Friday, the Courier posts a retro photo on our Facebook page and readers give us their memories of that place. We call it "Flashback Fri…

Every Friday, the Courier posts a retro photo on our Facebook page and readers give us their memories of that place. We call it "Flashback Fri…

Every Friday, the Courier posts a retro photo on our Facebook page and readers give us their memories of that place. We call it "Flashback Fri…

Every Friday, the Courier posts a retro photo on our Facebook page and readers give us their memories of that place. We call it "Flashback Fri…

Every Friday, the Courier posts a retro photo on our Facebook page and readers give us their memories of that place. We call it "Flashback Fri…

Every Friday, the Courier posts a retro photo on our Facebook page and readers give us their memories of that place. We call it "Flashback Fri…

Every Friday, the Courier posts a retro photo on our Facebook page and readers give us their memories of that place. We call it "Flashback Fri…

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