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Today...
Today...fast trains use the modern steel Union Pacific Railroad Bridge at approximately the same location. The bridge is above the reach of high water and boats pass underneath as they travel both up and down the deeper Missouri River.
Council Bluffs Changing Scene
Council Bluffs Changing Scene--This is the old Council Bluffs High School as it appeared in 1887 when it served the entire city, In 1900 Abraham Lincoln was built and it was the lone high school until the addition of Thomas Jefferson in the early…
Today...
Today...The Abraham Lincoln football field stands at the site of the old school. The picture was taken from Fifth Avenue bluffs. The lighted field can be seen from virtually all over the city. It is named Kirn Field, in honor of former A.L.…
Council Bluffs Changing Scene
Council Bluffs Changing Scene--Pierce Street is paved for the first time in 1903 by this crew of workmen who used muscle power rather than mechanical mixers. One workmen [sic] is throwing water onto a pile of crushed stone. Cement will be added and…
Today...
Today...looking down the street from the same intersection the picture is completely changed. The wide paving offers a smooth thoroughfare for motorists entering the city. The street is lined with large shade trees. At right is the J.F. Wilcox…
Council Bluffs Changing Scene
Council Bluffs Changing Scene--This sidewalk-laying crew pauses for a photo around the turn of the century as Council Bluffs launched an improvement program. Scene is at 917 S. Main St., and workmen are from the Wickham Paving firm. The Hermsen…
Today...
Today...the sidewalk remains but the curbing is badly cracked. The two buildings, now occupied by Thomas Drustrup and Son, general contractors, and Iowa Tent and Awning Co., have changed fronts. One pole has disappeared. The sign left of the pole…
Council Bluffs Changing Scene
Council Bluffs Changing Scene--This crew is paving Vine Sts, in the vicinity of North Second St. in Council Bluffs' "horse and buggy" days. The job is done with paving bricks, many of which remain in city streets today. Photo from F.E. Moses, 2641…
Today...
Today...the brick street carries auto traffic through the city. The building identified as "Neumeyer's Hotel Stables" still stands far down the block. Several frame buildings remain, but new apartments stand at left.
Council Bluffs Changing Scene
Council Bluffs Changing Scene--This is Grace Street at Carson Avenue in the early 1900s. The bank at rear is being dug away, evidently to make room for Carson Avenue which runs parallel to it. Grace Street, left, was a mud trail, marked with the…
Today...
Today...both streets are paved. Carson Avenue can barely be seen as it takes off downhill behind picket fence. Many homes along the east side of Grace Street still sit atop the large clay bank and have only rear access. Undergrowth on the bank…
Council Bluffs Changing Scene
Council Bluffs Changing Scene--This is the scene in the spring of 1921 looking west along Broadway from Seventh St. The dilapidated building at left is a barber shop with a sign in front reading: "Shines...Haircuts...Ur Next." Note the early model…
Today...
Today...most of the building at right, formerly World Radio Laboratories, has been burned out. The corner drugstore is being remodeled to make room for the Broadway Viaduct, which will begin at Eighth St. Far down Broadway all buildings have been…
Council Bluffs Changing Scene
Council Bluffs Changing Scene--This scraper is pulled by both a steam tractor and a pair of mules as original Broadway surfacing is torn up 50 years ago. The surface was replaced by paving bricks. Rigs such as this made slow methodical work out of…
Today...
Today...Broadway has smooth concrete surfacing along this stretch. The paving was done with modern equipment in a fraction of the time it took to surface streets in the early 1900s. This picture was taken from the Thirty-first St. corner, looking…
Today...
Today...the brick yard has disappeared and the ground is overgrown with small trees. A grain elevator is at left and the railroad yards in the background, also present in the 1904 picture, are almost obscured by the underbrush.
[Photo used for the…
[Photo used for the…
Council Bluffs Changing Scene
Council Bluffs Changing Scene--Another old picture from a collection of Ray Wickham, contractor, shows Holy Family Church being completed in 1908. The unit is located at Avenue B and 23rd St.
Today...
Today...even with a face lifting of new steps, added about 10 years ago, the exterior of Holy Family is much the same as when it was built in 1908.
Council Bluffs Changing Scene
Council Bluffs Changing Scene--From 1860-1888 St. Francis Xavier Church was located on Pearl St. just South of Willow Ave. This later became the site of the Miriam Block, which was removed in the late 1940s.
Today...
Today...Council Bluffs City Hall, built in 1940, now occupies the same site. Changed very little in the last 14 years, the building was built by the Works Progress Administration at a cost of slightly over $300,000.