Long ago on independence square (Jackson: cross country, determine, Friday)

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I show this place as Powell-Cook Grocery but the advertisement shows Powell Cook. When I was younger I thought it was two people who owned this place and still did until just now when I did an internet search. Only one person owned the store and his full name was Powell Cook. He started in the grocery business on the square in 1919.

He could not have lasted long after 1957, the date of this ad. He had his age against him plus the big super stores were coming in. It is a wonder how that store might have survived this long anyway with A&P, Safeway, and Milgram's just a block or two away.

The Powell Cook store square footage could not have been that big. I suspect they delivered quite a bit of groceries and did not want to tie up any one phone line. I am guessing they might not have had a rotary service back then (if line is busy, the phone company automatically diverts the call to the next line or next open line) and they listed those three numbers for convenience.

Good theory on the phone lines.

It was still in business as of 1960

[Nomadicus]

We made at least one or two annual treks down there to shop. Loved the slow lazy walks through it.

[WCHS'59]

A different time.

When I started the tenth grade in 1956, I opted to take ROTC at WCHS but I don’t have any recollection as to why I thought I wanted to wear an Army uniform complete with tie three days a week to school. As it turned out, it really saved on school clothing costs.

Back then the ROTC instructors were all regular Army and one of the first things an instructor asked during orientation week was for ROTC students to voluntarily join the National Rifle Association or NRA. I had never heard of the organization but it sounded good so I paid one dollar, I think, directly to the ROTC department for the dues. After that I received NRA literature at home, etc.

One might think this plea for NRA membership would have been the action of an overly zealous Army instructor, however, the membership request was officially condoned by the school and a “battle ribbon” was issued to each cadet that joined. Not all the ROTC students opted to join but a good many did.

The NRA members even had a dedicated page in the yearbook under the headline “N.R.A. Emphasizes Precision” whatever that meant.

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by Nomadicus

We made at least one or two annual treks down there to shop. Loved the slow lazy walks through it.

Welcome. Where generally did you live and about what time span did you visit The Square?

[Nomadicus]

Originally Posted by MRG Dallas

Welcome. Where generally did you live and about what time span did you visit The Square?

Livingston County. The 70's. Now I just realized I may be confusing this with the newer Independence Mall. Maybe just another senior moment.

[pearjas]

I'm still processing the info about the funeral home.... Is this the one that's being mentioned?

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by pearjas

I'm still processing the info about the funeral home.... Is this the one that's being mentioned?

I don't remember that one at all. MRG, where did you say it was located?

My memory banks are bringing up a long white sign with a single line of black lettering that says Kepley Funeral Home.

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I don't remember that one at all. MRG, where did you say it was located?

My memory banks are bringing up a long white sign with a single line of black lettering that says Kepley Funeral Home.

On the site of First Methodist Church, with the front facing Spring (ie, across from the original Diamond Bowl)



Sure doesnt' look as I picture the location but then again it's an artist's rendition so it might have been prettied up a bit as it is, after all, a funeral home !


EDIT: I guess it's possible that could be a pre-1946 site other than N. Spring, but as of that year Kepley's was listed there until 1960, when FMC was listed. For some reason I do not remember the church being brand new in that year as I am absolutely positively certain I attended VBS there that Summer (and bowled in a jr. league across the street) . . . remember an earlier thread where we talked about the Alley Oop Oop song which for some unknown reason I remember from then. The church had a distinctive scent to it, not one of a new construction, just one that I'd recognize decades later if you blindfolded me lol.

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by MRG Dallas

On the site of First Methodist Church, with the front facing Spring (ie, across from the original Diamond Bowl)



Sure doesnt' look as I picture the location but then again it's an artist's rendition so it might have been prettied up a bit as it is, after all, a funeral home !


EDIT: I guess it's possible that could be a pre-1946 site other than N. Spring, but as of that year Kepley's was listed there until 1960, when FMC was listed. For some reason I do not remember the church being brand new in that year as I am absolutely positively certain I attended VBS there that Summer (and bowled in a jr. league across the street) . . . remember an earlier thread where we talked about the Alley Oop Oop song which for some unknown reason I remember from then. The church had a distinctive scent to it, not one of a new construction, just one that I'd recognize decades later if you blindfolded me lol.

The church has been there since 1859, and was used as a hospital in the Civil War. Is it possible the funeral home was where the back lot of the church is now? Perhaps it was used by the church for a few years before being torn down, thus the listing in Polk's.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

The church has been there since 1859, and was used as a hospital in the Civil War. Is it possible the funeral home was where the back lot of the church is now? Perhaps it was used by the church for a few years before being torn down, thus the listing in Polk's.

The church is listed as at 400 W Maple. If the funeral home is listed as on N. Spring it must have been behind the church, perhaps.





The following makes a little more sense also since the Lewis Theater was where the Granada Theater was later located:

“If there has ever been any ill feelings on the part of the churches towards the Lewis Theater, Independence, Mo., they were done away with Sunday. The First Methodist Episcopal Church South, located directly across the street from the theatre, was undergoing repairs and it was impossible for classes to be held there. The usual classes were held in the theatre and the everlasting gratitude of the church members was won.”

The Reel Journal, May 30, 1925