Professionals advertised business cards in 1923
By Erik Pekar
Several professionals advertised themselves in the "business cards" section of the Granville Sentinel of April 20, 1923. The "business cards" were classified by line of work. Each entry had the name of the professional, their profession, and location. Some entries were specific with building names or street addresses. Some, but not all, had phone numbers or office hours. Some had complimentary lines mentioning their "prompt attention" to business entrusted to them.
J. B. McCormick, attorney, had his office over the Farmers' National Bank, as did Nathaniel W. Parker and C. E. Parker. The building was later the Granville town hall, until the town vacated the building in 2022, and sold it at the start of this year.
S. E. Everts, attorney, had his office in the Granville National Bank building. This building was for many years the Granville village hall, and is now a residence. Milford D. Whedon, attorney, had his office in the Washington County National Bank. At this time the marble bank on the corner had yet to be built; the bank and Whedon's office were located in the narrow building with the rock façade that was for many years the home of the L. E. Roberts jewelry store. The building burned in November of 2012.
Albert M. Martin, attorney, was not over a bank office, but rather Lloyd's shoe store. This was in the old Martin Brodie block on the south side of Main Street. It burned in March of 1931; the Granville Post Office now occupies the site.
Several physicians were listed as well, all of which had their doctor's office in the form of a room at their residence. R. C. Davies lived on Quaker Street. D. C. McKenzie was on Maple Street; his home was later that of another doctor, V. K. Irvine. W. S. Bennett lived on Temple Place. W. A. Tenney lived on North Street; his house, at the corner with Broadview Terrace, is still owned and kept up nice by Tenney descendants today. C. W. Sumner lived at 1 Quaker Street.
The sole auctioneer listed was Frank Beecher. It would be some years before the likes of Spike Adams and Bus Mars would enter that line of work. The sole veterinarian listed was Charles T. Fake, whose office and residence was on East Main Street. An insurance agent was also listed, John L. Mason. In a forthcoming column of "Granville Then and Now" we will look at a "business cards" section of a later Granville Sentinel issue, from the 1940s or 1950s. By that time the equivalent section had been grouped with the classifieds.
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While automobiles were already becoming prevalent in 1923, and horseshoeing and livery operations beginning to wind down, the horse and buggy was not fully gone from the landscape. John M. Hulett of Granville advertised a delivery of "Dakota Horses": "One carload of North Dakota Horses, already to go to work, will be at my sale barn April 16th. Have got them bought at prices that I can sell them to anybody".
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Spring officially started on March 20, but last week was when the Granville area received the first feel of spring weather this year. The week started off with highs in the 60s, and by Friday the thermometer was peaking above 80 degrees daily. It was great weather to get outside and do something after being in for the winter, and people did exactly that, whether by walking, going for a bicycle ride, motorcycle ride, going to eateries and using their outdoor dining areas, or by doing other activities. Nature responded as well, with new green grass starting to grow, trees commencing their yearly growth, and flowers began to appear. Changing patterns led to a cool off early this week, but the area is ready to welcome the spring weather when it returns again.
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Some sprucing up has been happening on Main Street. Parking space dividing lines were painted on Main Street early last week by the Granville village DPW. The parking spaces were painted on both sides, only on the wider portion of the street east of the crosswalk at the post office. The marked parking spaces will help those frequenting Main Street to park their cars with ample space between each other; before, some would park so close to other cars that they were nearly bumper to bumper. The village DPW is to be commended for their fine work in placing and painting the parking space markings.
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With the village adding markings for parallel parking spots on Main Street, it signals the final death knell of the idea of reverse angle diagonal parking in Granville as advocated by Mayor Paul Labas back in 2021. Those parking spaces would have been at angles like the diagonal parking on the main street in Poultney, but would have been entered by shifting into reverse and backing into the spot (hence "reverse" in the name). The primary purpose of the proposed change was to increase the amount of parking spaces on Main Street. A grant was pursued to implement the change, but was not awarded.
It was the general consensus among Granville village residents, Main Street business owners, and those who frequent Main Street, that the implementation of diagonal parking on Granville's Main Street, whether in regular or reverse form, would cause more problems than it was intended to solve. Among the reasons given for the proposal being misguided were that would have been loss of sidewalk space, an unnecessary complication of parking on Main Street, and the potential to discourage people from frequenting Granville businesses so as to avoid such unusual form of parking system. Thankfully for Granville, the parking change did not come to fruition, and the tried and true standard of parallel parking remains and will remain the way of parking on Main Street.
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Another improvement on Main Street is at the Granville Ladybug Garden, the area off the north side of Main Street next to the rail trail and east of Heavenly Hair (former site of the Ritz Theater). Fence posts were placed last week with help of the village DPW. Light strings were strung between the posts, which light up at night. The garden is the idea of Granville resident Kathy Terrio, who has been helped by friends and others in making her vision of the garden space come alive. The garden is nearly two years in the making; Terrio is to be commended for her continued efforts in beautifying this space along Granville's Main Street.
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Another sign of spring comes by way of the return of a popular seasonal monthly event. The Granville Masons will hold their first chicken barbecue dinner this Thursday, April 20. Dinners will be available for $15 starting at 4 p.m., by picking them up at the parking lot of the Slate Valley Masonic Center on North Street in Granville.
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