It’s Photo Friday.  I have a great photo for you today.  It’s a view of a 4^th of July parade proceeding north on Missouri Street in Alma, Kansas in 1894.  There’s a lot to see in this view of Alma at a rather pivotal time in the development of the downtown business district.

A 4th of July parade proceeds north through the 300 block of Missouri Street in Alma, Kansas, 1894.

Take a look at the far-left side of the photo, one can see the stairway that went into the “underground” in the basement of the Limerick building.  On the north end of the west side of the street, notice the frame building standing where the Hochhaus building was constructed in 1906.  An empty space divides that building from Phil Birk’s Meat Market and The Enterprise building, and another empty space and a one-story shanty occupy the spot where the Undorf building was constructed in 1906. Notice that the Weaver building had not yet burnt and the storefront reconstructed.  Farther to the south, the Pries building had not yet been constructed. Finally, the original Wabaunsee County Courthouse (with a second-story balcony) and the E. Meyer store, the first two buildings constructed in Alma, were still standing in this view.

Have a great weekend!