The Victory Addition Apartments in 1948 McCook

It seems many people no longer subscribe to a newspaper. Perhaps they purchase one only when a front page grabs their attention as they stand in line at the grocery or I am sure there are some who take it on-line as I do for the Lincoln Star Journal. No reason to cut down a tree so I can read a distant newsprint, but, then again, I love holding books, magazines, and newspapers rather than reading on a screen.

In 1948 there was a hotel at 101 Main Street (yes, Norris Ave. was still Main Street in 1948) called the Banks Hotel and Café, “Reasonable Rates-Modern Rooms”. That building still exists directly across from the depot. Hotel McCook at 302 West B is gone as is Hotel Claar which was located at 114 West B Street. Hotel Keystone, “An Up-to-Date Hotel in an Up-to-Date Town”, was thankfully saved. Max Merrell was the manager. The Keystone Cab company operated out of the hotel, south entrance, telephone #14.

West 5th street homes ended at 1006 but the fairgrounds were in place at 1408 and across from the fairgrounds Peter Vinz lived, to coin a phrase, in the last house on the left!

Memorial Auditorium housed the Veterans Educational & Training Unit, US Veterans Contact Office, and the Nebraska State Department of Veterans Affairs.

Hillcrest Nursing Home did not exist but starting directly north and west of the Auditorium Drive and west to West 7th, sat the Victory Addition Apartments, which if my counting skills still operate, consisted of 32 buildings: 1 6-plex, 19 each 4-plex and 12 each duplex units. Here is a list of some of the surnames residing there: Scott, Mackey, Morris, Harris, Bayless, Spratlen, Keene, Swanson, Miles, Thorpe, Crook, Squires, Payton, Wirsig, Carmichael, McMullen, Frasier, Petersen, Payton, Hoff, Karthauser, Nielson, Schereer, Gollehon, Mollring, Hollenhors, Block, Smith, Wagner, Manley, Gordon, Madison, Little, Bosler, Bahl, Kenfield, McEachern, McCullough, Toms, Harder, Heisterkamp Bihlmeyer, Lemon, Johnson, Leach, Elder, Bahl, Chilcoat, Fisher, Lutz, Wallace, Chambers, Riggs, Waggoner, Marr, Johnson, McCullough, McMeeking, Berndt, Lowry, Adamson, Beard, Boor, Kenton, Phillips, Crossley, Hullman, Stuver, Copas, Chicoine, Niccolson, Panzer, Dugger, Knosp, Wood, French, Coburn, Titman, Hankerson, Little, Uphouse and Foley. Eleven of those apartments were rented by women. Some pictures exist on Facebook of these housing units under the “Remember When in McCook Nebraska” page.

The Victory Addition may have started as housing for service members families, but the McCook Army Airbase, dedicated in 1943, was deactivated on December 31, 1945 and given to the Nebraska War Assets Administration in 1947. The City of McCook took ownership of the airbase in 1950, initially wanting it as a new airport for the city but turned it back to the state in 1952, having decided the location was too far from the city proper.

The viaduct that carried traffic over the railyards on East 6th or South Highway 83 was initially a wooden structure. The McCook Livestock Exchange was located right on the railway by that highway. I can still remember the buildings and pens but cannot recall when it was closed. Going from a two-lane structure to the four lanes now in existence happened approximately between the late 60’s and early 70’s which led to the elimination of all houses situated close to or under the viaduct. Part of the relocation of those families was a bit fractious to say the least, but it was accomplished. The resulting open fields to the east became, for a time, practice fields for softball and baseball, ending when the industrial park area was created and of course now the location of our much-appreciated Valmont plant.

This City Directory is available for research at the SWNGS library, 110 West C, Suite M-3, on Tuesdays or Thursdays from 1-4 PM. Research assistants are available to help you on those days. If you are traveling from out of the area to research, we will make arrangements to be open on other days. Our email address is: swngs@hotmail.com.