Eulogy for the house at 406 East First

An empty lot now stands in our historic neighborhood of the Original Town of McCook platted in 1882 by the Lincoln Land Company. It is not the first to be demolished as the home standing on Lot 1 was destroyed in the 80’s and replaced with an apartment building. While those of us who, over the years, had watched the deterioration of the once grand old structure were relieved to at least see an end to its suffering and the animals that were camping out in the empty rooms, it still casts a pall over neighborhood. It took less than 4 hours to erase 128 years of history, but it took 20 years of neglect to bring the old girl to her knees.

T. G. Rees bought Lots 3 and 4 in 1884, selling off Lot 3 to Lillian Rinker who took a mortgage on the lot to build a home. Lot 4, the home, which is now gone, went to Martha Cordeal in 1894 and she resided there until 1901 when Charles Franestock purchased the home and then promptly sold it to Adele E. Phelan in 1902.

Adele, the daughter of one of our French born citizens, Pierre Bonnot, lived in the home for 14 years, selling to James and Lizzy Woolard in 1916 right before the marriage of their oldest daughter, Harriet, to Alexander M. Speer. From the McCook Republican Thursday, August 30, 1917: “A very quiet wedding was solemnized in St. Alban’s Episcopal church on Wednesday evening, when Miss Harriet G. Woolard became the bride of Mr. Alexander M. Speer, Rev. H.J. Johnson, rector, performing the ceremony in the presence of relatives and a few intimate friends. The bride was handsomely gowned in gray charmeuse and georgetta crepe, elaborately embroidered with steel beads and shades of blue; slippers and gloves to match; large silver lace hat trimmed in blue and carried a bouquet of sweet peas. Mrs. Speer (Harriet) is the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Woolard, and for the past ten years has been a popular and efficient employ in the McCook post office, with a wide social circle of admiring friends. The groom is secretary of the Gas and Electric Co. of Denver and is local manager of the McCook Electric Co. He is an electric engineer of superior attainment and a gentleman of culture and affability. They departed on No. 14 last night for Kansas City on a brief honeymoon. Upon their return they will occupy a suite of rooms in the W.F. Fallick building on Main Avenue, until their home on north Main Avenue is ready for their occupancy.”

Harriet (Woolard) Speer was the oldest of 5 daughters born to the Woolards. The home when James and Lizzy lived there must have been filled with petticoats, parasols and ribbons. When first built, the two-story house had an open L-Shaped covered porch with columns on the front and another porch the width of the home on the west side. Pocket doors closed off the parlor from the main living area, an elaborate window graced the south side of the dining room, and an interior staircase took the residents up to the second-floor bedrooms, of which there were three.

Woolard’s sold to Harry Christiansen in 1924 who in turn sold to Zella Dunbar in 1926. An interesting historical note to Zella is revealed in this wedding announcement from the McCook Tribune, September 5, 1911, 15 years prior to her purchase of the home: “Miss Zella May Osborn of our city and Mr. John F. Dunbar of Omaha were united in marriage, this morning at 4:30 o’clock, Rev. Alfric J. R. Goldsmith of the Episcopal church performing the ceremony, in the presence of immediate relatives and a few choice and near friends of the high contracting parties, at the home of the parents of the bride, Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Osborn. The young folks took No. 2, this morning, for their future home in Omaha, where Mr. Dunbar is employed in the shoe department of King-Swanson Co. as manager. Mr. Dunbar is well known to many McCook friends he having spent several years in McCook.” For those of you who weren’t around in the 50’s and early 60’s, the corner shoe store on Norris was the Dunbar-Osborn store.

The house at 406 passed through many hands after Zella, Elizabeth Brubaker, Lowell V. Puelz, William F. Ramaeker and Harley Lofton all having owned it. At some point part of the front and all of the back porches were enclosed, an outside entrance was built to the second floor and apartments filled the space where families once lived. The late 1990’s heralded its eventual demise after it was sold to an out-of-state investor and then sold twice more. Attempts were made purchase and rehab the structure, but they were all unsuccessful and so a grand old lady of McCook’s history is no more.