The Commercial Club

The first U.S. Chamber of Commerce was organized in 1912 but that does not mean there weren’t groups of people working for the good of their communities. Like the Chamber or not, its purpose is to promote the town and surrounding area of their influence and it is an important one to preserve the existence of a vibrant city center.

The McCook Commercial Club was going strong in the early 1900’s, and as an example of their community-based interest, one of the goals it had on its agenda in 1910 was the providing of public restrooms downtown. Now we all know that is still today a mighty important subject, but in 1910 when people were doing the majority of their shopping within the small city square and normally the whole family was out together, it was paramount to solve the problem.

Several buildings had been considered by the Commercial Club, who, I might mention, were going to cover the costs of same, but at the May meeting in 1910, H.C. Clapp’s rest room committee had this report as printed in the McCook Tribune, May 12, 1910.

“On behalf of the rest room committee, H. C. Clapp reported that the committee had secured the front basement rooms under the Commercial Hotel at $20 per month, and that the committee had raised sufficient funds by subscription among the business and professional men of the city to finance the project for one year. That the ladies of W.C.T.U had furnished and were taking care of the rest room.”

Now you might note that it says, “rest room”, not rooms and you might also note who gets to clean that room. Having worked in public places and cleaned public restrooms, I have to say the ladies got the short end of the deal but considering that W.C.T.U. indicates that they were members of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, I doubt much swayed them from their goals.

At the time of the great rest room quest, the board of directors of the Commercial Club included such notables as: A. Barnett, H. P. Waite, H. P. Sutton, F. A. Pennell, C. L. Fahnestoock, H. C. Clapp, J. E. Kelly, C. H. Boyle, J. F. Cordeal, H. W. Conover, J. N. Gaarde, J. E. Ludwick, M. Lawritson, L. Thorgrimson, and L. W. McConnell. By time of the publishing of the McCook Tribune on October 20, 1910, the following note was made on the membership.

“The membership of the McCook Commercial Club during the past week has been increased by the addition of some 10 or 15 new members. This looks good to us. But there are others-several scores-who ought to be enrolled in the club. No one organization in a city can do as much effective, substantial work for the advancement in all lines, financial, commercial, etc., of an Up-To-Date modern city as a strong harmonious and well-directed commercial club can accomplish.”

Those words still ring true today. Those of us who live in McCook must remember that there are many communities who did not survive the transitions that occurred over the years. We are fortunate to be one of those who did and it is up to us to insure that success continues.

SWNGS library is open on Tuesday and Thursday from 1-4 PM weather permitting. We are located at 322 Norris Ave., Rooms 2-7 in the Temple Building.