South half of the East side of the square, Oskaloosa, 1942

South half of the East side of the square, Oskaloosa, 1942

The south half of the east side of Oskaloosa's town square as it appeared in 1942. The most notable change between this picture and the one from 1868 is that regarding the hotel name. In 1856, Major F.L. Downing owned the establishment since 1856 and gave it the Madison House name. Over the years Major Downing made out very well with his business, so in 1874 he invested $48,000 in erecting a three story hotel. On December 22, 1874, Downing House was created and later changed to Downing Hotel, where it stood until 1983, when the entire building was demolished.

Phil Hoffmann

Mahaska County Collection

The Torch Press: Cedar Rapids, Iowa

2008-06-22

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still image/jpeg

image

Wilcox Library

http://cdm16125.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/p270701coll6,20