After the floods

Dec. 22, 2019

This town was built on a cedar swamp and sometimes the branches of Wildcat Creek like to get out and stretch a bit. Over 100 years ago Jake Anderson, who owned the west half of town, used to pole through what is now the Maple Street area in his little skiff.

In modern times First Street is especially bad. In 1990 the street was a raging river as I recall. Cars in the Rainbow Park lot off of First were in the water up to their door handles. Beerbower Park was a lake. The little pedestrian bridge between the Park and Mommsen washed out. Actually it was almost gone as a result of the high water and a couple kids rocked it away, finishing the job. I saw it happen.

The 1990 flood happened right after Simpson clearcut a hill on the southeast corner of town. Following the flood Simpson turned the property into a housing development and after having cut all the trees comically named it "Evergreen Heights." Although too late for the 1990 victims, they did install a retention pond.

Another place that used to flood was near the intersection of Summit Road and what is now Buck Street out in the new development north of the railroad tracks the McCleary Grange lost due to some unfortunate financial decisions from what I understand. Anyway, I see they have a retention pond there now.

Jake Anderson's gate

Sept. 5, 2016. A surly Norwegian bachelor named Jake Anderson owned everything west of current day 4th Street before Henry McCleary arrived. Anderson lived at the top of the "T" at 5th and Oak, and was known to use a boat to get around the cedar swamp that is now the filled-in downtown area. The gate to Anderson's digs was here, on this northernmost block of Main St.

Until recently, the spot where Anderson's gate stood was marked on the sidewalk, but a redo of the area wiped that out. This particular side of the block has been home to some iconic McCleary business establishments in the past: Timbear Cafe, Golden Rule Store, the office of Dr. James Arima, Hankinson Jewelry, Porter Hotel, a movie theater, Pastime Pool Hall, McCleary Pharmacy, just to name a few.

The Union Hall

July 17, 2011

This was the site of the Pastime Pool Hall where Al McKean was killed.

If I am not mistaken, I believe Henry McCleary's desk now resides in this building, a fact that no doubt would've really bugged that old union buster.

Somewhere around this spot was also the gate to the Jake Anderson place before Henry McCleary arrived. Jake, a cranky Norwegian bachelor, lived at what is now the top of the "T" at 5th and Oak.

McCleary Hotel

July 4, 2011

Built in 1912, this is one of the architectural treasures in town. Henry McCleary had this structure erected in order to entertain the hoity visitors, it was never meant for the working guy.

This neighborhood of Beck and Summit was the power center in McCleary. Henry McCleary lived in a house (now gone) directly across the street from the Hotel. His brother William McCleary lived to the immediate north of the Hotel. Youngest brother Leonard McCleary lived immediately to the south. The trees in front of Leonard's house, which still stand today, were shipped from the McCleary family's home near Cambridge, Ohio (the original McCleary farm is now under an artificial lake in Ohio). Sam Lanning, another family connection from Ohio, lived nearby. 

One of the McCleary sons lived on the hill on Beck Street and had heat from the door plant directly piped to his house.

The McCleary family had a formal dinner here once a week. Ada McCleary, Henry's wife, was a big wheel in the DAR and Henry began construction of a mansion in Olympia with a foyer to accommodate Ada's social standing. Unfortunately she died before the mansion was completed. By all accounts, Ada was a remarkable person who advocated within her power as the First Lady in a company town for the workers and their families.

The McCleary Hotel also served as a training ground for the boxer Jimmy "Kid" Swanson. Frank Fox was his trainer. Swanson might be the first African-American to make his mark in McCleary's history.

The composer Timothy Brock stayed at this hotel about 3 decades ago and wrote a musical piece about his experience entitled "McCleary Hotel."

The Hotel was also the site of the first dwelling in McCleary, where the Andrew Beck family lived. The site of the second dwelling was where Jake Anderson lived, at the top of the "T" at 5th and Oak. Both original structures are gone and their replacements were both built in 1912.

Saint Valentine's Day on First Street

 

Feb. 14, 2015.

This wetland was once home to the last old growth tree left standing in McCleary. When it was finally cut down in the 1930s, the tree was dubbed "Shakespeare" since the rings indicated it dated back to ca. 1600.

The northern portion of First St., from Mommsen to Beck, once served as most of the eastern border of Henry McCleary's lumber mill.

So far as I know, the first three Euro-settlers in what is now McCleary were all foreign born. The Becks, who lived where the McCleary Hotel now stands, were Danish. The Mommsens, who lived at the end of the road that bears their name, were German. Jake Anderson, was a surly Norwegian bachelor who lived at the top of the T at present 5th and Oak.