Radloff's Billiard Hall
and Saloon
Through Time
In Jul 2000, my family and I drove from Virginia to Iowa to attend a Radloff family reunion. One of my goals during this trip was to see if Radloff's Billiard Hall and Saloon still existed in Calmar.
Not only is it still there, but the if you look closely, hard to see on these images, there is a white rectangle in center towards the top. It says "Fred Radloff, 1871".
Now not being one to spend a lot of useless time on the web, but once in a while I go to EBay... want to guess what I found (in the space of 2 weeks)??
Yep, some postcards of Calmar showing what might be Radloff's place in one and in the other I'm not sure...
So look below at the images of today and yesterday...
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Radloff's Billiard Hall as it appeared in A.T.
Andreas' Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa in
1875. Note the 4 upstairs windows and their shape. Compare
this and the roof trim to the next photo.
It appears in 1890, that Fred Radloff his place of business in a Sheriff's Sale. On 12 Feb 1890, a full public announcement was made in the "Decorah Republican". |
24 Jul 2000. Three
generations of Radloff's visited this 'landmark'. Driving up from
Cascade, Iowa was:
See the white rectangle, it says Fred Radloff, 1871 See below....
This building is now owned by the bank located next door (gray on the left). According the bank manager, Charles Frana, this building was in use up until a few years ago when it had a fire which pretty much gutted the inside. He also told us it had been used as a saloon up until the late 1960's or early 1970's. It's last use prior to the fire was as a consignment gift shop. Upon entering the damage from the fire is still evident. Looking at the floors though one has to wonder if they are the original floors... |
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This postcard found on EBay shows a
"Tug of War, 2 Oct, Calmar, Iowa." The back of the
postcard is postmarked 1909.
Now I'm not sure if the building in the back is Fred Radloff's because I can only see 3 arched windows on the 2nd floor but can see what appears to be 4 on the first. Anyway it is a scene from Calmar around 1909. |
| This image reports to be a a Public Square, Calmar
Iowa.
I have no clue where it's at. Can anybody help me out?? Again both of these images were taken from auction items on EBay. Both went for over $15.00 which was more than I was willing to pay for a post card. If you are looking for genealogy stuff, don't forget about EBay. Once in a while you can find something of interest. |
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