Sioux City History & Culture by Bicycle Part 22: Douglas Street Walking Tour

There is a self paced Douglas Street Walking Tour from 2nd St to 7th, which goes through downtown Sioux City. There is a map that shows the name of the buildings, which ones are still here & gives some info. about the buildings. Douglas looks a lot different today then it did over a hundred years ago. There have also been some recent changes made since the map of the walking tour was published.

I took photo's of the street as it looks today starting at 3rd & Douglas. Included are the corners & areas along Douglas talked about in the walking tour map as well as some additions to it.

Enjoy:

This map shows the buildings listed as part of the Douglas Street Walking Tour. IT says to start at 2nd & Douglas. Because of a current construction project that is not possible. It is best to start at 3rd & Douglas as I did.
Map of Downtown Sioux City

This photo was not taken from 2nd St looking north as is shown in the walking tour guide. I took it from 3rd & Douglas looking south. As you can see there is construction going on. There is a new hotel being built. What used to be there was the Senior Center & the Palmer Candy Company building. They were both torn down fo the new hotel. Both moved to new locations. On the southeast corner of 3rd & Douglas & before the Senior Center was built & across from the Palmer Candy Company was the Union Railroad Depot. From 2nd St is the other side of the construction site. I do not know if Douglas will now be blocked off form 2nd to 3rd as it is now for the construction. In the distance is the back of the Long Lines Family Center, which was the former Sioux City Auditorium & the back of the Tyson Events Center. Compare the photo's in the link to the one I took:.

Links:
Douglas Street c. 1876
Palmer Candy Company
Union Railroad Depot

Photo:


One block north along the walking tour is 4th & Douglas. On the Southwest corner used to be the First National Bank Building.
First National Bank
Now it is an empty building that used to be the Bomgaars store. Bomgaars is similar to Tractor Supply Company, only a lot better. Here is the photo:

On the Northeast corner of 4th & Douglas was the Hedges Block, as shown here:
Hedges Block
Now the building that is there is the Hom Furniture building. Hom Furniture used to be further south near Pierce St & Gordon Dr. The building they are in now used to be a Younkers Dept. Store. Here is the photo:


Continueing north on the walking tour is 5th & Douglas. On the Southwest corner there were 2 buildings in the past. One was the Lindholm Furniture Store from 1894, the other was Sioux City Journal Building from 1965. Now on this corner is the Rivers Landing Parking Ramp. Here are the links & the photo:
Lindholm Furniture Building
Sioux City Journal Building


6th & Douglas is what is considered Government Corner. Because of all the govt. buildings on that area. There is the Police & Fire Headquarters, City Hall & the Federal Building. It was not always govt. corner though. It's history dates back as far as 1895. On the Southwest corner was the Oxford Hotel: Oxford Hotel On the Here is an artists rendition of Government Corner: Government Corner Currently on the Southwest corner is the Federal Building: Federal Building Here is the photo of it:

On the Northwest corner was the old City Hall & Library. City Hall & Library City Hall now sits on the Northeast corner. Today on the Northwest corner is Post Office & the Police & Fire Department Headquarters. Police & Fire Dept. Headquarters Current photo:

The current City Hall building which on the Northeast corner was not always City Hall. It used to be the Federal Building & Post Office. I have a previous post about City Hall, this will just show a photo of the corner & the link to basic info. about it. Federal Building / Post Office (City Hall) c. 1950 Here is the photo:


Here is a link to a street scene from 1940 between 6th & 7th Streets on Douglas:
Street Scene c. 1940

The final leg of the Douglas Street Walking Tour is 7th & Douglas. This intersection has 3 buildings, still standing from Sioux City's past. On the Southwest corner is the old Municipal Auditorum. It is currently used by KCAU TV, one of the local news stations & ABC affiliate. Municipal Auditorium c. 1912 Current photo:

On the Southeast corner used to be the Elk's Club, now the Woodbury County Courthouse is there. I did post about the courthouse previous to this. The Elks Club c. 1910
Woodbury County Courthouse c. 1920
Recent photo:

The final building on this walking tour is the Benson Building. It currently houses several small businesses that are very important to Sioux City. The building is on the Northwest corner.
Warnock (Benson) Building c. 1920
Recent photo: