Sioux City History & Culture by Bicycle Part 14: South Bottoms Memorial

During the meat packing & stockyards boom in Sioux City the area known as the South Bottoms was home to many immigrants from different ethnic backgrounds. They put aside their differences & worked together at the stockyards & meat processing plants located very close to where they lived. Many did not have their own transportation & either took public transportation or walked to work every day. This area of Sioux City was very close by where they worked.

The city officials of Sioux City eventually forced these migrant workers to move when they re-constructed the Floyd Flood Control Channel & this part of Sioux City. I-29 & other parts of Sioux City now occupy where these hard workers once resided & struggled to make a living. There are still many descendants of these people today still in Sioux City & the surrounding area.

As part of the memorial there is a time capsule that is not to be opened until 2025. I'd love to see what is in it when the city opens it.

The memorial is located at the east end of Chris Larsen Rd, near where it intersects with Floyd Blvd. It is constructed out of the stone that made up the support piers for the old Pacific Short Line Bridge that I posted about earlier. This area is the beginning or one of the ends of the SIoux City Riverfront.

Here is more info. on the South Bottoms & the pics.:
South Bottoms Memorial

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:

Sioux City History & Culture by Bicycle Part 29: 4th Street Walking Tour (Virginia Street to Pierce Street

The 4th in the series of downtown street walking Tours os the 4th Street Walking Tour (Virginia Street to Pierce Street. Of the 15 buildings listed in the walking tour only 4 are still standing today. In the tour guide it says another is still standing, but that one has been torn down since the guide was created. This is the longest in distance of the walkng tours. There is one final one I will post about later.

Enjoy:

Here is the link to the walking tour guide:
Take a Step Back in Time Walking Tour of Fourth Street (Virginia STreet to Pierce Street

#1. On the Northwest corner of 4th & Virginia was Casady Hall. This was one of the first brick buildings constructed in SIoux City. Over the years the building served many purposes. From a hospital to an illegal gambling establishment. Now this corner is a parking lot for the SIoux City Convention Center. Photo:


#2. On the North side of 4th St, between Jennings & Jones was the Lexington Block. The former building had the Richardsonian Romanesque architectureal style. The building housed many businesses & tenants. The last was the Gospel Mission. It was razed in 1987 to make way for the Sioux City Convention Center. The land the convention center uses goes from Virginia to Jones. Current photo:


#3. Even though this walking tour is on 4th St, part of it does extend down to 3rd. On the Northwest corner of 3rd & Jennings is the Warfield, Pratt and Howell Warehouse. It is not a William Steele building, but the architectural firm who designed it did incorporate the Prarie School Style Architecture into it's design. It is currently being renovated into high end condo's for purchase. Photo:


#4. On the Northeast corner of 4th & Jones used to be the Chicago House Hotel. The old building was an example of Beaux Style architecture. It was built to compete with the influx of downtown hotels. On the corner now is the Sioux City Convention Center. Photo:


#5. On the Northwest corner of 4th & Jones was the Peavey Grand Opera House. The building was destroyed by a fire in 1931. On this corner now is the back corner of the Clarion Hotel. Photo:


#6. The Northeast corner of 4th & Jackson was the Metropolitan Block. Built in 1889, this was Sioux City's first "skyscraper". It had the towns first passenger elevator. The building was was torn down in 1970 & the Hilton Hotel was built in it's place. The Hilton is now the Clarion Hotel. Photo:


#7. & #8. On the Southwest corner was the Massachusetts Block. A fire in 1904 which destroyed the buildings along 2.5 blocks along 4th St between Pierce & Jones claimed this building. The Badgerow Building, which is still there today was built betwen 1929 & 1930. Photo:


#9. On the Southeast corner of 4th & Nebraska was the Bolton/Commercial Block. On that corner now is the one side of the Terra Center Building. I have posted about this in previous walking tour posts. Photo:


#10. This shows the North side of 4th St l;ooking west between Nebraska & Pierce Streets. The building Kartons is in is still there as is the Martin building. Photo:


#11 & #12. This shows the South side of 4th St between Nebraska & Pierce Streets. This was the Gilman Block & the H&H Building/Schulein Building/Purslow Block at one time. Now the entire side is used by Central Bank as their building & parking lot. Photo's:



#13. This shows the Southeast corner of 4th & Pierce Streets. I did post about this in the Pierce Street Walking Tour. This corner now has the parking lot of the Central Bank Building. It used to be the Katz Drug Store Building. Photo:


#14. & #15. The Northeast corner of 4th & Pierce used to have the Mondamin Hotel. It burned down in 1912. The Martin Hotel was quickly built in it's place & still stands today, but is not used as a hotel. It has the Martin Tower Apts. in it & the ground floor houses Thorpe & Company Jewlers. Photo:


That is it for the 4th Street Walking Tour from Virginia to Pierce. I hope you enjoy it.

The next 2 in the series of Sioux City Hostory & Culture by Bicycle is the Roth Fountain & the Art's Alive display.

There is one final walking tour. It will be of Historic 4th St. As soon as I have photo's of it I will post it in the blog.