Cass Street from Courthouse Roof 1902-04
Title
Cass Street from Courthouse Roof 1902-04
Description
This view from the Courthouse roof shows much of Cass Street and part of Main Street. There are two frame buildingson the square. The one on the far left was a boarding house that was torn down in 1928, along with the Diesel & Reichmuth Furniture and Undertaking building next to it, to make room for the F. W. Woolworth store.
The one at the intersection of Cass & Main shows a gabled roof, rather than the storefront façade (which shows up in the 1905 Sanborn map).
The most easily identifiable buildings in the background are the Buell & Olmstead Flour and Grain building (upper far left), the fancy design of the Waverly House Hotel at 212 Main street, and the Dacy Lumber storage building that was originally the first church on Jefferson st.
124 Cass: Diesel & Reichmuth Furniture and Undertaking.
Rudolph Diesel came from Germany in 1848, locating in Watertown NY for several years, then moving to southern Kentucky, before moving to Woodstock in 1860 where he conducted a business selling and manufacturing furniture and coffins, and providing undertaking services at 122 Cass for many years. The store’s large awning advertising furniture and undertaking appears in many old Woodstock photos. Diesel advertised that he also sold sewing machines.
In 1928, the Diesel building was demolished, along with the old clapboard sided boarding house with the white picket fence located to the west, to build a new F.W. Woolworth Company store. During the excavation, the skeleton of a baby was reported discovered, but the mystery remained unsolved.
The F. W. Woolworth store was constructed by local building contractor Henry Ohlrich. The building had an ornamental terra cotta façade and the trademark F.W. Woolworth Co. gold lettering. The western third of building was occupied by the A& P Tea Co. in 1930’s and by True Value Hardware in the 1940’s and early 50’s. The terra cotta was removed and replaced with brick in the 1970’s.
120 Cass: A. B. Pratt constructed the Pratt Meat Market building in 1899 on the site of the old McManus building. The front section of the McManus building had been moved down the hill from in front of 130 Cass Street when Cass Street was extended through to Throop Street. At the time of demolition, it was known as the A.B. Pratt & Son Meat Market. Prior to that it had been run as the Bradley and Bradley Meat Market and the Cash Meat Market. In the early 1920’s, John Asmus and his son Charlie were full time butchers for Reid Pratt. City directories list the building as the Asmus Meat Market in the 1930’s and 40’s (the Asmus Market later moved to 126 N. Benton) and the R.W. Schultz Meat Market in the 1950’s.[Nancy Baker]
118 Cass became the First Savings and Loan Association of Woodstock in the early 1960’s. The façade of 118 and 120 Cass were altered as the savings and loan expanded.
All visible in background on right:
108 Cass
106 Cass
104 Cass
102 Cass
100 Cass
The one at the intersection of Cass & Main shows a gabled roof, rather than the storefront façade (which shows up in the 1905 Sanborn map).
The most easily identifiable buildings in the background are the Buell & Olmstead Flour and Grain building (upper far left), the fancy design of the Waverly House Hotel at 212 Main street, and the Dacy Lumber storage building that was originally the first church on Jefferson st.
124 Cass: Diesel & Reichmuth Furniture and Undertaking.
Rudolph Diesel came from Germany in 1848, locating in Watertown NY for several years, then moving to southern Kentucky, before moving to Woodstock in 1860 where he conducted a business selling and manufacturing furniture and coffins, and providing undertaking services at 122 Cass for many years. The store’s large awning advertising furniture and undertaking appears in many old Woodstock photos. Diesel advertised that he also sold sewing machines.
In 1928, the Diesel building was demolished, along with the old clapboard sided boarding house with the white picket fence located to the west, to build a new F.W. Woolworth Company store. During the excavation, the skeleton of a baby was reported discovered, but the mystery remained unsolved.
The F. W. Woolworth store was constructed by local building contractor Henry Ohlrich. The building had an ornamental terra cotta façade and the trademark F.W. Woolworth Co. gold lettering. The western third of building was occupied by the A& P Tea Co. in 1930’s and by True Value Hardware in the 1940’s and early 50’s. The terra cotta was removed and replaced with brick in the 1970’s.
120 Cass: A. B. Pratt constructed the Pratt Meat Market building in 1899 on the site of the old McManus building. The front section of the McManus building had been moved down the hill from in front of 130 Cass Street when Cass Street was extended through to Throop Street. At the time of demolition, it was known as the A.B. Pratt & Son Meat Market. Prior to that it had been run as the Bradley and Bradley Meat Market and the Cash Meat Market. In the early 1920’s, John Asmus and his son Charlie were full time butchers for Reid Pratt. City directories list the building as the Asmus Meat Market in the 1930’s and 40’s (the Asmus Market later moved to 126 N. Benton) and the R.W. Schultz Meat Market in the 1950’s.[Nancy Baker]
118 Cass became the First Savings and Loan Association of Woodstock in the early 1960’s. The façade of 118 and 120 Cass were altered as the savings and loan expanded.
All visible in background on right:
108 Cass
106 Cass
104 Cass
102 Cass
100 Cass
Source
McHenry County Historical Society
Date
1902-1904
Collection
Citation
“Cass Street from Courthouse Roof 1902-04,” Woodstock Public Library Archives, accessed June 9, 2026, https://woodstockpubliclibraryarchives.omeka.net/items/show/107.
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