I am now sitting inside the F.W. Knight building, on the left in this photo. I work often at restoring this old property to what it once was. The exterior is fairly close to what is seen here. The basement window wells I remember from my childhood are gone but I intend to put them back. A caretaker's tunnel out the back is still there, where one could sneak out to the old house behind for a quick hand of poker and a belt or two. Many interesting things are popping up as old residents come in to retell the history of this fine old building. The community restroom still exists as it once did, the shower is new, the toilet is original. More later.

J.D. Schooley

I just finished reading the delightful biography of Dewey, Spencer's library cat!

http://spencerlibrary.com/deweybio.htm

How nice to have a glimpse of what Spencer looks like, there is an interesting story behind its "Prairie Deco" buildings.

Those buildings are still there. This was when Grand Avenue was still Main Street, before the enlargement of the Hotel Tangney, which would be off to the right across Sixth Street in a few years. Those houses were moved or sold for lumber. The F.W. Knight building on the left got bought Jim Schooley, who is restoring it. The Reporter building still has a print shop in it, but they put a nasty false front on it, with the old windows underneath. The barber shop in the basement has some evidence of a few bath cubbies in the back, where people could get a hot bath after their shearing!

The newspaper is still printed and seems to be flourishing.
http://spencerdailyreporter.com/

Before he moved to Metropolis, this could have been the type of hometown newspaper where Clark Kent would have served.

It's too bad he had to move on to bigger and better things at the Daily Planet.

For one thing, the locals would know Superman was Clark. He couldn't fool them by wearing eyeglasses that had no glass in them.

Of course, about all the heroics he could muster in Spencer, Iowa, in 1936, would be flying up to hang or remove those Christmas lights on the newspaper building.

The gentleman on the left? Surely a Norwegian bachelor farmer heading for the Chatterbox Cafe for some pie and coffee.

This is one of those amazing, unposed images that make me want to step right into the photo. I want to know where the ladies are going, and what they're discussing. Is the elderly man a Civil War vet? What's the guy with the car doing? What's happening in those houses along the side street at that moment in time?

I'm impressed by the Community Rest Room, since there is such a great need for these things in NYC. Did many farm communities offer this amenity at the time?

I've seen lots of cool old signs on Shorpy, but this one is going to be hard to beat.

A wonderful photo. The photos of large city places and people are great, but I especially enjoy photos of smaller cities and their everyday life. This must be close to Christmas as the lights are strung. One thing that first caught my eye, was the sign for "Community Rest Rooms." Wonder if they offered anything more than the basic facilities?