Historic 1907 Photograph of a Street in Chanute, Kansas (with History)

Studying this old photograph of Chanute reveals tons of details and history

Scroll to the bottom of the page to watch a video I made about this antique photograph

This old photograph mounted on a card shows a street scene in a small town that still has piles of snow on the sides of the street in April.

There’s a lot to observe within this 5-inch x 7-inch gelatin silver photograph, and several clues helped me place a precise date on the photograph as well as a precise location, and I uncovered quite a bit of local history.

A sheen on the surface of the black areas demonstrates a form of deterioration called silver mirroring, where the silver in old photos like this one has migrated to the surface of the paper, creating a shiny effect.

Handwritten Inscriptions Provide Valuable Clues

Inscription on the Back

On the back of the mount is an inscription written in black ballpoint ink that says “Left hand corner is the wholesale grocery store in Chanute, George W. Williams owned in (sic) Bruce’s father.”

This inscription provides two important clues. We now know this photograph was taken in Chanute, Kansas. And we have the name George W. Williams. Through research, I was able to establish that the location of the grocery store was near the address of 22 West Main Street, looking West in Chanute.

In the foreground we can see the railroad tracks that still run through town. Barely visible in the shadow cast by the building, we can see some figures standing on the sidewalk. Here’s what it looks like today courtesy of Google Street View.

Williams Wholesale Grocery and Williams Opera House

This 1906 Sanborn Fire map shows the wholesale grocery and also tells us that the 2nd and 3rd floors of the grocery building housed the Williams Opera House, which was operated by the same George W. Williams as the store below it — from at least 1895 (although one source said 1888) until maybe 1911 (although the same source said it closed in 1906 — it was shown still in business in the above 1906 Sanborn map). The last solid reference I could find for Williams Opera House was in an October 1905 issue of The Billboard, a theatrical trade journal that still gets published today under the masthead of Billboard Magazine.

On the 1911 Sanborn Fire Map, the same location says the grocery occupied the 1st and 2nd floors and that the Opera House was condemned — I’ll take that to mean discontinued. The dates of the Opera House help us narrow our photo dates to between 1895 and 1911.

Inscription on the Front

Though difficult to read, the inscription on the front of the mount says, “Hetrick’s Friday April 12,” and the second line says “Boston Ideal.”

A very close look at the photograph helped me decipher that handwriting. Shown in the close-up below is a wall ad for a performance of a light opera group called Boston Ideal at the Hetrick Theatre on Friday, April 12. By searching years where April 12 landed on a Friday (1901, 1907, 1912, 1918), we can narrow down our potential photo dates.

Hetrick Theatre

The Hetrick Theater started out in 1903 or 1904 as the Hetrick Opera House, built by Frank Hetrick. It occupied the second floor of a three-story building and had a 1,050 seat capacity. More than likely, this Hetrick Theatre ad was placed here to target theatre goers at the Williams Opera House, assuming the Williams was still in business at the time the photo was taken.

In 1919, the theatre began showing silent movies, and burned along with much of the rest of the block in a fire in 1925.

One source claimed that Frank Hetrick was a poor scratch farmer in Kansas until oil was discovered on his property, and he used his royalty checks to fund the Hetrick Theatre.

Smoke the Universo

The Universo was a low-cost cigar brand that was popular in the years between 1903 to 1913.

That gives us another date range to work with, and eliminates some of the Fridays we just listed above

Brickler Brothers Real Estate & Insurance

The strongest clue for the address is the Brickler Brothers Real Estate & Insurance sign visible on the building.

A biographical source from the time placed Otho G. Brickler at 22½ W. Main Street in Chanute. He also appeared in business directories at the same Chanute address.

Regulator Clothing House

The giant ad across the top of the side wall is for a clothing store called the Regulator Clothing House. 

J. M. Massey was a prominent Chanute clothing merchant. His biography says he came to Chanute in January 1896 and entered the clothing business with C. P. Garvin, operating the Regulator Clothing Store.

A Chanute newspaper obituary said that Massey and Garvin disposed of their interests in the Regulator business in November 1919.

A Date for the Photograph: 1907

Taking all of those overlapping date ranges into account, and eliminating all the remaining years that wouldn’t have had a Friday April 12 in them, I think this photo was taken in 1907, but in the event that some of my research was mistaken, it was definitely made between 1903 and 1911.

Sources and Links

Cinema Treasures. Hetrick Theatre.

Ominous. Hetrick Theatre.

Wikipedia. Boston Idea Opera Company.