LIBRARY TALK – MARCH 28, 2025

From the desk of Alison Gibson, Director

In the library holdings, we have a collection of 5 photographs taken during the 1912 Centennial celebration in Ripley. All taken from the same location, just taking in the parade in at different times. One has a few automobiles, some have horses pulling very ‘dressed up’ wagons. We chose this picture because you can see the W.H. Kendall sign pretty clearly—Kendall owned one of the livery stables in town, and with some of the other visual clues such as the RR Crossing sign and the coal sign, this picture is likely taken from the west side of Second Street looking down Main towards the river. The ice cream soda sign was probably for the Maddox Drug Store. So, the brick home was where the library is, the one story building next to the brick house was probably a saloon, and the annex is roughly where the livery stable was. On the 1904 Sanborn maps, the building down next to the stable was the Ohio River and Columbus RR office, and further down you can see the River Coal sign, and the maps indicate a coal office. This block has certainly changed since then! Kendall rented out buggies, hearses, wagons. He had stock sales last Saturday of every month, sold fertilizer and more. You could board your horse there by the day or week. In late 1917, W H. Kendall sold the business at auction to Walter Grierson. Town photographs are the ultimate ‘Look & Find’ exercise, and can be quite addicting!