Sunday, June 18, 2017

Sunday's postcard: Nebraska's Crowell Memorial Home, circa 1910


This old postcard is captioned "Crowell M.E. Memorial Home, Blair, Neb." on the front. It was mailed in 1910, and this home is still around and thriving 107 years later! According to the Crowell Memorial Home's website:
"Crowell Home sits high on a shady hillside, overlooking Blair, Nebraska, and the beautiful Missouri River Valley. It was founded in 1905 when Christopher Columbus1 and Polly Crowell donated their mansion to be used as a retirement home. We are a non-profit facility dedicated to providing care to all.

"A Medicare/Medicaid certified facility, we offer a full continuum of care with 88 skilled nursing beds, 18 assisted living apartments and eight independent living apartments. Crowell Home is one of only ten Nebraska Nursing Homes to qualify as a founding member of Nebraska's 'I Support Quality of Life Project.'"


This postcard was mailed to Miss Frances Newman in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is about six hours northeast of Blair (based on today's driving times). The note on the back states (with a little editing to make it more readable):
"Blair July 14th 1910
My Dear Friend
Franches
I rec'd your Card. Thanks ever so much it. Glad to hear from you and that you had a nice time. We wish you could take a trip down here. How glad we all would be to see you. We hop you will someday. Give our love to your Mother and sisters and keep a share for your self. Will be pleased to hear from you anytime. Your friend, [indecipherable]."
And, in case you were wondering, the Phillies split a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs on July 14, 1910.

Footnote
1. Not that Christopher Columbus.

4 comments:

  1. The indecipherable sender of this postcard was one "Mrs. A.P. Flye" of Blair, Nebraska (as the postmark indicates). Here is an obituary notice for Mrs. Flye's brother-in-law Alvan McKenney, who died in January, 1915, buried in the Blair Cemetery: http://www.newashcogs.org/obituary.asp?item=16961 -- M.F.

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  2. I work at Crowell & I was so pleased to see this! How neat! I maintain our photographs and help with historical info on our website & Facebook pages, so I love seeing anything new. I had not seen this particular photograph. Thank you for sharing

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  3. Sadly, while Crowell Home the nursing/independent living community still exists just down the hill from the image, the Crowell Mansion itself was demolished in November 1971 - two weeks before final approval of a Federal designation as a National Historic Site. There was a small group in town who wanted to preserve the mansion, but a far larger group who couldn't see the value of historic preservation in this case. Shortly before the designation, the mansion was structurally vandalized such that restoration was impossible.

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    1. Oh, that's terrible. Thank you for this update of its history.

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