May 25, 2023

📷 Throwback Thursday: Hutch - Then & Now Collection - Vol. 19

Posted May 25, 2023 11:00 AM
Bornholdt Feed & Seed - Cow Creek  Open Channel - at Washington looking east down Ave. A to Main - c. 1920. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.
Bornholdt Feed & Seed - Cow Creek Open Channel - at Washington looking east down Ave. A to Main - c. 1920. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.

Hutch Post, in partnership with Steve Harmon and the Conard-Harmon Collection, is proud to present Throwback Thursday. Enjoy a weekly release from Steve Harmon as he presents the "Hutch - Then & Now Collection."

STEVE HARMON
Hutch Post Contributor

Today's "Throwback Thursday Collection" takes us to the unit block of West Avenue A on the south side.

Not many are old enough to remember, but Cow Creek was an open channel west of Main Street.

The first photo shows what that looked like in the early 1900s.

Bornholdt Feed & Seed - Cow Creek  Open Channel - at Washington looking east down Ave. A to Main - c. 1920. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.
Bornholdt Feed & Seed - Cow Creek Open Channel - at Washington looking east down Ave. A to Main - c. 1920. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.

In 1928, the city commissioned the Stamey Construction Co. to cover the open channel from Main Street to Washington Street. The second photo shows that work in progress.

Bornholdt Feed & Seed - Covering of Cow Creek on Ave. A west of Main - Dec. 15, 1928. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.
Bornholdt Feed & Seed - Covering of Cow Creek on Ave. A west of Main - Dec. 15, 1928. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.

The creek is still open from Washington to Adams Street. This allowed more business access along Avenue A.

One of those businesses was the Bornholdt Feed & Seed downtown store, owned by Vernon and Edna Bornholdt. They also had the location at 1518 W. 4th that later became a garden center. The third photo shows the Bornholdt location at 13 W. Avenue A in 1959.

Bornholdt Feed & Seed - 13 W. Ave. A - 1959. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.
Bornholdt Feed & Seed - 13 W. Ave. A - 1959. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.

After the old Isham's Furniture Store building at 101 S. Main burned down in 1992, the city razed the entire south side of the block and developed the Avenue A Park and Splash Park. The fourth photo shows the park maintenance building today, approximately where the Bornholdt business was located.

Bornholdt Feed & Seed - Ave. A Park - 13 W. Ave. A - April 22, 2023. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.
Bornholdt Feed & Seed - Ave. A Park - 13 W. Ave. A - April 22, 2023. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.

To purchase a print, contact: [email protected].

Throwback Thursday is brought to you by:

Gambino's Pizza
Sleep Shoppe & Furniture Gallery
Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce
STRATACA Kansas Underground Salt Museum

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