West Bend, Wi – Can you identify the location of this circa 1910 photo? Details from the WCHS Research Center indicate Mr. John Homrig was the proprietor of West Bend Marble and Granite Works at the time the photo was taken. P.W. Harns previously had the business.
After Mr. Homrig sold the business, it was run by George Weiss and William Erler. They changed the name to Erler & Weiss and ran it for many years. The site is currently a municipal parking lot and Tennies Ace Hardware is to the north.
The c. 1910 West Bend Monument Works was on Fifth Avenue, just to the north of Walnut Street in what’s currently the parking lot of Tennies Ace Hardware.
“The Ford Motor Company was one door south,” said Jim German.
Local historian Lee Krueger also remembered the Granite Works and the West Bend Ford dealership to the south. “In the 1950s it was Lochen Ford,” said Krueger. “I remember stories of Model T Fords being off-loaded from the train and then stored on the second story of the building, above the first floor showroom.”
Back when….
Today’s 1935 photo is courtesy the Washington County Historical Society. Can you name the location, the owners, and extra credit if you recognize buildings in the background.
