Those who attended the fourth grade in Crete know about the Maples. They know it was the first home built in Crete in 1863 by J.C. Bickle, the town’s first settler.

And so the story goes that a town was platted along the Blue River. This town, incorporated in 1871, was nearly called Blue River City after Bickle battled with the railroad company. Perhaps the high school mascot would have been something other than a Cardinal. But that is another story.

This is the first in a four week series of the buildings and businesses that have made Main St. in Crete since the town’s founding. The Crete News will venture into its archives and look to local sources to portray a time-line of what made and currently makes Main St. in the City of Crete.

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This is the story of downtown, of Main Street Crete, which has been transformed many times over. First it was the construction of new buildings to establish a town, a business district. Then newer buildings, new designs and materials. And through it all was the changing of businesses. Some closed or changed hands while others moved to a new location.

Crete’s Main Street may not differ vastly from other main drags in every other small town across America, however, what it was and what it continues to be makes Crete the place it is.

Let’s start at the beginning. The actual name is Main Avenue on any official city map. Most of the original streets, running north/south named after trees, are avenues while the numbered roads are streets.

Many photos in the News archives show street scenes of an early Crete. Many are labeled with the direction observed.

Photos prior to 1900 show dirt streets with a combination of brick and wood-front buildings lining Main. A history published in the 125th Anniversary edition special of The Crete News, said storefronts began popping up after the first trains arrived in Crete in June of 1871.

A listing of early merchants and professionals is akin to that of a current yellow pages, with everything one might need: hardware stores, grocers, dry goods, sewing machines, clothiers, shoes, farming supplies, tobacco salesmen, and furniture. Then there were the staples such as physicians, attorneys, real estate offices, a surgeon, dentists, stables and liveries. There were reportedly nine saloons.

A photo dated 1884 shows the blacksmith shop of W. Aksamit at 11th and Main. The background photo below shows horse-drawn wagons along Main, pulled right up to the wooden sidewalks.

The booming business and population was tallied at 408 residents in 1871, up from 70 in 1870, in a poll taken by the Saline County Post editor. The paper was a precursor to The Crete News. Official census numbers put the total at just under 2,000 people  in 1880.

On the north end of Main, at the northeast corner of 14th St. was Crete’s home for travelers, the Cosmopolitan Hotel. This three-story building was constructed before 1880 with 36 rooms with rates at $2 a day. It closed in 1965.

The Opera House on the northwest corner of 13th and Main was built in 1877 and had business space on the ground floors of most of the block. The second floor housed what is referred to as the “Cinderella Ballroom.” The building also had a theatre.

Restaurants occupied spots on Main, like the Senator, “for men of a better class,” in 1912 as reported by Crete’s Bicentennial  Project.

A business on Main near 12th was E. Francl’s Wallpaper and Paints. A caption under a photo of Francl’s shop listed his specialties at interior decorating and painting. He also had sign-painting.

Photos from just after the turn of the century show awnings lining the east and west sides on Main. Depending on the time of day, they were pulled up on one side of the street or the other. Large, painted advertisements adorned the sides of many buildings.

When automobiles finally replaced the horse and buggies down Main, they parked for a time in the center of the thoroughfare as seen in several photos from the 1920s and 1930s.

In a July 1926 story from The Crete News,  it was reported that “stop buttons” were installed at intersections in town. Crowds had immediately gathered at major intersections to witness motorists taken by surprise at having to slow or stop for traffic.

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Check back next week when the second in the series moves forward in time and the progression of Crete Main Ave.