The street scenes of early towns often have many details from the signage and window displays to the abundance of automobiles lining the sides of downtown during a busy afternoon.

In the 1930s, businesses lined 13th St. from Main west, but the downtown was also  full of various retail stores and restaurants.

This is the second 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.

In the photo above the signs jutting out from the brick facades proclaim the types of wares and services found along this Main St. in Crete’s past. The cars and history of this photo, printed on a postcard and carried by a Nebraska soldier during WWII, shows the era of the 1940s.

Cafes, a shoe store, drug store, appliance retailer, liquor store and clothing outlet line the street.

The clothing store was J.C. Penney Company at what looks to be about the middle of the Main Street block on the east side between 14th and 13th. The shoe store vertical sign says, “Foot Fashion,” and the Café was Andy’s.

Dorsey’s café was also downtown, owned by Paul Dorsey, who opened it in 1949. An article from The Crete News archives said the hours were 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. and soon became a late evening social club for many Crete residents.

A theatre was located in the ground level of Band’s Opera house. In the photo above, a Czech film is on the marquee.

Other department-type stores occupying Main St. storefronts were Gambles and Ben Franklin’s, the latter of which was still a fixture on the east side of Main between 12th and 13th until 1996.

The Gamble Store, was purchased in 1952 by Wendell Milligan who had most recently come from Shenandoah, Iowa where he had managed a Montgomery Ward store and owned a Western Auto outlet.

Ben Franklin’s, which is now part of KH’s Sport shop, was opened in Crete in 1934 by J.E. Pallett. What customers could confidentially call a traditional five and dime variety store,

Ben Franklin’s was proclaimed as “modern in every aspect” in a 1934 issue of The Crete News.

Mel and Melba Andres bought it from Pallett in 1963 and Kenny Dunn, Melba’s brother, joined them in the business in 1973. During the store’s first week of business in 1934 customers were given free pop.

A lively downtown should have a bank or two. Main had just that when Crete State Bank (now Pinnacle) was had merged with First State Bank in 1929. Crete State was located on the southwest corner of 13th and Main while First was on the northeast corner. They consolidated to the First State location.

In a story recounting 100 years of Crete State Bank, the financial institution was able to weather the Great Depression. Crete State left the Main location in 1964.

Another bank, City National, opened its doors at the northwest corner of 12th and Main in 1910. The building was most recently Get the Picture Video. An article from the News, the day after the opening said the officers are “among our best known business and professional men, capable and reliable.”

A front page announcement stated their capital at $25,000 and surplus at $2,500. It is now known at City Bank and Trust, Co. just south of the original building.

The cars began to change and the banking business changed along with the movement of department stores and cafes.

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