Our knowledge of early Aspinwall businesses is not very large for several reasons. First, there has never been a newspaper in town, although at various times during the past 100 years local residents have served as correspondents to area papers, giving us very detailed information part of the time and very little information at other times. Second, Aspinwall has had more than its share of fires, which often destroyed what records were being kept. Third, the city government is relatively new -- since 1914 -- so city records showing such things as purchases at local businesses do not extend back to early times. And finally, although we have talked to dozens of past and present older residents of the area, their memories go back just "so far."

1884 REVIEW, FROM HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
What we do know is that by 1884, Aspinwall's 300 people were mostly of German and Irish descent, and that the foundation was being laid for at least two of today's nine businesses, Schroeder's Grocery Store and the Aspinwall Co-op.

The 1884 review includes: the Aspinwall House hotel; Gardner & Hilsabeck, who dealt in drugs, paints, oils, patent medicines, stationery and school books; D.F. Murphy, who owned the new Chicago saloon; A.F. Mueller, a manufacturer of harnesses, whips, curry combs, brushes, and collars, who did repair work neatly; Packard and Arnold. who had a warehouse and dealt in grain and coal; Dr. Gardner, the only physician in town -- he was quite busy as he was also the postmaster; J.G. O'Malley, who had a hardware store where he also sold pumps, and who served as Justice of the Peace; Moenck and Miller, who had just started a general store; McMahon and Collins, who had a general store; W.J. Larue, who manned the pump engine for the railroad company and did barbering two days a week; Meves Schacht, who dealt in general merchandise; the Dutt Brothers, Tom and E.R., who dealt in livestock and lumber; E.R. Dutt, who also sold town lots and other real estate; Henry Kuhl, who had an elevator and bought grain, F.H. Merrill, the railroad agent; D.F. Wegner, who had the furniture store, and Paul J.F. Wegner, who had the wagon shop.

NOVEMBER 8, 1884 (The Denison Bulletin)
"As a total summary of the business in Aspinwall we find three general stores, one harness shop, a cigar factory to soon be in operation, one drug store, two saloons, two grain

dealers, two coal dealers, one livestock and one lumber dealer, one meat market, one hardware store, two feed stables, one blacksmith and wagon shop, one paint shop, two dealers in agricultural implements, and plenty of room for more business men and need a shoemaker badly."

AUGUST 19, 1886 (The Manning Monitor)
By August, 1886, G.A. Smith had just begun buying grain, and he and the firm of Packard and Arnold were reported as offering "way up prices"; Tom Dutt was selling lumber, buying corn and cattle, and his brother E.R. was buying hogs and selling land; Schacht still had the general store, where he had dry goods, groceries, machinery and pumps; M. Collins & Co. had the second store, keeping a "full line of general merchandise and also doing a good implement business; Mike Collins was very accommodating as postmaster; M.J. Hanson and Mr. Claussen were in the hotel and "refreshment stand" business; H. Fransen had a refreshment stand; D.F. Murphy ran a billiard parlor; Dr. Gardner was keeping busy as the town doctor and proprietor of the drug store; J.G. O'Malley continued both as hardware store owner and as Justice of the Peace; Lanigan did most of the painting for the area; Lemster sold meat; Vogt was the blacksmith and wagon worker. Besides these, "Aspinwall is blessed with barbers, well diggers, and plenty of politicians," according to the newspaper. It added that Aspinwall is "represented by a class of businessmen that would do credit to any town."

As early as August, 1886, Aspinwall residents were trying to find a person to open a bank in town. Several weeks later, it was reported that one was to open in town soon. We don't believe it ever did.

MEMORIES OF EARLY 1900s
Lisetta Sinow Derner, born in 1896, remembers walking to the Aspinwall School. She entered school in 1902, and walked to town from the farm which is now the home of Melvin Renze about one mile from the schoolhouse. Among the businesses she remembers along Main Street, probably in about 1904, are two taverns, two dance halls, the depot, the post office/general store, a hardware store, a hotel, Wiese's general store, the lumber yard and the elevator.

On the east side of the street, starting from the south, was the post office run by C.J. Holling, who served from 1893 until his death in 1908. The building also included general merchandise, and Lisetta still remembers the candy

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she got there; the Hollings and their granddaughter Anna Heicksen lived upstairs in the building. Next came the hardware store, which was run by the William Wolters family from about 1902 until 1907, and is now the Schilling's Machine Shop. The family lived in the south side of the building and the store was in the north half. The next building and the store was in the north half. The next building was a little house occupied by the Hans Matthiesen family; he worked in a tavern on the corner. Then came the house and finally the dance hall, run by August Wunder, father of her friend Anita.

On the west side of the street, starting from the south, she remembers the hotel and peeking in a window to see the dance floor. The home of the Koester family was next to the hotel, and at the rear of the hotel was a livery barn. The barn, she said, was moved to the acreage 1/2 mile west of town by Jake Carstens; she can still remember seeing it moved around and around the curvy roads to get to the farm, later the Max Schultz farm. The next thing she recalls seeing was the old wooden Wiese Brothers store.

Lisetta said she and her girl friend Anita Wunder went to the Peter Christiansen home, which was next door to his blacksmith shop, at the time of a Golden Wedding celebration. The beds upstairs were all covered with cakes for the celebration.

Aspinwall has had a variety of businesses during the past 100 years, but unfortunately, we know very little about some of the firms. For instance, we have found a reference to a jeweler by the name of Alvin Herman in 1898; we don't know how long he had a business in town or where it was. This could also be the "Mr. Hermon," a photographer who took pictures at the school in 1898.

In 1884, there was a meat market listed in the business directory; Mr. Lemster reportedly ran the market in 1886. Hans Hinrichs ran a butcher shop from 1886 until moving to Manning in 1892. By June, 1895, butcher Pete Hansen was in the business and was so busy he needed to "kill a beef every day." It was also said that Hansen was planning to put a meat wagon on the road in the near future; we know Hansen was still in business in 1899, but the report wasn't good; he was asking everyone to pay their bills so he could pay off debts.

Dr. Gardner, who was practicing medicine here from about 1882 until 1887, also ran a drug store. One of the Wiese Brothers, Charlie, became a dentist and practiced here briefly.