The Schmitz Building

Courtesy of the 1-29-14 on-line edition of the Ida County Courier, www.idacountycourier.com

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Note from editor: 

Below is what the building looked like soon after it was built in 1881 by Leonard Schmitz.

Click to enlarge

Read about the Schmitz Building in its early days.

Some of us remember that the building also housed Larson's Grocery Store.  When we were children we watched Wally Larson as he cranked down the awning to shade the store from the afternoon sun.   We were fascinated by the large ornate brass cash register on which Wally or his partner Harry Sellman rang up purchases.  This cash register had perhaps been used in Larson & Erickson, the store founded in 1893 by Wally's father, John Larson, and his partner John Erickson. 


Larson & Erickson was first located at the southeast corner of Second and Maple in Odebolt.  This building was called the Wright block, and the opera hall was on the second floor.  Both the Schmitz building and the Wright block were built in 1881.