Railroad Cart

 (From the Historic Ely Elevator Facebook page)

Perhaps you’ve noticed the new addition to our yard! You may or may not also recognize this railroad baggage cart, which until recently was displayed in front of City Hall. The cart was in desperate need of repair, so local master-of-all-trades Orville Meskimen restored it, and beautifully so. 

 

The city wanted to display the cart closer to the old railroad, the Historic Ely Elevator is happy to give it a new home! (and will do our best to protect it from the elements)

 

This was Orville’s second restoration of this important historic artifact. The details of its rescue can be found in the Ely Community History Society blog: https://www.elyhistory.com/2019/12/the-baggage-cart.html

Cedar Rapids Horsemen's Club

We have received a large collection of documents and photos concerning the Cedar Rapids Horsemen's Club, which was located in the town of Western for many years. We will be indexing this collection over the next few months.

Click the photos to enlarge them.

The Horsemen's Club in Western (now torn down)

                                             Interior of the club

 

Members celebrating the club's 79th birthday
On the far right is Jim Miller from Ely.
Identities would be appreciated!

 

 

Ely School Kids 1930s

 Click the photo to enlarge it

                                         Ely school kids outside the building in the 1930s

The girl on the right with her legs crossed is Edna Sladek, who graduated in 1933.

We would appreciate if people can identify others (in comments below) or email HistoricEly@yahoo.com.