In our earlier years Prophetstown had a City Band. The band marched in parades and held concerts, usually in Riverside Park, which became Prophetstown State Park. You will, no doubt, recognize the first picture we have of the band, for it is shown on a mural painted on the side of the building at 212 Washington St. It shows the July 4, 1897, celebration.
You are looking north at the west side of Washington Street. The spot where there is no building was where the Thede Implement/Gentz Buick stood in later years, that building having been built in 1916.
Apparently, financing was an issue with the band. Funds for the band were raised by “subscription.” Today we would call it donations. It looks like our band went in and out of existence, from time-to-time, most likely because the subscriptions fell short of what was needed.
June 1894.
From A View From Thunderbolt, 1859-1959
1911 – The Thursday Morning Club raised $157.25 for the purpose of organizing a city band.
This would be about $5,100 in 2024 dollars.
The City Band – unknown date.
The Eureka Inn is on the right.
The City Band.
Memorial Day 1920.
The Eureka Inn is at the right.
Another factor that determined whether or not we had a City band was the attendance, as seen in the article below. Though the subscription might be enough to support the band, if people did not attend in sufficient numbers it became more difficult to raise the needed money.
1917
1937
Billy Sunday was a famous evangelist who held a “revival,” as his meetings were called, here in Prophetstown in 1906.
1939
1939
The City Band.
May 1941.
Notice that the three wood-frame buildings that were located between the Eureka and Washington Street in the other pictures are now gone. In their place was a Standard Oil service station.
May 30, 1945.
The Band Stand
Many of the concerts were held in this Riverside Park band stand.
Later, it became the Prophetstown State Park.
Did you know that there was a wooden stairway running from Park Ave. down to the lower level of the park? This is a picture taken from a 1930 movie, which shows people heading down that stairway. Sorry – the picture is rather a blur. The stairway was to the right of the road which today carries us down into the State Park. You can see the band stand in the top center of the picture.
Carl O. Swanson was a Prophetstown resident for many years. He had a great memory and wrote down many of the things he remembered. Here is what he said about the City Band.
“There was a band stand in the park where the band practiced for the 4th of July celebration. The members of the band were Grant Slocum, “the director,” Bill Lamont, Roy Mathis, Amos Ott, Calvin Ott, Leonard Ott, David Ott, Jake Stover, Clifford Wildman, Fred Rouse, Ray Schryver, my brother John and I [Carl].”
This is what Dr. Dick Vandermyde had to say about the City Band on those long ago Saturday evenings: “There were band concerts by the city band on a vacant lot where Drummet’s store is [Hometown Hardware now]. They had a converted hay rack, which gave them an elevated platform. After each piece people would honk their horns as a means of applause.”
One Response
As always Fred, excellent research and compilation, I thank you for your shared works and findings.