Carpenter, shoe salesman alter face of Broadway

This 1915-era photo from Steve Chou’s collection shows the new St. Elizabeth’s Hospital at left, and the new home of Will and Alice Arnold at left. The house was constructed by long-time  Hannibal contractor, Leonard M. Hager. The house was later demolished to make room for hospital parking. 

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

Two Hannibal businessmen, one a shoe salesman and the other a contractor, entered into a agreement in early November 1914, to construct a two-story brick house on the northeast corner of Broadway and Virginia.

The shoe salesman was William F. (Will) Arnold, 39, the son of W.D. Arnold (1846-1913). The elder Mr. Arnold, before his retirement, had been a conductor on the K-Line’s dynamite train, which took employees to and from the DuPont explosives factory as Ashburn, Mo.

The contractor was Leonard M. Hager, 47, who had made quite a name for himself in the preceding years, securing multiple contracts and producing quality finished buildings.

By the spring of 1915, the house at 2220 Broadway was complete, providing a home for Will Arnold and his wife, Alice, along with Will’s mother, Flora. The two-story brick four-square featured an impressive concrete front porch. The lot was a sidewalk representative of the era, and fledgling trees grew around the parameter, in keeping with the Civil Improvement Committee’s “Hannibal Beautiful” campaign launched in 1910 by the committee’s chair, W.J.A. Meyer. Just to the west was the new St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the crowning jewel of the newly developed neighborhood.

Hager, the contractor, lived with his family just two blocks to the west, on the northeast corner of Broadway and Levering, in a house somewhat similar in appearance to the Arnold house, but constructed a few years prior. Hager’s house also featured a brick exterior, two stories, and a welcoming front porch.

This portion of Broadway was developing rapidly at the time, and both Arnold and Hager left their marks on the neighborhood.

The Hannibal Morning Journal described the rapid development of this portion of Broadway in its Nov. 23, 1912 edition: 

“The city has a force of men and teams, which have been widening and grading West Broadway, grading Levering avenue, just west of L.M. Hager’s new residence. Several homes have been erected along this thoroughfare and the street will be opened to allow the passage of wagons.”

The contractor

In March 1909, L.M. Hager won the bid to remodel a residence building for Dr. Albert R. Ayres, on West Church street. Hager was to convert the one-story structure into a double-story flat.

In June 1909, L.M. Hager was awarded the contract to remodel the Park Theatre, including putting in a new front, moving the ticket office into the north room, and changing the entrance to the balcony.

In November 1909, Hager, and the Mefford Brothers, won the contract to build a three-story brick warehouse at the foot of Church Street. The building, commissioned by the Robinson Bros., was to be used by the Goddard Grocery Co.

In April 1910, Hager erected a double flat building for George G. Dubach on Bird Street, between Sixth and Seventh.

In May 1910, Mr. Hager’s employees got to work erecting an eight-room modern residence on Church street, between Sixth and Seventh, for Elias L. Holt. (616 Church.)

In July 1910, Mr. Hager won the bid to construct three houses for S.F. Roderick at the corner of Seventh and Center streets. A single house owned by Dr. Robert H. Goodier (1861-1932) previously occupied this lot. The addresses of the new houses, still standing, are 709-11 Center; 707 Center; and 123-125 N. Seventh.

And in August 1910, Mr. Hager bought a lot on Broadway, near the intersection with North Levering, on which to build a house for his own family. 

In August 1912, before the house was complete. The Hagers hosted an event for their friends to mark their new residence, at 2418 Broadway.

In attendance at the housewarming party were:

Rev. V.O. White and wife;

R.B. Elgin and wife;

Joel Thrasher and wife;

Frank Richmond and wife;

Matt Woods and wife;

J.W.  Ling and wife;

Arch Stewart and wife;

Harry Engnehi and wife;

Jack Burns and wife;

Frank Hulton and wife;

Frank Holdridge and wife;

J.W. Mefford and wife;

Joe Velie and wife;

C.F. Garner and wife;

Mrs. Tillie Clark and son, Ellis;

Miss Mary Straub;

Mr. and Mrs. Howard Winters; and

Damon Hager.

In February 1913, Mr. Hager was hired to install hardwood floors at the residence of Robert Robinson, 201 S. Fifth. The floors were of maple and, one had an oak center with a log cabin finish. 

Mr. Hager died in 1935; their son, Damon, died Dec. 24, 1932, after a fall from a sidewalk near his home. He suffered a fracture at the base of the skull. (Information from Find-A-Grave.) Mrs. Hager would continue to live at 2418 Broadway, until her death in 1959.

It is believed that the next occupants of this house were Dennis R. (1922-1997) and Dorothy Seibel Davidson (1923-2021), and their children, Robert and Judith.

The house was ultimately demolished to make way for St. Elizabeth’s Hospital parking.

The shoe salesman

In 1905, William F. (Will) Arnold was vice president of Logan Shoe Company, and made his home, along with his wife, at the intersection of Hubbard and St. Paul streets. (St. Paul was later renamed N.Hawkins.)

At the time, the Logan Shoe Co., was in business at 123 N. Main. The primary in the shoe store was John Logan, president. His brother, H.K. Logan served as secretary and treasurer.

According to the March 20, 1911 edition of the Hannibal Evening Courier-Post, the Logan brothers started a small factory on the second floor of their building on North Main Street, where they manufactured baby shoes. This plant was later consolidated into the Bluff City Shoe Company. John Logan was secretary and treasurer.

The Bluff City started the manufacture of shoes at 106-108 N. Fourth, where the business continued for the next two years.

While the Logans branched off into the manufacture of shoes via the Bluff City Shoe Company, Will Arnold continued selling shoes for Logan Shoe Store.

In 1908, Will Arnold and his wife moved to El Reno, Oklahoma, where, along with Oscar Wilson, they started Arnold & Wilson Shoe Co. El Reno is located 33 miles west of Oklahoma City, in Canadian County. Oklahoma became the 46th state to join the union, on Nov. 16, 1907.

Will Arnold’s father, 66-year-old W.D. Arnold, died on July 12, 1913, prompting the younger Mr. Arnold to move back to Hannibal.

It was after W.D. Arnold’s death that his son contracted with L.M. Hager for the construction of the new house at 2220 Broadway.

He also purchased the interest of C.C. Mason of Mason Shoe Company, 105 N. Main St. He changed the name of the store to “Arnold’s Bootery”.

The Hannibal Morning Journal on March 30, 1917, described the store renovations:

“W.F. Arnold, the energetic proprietor of the store, has had the interior of the place finished in silver gray and for the accommodation of the customers a row of mirrors, three or four inches from the floor, have been placed on each side of the room.This will enable the patrons of the place to get a good view of the shoes they are buying - to enable them to tell at a glance just how the shoe looks on the foot. Large mission oak seats, five feet high, have been placed in the store, thus making exclusive departments for men and women. This is the same system of seating that is proving so popular in the shoe stores in the large cities of the country.

The inverted lighting system is also being installed and this will add greatly to the attractiveness of the store at night.”

By 1923, Will Arnold was operating Arnold Motor Co., and he and his wife were living in a two-story frame house 1913 Broadway.

In 1950, Donald A. King, (1909-1995) his wife Gracille Dent King (1912-1996), and their daughter, Ann Louise King (Dickinson) (1944-2024), were living in the house at 2220 Broadway, which had been constructed for William F. (Will) Arnold, by Leonard M. Hager.

L.M.Hagar was hired by Robert Robinson in February 1913 to install hardwood floors on the first-floor living area of his duplex, 501 S. Fifth St. The house, now owned by Tanner and Annie Sanborn, still maintains those custom hardwood floors. Photo by Mary Lou Montgomery, June 2025. 

March 1, 1912, Hannibal Morning Journal. Newspapers.com

Advertisment froem the El Reno Daily American newspaper, Oct. 17, 1909. Newspapers.com

Advertisement for Arnold’s Bootery, Hannibal Morning Journal, Jan. 23, 1916. Newspapers.com

Mary Lou Montgomery, Suburban Newspapers of America Editor of the Year, Dailies, 2010, retired as editor of the Hannibal (Mo.) Courier-Post in 2014. She researches and writes narrative-style stories about the people who served as building blocks for this region’s foundation. Books available on Amazon.com by this author include but are not limited to: "The Notorious Madam Shaw," "Pioneers in Medicine from Northeast Missouri,” “Hannibal’s ‘West End,’” “Oakwood: West of Hannibal,”  and “St. Mary’s Avenue District.” Montgomery can be reached at Montgomery.editor@yahoo.com Her collective works can be found at www.maryloumontgomery.com