Postman lived, worked near Broadway corridor

This postcard shows the David Price family on their front porch, 113 N. Ninth, during the first decade of the 20th century. Pictured are, from left, David, his wife Mina, and son, William T. Price. Postcard shared by Robert Spaun.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

Today, the landscape of the 100 block of N. Ninth St., shows little resemblance to the residential neighborhood that existed in the early years of the 20th Century.

On Aug. 4, 1904, the ladies from the First Methodist Church, Sixth and Broadway, gathered for a lawn social at the home of Mina Price, 113 N. Ninth. Mina and her extended family were new to the neighborhood, having moved from 210 S. Tenth.

At the time of the social, there were three, two-story brick houses all in a row, 109, 113 and 117, on the west side of the street. All built upon stone foundations, and featuring expansive front porches facing east, the houses shared the block with the long-standing three-story Kansteiner’s Hardware Store, address 808 Broadway.

A picture post card image accompanying this story shows David Price (1852-1927) and his wife, Susan Jemima (Mina) Owen Price (1858-1926), on their front porch, at 113 N. Ninth, Hannibal. At right is their son, David, born in 1891.

The only notation on the post card, shared by Robert Spaun, other than the street address, is the name of the bird in the cage: Dick.

The photographer, who was facing south, captured a view very different from today’s landscape.

Note the hitching post to the left of Mr. Price, which is indicative of the fact that horses in this era still outnumbered automobiles.

A park-like setting can be seen behind Mr. Price, to the left. At the time of this photo, a double “flat” house existed on the large lot now occupied by the Marion County Public Defender’s office, 800-802 Broadway. The lawn that is visible is associated with this dwelling, which was numbered 804-806 Broadway.

In the distance, behind Mr. Price, can be seen a single-story building with what appears to be an awning to the side. 

This was the business location of William Kaup, tinner, 815 Broadway. Out of sight, to the right, would have been John J. Conlon’s lumber company. (It is on these lots and more that the current Federal Building stands.)

The Price family’s two-story brick house, located on the west side of North Ninth, as well as houses located on each side, were demolished to make way for a parking lot associated with the expansion of the telephone company pre-1960.

North Ninth was a little stub of a street that’s hard to follow, even for seasoned residents.

Their two-story brick house, built circa 1880, was tucked away on the west side of the street. A half a block to the south, the street connects to Broadway. A half a block to the north, this portion of Ninth connects, but doesn’t intersect, with Center. (Ninth picks up again at Hill Street, continuing north past Rock Street. It then veers westerly for about a block, before dead ending.)

Transition

Broadway was in a transitional stage during those early years of the 20th Century.

Hannibal High School, located at 11th and Broadway, was new, having opened in 1905. The nearby Marion County Courthouse was also a new construction, opening its doors for the first time in 1901.

The First Methodist Church, which had previously been located at Sixth and Broadway, moved into its new building at Ninth and Broadway in 1906.

It wouldn’t be until 1913 - three years after William Price graduated from Hannibal High School -  that another major change would affect the neighborhood.

As more and more businesses and residences signed up for telephone service, The Bell Telephone Company, located at 217 1/2 Broadway, saw the need to expand.

By 1912, a two-story brick-and-frame boarding house, located at 820 Broadway, was razed in order to make room for a three-story, fireproof building, constructed to house equipment and Bell Telephone Company employees. 

1910 graduate

In late May, 1910, William E. Price graduated with the largest class that Hannibal High School had ever produced, consisting of 24 young men and 18 young women.

While he had early aspirations of studying medicine, he instead hired on in August 1911 as a substitute carrier for the U.S. Postal service. Six months later, he went to work for the department full time.

Continuously employed for the next 49 years, primarily delivering the downtown route, he retired in 1951. Few of his era could ever know more about the downtown business environment than William E. Price.

Family deaths

His great-aunt, Mary C. Waller (1843-1904) died shortly after the family moved to 113 N. Ninth.

His grandmother, Martha J. Pitts (William T.) Owen, born 1838, died in 1907, at 113 N. Ninth.

William E. Price was married to Hazel Balthrope Price in 1915. They had no children.

His father, David Price, a long-standing employee in the Burlington Shops, died in 1927.

His mother, Susan Jemima (Mina Owen) Price, who was listed as owner of Lot 8, Draper Von Puhl’s Subdivision (113 N. Ninth in 1916, died in 1926.

William E. Price and his wife, Hazel, continued to live at 113 N. Ninth St., at least through 1940. In 1946, they lived at 709 Olive.

William E. Price died April 28, 1954. At that time he and his wife lived at 3610 Branham.

His wife, Hazel Balthrope Price, died in 1979.

Retirement

In an article announcing William E. Price’s 1951 retirement from the U.S. Postal service, the Hannibal Courier-Post reported that Price helped to carry the first parcel post deliveries to Hannibal in 1911.

“Even that year, the parcel post was heavy and deliveries ran up into the darkness. It was after six o’clock on many nights before Christmas when the postmen were still delivering bundles and packages. The streets were not so well lighted then and Mr. Price carried a lantern on a spring wagon to find his way around on Park avenue where he delivered the parcel post at that time.”

Otis Howell, photographer for the Hannibal Courier-Post, took this photo of Ninth and Broadway on Oct. 2, 1957, prior to the demolition of buildings to make way for the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company’s expansion. The three-story building facing Broadway was formerly Kansteiner’s Hardware Store. There are three houses, partially visible, behind the building, on the west side of N. Ninth. Those houses were numbered, in order, 109, 113 and 117. The extended Price family lived at 113 N. Ninth from circa 1904 until sometime after 1940. Steve Chou collection.

This map, based upon the 1906 Sanborn fire prevention map, shows the neighborhood visible in the accompanying photo of the Price family. In subsequent years, there would be many changes in this portion of Broadway. Illustration by Mary Lou Montgomery.

A clipping from the Nov. 1915 Hannibal Courier-Post. newspapers.com

This newspaper clipping from a 1951 edition of the Hannibal Courier-Post shows William E. Price, who was retiring from the U.S. Postal Service following a 49 year career. He is pictured with “Spot” who followed Price on his route. 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