The glamour of 'Broadway'

Now and then the city council has a pivotal meeting, the effects of which remain with us for decades. Several items were on the agenda in April of 1953, one of which was the glamorization of the name of a street. From The Express of April 9th of that year comes the following:

The unromantic sounding name of West First Street will be replaced, and the street will now have to live up to the glamour of Broadway, that action having been taken by the city council on Monday night. The change had been suggested some time ago by merchants on that Great White Way.

Also at the meeting on Monday cigarette licenses were granted to Howard Jenkins at the Hill Top Inn and to Ralph Vest at the Little Super Market.

The council voted to pay $2200 to the Independent School District of Red Oak, half the salary of the band-master, a practice which has been followed for several years and which provides for free band concerts during the summer.

President Jim Carder and Secretary Sherell Watson of the Chamber of Commerce appeared and asked for a decision on running the city route of Highway 34 through the down town section. It was voted to restore the old city route and the Chamber was asked to provide adequate signs at Summitt and Boundary pointing the way to the business district.

Mrs. Swan Asplund of 109 West Prospect complained about the nuisance of trespassing on account of an auto repair shop at 106 Elm, and was told the matter would be investigated. A similar answer was given to Bill McAlpin and David Kerr who complained about a trailer house parked at the corner of Valley and Division streets. They feared a trailer court might someday be set up there which would detract from the appearance of adjacent properties.

Running Highway 34 through the downtown business district apparently didn’t work out so well, and not many find Broadway all that glamorous. McAlpin and Kerr, however, would no doubt be pleased to know that the intersection of Division and Valley did not turn into a trailer park.

Roy Marshall is a local historian. E-mail him at news@redoakexpress.com.