During 2024 the Cole Camp Fire Department has been actively refurbishing what they refer to as the upper building to be used as a meeting/training center. The structure is located on what was once called Locust Street (now Boonville) and was the site of more than one blacksmith shop that thrived prior to the automobile arriving in Cole Camp.
Livery barns were the center of horse power for drummers (traveling salesmen) coming to town and the horse barns used to hire local boys to chauffeur drummers out to outlying country stores. Town people could also engage the livery service.
According to the Cole Camp Black History and Father Esser’s accounts, the first livery stable and feed yard was owned by Herman Bucholtz. The feed yard wasn’t just for the livery stable owner but a place for visiting farmers to park their teams. That feed yard changed hands within a few years and Herman Meyer became the proprietor. The feed yard business began to dwindle and one of the horse stalls facing First Street (Junge) to the north became a blacksmith shop operated by George Lutjen. Other blacksmiths that worked in this shop was Louie Meyer and J.C. Karman.
Up near the feed yard office was another blacksmith shop, operated at one time by Frank Russell and Jim Dalton. Bill Haase had the last blacksmith shop there in the 1930s and 40s. At one time John Stadherr had run a blacksmith shop (just north of the Bill Haase location) for shoeing horses, ( between 1908 to 1915) but kept his machine shop too, in old Clabbertown.
In the early 1940's two changes came to the feed lot locale. Pete Otten purchased the whole area, including the two blacksmith shop sites and he brought his truck line business to this location. He used Bill Haase’s blacksmith shop as his office. Shortly thereafter the Cole Camp Auction Company was started. Its members R.C. Frederich, Pete Otten, Clarence Burke, George Moellman, and Raymond Smith, were involved in the business of buying and selling fat hogs, which they held in pens in the old feed yard while awaiting their shipment. This might account for two sliding doors the firemen unearthed while stripping the walls down for new insulation.
The Auction Company ceased but Otten ran his truck line there for some time. In later years Bob Root operated a feed store in the location. Eventually the Fire Department acquired the structure from Linda Hesse and have now, as stated earlier, been in the process of giving the place a facelift that will include two handicap accessible bathrooms. It will serve as a place to hold their meetings and do fire training, and a home for the town’s original 1929 fire truck they showcase during each year’s Cole Camp Fair Parade.
Bill Viebrock serves as President of the Board and Scott Harms serves as Fire Chief. It is a group of hard working guys that serve their community and from time to time thank them for their service and congratulate them on the great job of restoring an old building into a useful edifice.
