Downtown 1889 — Big fish

It created quite the excitement in downtown when W.J. Schmerhorn showed off the 13.5-pound pickeral he caught at Glen Lake.

“The fish was exhibited on Glen Street, and attracted an admiring crowd,” The Morning Star reported on Aug. 1, 1889. “Mr.Schmerhorn may rest without much fear of having this record broken by fishermen at Glen Lake.”

The St. Mary’s Cornet Band performed for the grand opening of the Vienna Bakery opened by “enterprising young ptoprietors” Linnehan and Healey.

A bugler announced the arrival of a distinguished excursion party.

“A party of guests of The Sagamore Hotel, Lake George, enjoyed a ride to Glens Falls on J.B. Marie’s tally-ho on Saturday,” The Morning Star reported on July 29. “James E. McGreivy, the bugler, made the welkin (heavenly) ring as the coach rolled into town.”

A downtown retailer was celebrating summer weather.

“The Rochester Clothing Company will sell you a fifty-cent straw hat today for twenty-five cents,” The Morning Star reported on July 2, 1889.

There was a debate in Glens Falls over whether downtown streets should be paved with crushed stone or brick.

In the interest of setting the question, the village Board of Trustees on July 14 unanimously voted to lay a small section of Glen Street with bricks.

“Tanner the Genius” boasted of a new intention.

“John Tanner, of this village, who wants the public to distinguish him from Tanner, the Mormon, and Tanner, the faster, informs The Srar that he has invented a contrivance which, when attached to windown blinds, makes it impossible for persons on the outside to move or open the slots,” The Morning Star reported on July 18. “Mr. Tanner believes, ‘There’s millions in it.’”

He wasn’t the only Glens Falls resident with an inventive mind.

“Gordon Conkling, of this village, has been granted a patent for another magnetic separator of ores,” The Morning Star reported on July 19.

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