05/30/2026
One of our favorite photographs, taken 131 years ago today! Snapped on the corner of Main and Humphrey Streets stands a large crowd on May 30th, 1895. It was Decoration Day, or what we call Memorial Day now, which is why numerous United States flags wave from the buildings.
The crowd features the first band directed by William Post Marston Junior, with numerous locals seemingly excited to join in getting photographed. In fact, this image comes from a scrapbook that Marston created, provided courtesy of his grandnephew, Dee Pendergast. Interestingly, the railroad went through the center of town at that time, so they are seen standing on the train tracks.
The storefronts behind them were Pritchard Groceries, Marston, Larson, & Davis Bank, with the office of Dr. Henry Harrison Herring and Dr. John Williams upstairs. Then Henry Humphreys confectionery store which housed the Post Office where he was Postmaster, for a second time, from 1889 to 1896. On the northern end there was also a millinery and barber shops. The building on the left was halved in the 1930s to build the Municipal Light Plant, while the right side remains as the former printing office of the Lake Crystal Tribune. The building on the right was demolished to build Johnson’s Ford Garage, which is now the Lake Crystal Police Department.
This great image gives us numerous glimpses into much of our local history, both in places, people, and way of life. From clothes worn to the building signs to the advertisements. It’s a bit like a game of ‘Where’s Waldo’ or ‘I Spy’! What else do you notice?
