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JIM: Fire 27 Sep 1921 altered huge section of Columbia square By JIM In the early hours of Tuesday, September 27, 1921 fire broke out in the back room of Nell & Cheatham's store on the southwest side of Columbia's public square and by the time the last ember winked out hours later, three business houses lay in smoldering ruins -- the Bank of Columbia; the Tola Walker building next door to the bank, which housed Geo. H. Nell & Gordon Carlisle Cheatham's "Right Angle" store; and Hutchison & Patteson's building and stock of goods, located between the Tola Walker building and the Paull Drug Co. business house and separated from the latter by a narrow vacant lot. The Bank of Columbia, which had occupied the corner lot at Burkesville Street and the square for decades, quickly reopened near the north corner of the square and almost immediately began construction of what was intended to be temporary quarters on the old corner location. To make a long story short, plans to rebuild a permanent bank building in the same place the following year never materialized. Instead, the new Bank of Columbia edifice went up in the middle of the block. The "temporary" structure remained in use by various businesses until the brothers Walker (John Lee and Doc) bought the property in early 1928, promptly had that building razed, and began construction of the Walker Building referenced below. The last three occupants of the building, the Bennett Motor Company, Schuler and Murray Insurance, and the Carnahan Oil & Refining Co., all moved out in mid-February 1928, shortly before razing began. Almost simultaneously, the city council granted the Walkers a building permit and the Adair County News observed that bricks were "arriving by the truck load" for the project. An article in late January 1928 had laid out a word-sketch for readers. Construction (technically, of two adjoined buildings) was set to begin near the first of March "under the able management of Mr. Wood Judd." There would be space for Russell & Co., "beautifully equipped with modern store furnishings" on the side of the building nearest Burkesville Street with the entrance opening onto the square. The remainder of the frontage on the square, adjoining the Bank building, would be occupied by the theater, which, promised the News, would have "an attractive lobby opening on the square. . .[and] a seating capacity of about 350, including the balcony." Russell & Co. and the theater would be separated by a stairwell leading from the square to the second floor, which would be rented out as office spaces. There would also be a basement store, with the entrance on Burkesville Street. A red-faced correction appeared the next week, saying that Russell & Co. would not be moving, that it would stay on its accustomed corner of Jamestown Street and the square in the J.O. Russell Building. Events, however, would prove the correction irrelevant. Added the News, "Both buildings will be of fancy brick and needless to say will add to the appearance of the town." (In April, J.L. Walker, dealing with health issues and wishing to concentrate more on his and Doc's rising business house, sold his quarter-interest in Russell & Co., to Mrs. Lany Staples, perhaps better remembered by her later married name, Lany Bray, thus giving her a 50% consideration in the enterprise. According to the News at that time, Ray Flowers and Doc Walker each had a one-fourth share. However, when Mr. Flowers sold his part about two months later, the other partners named included J.L. & Doc's brother, J.W. Walker,) In late March or early April, the Walkers lined up their first tenant. The Columbia Telephone Company, recently bought by a subsidiary of the American Telephone Company, signed a ten year lease, with occupancy to be taken upon completion of construction. Although not stated, this likely was for part (or possibly all) of the second floor. Within weeks of that announcement came news that the Young-Moore Co., "Jewelers and Opticians," had "leased the corner store in the new building," with occupancy upon completion. However, both of these leases apparently evaporated, never to be seen again. At the same time, the May 1 edition of the paper noted that "The brick work on the new building of Messrs. J.L. and Doc Walker is well under way. Beautiful is being used and the building will add greatly to the appearance of the town." The advent of July brought word that "Mr. John Lee Walker and Mr. R.L. Wethington were in Louisville last week to buy a moving picture outfit for the new building which Messrs. J.L. and Doc Walker are erecting on the square. Mr. Wethington has leased the new Picture Show Theater and we are sure he will give satisfaction to the public as he has done in the past. He is an experienced show man and has for several years brought an excellent class of pictures to Columbia." The brief notice ended with the comment, "It is reported that the new building will be opened before the county fair which begins August 14th." (Mr. Wethington's name first showed up in the pages of the News in the early 1920s in connection with the Columbia Taxi Line. After that, a series of ads appeared offering to buy ash billets--at twelve cents per--signed "R.L. Wethingon, Grader." The first mention found of him in relation to show business appeared in January 1928 in the Treasurer's report for the town of Columbia for the previous fiscal year. On October 9, 1926, the city received of R.L. Wethington $58.07 for "Show license, Fines, and Melon Tax . Shortly after the July announcement above, his name appeared under a text ad headlined "Shows this week,"--Tuesday July 3rd through Saturday July 7--which included "The way of All Flesh," "The Big Parade," and "The Shepherd of the Hills." Possibly, he had taken over managing the theater operation in Tutt's Hall after Horace Walker's departure in 1924.) As oft-times happened, the anticipated opening date (August 14th) for the new photo-play palace proved optimistic, but the September 4 newspaper proclaimed (using the theater's name for the first time) that "The New Rialto Theater opened last Tuesday evening [August 28] with a record breaking crowd in attendance. Every seat in the house was filled and those attending enjoyed the excellent picture with which the show made its debut, 'Don Juan,' featuring John Barrymore." This movie, a two-year-old Warner Bros. production, while a silent film (that is, it had no spoken dialogue), was the first to have "a synchronized musical score and sound effects" using the Vitaphone sound-on-a-disc (phonograph record) system. October arrived, and with it, an announcement undoing the correction published almost exactly eight months earlier: "Russell & Co. have moved into their new store owned by Messrs, John Lee and Doc Walker and had their formal opening last Thursday evening and Friday [September 27 & 28]. The opening was largely attended and the store was indeed lovely, looking very much like a real city store with its basement store, main floor, and second floor, all well filled with the latest fall goods. . ." This same edition of the News also reported (via paid advertising) that Russell & Co. had become a member of the "National Syndicate chain of stores with 3,000 merchants" in order to buy--and therefore sell--goods at lower prices. This story was posted on 2017-10-02 06:07:27
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