United Sash and Door Then and Now

209-211 Woodland Avenue

Have you ever driven down a street in your hometown and finally noticed a building so striking that you had to drop everything and learn all about it? Basically, all I knew about the area around the old Juneau lumber yard was how to get to Kate’s for a cheeseburger deluxe. It was a relief when the railroad tracks diagonally crossing Trail Street were removed because they were a bit bone-jarring toward the end. In hindsight, we should probably take a look at that area and its critical industrial infrastructure.

Hercules Juneau was a Civil War veteran born in Quebec. His lumber business was very successful and he owned a fair amount of property.

H. Juneau’s Addition was platted in February of 1912. Trail Street was still called Locust Street at that time and the military reservation boundary was still south of the road.

The addition was resized in February of 1920 after C. C. Isely had taken over operation of the Juneau Lumber Co. At this time, Block 1 was still a single parcel.

Juneau died in February of 1921 and the company had become the Isely Lumber Co. by 1924. The Juneau Park Subdivision of Block 1 was platted in January of 1926. By then, Locust Street had become Santa Fe Trail Street and the State Road was referred to as Fort Dodge Road. Rail sidings had been established to serve multiple businesses in the area including the Fairmont Creamery on Maple Street.

The 1926 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map is interesting because it includes a rare error. The sheet covering this property incorrectly lists the street as “Woodward Ave.” However, the index sheet shows “Woodland.” The long frame building that covered this lot was vacant at that time.

A new building had been constructed at 209-211 Woodland Avenue by 1928 and it was occupied by a local branch of United Sash and Door Co., which was headquartered in Wichita. It appears the company was also using the north end of what is commonly known as the Roberts Tractor building.

The 1932 Sanborn shows United Sash and Door Co. with the wooden dock shown above and the office at the north end.

In 1937, United Sash and Door was sharing space with Dodge City Transfer Company. By 1939, there was no Dodge City branch of United Sash and Door. Instead, the building was occupied by Grant & Billingsley Fruit Company and Dodge City Transfer Co.

The building sat vacant through the bulk of the 1940s until Marvin Layman came along. Layman Farm Supply was located at 209 Woodland in the early 1950s but by 1953, it was vacant again.

Finally, Morrison L Acre moved Tex Acre Neon Sign Service into the building around 1960.

By 1962, the building was a used furniture store. It was listed in the directory as Harold’s Furniture Shop but ads later in the year mentioned Harold Orth in connection with Don’s Auction.

The building went through another long empty spell until being occupied by Simmons electric.

For quite a while now, the old United Sash and Door building has been used as extra storage for C & M Supply. There is remarkable symmetry in this arrangement since the main C & M building was part of the old lumber yard and the building on Woodland was part of the original parcel. More on that later!

Here’s how it looked about a year ago:

If you look at the Google Maps Satellite Layer, you can see the roof is still the same shape as in the black and white photo. Some of the windows are also in the same spots. It’s unclear when that amazing Spanish-style stucco façade was added.

The next time you’re out and about, try to look at your hometown through the eyes of someone passing through for the first time. Who knows what you’ll see.

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