The sketch shows the location of the business buildings on the west side of Seneca Street in the 900 block which date back to 1869.

The Willson House was located in building #1. It was built by Walter C. Willson and was located in what is now the parking lot of the McFarland Clinic. The stagecoach stopped at this hotel to deliver and pick up passengers and freight. Later this building was owned by D. C. Chase and the name was changed to the Hamilton House. Much later, the name was again changed to the Park Hotel, since it was located across the street from what we today call West Twin Park.

Our first county courthouse was located in building #2. It was constructed in 1866 and served our county until the next courthouse was constructed in 1876 at the corner of Bank and Des Moines Streets. This early courthouse was moved to Wilson Brewer Park, more commonly called the Bonebright Museum Complex.

The building marked #3 appears as all one building, but there were actually three businesses constructed separately. The south part was the L. L. Estes Drug Store. J. J. Wadsworth was our first druggist. He was bought out by Estes, who learned the pharmacy business on the job. The first post office was located in the rear of the store. Estes was postmaster and also the freight agent for the Western Stage Company.

The center part of building #3 was owned by Kendall Young, who operated a dry goods store. He sold such items as crocks, boots, and utensils. When Jane Young became ill, Kendall took her back to her home state of Maine to recuperate and stayed with her for an extended period of time. Julius M. Jones entered into partnership in Young's absence and later took over the whole business. The north part of building #3 housed another general store owned by L. L. Treat.

D. H. Hartman operated a boot and shoe store in the adjacent building #4. Shoes and boots were made by hand and, at one time, he employed 15 or 20 men. Just north in building #5 was a grocery store, operated by A. E. Atwell and his son, Will. After his father's death, Will turned the store over to W. B. Howard while he went west to seek his fortune. He never came back, and it was assumed that he was killed by Indians or bandits.

Another small building, #6, on the south side of an alley, was another general store operated by S. S. Morrison and Burtus Wepel.

Across the alley north was a frame, two-story building that was erected by L. L. Estes as a commercial building. The building was 66 feet wide and 30 feet deep, and the first floor was divided into three businesses. The south room was the Charlie Lampe tobacco and cigar store. He also sold candy and gum. The middle room was yet another general store operated by George W. Crosley, and the north room was a boot and shoe repair business owned by William Hahne and Andrew Olson. The upper level was the first town hall and was used as a recruitment headquarters for the Civil War. Rallies were held in Seneca Street and the volunteers went up to the town hall to enlist. Entertainments were also held there for the community. The town hall was used for temporary school purposes before the North School Building was constructed. For a short while, the post office was located in the south room on the first floor.

The next building north, building #9 in the sketch, was the Rhodes Building, which was Webster City's first brick commercial building. The September 14, 1860 edition of the Hamilton Freeman reported that "John Rhodes has just purchased the lot north of the Town Hall, where he proposes to erect a brick store 22 by 46 feet. This is one of the choice business locations in town and Mr. Rhodes proposes to put up a building that will ornament our town." The April 3, 1867, paper reported "J. Rhodes is giving splendid bargains to his customers. Remember the place, just three doors north of the post office." But all optimism came to a halt with the April 18, 1867, paper report: "Mr. John Rhodes, one of the pioneer merchants of this place, has sold his stock of goods to David Beach and W. A. Crosley, who will continue business at the old stand. Mr. Rhodes wishes all indebted to him to call and settle accounts."

The second floor of the Rhodes Building housed the Masonic Hall. This is the only building mentioned in this article that still stands today. This building has housed many businesses from 1860 to date including several meat markets, a clothing store operated by P. M. Banks and his father-in-law, G. L. Levi, a plumbing business, a finance company, and a grocery.

North of the Rhodes Building was a meat market called Hamilton Meat Market, #10 in the sketch. It was owned by G. D. Hathaway, then by C. T. Babbitt. At a later time, the meat market moved into the Rhodes Building. At the corner location on the north was the J. D. Sketchley furniture store. This appears as #11 in the sketch. Sketchley also made and sold most of the coffins in the early days. The Sketchley family lived upstairs. This store, at the corner of Division and Seneca, later housed the Alkire grocery store.

On the east side of Seneca I show only three buildings. At the northwest corner of Bank and Seneca was the Samuel Baxter hardware and implement business. He kept much of his implement stock across Bank Street and east of the courthouse. He later became a county supervisor. To the east in building #14 was the location of Webster City's first bank. It was known as the Young, Estes & Company - a private bank. By this time, Estes and Young had sold their earlier stores. The two men went on to merge their bank into the First National Bank and constructed the building #13 for this enterprise. Young served as president and Estes as vice-president. Much later, after the bank was moved to Second Street, this building served the Forrester's Dairy.

There were other businesses, but I wanted to focus primarily on our oldest commercial brick building, the Rhodes Building. This building still stands today and it's pictured in this article. It has served since 1860 and serves today as the office of Rouse Appraisal and G. S. T. Services, which does industrial safety. The building is owned by Glenn Tjaden. An upstairs apartment is still in use today.