Before the redevelopment project that began in 1973, one of the most familiar  and prominent features of Main Street was Lincoln Square. Lincoln Square was located just East of Church Street where Union Street branched off from Main Street. For those who remember, the main feature of the “square” was the white Gulf Station that was at the beginning of the flatiron area of buildings between Main and Union Streets. Lincoln Square acquired its name because of the furniture company owned by John C. Lincoln and which was located in a four story building that was replaced by the Gulf Station. The Lincoln Furniture building, formerly known as “The Cushman Block”,  was originally erected by J. Ellsworth Cushman, a local businessman who owned several other pieces of property at the Main and Union Streets junction and conducted a furniture store and a coffin making business in the new building. In 1874, John C. Lincoln purchased the building from Cushman and conducted his well-known furniture business from that location. In August, 1936 people were shocked to learn that the Lincoln Block , sitting in the midst of the city’s business district, was going to be razed and the block “put to some other use”. That turned out to be the Gulf Station. The station and four other buildings that comprised the beginning of the Lincoln Square area were the first to be razed in the redevelopment project. An interesting historical note is that in the early 1890s, when the town officials were trying to decide on a location for the new Town Building, one of Cushman’s lots adjacent to the Lincoln Building was considered to be a prime possibility. However, several more sites had been mentioned and for almost two years, the pros and cons of each site were debated. The Cushman lot and the Chase lot (the site of the present day Town Hall) eventually became prime contenders, each with very vocal supporters. Those in favor of the Cushman lot felt that a town building should be in the city’s business district and that High Street was “too far West”. But after several long and contentious town meetings over five hundred citizens attended the town meeting of December, 1894 and after several speeches and a number of votes, ended up choosing the Chase lot on the corner of High and Main Streets. One has to wonder, even today, what the redevelopment plan of the 1970s would have been had the Town Hall been built in the Lincoln Square area. For questions or comments about this  week’s photo or article, please e-mail us at “threadcity@outlook.com”.

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