Part two of Richmond IN.

JOHN’S TEAL & GOLD STORE. Come in and talk about 80s interior design.

Oh, look: now we know what it was.

A small one, too. And to think little places like this spawned the sprawl of K-Mart.

I’d love to know the history of this one.

You know the building had another wing. It was symmetrical, and something caused the loss of the left side. But when? It happened long ago, because there’s no scar on the side. Just a mural. (The 2009 view doesn’t show a mural.)

Bethard auto:

He got a full page in the paper when he opened up shop.

The local business put this together without knowing what a historical resource it would be some day.

From Australia to Gotham:

The cenotaph of Mr. John J. Steel, who had a banner year in 1915. We presume. Why the deep entrance? Why is there a driveway?

The only thing that comes up in 1915 for John J. Steel: admitted to the Spanish-American War Veterans association. In 1906 he’s listed as the recipient of a liquor license. A 1919 piece describes the sale of Steel’s building, noting that it’s an auto dealership.

Oh, but in 1944: a newspaper columnist tells the story about the mayor getting a letter from a local kid in Italy, complaining that the soldiers don’t have any good sheepheading going on. It’s a card game, we gather, and the writer recommends some local men who were known to play the game in their day. The columnist rounded them up for a photo to show the soldier who he’d be playing when he gets back, and wouldn’t you know it, there’s John J. Steel.

This is why I do this feature. I mean, we’re not exactly entirely different people for learning what we just did about a name on a building, but it brought him back to life for a second.

You shameless hussy! If I build the windows the way you want, men on stilts could see your ankles?

All right, we’ll compromise. I get the ones you want and you get the ones you want.

Stripped cornice, swoopy awnings - it has its dignity neverthelesss.

OUMB, but I like it:

There’s a real mid-60s feel to this thing, and while the building looks like it could draw blood if someone was rubbed up against it, it’s unique - and no doubt made the townsfolk feel as if Richmond still had it. Skin job, I think.

As was this:

It’s like a slice of the Seagram Building. But what a wretched first-floor renovation. No no no.

Finally, something of a mystery - at least at first. This looked like an old institutional building - something civic from the 50s. It has a flagpole.

Next door:

Another abandoned building.

Google time machine shows the old facade and purpose:

It was turned into . . . yes, altogether now. SENIOR HOUSING.

I didn’t find the usual 1920s hotel; I wonder if they got one at all.

Fascinating place. Much more than I would have thought. Good luck, Richmond; you’ve got a nice little town to revive.