Return to Reflections index page
issue date - February 9, 2003
 |
| Wintry scene - The date March 20, 1936 appears almost as a watermark on the front of this photo, a partial view of "the square" in Gowanda, from the Cattaraugus County side of the bridge. Although most of America is in the throes of the Depresion, Gowanda is virtually unscathed, able to exist self-sufficiently. Bargains can be found around town at this time. Campbell's Pork and Beans is selling for seven cents a can, and the Kronz-Gibbs Garage ans Service Station on Railroad Avenue sells a Ford Deluxe Coupe - no year given - for $732. The Kiwanis Club is also established in 1936. The biggest event to take place, though iswhen the original Potter house is moved and a new brick building, the Gowanda Free Library, is constructed on the site. The doors to the new facility open in September. There are also improvements made to the Gowanda High School and $75,000 is shelled out for the new addition. According to a record of the time, "under the supervision of Professor Harold G. Hoffman, 1,020 pupils are given all the advantages of a modern education." (Photo courtesy of Gowanda Area Historical Society.) |