Fun Finds!

As the boys had to do some work underneath the building, they also came across pieces of history that belong to the building (besides finding dead animal carcasses, dead spiders, and other creepy, crawly things, living or dead).

First off were these signs that have the name of the very first store that this building was created for in the late 1890s.

Along with many pieces of these signs were lots of coal, a pipe, an old spittoon, a Lucky Strike cigarette box and a remnants of a shirt that was labeled "O'Bryan". After some research, we found this to be the name of the manufacturer that later became Duck Head. Here is a little excerpt from Wikipedia:

The Duck Head brand was founded in 1865 in Nashville, Tennessee by George and Joe O'Bryan, two brothers who were buying surplus U.S. Army tent material. The material was a heavy canvas known as "duck", and the brothers began making work pants and shirts out of the strong material.

Also found was an insurance policy from 1936 from Warmath & Dunlap of Humboldt signed by K.L. Dunlap for when the store was Thweatt Bros. Below are a few pics from the policy...

 

In addition to finding odd things, we have uncovered spaces in the walls.While exposing the brick, an archway was found that oddly enough was covered in wallpaper (remember, this was all under plaster). It looks like it could go all the way through to the building next door, but it stops. About 1.5 feet above the arch is another space that contained a flue and it also had a metal drawer that pulls out that would have contained soot. Above that is a round hole that an exhaust pipe would fit in. So was it a fire stove? A secret entryway? Who knows, but we must find something cool to do with the space! Suggestions are welcome!

Old structures are fun, as long as you can muster up the patience and the stamina to get through it all!