118.647.4

This photograph was taken, in about 1895, of a construction job on the south side of Onondaga (Main) Street in Ames of a structure which today [2010] is 236 Main and is occupied by Gilger Designs. The building to the left of the store under construction (west of it) is wooden. The brick store to the left of the store under construction (east of it) was occupied for many years by the Fair Store. The Fair Store and the store here under construction were built by John Cole, a Civil War veteran, who came to Ames in 1865 at the age of 19. His son Ben also became a builder [Ben Cole & Son] and built many of Ames's iconic stuctures (the Sixth Street overpass, the 1937 Ames High School building, which in 1990 became the Ames City Hall). The men in this photograph are not identified except for John Cole, the man in the vest on the far right.