Seward History

Seward had a Brick Yard for many years on South Columbia, about 5 or 6 blocks south of Seward Street. It operated primarily for the first third of the 20th Century. My Dad worked there for a short time when I was 5 or 6 years old and remember his showing me the inside of a kiln. It was a scary sight. A fire led to its demise during the '30's. The smokestack picture was taken in the '20's when Elaine's Grandparents, Charles and Anna Koch, lived on South Columbia across the street from the Brick Yard. (Lower right in the picture). She recalls hearing her folks tell of having taken this picture of a workmen doing repair work on the smokestack. He had a camera with him and took the following picture showing the Grandparents house as well as the old Seward City Mill, the Dam on the Blue River  and the little RR Water Tower near the Depot as well as several houses which are still occupied. The story had a tragic ending with the workman falling off the smokestack to his death. While this all happened back in the early 20's, the little RR Water Tower met its demise this past week when it was demolished. It had been used to store Agricultural Chemicals after the days of the Steam Engines. Some of us thought it would have made a great "Welcome to Seward" icon but that was not to be. The intersection shown is 1st and River Street looking west with the little Water Tower on the right side of the river near the top of the picture.