WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
The Three Rivers city limits were extended beyond the 300 block of South Douglas Avenue in 1930. In1959 only two homes were on Douglas between King St. and Buck. #512 John Mason (crane opr), wife Geraldine (Eddy Paper). #518 Leon Russey (Continental Can), wife Carla, ch: Steven, Michel. Buck Street intersects. #653 John Meadows (Continental Can) wife Lottie, ch: Harold, Brenda, David. #518 Leon Russey (Continental Can) wife Carla, ch: Steven, Michel. 1985 also shows #512 Mason and # 518 Russey living at same addresses.
Residents of the 500 block between King and Buck in 1968: #500 Dwight Monroe Jr. (Continental Can), wife Delores (Rainbow Inn) ch: Vicki, Bruce, Karen, Lance, Scott. #512 Jerry Henry (Armstrong Machine & Red Barn) wife Angela, ch: Elise, Judith. #518 Leon Russey (Continental Can), wife Carla, ch: Steven, Michael, Steven Russey #526 Raymond A. Schaffer (Weyerhauser) wife Olive, ch: Bruce, Ronda, Laurene.
Between Buck and Hill Streets in 1959-1967 the west side of the 600 block became home to the Immaculate Conception Church at #637 and the Rectory at #645 and it left land for the future growth. #601 is the new school address. It was built in 1989 under Father Michel Hazard’s direction brought the students from the old building on South Main. They had outgrown the buildings on South Main (sold in 1989 to the Twin County Probation Center). In 2018 the original church building on Main St. was torn down. The sandstone cross that once hung on the old building’s exterior and the cornerstone were given to the church and placed at the new church building. Roger Doering, draftsman and Calvin “Cal” Harshberger, mason, oversaw the project. In 2025 the church is still carrying on the mission of feeding the hungry and those who thirst. . . A mission that Father Allouez established in 1680 when he sat on a high sand bluff that overlooked the St. Joseph River.
Residents of the east side between Buck and Hill in 1968: #600 Erling Halverson (employee Armstrong Machine Works), wife Kathryn. #608 Fred and Mary Gombosi, retired. #616 Frank and wife Adeline Simone, retired. #620 Aaron Hawks (Portage Metal), wife Blanche. #624 Carl and wife Carmela Didato, (retired from Didato Grocery) 1207 S. Main. The building still is a store today. Next time South Douglas Ave. continued to the end.
Submitted by Anna Smith, a Three Rivers history and mystery lover.
