Business moved often in the early days

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent 
With Leonard Cash
 
Since finishing up his series on the post office, historian Leonard Cash has turned to a short series on multiple buildings near the post office, because the records are sparse. 
To kick things off, Cash pulled up his records and his memories for 15 S. Sumner Ave., which is now the Patrick Crow Law Office. 
“According to the Sanborn map, there’s no record of the building before 1912,” Cash said, noting that the first records listed the building as a female boarding house, and then in 1920, it was listed as a warehouse. 
“The records are kind of sketchy,” Cash said. 
According to a News Letter Journal article from Oct. 31, 1935, the newspaper office moved into the “Durkee” building (Crow’s office), where it stayed until 1949 before relocating to its current site. The newspaper had previously been located in what is now Perkin’s Tavern for 12 years. 
After the newspaper left the premises, George Butler Photograph Studio opened up in the building, as reported on Feb. 23, 1950. In 1969, Butler moved his studio across the street into the Isabella’s red barn building, located on 12 S. Sumner.
Thomas Whitley then moved his law firm into the building vacated by Butler, and “Edward S. Halsey has retained his law office in the Grieves (Perkin’s) building on Main Street,” according to a Sept. 11, 1969, article. 
Whitley, who practiced law for many years in Newcastle, died at Weston County Memorial Hospital on Dec. 3, after suffering from cancer for six years, as reported in the News Letter Journal of Dec 9, 1993. 
Whitley was from Nebraska and moved to Newcastle in 1940, where he graduated from high school and later received his Bachelor of Arts and law degree at the University of Wyoming. He served “a stint” in the U.S. Army (later retiring as a colonel in 1986), before practicing law in 1954, with his partner Halsey. He also shared an office with Gordon Schukei.
In 1958, Mayor Henry Stephenson appointed Whitley the city attorney, a position he held until 1963. During that time, he married Janice Bahr and they had three children, David, Michael and Annie. 
After leaving his city post, Whitley served as county attorney for 23 years. In 1951, he and Paul Liamos were admitted to the Wyoming State Bar, and in 1991, he received the Community Service Pro Bono Award. He was “selected for his consistent and long term involvement with community service programs.” 
Whitley was involved with the community not only as a lawyer but also in his private life, serving both the Methodist church and the Boy Scouts. 
“Longtime friend Bill Boulden said Whitley had the ability to ‘make everybody happy’ while at the same time getting everything done,” the 1993 article says. “But, Boulden said, he was quiet about his contributions.” 
Whitley kept a busy life, serving as president for the Newcastle Area Chamber of Commerce, the Newcastle Lions Club, the Newcastle Country Club and the Weston County Memorial Hospital and Manor board. 
Whitley was also the chairman of the Weston County Republican Central Committee, the Newcastle Centennial Committee (for he loved history) and two Newcastle High School All-School Reunions, and he was the director of the Black Hills Playhouse board.
Dr. Robert Firebaugh officiated at his funeral, which was conducted “with full military honors.” Whitley is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. 
Around Jan. 27, 1994, the paper stated, Patrick Crow took over the law firm. Crow was from Cheyenne and graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1971. 
After graduating, he immediately went into the Army and he served both in the U.S. (at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver) and internationally in parts of West Germany and Korea. While serving in the Army, Crow kept up with his law studies. 
“He received his Masters of Law in military law during a year in the states. He retired from the Army in 1988 with his final tour at Falls Church, Va.,” the article says. 
After leaving the Army, Crow worked as a contract litigator in Washington, D.C., but he wanted to get back to small-town life. That’s when he moved to Newcastle to establish his law firm. 
And that wraps up the short history on Crow’s office, so Cash moved into his records on the building next door, located on 17 S. Sumner, currently an apartment building. 
“This one’s going to be real sketchy too,” Cash said. “It was a store building … right there at Crow’s office going up the hill … on the south side.” 
According to reports from Feb. 21, 1952, Robert S. Skanadore was opening a sheet metal shop around March 1, “in conjunction with our Plumbing and Heating Business.” 
After the plumbing company left, Lorraine Flower and Gift Shop opened up, reported the Nov. 5, 1953, newspaper, with Custer native Betty Hamilton joining. She was a floral design artist and brought “several years’ experience in the floral business.” However, Cash said, the floral business didn’t stay in that building very long.
Western Union Telegraph Co. moved in with the flower shop, according to July 15, 1954, newspaper reports, and eventually, Judge McAvoy turned the building into an apartment, which is its current state, Cash said.
The final building in this series that Cash wanted to cover is located on 22 S. Summit, which is across the street from the previous building, next to the current location of the telephone office. 
Cash said he doesn’t remember when this building was built and couldn’t find any records on it, but he knows it existed in the 1950s, and it was called the “Smith Building.” 
According to a news report from Aug. 2, 1956, the Credit Bureau of Newcastle resided there, and in 1959, the Wyoming State Employment Service occupied the space.
However, before moving to the “Smith Building,” the Wyoming State Employment Service was located on Seneca Street across from Antler’s Hotel and behind Cashbox Ceramics (previously the home of Madeline’s Dress Shop), according to an article from 1951 reprinted in the June 3, 1976, edition of the News Letter Journal, after moving from the armory. 
The manager at the time was Alice Addington (later Schuette), and she had been with the agency since 1946, starting as a stenographer. Eventually, in 1949, she worked her way up to manager, and Newcastle native Lorna Allen became the stenographer. Another employee was Lloyd J. Reimer, who worked as an interviewer. 
The article said that business for the employment service was successful in an “unbelievable amount.” 
According to an article from July 11, 1957, Schuette resigned by July 1, and “she was the only woman manager in the state’s twelve major employment offices.” She was commended for her work while there, and her plans were to manage her ranch near the Upton area with her husband and son. Ralph Parlett of Torrington succeeded her position. 
Cash will continue discussing the history of 22 South Summit in next week’s installment of the “History on Main series.”