Gates Tavern in Traer pictured in the 1940s. Years later, the restaurant/corner became the home of Traer Pizza Palace which shuttered in August following the owners’ retirement. PHOTO COURTESY OF TRAER HISTORICAL MUSEUM

TRAER – While we wait to see the future of the Pizza Palace property in Traer (the restaurant’s owners retired in August), let’s look back at the early history of the SW corner of Main and First streets. It’s hard to imagine the corner with anything but a restaurant but in the early days of the corner it was occupied by the McCornack Bros. lumber and machinery business.

The McCornack family were among the early Scottish settlers in the Tranquillity neighborhood. Robert and Peter were engaged in farming but saw opportunities in the new town of Traer and started their lumber and machinery business. In 1883, they expanded and opened a lumber yard in Gladbrook.

Marcus Kahler and Orin Hartshorn purchased the business in 1886. Kahler was working at the Brooks and Moore Bank and Orin Hartshorn moved here from Ohio. In 1888, Hartshorn moved back to Ohio and Asa Ames became a partner in the business for a time. Lyman Wood soon replaced Mr. Ames and was a partner.

Lyman Wood was born in Tama County in 1858, son of Jonas and Margaret (Connell) Wood and grew up on a farm near old Buckingham. Kahler & Wood built a large new warehouse in 1899. The building was 100 feet square, constructed of wood, with over 80 bents or apartments for lumber of all grades and dimensions. The entire building had electric lights, and the office was heated by steam. The cost of the building was about $3,000.

Marcus Kahler died in 1905 at the age of 61. J.O. French bought the Kahler interest and moved to Traer from Searsboro, south of Grinnell. Three years later, he sold his interest to John H. Marsau and moved to Colorado. Marsau immigrated from Germany and ran a meat business in Reinbeck and the lumber business in Dysart before coming to Traer. Wood and Marsau remained partners until both retired. The firm was sold to the L. A. Page Lumber company of Mason City in 1912. Page owned several lumber yards.

Kahler & Wood’s lumber warehouse, built in 1899, located on the southwest corner of Main (US 63) and First streets in Traer where the now closed Traer Pizza Palace operated. PHOTO COURTESY OF TRAER HISTORICAL MUSEUM

On March 8, 1928, a fire started and quickly consumed the Page lumber building. The Traer Fire Department summoned assistance from neighboring towns to help. The fire was so intense that little could be done. Flames shot into the air and could be seen from miles away. The wind carried embers for blocks and people carried pails of water to extinguish small fires.

The fire department sprayed the buildings across the alley to prevent the fire from spreading. Several small roof fires were extinguished on businesses. The power line poles in front of the building were burned. There were gasoline filling stations located across the street to the east and north. Several window panes were cracked in the Farnham Hospital from the heat.

Traer Fire had three streams of water on the fire. Gladbrook and Reinbeck came with their fire trucks. The five lines threw water at a rate of 80,000 gallons per hour. The building and contents were a total loss but the books and records in the bricked steel vault were untouched by flames. A few weeks after the fire, Farmer’s Lumber Company in Traer struck a deal to buy the lot and the Page lumber yard at Buckingham.

The empty lot was the site of the Traer Merchants’ Exhibit and Automobile show in May 1929. More than 30 Traer business institutions participated in the five day event under a tent.

Mid-Continent Petroleum Company built a new filling station on the northwest corner of the lot in 1929. The name changed to Diamond Service Station in 1932 and later DX in 1943. In 1963 it became a Freeway Service Station. When Highway 63 was widened to four lanes, the station closed permanently.

L.A. Page Lumber Company located on the southwest corner of Main (US 63) and First streets in Traer where the now closed Traer Pizza Palace operated. On March 8, 1928, a fire consumed the building. PHOTO COURTESY OF TRAER HISTORICAL MUSEUM

In 1937, the Traer Food Locker was built west of the gas station. The invention of commercial size refrigeration and freezer systems made it possible to freeze and store meat. Locker plants rented space to local families to store frozen meat, fruit and vegetables. Home freezers became more efficient and the locker plant closed in 1957.

Vokoun Body & Fender Shop occupied the building in the early 1960s. Sheryl Sealock bought the building in 1967 for his DeKalb Seed business and expanded to other ag products. John Lang bought the building and a majority share in the business in 1978.

Ira Gates bought the south portion of the lot in 1932 and built a café. The Gates Coffee Shop was a new eating place located on the new primary highway through Traer. The restaurant continued to be popular, and the name was changed to Gate’s Tavern in 1944.

Joe and Marcella Martin bought the business in 1950 and moved to Traer with their four children Robert, Richard, Donald and Marjorie. Martin had previously farmed near Blairstown, Iowa. Martin’s Tavern and Café was in business for 14 years until Joe retired.

Harold and Maxine Quackenbush purchased the café and changed the name to the Town House in 1964. Mr. Quackenbush was a former plasterer and lather in Waterloo. Maxine’s aunt, Marlys Fillgraf, had been employed at the café by the Martins. In 1967, they purchased the old gas station next door and made it a parking lot. The building remained for a few years and was used as an office and as a barber shop for a time.

Mid-Continent Petroleum Company’s new filling station was built on the future Traer Pizza Palace footprint in 1929. PHOTO COURTESY OF TRAER HISTORICAL MUSEUM

Dale and Donna Franklin purchased the Town House in 1971. Matt and Carol Moore bought the business in 1973 and built an addition on the north side to house a new dining room. Jack Rash was the manager.

George Papouchis bought the Towne House in 1975. He previously worked at S&W TV & Appliance in Traer. He was from Mason City where his family had a restaurant. Papouchis operated the restaurant until 1980 when he moved to Ames, Iowa. The restaurant changed hands a few times in the following years.

Dwayne Swanger opened the Pizza Palace in 1989 and continued until Rundels bought the business in 2008.

What will occupy the building next?