Germans on Ashley Street

Germans on Ashley Street. . , Fred Wagner's blacksmith shop was one of many German-owned west-side businesses providing services for horse-drawn vehicles. Wagner repaired carriages and wagons and shoed horses. Nearby livery stables rented out horses and carriages. Around the corner on Liberty, at Christian Walker's Ann Arbor Carriage Works, skilled carpenters, blacksmiths, upholsterers, and painters took pride in producing custom carriages. At lunchtime, workmen bought beer by the bucket from nearby saloons. In 1914 the Wagner blacksmith shop was replaced by the new meeting "halle" of the Schwaben Verein, Ann Arbor's longest-lasting German organization. The Schwaben name is still on the sidewalk and windows. By the 1920s most neighborhood businesses were serving cars and trucks instead of horses and carriages. , , Upper image caption: , Wagner blacksmith shop, 215 South Ashley Street, ca. 1880 , Later site of Schwaben Halle , , Top image left inset caption: , By 1930s Volz's, at 109 South Ashley Street, combined welding with blacksmithing. A and L Battery sold auto parts next door to the right. , , Top image right inset caption: , The Carriage Works, 113-119 West Liberty Street, ca. 1890, later became the Ann Arbor Art Center. , , Bottom left image caption: , Parade float in front of Hertler's Barn, Labor Day, 1916. , , Bottom right image caption: , George Gottlob, and Herman Hertler, with their sister Emma, catered to the farming community from 1906 to 1975. From their store at 210 South Ashley Street they sold feed and seed, tools and equipment, dispensed agricultural advice and information, and hosted euchre games. For ten cents, farmers could leave their horses with hay and water while doing business downtown. , , Sponsored by the owners of Downtown Home and Garden and the owners of the Schwaben Building , , Photos courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library