200 Block – South

200 Block – South. 200 Block East Main. Although there was no money to grade and drag Norman's Main Street for the first few years, there were wooden sidewalks within eight months of the town's settling in 1889. In summer months, a municipal sprinkling system was activated to keep the dust down so merchants could open their doors. , Concrete sidewalks came by 1895. Contractor Jack Kahoe road graded Main Street to keep water from standing on rainy days. A municipal ordinance required each building to have a fire barrel standing at the ready. , Another of Norman's disastrous downtown fires gutted much of the 200 block of East Main Street, on the south side, between Crawford Avenue and Peters Avenue. The blaze came in the early morning hours on a fall Sunday morning in 1923. Security National Bank and nine other businesses in the block were destroyed in the blaze. , The fire began in the Berry Mercantile company's basement. A passerby saw the flames about midnight and alerted the city's fledgling fire department. Help was summoned from Oklahoma City firefighters but it arrived too late and much was lost in the fire. Hundreds of residents turned out to watch the inferno which burned well into the next day. , The fire was nearly as disastrous as the one in the summer of 1902, which destroyed the 100 block of the south side. The 200 block contained department stores; and dynamite and shells carried as part of their stock exploded, threatening the post office, several furniture stores and a drug store located nearby. , Much to the surprise of the residents and depositors, Security Bank reopened two days later in nearby rented space. The neighboring First National Bank and City National Bank pitched in to help and the Post Office, also located on the south side of the street, offered its vault to the struggling bank. Damage to the block was estimated to be more than $500,000 – with only some of that amount covered by insurance. , Just three years later, the block was nearly fully rebuilt with a new bank, grocery and meat markets, drug stores, two shoe stores, and the Woolworths and Rucker Department stores. C.R. Anthony and Co. opened at 210 E. Main Street. It is believed to have had the city's first escalator where kids could play for hours while their parents shopped. Kelly's Bar, a popular but short-lived watering hole, operated in the block during the oil boom days. , Meyer and Meyer Furniture and Undertaking operated at 228 E. Main. They later dropped the furniture line and operated a funeral home a block south on Comanche Street. , Essays by Andy Rieger . Research assistance by Bob Rice