Washington Avenue, Cedarburg in 1940s

At the time this photograph was taken, every other store along this segment of Washington Avenue was a hardware store. A Studebaker automobile/Ford Tractor dealership occupied the building between two of the hardware stores. This building later became the City Hall and is now the Washington Avenue Shoppes.

The view from the steeple of St. Francis Borgia church looking north along Washington Avenue has not changed significantly over the years, as attested by the similarity between this image and a photograph from the early 1940’s in the Edward A. Rappold Collection.

Washington Avenue north of the Columbia Road intersection has also remained relatively unchanged from the 1940s to the present. Here, only the style of the automobiles parked along either side of the street suggests the date of the photograph.

Washington Avenue north of Mill Street had a slightly different look in the 1940s and 1950s than it does today, however, Pate gasoline was then sold at Rick Chevrolet, located on the northwest corner of the intersection.  Pate gasoline is no longer available, and Rick Chevrolet has since become Newman Chevrolet and is located just north of Cedarburg.

[Source: Cedarburg 1946-1964 Photographs]