186 
 
 
                        OMRO FIFTY YEARS AGO 
                           By Ada Moran 
 
     Fifty years ago, Omro had five churches, three schools, one 
on the north side of the river, one in the east end of the village 
and the high school, the "Old Red Brick" just north of the present

building; two dry goods stores, one jewelry store, two drug stores, 
two tailor shops, one barber shop, seven groceries, one millinery 
store, one furniture store and one undertaking establishment, two 
hardware stores, one harness shop, three blacksmith shops, one flour 
and feed store, two meat markets, two hotels, two restaurants, one 
ltumber and shingle mill, one planing mill, one carriage shop, one 
wagon and paint shop and only one saloon. Two doctors and two 
practical nurses cared for the sick. 
 
     The village was lighted by kerosene lamps on posts set at 
intervals along the principal streets. Every morning a man with 
a little horse-drawn cart stopped at each one and with a short 
ladder climbed up and filled and cleaned the lamps, and at the 
close of day he made the trip to light each one. 
 
     There was no fire department, but every man grabbed a bucket 
and rushed out d                    of0. "Fire t" 
 
     The milk was brought to the door in a covered wagon drawn by 
a spirited? horse, a large can with a faucet stood in the front of 
the wagon. The tickets were used over and over again, milk was 
six cents a quart. 
 
     We had a tiny daily paper called "The Daily Doings" but we

got most of our news from the milkman or the errand boy who some- 
times deliveved the groceries. 
 
     Every one used wood for the cook stoves, and very few used 
coal for heating. 
 
     Oh yes, we had a weekly paper, the Omro Journal and a very 
good paper it was too. We had also, a news room where one could 
obtain all the latest periodicals, rent a few books, buy books, 
and have books rebound.. 
 
     Two daily stages went to Oshkosh summer and winter, one came 
through Berlin and the other from Waukau, both were owned by an 
Omro man. 
     And the Post Office, that was the place where the young people 
met when the evening mail came from the s outh by train.   MYany a mild 
flirtation was carried on while waiting for the post to be distribut-~ 
ed. The mail was carried. from Omro to Oshkosh and Berlin by stage. 
The stage driver also did most of the errands at those cities for 
the Omroites. The bread, cookies and other baking was brought to 
the restaurant by stage as we had no bakery in town. Bread was five 
and. ten cents a loaf, cookies and doughnuts ten cents a dozen. Here 
is a sample order for one day, ten loaves of white bread, four loaves 
 
 
of graham, two loaves of rye, three dozen white cookies, three dozen 
fruit cookies and three dozen ginger cookies, those were the big, 
fat cookies baked by the Zinn Bakers of Oshkosh. 
 
     In summer a steam boat plied between Berlin and Oshkosh halt- 
ing at Omro.