2. Who built the first Church in Knightstown..??
3. Who authorized the building of the National Road..???
4. When did he do it…???
5. When did interurban rail service to Knightstown begin..??
6. When did it end..??
7. What was a “Knightstown Galahad”..??
Answers at the bottom of the “Knightstown was a busy place” page.
In 1938 Louie Flory had arrived in Knightstown from Illinois, and stopped in at Kendall’s Barber Shop. While there he heard that someone was needed to help in the Bowling Alley. Mr. Flory said: “I could do that” and headed over to apply for employment.
Cecil Binford (either owned the building or was the manager) hired Flory to work there. Leslie Williams was also an employee who worked either a day or night shift.
After taking the job at the Bowling Alley, Louie Flory returned to the barber shop. He was asked if he had taken a drink from the fountain on the square and he said he had: then he was told “if you drink from that fountain you’ll never leave Knightstown” and he didn’t.
He and Jane Flory opened up their own shop next to the Alhambra Theatre and later moved the shop to Main Street where it was in operation for many, many years. It was later managed by the Flory daughter, Dolly, who married Richard McCormack.
I don’t remember when the alley was closed. It was located where the Paint Store was (now closed). I have been told the alleys were dismantled and stored upstairs over the Paint Store. (may still be there).
Great story..!! thanks again Vivian..!!!
1. Who was Brown Street named for..??
General Jacob Jennings Brown hero of the War of 1812. B1775-D1828
(click on the link for more info.)
http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/people/brown.html
President Thomas Jefferson
March 29th, 1806
1903
1938
It was a hearse built by the Knightstown Funeral Car Company. There were 2 companies making Hearses and Ambulances in Knightstown in the early 20th century. Read all about them at the links. Treva sent that Clarence Post told her that there were actually three Bowling Alleys in K-town. One in the basement under Hopkin’s Furniture Store, one in the Odd Fellows building, and the best known one near Citizens Bank on Main Street. This little article is about the latter.
Kay wrote that she liked to go to the Bowling Alley because she had a huge crush on the owner’s son, Gary (Gabby) Binford. The Binfords moved to Portland, Indiana when they sold the business and left Knightstown.
Rosie told me that her sister and her sister’s friend would clean and set pins for the owner, Cecil Binford, and he would let them bowl for free.
Bob Myers shared his memories of the Bowling Alley with us as follows:
The Bowling Alley was next door to the Citizens National Bank. Later it became a tavern and in the 1960s Alvin Harden, president of the bank bought the building and made the drive through for the bank. The Strand Theater was next door to the bowling alley. In the good old days when everyone went to town on Saturday evening, we used to go to the Alhambra for a movie and then went duck pinning afterwards.
I was in my pre-teens during this time. The movie, a box of dum-dums, a bag of Flory’s pop-corn and two lines of duck pins cost 50 cents. Not bad for an evening of good entertainment. My weekly allowance…..
Great stuff, thanks Bob…!!!
Don Rhodes who graduated KHS in 1950 very kindly sent an excerpt from his autobiography in which he describes his experience working at the Bowling Alley. He started working there when he was a freshman and continued throughout his high school years. I was very happy to receive his account and be able to include it here. It gives us a wonderful bit of insight about what it was like. Thank you Don…!!!
I started working at the bowling alley in September (of 1946). I had to get a Social Security card when I started working. Cecil Binford was the owner and a good person to work for. A couple of years later, Cecil sold the bowling alley to Jim LaForge.
The bowling alley was located on Main Street in the building that used to house the Strand Theater. I believe it was late occupied by Cooney’s Photography Studio.
The bowling alley was a “Duck Pin Alley”. the pins were smaller than regular bowling alley pins and the balls were smaller and solid. We had four bowling lanes. Richard Davis set pins on lane number 1, Eddie Vaughn on lane number 2, Victor Wyatt on lane number 3 and I set on lane number 4.
I set the pins near the end of the bowling lane. I had little red dots to tell me where to set the pins. Behind the pins was a drop-off where the pins and balls would after the ball hit the pins. This was a four foot square called the “pit area”. I had a little seat that I would hop up on when the bowler rolled the ball. When the ball came into the pit area, I would jump down and pick up the ball and roll it back to the bowler on a track that went from the pit area back to the bowler. I would give the ball a push so it would go all the way back. I would then jump down into the pit and clear the lane of any down pins that did not go into the pit area. After the second ball was rolled, I would jump down, send the ball back and set up the ten pins for the next bowler.
If someone wanted to bowl in my lane I would turn the light on and jump up on my seat. When the ball came down the lane i would put my feet together and hold them out to block any pin that might come in my direction. The balls were small and some bowlers would roll the ball very fast. If the ball was rolled fast and hit the head pin straight on there was a good possibility that the head pin would go airborne and hopefully not in my direction. There were many times when a pin would hit me on the shins or fly up and hit the wall behind me and come back down on me. If some guys were throwing exceptionally hard Cecil would tell them to slow it down. If i wanted to be mean, and i was on some occasions, I would set the head pin about an inch in front of the first red dot. The bowler wasn’t able to see that i did that. When the ball hit the head pin it was a sure split and the pin would usually go flying.
We usually worked on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon and evening. We would work other nights if needed. If there was a basketball game in the middle of the week we would always work after the game. Most games were played on Friday nights and we would be very busy after the game and work until about 1:00.
I was paid by the amount of games that were played on my lane while I was setting pins. I received 15 cents for each game. Usually two or four people would bolw at the same time. For four people that would be 60 cents for a game which doesn’t sound like very much of an income. However, on a busy night I would work from about 6:00 until 12:00 or 1:00. Each 15 cents counted up and gave me some spending money.
When bowling was over in my lane, I would turn the light off and go up to the front. I would get a coke, sit down or do whatever I wanted as long as I stayed close if someone wanted to bowl. Setting pins was a sales job in a small way. You wanted people to bowl in your lane. First you would encourage them to use your alley then set the pins fast. People didn’t want to wait and if you were slow getting the pins set up you would lose a customer.
The bowling alley opened at 2:00 on Sunday afternoon. We would come in about 1:00 and clean up the pit area. When the pins fell they would make black marks on the alley where they fell. Also the red dots would fade from week to week and would need to be repainted. I would take steel wool and clean off the black marks and smooth off the red dots and paint over them. It wouldn’t take them long to dry. Then I would be ready for a long day of bowling.
I continued to work at the bowling alley (through high school). I enjoyed working there for several reasons. First and foremost was the money. I didn’t make big bucks but I made enough to buy gas, go to the movies, eat out and do a few things I wanted to do. I enjoyed talking to people when they came in the bowling alley. I have always been shy and this helped me come out of my shyness a little bit.
I always set pins on alley number four. When no one was bowling I would talk to people, get a coke and maybe a piece of candy. Sunday afternoons were always fun. We would come in early to clean our pit area and then we were free to go back up front until customers came in. Jim Laforge was the owner at this time. He would come in and open up then be gone most of the afternoon. He usually came back about 5:00. We had two pinball machines. They were old and we found out we could take a wire coat hanger, straighten it out, and run it through one of the corners that had a tiny opening in it. We would put a nicklel in the machine then stick the wire through the opening, bump it against one of the lights and rack up about a hundred games. We would take turns and play all afternoon. When we saw Jim coming we would hit the button beneath the machine and run off all the games. I am pretty sure Jim knew we did this but he didn’t care. We usually didn’t have many customers until later in the evening so it gave us something to do.
