Vintage Barstow Photo Print

South Barstow Street, Eau Claire, 1925. Courtesy of the Chippewa Valley Museum. Original repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Witteman Collection, Albertype Company Photographs. Barstow Street has long been the kinetic center of Eau Claire, animated by day with automobiles and pedestrians, and illuminated at night (since the 1880s) by picturesque streetlights. In the mid-1920s, by most measures, Eau Claire had recovered from the loss of the lumbering industry. The 1920 census showed an increase of almost 1,000 families over the 1910 census, and more than 700 new dwellings. In 1924, the average income for a working man was $1,216 (about $15,500 in 2010 dollars). Ten businesses left the city during the previous two years, but 27 new ones had been started. Eau Claire had twelve parks totaling 388 acres, and 95 percent of all families lived within a half-mile of a park. Three years later, in 1927, Eau Claire set a new record in construction, $1.5 million in building (almost $19 million in 2010 dollars).