Maplewood History: The Maplewood Planing Mill and Stair Company– Part 1

By
Doug Houser
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4
373
It could have been yours. The sale bill from 2007.

A contemporary of the doppelganger Koesters was the pattern maker, Albert Carl Blood.  Blood was an early entry into the Maplewood business community establishing in 1906 his Maplewood Planing Mill and Stair Company in a temporary building on Sutton at a location which is now the parking lot between Saratoga Lanes and The Wood restaurant.

Eventually Blood expanded his business into three buildings.  The best known is the home of Saratoga Lanes, additionally there is the stable located directly behind the Saratoga Lanes building and finally the large mill building just south of the other two.  All built and owned by the Blood family until 2007.  The Blood family’s complex included one other building which was built in 1935 to house a Kroger store.  It is now the home of “The Wood” restaurant.

What a wonderful group of buildings to have at the heart of our business district.  Besides their historic value and diverse adaptability they directly reflect the blue collar origins of our community. These folks worked hard.  They made actual physical things that were used to build our historic community.  If you live in an older two story home it is very likely you are running your hands up and down a product from the Maplewood Mill every time you use your stairs.

Those interested in an in depth history of the complex and the Blood family should read the fascinating application to the National Register by Lindsey Derrington.  It is a well written and enjoyable read that includes an exhaustive history of bowling at Saratoga Lanes.  If you didn’t know about the Saratoga Five in 1933 being the first team in two years to beat the “world’s match game champions”, Cone Hermann’s Undertakers, you need to read Lindsey’s report.

A mid-fifties aerial view of the complex. Courtesy of Maplewood Public Library.
A mid-fifties aerial view of the complex. Courtesy of Maplewood Public Library.
It could have been yours. The sale bill from 2007.
It could have been yours. The sale bill from 2007.
The first mill building covered in tarpaper in the foreground. The second mill building is being constructed in the rear. About 1926. Courtesy of Alan Blood.
The first mill building covered in tarpaper in the foreground. The second mill building is being constructed in the rear. About 1926. Courtesy of Alan Blood.
The plan for the east elevation of the Maplewood Mill, the side most often seen. Courtesy of Matt Williams.
The plan for the east elevation of the Maplewood Mill, the side most often seen. Courtesy of Matt Williams.
From the same plan.
From the same plan.
The photos that look like this one are ones I made for various presentations in the past. I don't like the Orwellian ability to go back and alter a past mistake as if nothing was ever wrong. so I'll always try and make my corrections obvious. The photos are my own.
The photos that look like this one are ones I made for various presentations in the past. I don’t like the Orwellian ability to go back and alter a past mistake as if nothing was ever wrong. So I’ll always try and make my corrections obvious. The photos are my own.
Sadly the Deluxe restaurant is no longer. The Wood occupies the building currently. Courtesy of Maplewood Public Library.
Sadly the Deluxe restaurant is no longer. The Wood occupies the building currently. Courtesy of Maplewood Public Library.
I love this anecdote. The Mule Palace. there ought to be a sign with that on the building. Courtesy of Alan Blood.
I love this anecdote. The Mule Palace. There ought to be a sign with that on the building. Courtesy of Alan Blood.

 

 

4 COMMENTS

  2. Doug, very nice article. Hope I don’t steal any thunder from part 2, but I think it is interesting to note that the family came to the area a few years earlier to ply their trade working at the 1904 Worlds Fair.

  3. A small piece of trivia: 2725 Sutton was “vertically” subdivided. Saratoga Lanes owns the upper story and Frontenac Engineering the bottom.

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