Section 3 Guided Reading and Review the Executive Departments

Whether they realize it or not, Waseca residents now have easier access than ever had to history of their own downtown commercial district.

After more than a year of work, Waseca Councilor Ted Conrath updated the City Council at its Oct. 5 meeting on the work of the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC), of which Conrath is the council representative. His primary update was that the historic walking tour is now live.

What this means is that residents walking around the commercial district, which was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places in January 2020, will now see functioning QR codes in the windows of seven historic buildings that contributed to that designation. These can be scanned with a cell phone to redirect users to a webpage on the city of Waseca website dedicated to the history of that building, as researched by the HPC.

Residents walking around Waseca's commercial district will now see functioning QR codes in the windows of seven historic buildings. These can be scanned with a cell phone to redirect the user to a webpage on the city of Waseca website dedicated to the history of that building. (Julian Hast/southernminn.com)

Webpages for each building contain information on when the structure was built, when different businesses occupied it and all the structural changes the building has gone through over its many years in the city. This is all catalogued alongside historic photographs of the building archived by the Waseca County Historical Society (WCHS).

For Julie Anderson, commission member at the HPC who put together all corresponding webpages for the seven contributing buildings with QR codes, uncovering the story behind those photographs has been fascinating.

"It's really cool to see what features are still there or what things might have changed," Anderson said.

The historic building located at 200 State St. N., currently occupied by the Waseca Art Center, was occupied by the Herberger, Koob and Co. dry goods store circa 1900. Its entrance at the time was at the corner of the building. (Photo courtesy of the Waseca County Historical Society)

As an example, she talked about how the entrance of the Waseca Art Center was originally located circa 1900 at the corner of the building when it was a dry goods store. By 1955, when it was occupied by J. C. Penney Co., the door had shifted to the middle of the State Street façade. Today, it's moved all the way down to the left side of the building.

By 1955, the historic building located at 200 State St. N. was occupied by J. C. Penney Co. Its entrance had been moved to the middle of the State Street façade. (Photo courtesy of the Waseca County Historical Society)

Joan Mooney, executive director of the WCHS and chair of the HPC until two months ago, said that giving residents as well as tourists public access to information about the buildings that make up the historic commercial district was a primary motivator for the project.

"It just gives people a little more information other than standing in front of the building," Mooney said. "Instead of just plastering all that information on store windows, it allows the curious to look a little deeper."

Beyond giving the public another avenue to see that research for themselves, Anderson said that the virtual nature of the historic walking tour makes it especially accessible. It also avoids many of the pitfalls that may have surfaced if the tour had to be staffed, if the tours could only be given at certain times and if information had been posted in some other way that was more difficult to update as the HPC learned more about the buildings' history.

"You can take a tour at two in the morning if you want," Anderson said.

In addition to the exciting news of its launch, Anderson and others in the HPC have greater ambitions for the historic walking tour. Seven buildings set up with QR codes and corresponding webpages might be a good start, but Anderson noted that there are around 50 buildings in the commercial district that are considered "contributing" to the city's historic designation. She'd like every single one of them to have a QR code. Even the park system, she said, could become part of the project.

"It's just a really neat way to get information out there without really having to have significant signage or personnel resources," she said. "It's a fun way to see how our town has changed."

Reach Reporter Julian Hast at 507-333-3133. © Copyright 2021 APG Media of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.

Section 3 Guided Reading and Review the Executive Departments

Source: https://www.southernminn.com/waseca_county_news/news/article_cbd6d6b2-bb3f-5643-8e71-bcb8b36eb516.html

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