File:West Potomac Street around 1954.jpg

Summary

Looking up West Potomac Street around 1954 from the former site of Swank's Hardware and later People’s Home & Auto, which had been razed for the right-of-way for the new Potomac River Bridge.

To the far left with the Coca-Cola sign is Wenner's City Meat Market (current site of the Brunswick Ambulance Co.), Hudson Row apartments and the Hovermale Building which housed Harrington's Shoe Repair and Mills' Confectionery. All were eventually destroyed by fire.

According to Judge Bill Wenner talking about the City Meat Market, "Dad sold meat, groceries, freshly dressed chickens, freshly killed beef and pork, puddin' and ponhaus, in season, gasoline, fuel oil and the like. He did a good credit business, and was only owed $15,000 when he died. When people said he was rich, he always said ‘just between the toes,’ and when anyone asked him if he'd had a good year, he'd reply, ‘about the same as last year.’ Of course he also had a dairy farm, which was farmed by Jim Eury.”

Gail Miller wrote: “Where the Ambulance Company is now the Wenner's had a store. The thing I remember most was bread was 25 cents and it was the freshest ever.”

Ann Watson Griffis wrote: "My daddy bought the meat for his hamburgers at the Cut Rate from Wenner's store". A young Bill Wenner hand delivered it to Doc Watson during World War II.

(Photo courtesy of the William W. Wenner family)