There is good news hidden in this week’s Nuckolls County Courthouse News column.
Among the real estate transfers is a small entry noting the sale of seven Superior lots to Superior Historic Redevelopment, Inc.
Superior Historic Redevelopment is the official name for the non-profit corporation which owns and is redeveloping the Superior Auditorium.
The seven lots are located across the street to the west of the auditorium.
A donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, gave the money needed to acquire the lots. Beverly Beavers, president of Superior Historic Redevelopment, said the transaction is so new the auditorium group has yet to develop plans and establish a time line for developing the lots. For the immediate future, the lots will remain much as they are. It is possible they may be used for gardening again this year.
The 7 lots are each 25-foot wide, a common width for lots when the town was established in 1875.
Several possible uses are being discussed. One idea calls for clearing the lots, paving and then using the space for parking and auditorium related events.
Fifty years ago the lots contained three houses, a smaller bungalow at the south end which was last used as a rental, in the middle was an apartment house. There was a large Victorian-style house at the north end which for many years was the home of the Fred Sowles family. As the houses came on the market, Howard and Elaine Miller bought the lots and removed the houses. The Sowles house was the last removed. It met its demise as part of a controlled-burn training exercise conducted by the Superior Volunteer Fire Department.
Fred Sowles was a barber by trade and a member of the Shrine and Maverick bands. He led the Superior City Band for a number of years. He often served as a bugler.
His first wife was Ella Hafner, the operator of a millinery shop. Her first husband, Joseph Hafner, was a landlord owning a number of business buildings and houses. Mrs. Hafner oversaw his real estate holdings for some 40 years after his death.
Sowles married Mrs. Jenny Ulsh on Dec. 2, 1956. He died on Dec. 21, 1967. Jenny died on Nov. 4, 1975.
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