A. S. R. Reynolds, an early-day Fort Dodge merchant who constructed the
three-story Reynolds Block Building at Central Avenue and Seventh
Street, also erected this home at 1202 4th Ave. N. Reynolds and his wife
resided in the home for many years after it was completed in 1910.
[Illustration: The Reynolds home
1202 4th Avenue North]
The house, now a two-family duplex, is presently owned by Rillmon E.
Hoskin, 1037 N. 24th Place, and apartments are rented out. Both are
substantially the same—living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom and
bath. Earlier owners of the house were Allen R. Loomis, who acquired it
in 1937, and Mrs. Matina Constantine who purchased it in 1952.
Reynolds built another house here in the 1890s at the northwest corner
of First Avenue North and Ninth Street. The Reynolds family occupied
this home until 1910 when it was sold to the YWCA which continued to use
it until 1913 when it was sold and moved to Fourth Avenue North and
Ninth Street. The YWCA then built its present building at the site. (See
story elsewhere in this book on the YWCA house).
Known as “one of the state’s capitalists,” Reynolds was born in Missouri
in 1844 and came with his parents to Iowa in 1846. He was reared and
educated in Delaware County and at age 18 enlisted in Company G of the
6th Iowa Cavalry in 1862 and served until 1865.
In 1872 Reynolds came to Fort Dodge and purchased a grocery store at 523
Central Avenue which he operated for a year. He then erected a building
at 521 Central Avenue, moved the grocery there and continued business at
that place until 1882. Reynolds next built the three-story building at
the northeast corner of Central and Seventh. He used the west half of
the ground floor for his grocery store—where the Commercial National
Bank later was located. He operated this store until 1894 when he
disposed of the business in order to devote his attention to management
of property interests.
Space on the east side of the first floor of the building was rented out
and offices occupied the second floor. The third floor was rented to the
Masonic Orders and later to the labor unions. In later years the third
floor was removed. The building now has apartments on the second floor
and the Wicker Jewelry and Friesth Appliance Center on the first floor.
Jerry Neeson now owns the building.
Reynolds was active in many affairs here, was a member of the Masonic
Orders and served 14 years on the Fort Dodge school board. He was an
uncle of Charles H. Reynolds, Webster County surveyor and later city
engineer of Fort Dodge for 31 years.