Moment in Time Revisited

Wilber G. "Barney" Barnhart (shown in a 1920 photo) began building block houses in his native Madison County around 1879. For brief periods he taught school and was also a traveling salesman for the Duxback Clothing Company of Utica, New York. By 1922 he returned to building and organized the W.G. Barnhart Company of which he was president and general manager. One was his first projects was construction of the Masonic Temple on the northwest corner of First and Grandview Avenues. However his greatest impact was undoubtedly the development of the tract of land that was the former Aladdin Country Club. His Aladdin Country Club Addition was comprised of 20 lots. This circa 1940 advertisement shows three colonial homes on Arlington and Cambridge Avenues, all priced in the $14,000 range.

NOTE: Originally submitted to ThisWeek News for publication January 23, 2007.