Friday, August 31, 2018

Our Past Is Present August 31, 2018


August 31, 2018
            Joseph Jud Pennell or J.J. Pennell as he was known, left a legacy in the form of over 30,000 glass plate negatives that recorded the daily life and development in Junction City during the 30 years surrounding the turn of the 20th century. 
            Perhaps the most famous example of his work is easily recognized in the 1904 photograph of the interior of Junction City’s Horseshoe Saloon with patrons standing at the bar.  This was seen in American living rooms every week in the early 1990s as part of the opening credits for the television series “Cheers.”
            In 1886, the Pennell family arrived in Junction City and took up residence in a big stone house on West 13th Street. Joe (or J.J.) worked with his father as a carpenter and coffin maker.  However, in 1888 he decided to become a photographer and purchased a camera from an itinerant photographer passing through town. 
            At age32, J.J. was both successful and one of the most popular bachelors in Junction City.  He met and married Edith Stanley and they later married.  The couple lived on 4th Street, near Adams Street.  Within three years, J.J. Pennell built a second home beside the first one, which her parents then occupied.  The new home was a two story house with nine or ten rooms and still stands at 428 West 4th Street.   
            In 1903, the couple’s only child was born and was named Joseph Stanley Pennell.  In 1908, the 42 year old self-made photographer was determined to make a lasting difference in Junction City’s business district, when he built the Pennell Building, which now serves as the Geary County Court Services annex. 
            In March of 1922, J.J. Pennell underwent an operation to correct a minor health problem, however blood poisoning developed after the surgery and ten days later he died. 
            We have a several photographs taken by J. J. Pennell in our Museum.  One of those is a self-portrait.  This picture can also be seen in a collage of pictures in the lobby at the C.L. Hoover Opera House.  He is sitting and is playing the guitar while resting his foot on a foot stool.
Check this out and thanks for reading “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society. 
           

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