Mystery Stairs... to nowhere
- Chris Murphy
- Sep 15
- 1 min read
As we were taking down some walls in our basement, getting ready to start construction of our basement art space, suddenly we discovered a full set of stairs, hidden in the walls!
These robust stairs, with terrazzo treads, would have emerged basically inside of our current 1st floor bathroom.
Piecing together the history we've heard from folks familiar with the old Newberrys, we suspect that these stairs used to take customer from the basement (pet section?) up to the vicinity of the lunch counter along the back of the building.
Alas, as cool as they are, stairs to nowhere aren't very useful and they have since been removed. Very soon, though, we'll be adding a whole bunch of new cool features to the basement as we create our community art space. The stairs make way for our artist wash-up room as well as a passageway into our ceramics studio.
Stay tuned for more updates soon!
Love that you are keeping us up to date on your progress. I look forward for more to come.
Yes those stairs were as you described. I remember Mom and I and my aunt coming in early Saturday mornings to the counter for a buttered hard roll and coffee. The store itself was not open yet. But as a youngster I strayed, and explored the darkened store, even going downstairs to see the goldfish.
Chris, I remember those stairs exactly as you've described them here! Walking to town, having a hotdog at Newberry's lunch counter, dart in hand ready to pop a balloon and see what I'd have to pay. And yup a real dart (as the counter person quickly stepped back a few feet, lol) and then checking out all the critters downstairs in the pet dept.. It was one of the best ways to spend my allowance on a sunny afternoon as a 10 yr old. And my poor Mom never knew what I'd be coming home with... hamsters, guppies, a canary to name a few. Good times. Love these updates.