Bird's-Eye View, Downtown Poplar Bluff (Wright-Dalton-Bell-Anchor Store)

About this postcard

Colorized bird's-eye view postcard of downtown Poplar Bluff, Missouri, looking northwest. The prominent Wright-Dalton-Bell-Anchor Store Co. building dominates the right side with its rooftop sign reading 'WRIGHT DALTON BELL ANCHOR STORE CO.' and the famous slogan '22 GREAT STORES IN ONE 22' displayed on the brick facade. Broadway Street runs vertically through the left-center of the image, with the Fraternal Opera House visible on the left side of the street. Main Street intersects from the right. The top of the old Butler County Courthouse (built 1887, destroyed in the 1927 tornado) is visible in the upper right distance. The postcard captures the unpaved streets and dense commercial development of early Poplar Bluff during its lumber-boom era. The reverse side contains a personal note from 'Stella D.' discussing someone named Mack's departure on the 12:00 train for North Dakota to open land near Bismarck, but contains no postmark, stamp, or address section — suggesting this may be a folded-style postcard of which only the message half survives, or the address portion was removed.