My grandfather once pointed out to me the location of McDowell’s Hill, a tall hill located approximately where the Chappell Clinic/One Vision building was at 217 7th Avenue North. This 1939 newspaper article reports that the Works Progress Administration partially leveled the area in the 1930s, and it was further leveled in 1939 to use as fill west of West Street (Buddy Holly Place was previously known as West Street). The area west of West Street was originally a wetland named Siloam which is now occupied by the Surf. The article also points out that the top of this hill was the location of the Webster House, one of Clear Lake’s earliest hotels.
The low-resolution photo is a 1939 aerial photo which has a big blank spot, apparently the ongoing hill excavation, at the location my grandfather indicated.
Written by David Miller
