RCA Photo of the Week - November 13, 2025

On Saturday, November 1, the Romeo Community Archives hosted a Scanning Party. Through this program, people received high-quality scans of their photographs to ensure long-term preservation. They even had a chance to donate their digital copies to the archives if they wanted to. One person Sue Poosch did just that by giving copies of family pictures throughout the years to our digital collection. This is one of them.

This picture was taken on Christmas 1943 in front of the Bradley home on 129 Minot Street in Romeo. Charles T. Bradley Sr. built it around 1919. Sadly, he passed away six days before Christmas. This explains why his widow Marguerite is dressed in black. Charles Sr. and Marguerite were Sue's grandparents.

Charles Sr. and Marguerite had ten children - six sons and four daughters. Five of Sue's uncles are seen in this photo. In the front row, there's Charles Jr. (or "Bud" as the family called him), Marguerite, and George. Larry, Allan, and Bob are in the back. These Bradley sons enlisted before or during World War II, which explains why Charles Jr., George, and Bob are in uniform. Most of them were either in the Army or Air Forces. Larry served as a medic in North Africa and India even though Sue mentioned that he mustered out early due of tuberculosis.

This was one of the last photos taken of the Bradley boys. On January 17, 1945, Charles Jr. was killed while overseas. According to the family, it was friendly fire. Prior to his death, he received his commission as Second Lieutenant. Charles Jr. was one of the six Romeo High School athletes who were killed during that conflict. He's buried in France. Romeo honored his memory by including his name on the World War II plaque as well as renaming Second Street to Bradley Street.

Cherish the veterans around you whenever you can because you don't know when they will be gone.

People can view this picture and others on our online catalog at https://rcarchives.pastperfectonline.com/

We will have another Scanning Party soon!

To learn more about the Charles T. Bradley family and the Scanning Party, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890.

Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Romeo Community Archives, Digital Collection; Sue Poosch; Ancestry; and The Romeo Observer Press, February 16, 1945, p.1

100 Years of the W. George Smith Hardware Store

Photo by Karen Hamilton

One of the most interesting buildings in downtown Romeo is the establishment attached to the back of the Masonic Temple with the words "W. Geo. Smith Hardware 1925" etched in white lettering. This can be clearly seen when on West Newberry and North Rawles Streets. It's been 100 years since that place has been in existence, and it has a fascinating history.

The W. George Smith hardware store opened on October 31, 1925 inside the Masonic Temple. The Romeo Observer wrote two articles about the place before and after the opening. The first was published in the October 28, 1925 issue. One can see it below.

For context, a Burpee Canner was a pressure cooker.

In the November 4 edition, The Romeo Observer wrote that the store's opening was a success with a large attendance. That's impressive given that it opened on Halloween. In addition, the event freely gave out cider, donuts, candy, and cigars, which would no doubt attrach people of all ages. Radio music also was a feature of the opening as more and more people were buying radios at the time. Weirdly enough, that article didn't mention the Burpee Canner demonstrations, but maybe it was already a given.

The proprietor W. George Smith ran that business until a fire closed it in the early 1940s. The store itself appears in the 1930, 1938, and 1940 Romeo Telephone Directories, but not in the 1943 one.

But what about W. George Smith himself? William George Smith was a hardware merchant. He was born in Swansea, Wales in 1882, and his family came to America in 1888 and settled in Rome, New York. Smith went to Detroit in 1898 and moved to Romeo in 1925 - the same year in which he opened the aforementioned hardware store.

According to his obituary, Smith moved to Almont after the fire to open a new hardware store. A short time later, he relocated his family to Willow Run, where he was employed. He later returned to Romeo and died on February 25, 1946.

During his lifetime, he was a member of the Almont Masonic Lodge; the Romeo Rotary Club, while in business here; and the Romeo village council. That's not shocking that he was a member of a Masonic lodge considering that his hardware business was in the Masonic Temple in Romeo. It's unclear why he didn't join the Romeo Masonic Lodge.

While the hardware store no longer exists, the building with the words "W. Geo. Smith Hardware 1925" remains because of good advertising.

Happy 100 Years, W. George Smith Hardware Store!

To learn more about W. George Smith and his hardware store, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. If you want to search for articles on that topic, you can find the Romeo newspapers like The Romeo Observer on the Suburban Library Cooperative's Local History Digital Collection website.

Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, October 28, 1925, p.4; November 4, 1925, p.4; February 28, 1946, p.1; and May 14, 1986, p.1-B; Romeo Directories; and Ancestry