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Health & Fitness

Franz Farm—now the Eureka Walmart

Land that became the Walmart Supercenter: from $100 per acre to $750,000 for a 3/4 acre lot.

My dad rented the farm from his old friend, George Franz, in the early 1940s and one fall I was plowing the land to the east of the location. Suddenly going west on our tractor, I was buzzed by a B-25 bomber, which took my hat off in passing. I later learned it was of my school friends having fun.
 
In November of 1944, in the same field, I was combining lespedeza with a pull type Allis-Chalmers combine and an old four wheeled International tractor.  Suddenly a clog in the feeder caused me to stop, and I tried to let it operate to clear itself. Since it was late in the afternoon, I guess I was a little tired or just careless, as I stood up and allowed my new blue jeans to get caught in the power takeoff shaft.
 
Lucky for me I had a fender in my left hand, and the seat in my right hand as the cloth ripped up my left leg, and then the fun started as the little rivets around the seat of the jeans began popping and just as quickly then the right leg was torn off. But I survived, but with no clothing on my bottom.  
 
I turned the power off, and drove up to the little Franz house. Because my one leg that came in contact with the shaft was hurting, I drove up to that house and when my tractor was in the yard, a Shaeffer daughter came out to see what was up. Being pantless, I was a little embarrassed but she made a phone call for me to get me some clothing and a ride home. Lucky I wasn't hurt because in a week I was in the U.S. Marine Corps.
 
A result is that when I was discharged in 1946, that farm was the first land I operated for myself to get my own career in agriculture started. By that time, Mr. Franz had sold the east end of the farm for housing, and what I rented was the land now operated by the Walmart store.
 
If I would have had resources, I could have bought it for about $100 per acre, as some of my friends did, and when the store people came in, they had to pay $750,000 for a used car lot right where the middle driveway is now. Just think,  $750,000 for a 3/4 acre lot. 

The Good Old Days again.

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