German Day parade down N. Main St. near Iowa St. Mechanics Planing Mill Co. was located at 516 N. Main St., formerly 1716 Main St. It was built in 1887, and became Mechanics in 1893. It was destroyed by fire and razed in 1948. Gehlhausen Paints is in approximately this location today. German Day was organized by the city's German elite around 1890 to celebrate German cultural, intellectual, and technological achievements. After the 4th of July, this was the most prominent civic celebration each year until WWI ended it. Germania Maennerchor's Volksfest is a reminder of those times. Here there is a big horse drawn float for St. Bonifacius, most likely St. Boniface Catholic Church.