Snapshots of History
BY MIKE AVITT
The west side of the Odd Fellows Hall, 102 E. Madison, had many more occupants than the east side. I don’t have a record of all renters and lessees, but I have quite a few so let’s get started.
This storefront was a drug store in the late 1880s and early 1890s. I believe Dr. J. T. Merrill was the owner of the business and he later moved to 104 W. Madison. This space then became a restaurant and confectionery run by Thomas Lewis, A. B. Wilson, J. A. McNerney, and Jack Farrabee. The Odd Fellows placed the awning on Jack’s Place in October 1911. It can be seen in this week’s photo.
The O. K. Cafe was located here beginning in the late teens with proprietors James Mickael, Clarence Ordway, S. V. Hale, and Mr. and Mrs. Shields. The cafe was the Cozy Corner in 1924 under D. A. Lister and, later, Ralph Dillenburg.
John Cecil, Charles Bagley, Ed Wheeler, and Kenneth Holland brought the restaurant into the 1930s. Glenn Baird, Howard Ullery, and Homer Johnston were players in a radio shop here in 1931.
In 1935, Mrs. Glee Moore and Eula Jones added an apartment to the rear of their business called Jones Dress Shop but sold out to M. W. Shaffer before the year was out. In 1937, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Mowry opened a beauty and barber shop here. They left in 1940. I lose track of the store after that.
Art Luckinbill had a radio and TV shop here in the 1950s. Genevieve Motsinger opened Dixie Lou Dress Shop in March 1957. The dress shop was for sale in November 1967 and opened in January 1968 with Shirley Holden as manager. Shirley was Genevieve’s daughter.
Shirley sold to Ellen Gregg in September 1970 and Ellen later relocated. Dredge Fabric Shop had a grand opening in December 1972. Judy Hensley took over Dredge Fabric Shop in November 1976 and moved the business to 110 W. Madison in September 1977.
About February 1, 1978, The Fire Place opened with Lynn and Kathy Rinehart as owners. This firm was followed by McDonnell Appliance in April 1982. McDonnell Appliance moved to its current location at the beginning of 1984. The Wood Shop opened here in March 1984.
I don’t have anything for several years but I remember a martial arts studio here some time ago. The Lodge (remember the rear apartment added in 1935?) opened in the fall of 1996 and the entire building went up for sale in 2003. I believe Charles and Connie (Sandage) Manus bought the structure.
Eric Carlson opened The Rock Shop and, later, the E-Bay Store, beginning in 2005. I don’t know when the laundromat in the rear opened but it closed about 2006.
If the readers know of more occupants, I’ll gladly include them next time.
