103 Washington Square
103 Washington Square sits in the basement of 101 Washington Square which you may think of as the Denhart Bank building, the Washington State Bank building, or more recently Faire Coffee.
The Anthony and Denhart Bank building was constructed by Charles Anthony and Henry Denhart around 1874, and assorted businesses have occupied the basement for almost the entire history of the building. The first evidence we see is in the early 1880s when Ben Lyons ran a barber shop below the bank. In 1885, Almon Holland came aboard as a partner. Holland was the son of Matthew and Rebecca Holland, and a grandson of Washington founder William Holland.
Shortly after their partnership formed, it dissolved, and the barber shop fell under the ownership of Charles Fish and Frank Geason. By 1887, the partnership was Fish and Charles Yack but returned to Fish and Geason until 1905.
It should be noted that the barbers coming and going from this location were many times just bouncing around to other locations just doors away. There were no less than eight other barber shop locations on the square in the years leading up to World War I.
Barber shops back then had a different vibe than we think of them now. They advertised billiards and other activities. It was a very popular hangout spot for men during that time.
In 1906, the spot became known as the Little Gem Barber Shop run by Edward McManus. That was followed by the Huguet Barber Shop from 1908-1913. Brothers Wilson and George Huguet worked as barbers, and they rented out space in the basement to other businesses. William Bratt, a long-time jeweler on the square, got his start repairing watches at a bench in the Huguet shop. Ora Clemons operated a clothing cleaners and tailor shop out of the back of the location during this time. Later called the Huguet and Schoch Barber Shop, the enterprise lasted until around 1939 when the basement was used by the bank for several decades. The Huguet Barber Shop from 1908-1939 remains the longest running business under the street on the square. Segue almost 30 years later and we see another interesting venture.
1968 was a time of youth independence, and it was a clunky time in Washington for youth as there was no place for them to go. They were being run off of the square when congregating. Sue Rediger sought to change that and asked advice from the mayor and local ministers. As a result, Bob Zulian donated the basement space of the Washington State Bank, and Rediger opened The Rusty Key, a meeting space for teenagers. Some of Rediger's helpers included Art Portscheller, Gary Rutledge, Gary Nelson, Ed Faubel, Mary Parker, Phyllis Butler, Tim Meagher, & Claude Meiner.
In comments that speak very much to the late 60s time period, Rediger had this to say when the space opened in 1968:
This is what I think. Down here, people should ignore surface things like clothes and hairdos, and get to know the real people. One kid called it a church. Here, we're free to do anything that doesn't hurt anyone else, isn't illegal or immoral. The police and clergy think what we're doing is the right way it should be done. The Rusty Key is the key to fit the lock to the door that's been shut too long a time.
Written on the wall of the Rusty Key:
Who is blind? The man that cannot see another world. Who is dumb? The man who cannot say a kind word at the right time. Who is poor? The man who is plagued with too strong desires. Who is rich? The man who's heart is contented.
The Rusty Key had a grand ambition in the summer of '68, but after Rediger went away to college that fall, it quickly faded away. By October of that year, the Country Corner Gift Shop opened in the same location by Donna Hansen and Norma Bradle. The gift shop lasted at 103 Washington Square for about a year closing in 1969. Donna opened The Gingerbread House in late 1969 at what is now 101 Zinser Place and later moved her business to the new Valley Forge Shopping Center in 1973 closing in 1981.
The upper level of the building was vacant as the Washington State Bank relocated to the Valley Forge area, and in March 1970 Marvin and Bette Costa opened a photo studio in the basement. Costa had contracts with the Washington Reporter to do photo work, and he also specialized in studio photography. Costa was a military photographer, studied under master photographers, and won several national awards. Costa offered audio recordings of weddings with his photography services. Although Costa had big dreams for his Washington photography business, it never really took off, and he closed down in 1972.
"They're raising the roof, talking and hitting the streets of Washington. They're coming up from the depths of within Washington Square to spread the Word. The Jesus People have ascended on Washington."
That was the lead in a 1973 Reporter article about the new tenant of 103 Washington Square. A gathering place called The Catacomb was established for a religious group led by Washington Christian Church Assistant Pastor Ron Criswell. Criswell started his youth outreach in Washington in 1972 at the Teen Barn, a youth hangout on Wilmor Road, but vandalism problems led him to relocate. This was at the height of the "Jesus Movement" across the United States. Criswell's clientele was divided among high school and college aged members. They held Bible studies and attempted to preach to the students loitering around the square in the mid-1970s. As a result, they sometimes had trash or firecrackers thrown down the stairs at the building. The Catacomb lasted approximately two years.
During 1976-77, there was a business called K&B Computer Solutions in the building, but very little is known about the company. On April 27, 1977, Ye Olde Ice Cream Shoppe opened, managed by Donna Bachman and owned by Robert and Patty Mackey. With no other place in town to get a real ice cream cone, the shoppe had a chance at real success. Their specialty was "The Panther", a small 10-cent cone with one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of orange sherbet. Bachman served up ice cream along with chili dogs, soft drinks, candy, coffee, and chips.
In the economy of the seventies, the ice cream shoppe did not survive beyond the summer of '77.
In 1978, Jerry and Shirley Riddle opened Illini Graphics Supply at 103 Washington Square offering supplies for the graphics arts industry. They stayed approximately a year until they moved down the road to 203 Peoria Street where they remained for several years and eventually morphed into S.O.S. Office Services.
The 1980s saw the beginning of stabilization of the use of 103 Washington Square. Mike McSweeney opened "McSweeney's" as the first bar in that location. In under a year's time, the spot was sold to Jeff and Julie Doyle who eventually changed the name to Doyle's Pub by the beginning of 1982.
In January 1983, the bar became Welch Bros. Saloon. Pat, Bill, and John Welch were three of ten siblings who looked to mix up the atmosphere of the bar with a working stoplight and a pet macaw. They also abandoned the live music attempts made by their predecessors insisting the venue was way too small.
The Welch Bros. Saloon survived until 1988 when it became the Rat'skeller tended by the colorful and memorable Wolfgang .
The Rat'skeller existed until 2003 when it became the C-Note pub until 2017. Both the Rat'skeller and the C-Note will be remembered as a cozy hangout to meet up with friends to catch up, laugh, and talk.
From 2018-2022 the basement was used by the Blacksmith Steakhouse as an upscale restaurant, but in 2023 the space was re-opened as a pub under the name of W Down Under.
