The City Building

The old building on the northern corner of the square and Walnut Street, which had been a focal point of downtown activity, fell in 1969. 

Originally on the site, a hotel was built around 1834 called the Hungerford Hotel, later called the Sherman House. It was one of the first frame buildings built in the town. Elias Benford owned it. It was considerably smaller and had a wood structure. This hotel was run by Emil Vogelgsang from 1863 to 1870 and, by 1878, was being managed by John Patton.

In 1888, Washington businessman Asa Danforth purchased the Sherman House with the intention of building a large brick hotel on the site. When the deal was commenced, the citizens of Washington marched to the Danforth residence to cheer the purchase.

James M. Hartley made the hotel's bricks at his brickyard near what is now Cummings Lane. Danforth ran the hotel until 1903 with caretaker E.S. Waring, when it was leased to J. M. Baker. Even by this time, the building was starting to show signs of age, and what followed was a string of different caretakers. 

Known caretakers of the hotel:

1888-1902: E.S. Waring
1903: James Baker
1905: W.H. Harte
1905-1906: John Mohler
1908: James Baker
1908: C.M.C. Seaton
1910: John M. Flood
1910-1912: C.M.C. Seaton
1914: F.F. DeMotte
1915: John & Harold Pfeffinger
1917: C. W. Waughop
1917: Mrs. J.P. Keil
1919: Emil Kohsman
1919: H.E. Lyons
1919: Bertha Rollings
1920: A.G. Davis

The building was sold to the city in 1924 for $9,000.  Originally the citizens were behind the purchase, casting votes in the affirmative in a special election by a 4-1 margin for the purchase.  However, when talk turned to spending money on renovating the old beast, that large majority started to fade.   

The building was in bad shape.  It definitely needed a major renovation, and many people felt if taxpayer dollars were going to be invested in something, it should be a new high school rather than a dinosaur of a building that was on its last legs.  A proposal was brought before the voters in August of 1924 called the “Steimle Plan,” which called for an upgrading of facilities to the tune of $28,000.  This plan was defeated by the voters, but just weeks later, a bond issue of around $13,000 was passed in a strange, poorly publicized follow-up election with very low voter turnout where one specific precinct’s high number of “yes” votes basically carried the election.

Mayor Chris Ebert opposed the high dollar amounts of the original bond issue. When he agreed to purchase the building for $9,000, he vowed to the taxpayers not to spend more than another $9,000 on improvements.

In 1925, the city jail was moved from the south side of the square, in a building that is now the Washington Courier office, to the basement of the city building. The cells had to be taken apart to be removed and reinstalled, and local handyman Harry Handschu welded them back together.

Throughout the building’s history, various activities were held inside.  Organizations like the Commercial Club, the Boy Scouts, the American Legion, and later the Association of Commerce held their meetings there.  The Municipal Band held rehearsals there, the high school rented some space for classes, and the high school basketball team even held games there for a few years.  The Washington Players also held plays at different times.  In the early 1900s, the first moving pictures in Washington were shown in the building.  A common memory for many old timers was that the polio vaccine was given there for the community in the 1950s.

In addition to civic events, many businesses rented space in the building. Barbers, chiropractors, plumbers, insurance agents, and photographers utilized the space at one time or another during the first half of the 20th century. Also, many dance instructors rented the stage as their studio.

In 1937, E.L. Hahn of Eureka rented the city building's auditorium for several months and turned it into The Washington Theatre, showing movies on Fridays and Saturdays. This venture would eventually evolve into the Tazewell Theater on the north side of the square.

A business mainstay through most of the building’s existence was an eating establishment:

·       Dan’s Lunch Room: 1912

·       F.O. Slonneger Restaurant: 1912

·       Danforth Restaurant & Ice Cream: 1914

·       Pfeffinger Bros Restaurant: 1915-1916

·       Daisy Restaurant: 1931-1944

·       Martha’s Café: 1944-1947

·       Romani’s Café: 1947-1952

·       Ray’s Café: 1952-1954

·       Martha’s Café: 1954-1958

·       Johnnie’s Café: 1958-1963

Even though the city building was mostly used for structured events, occasionally, a special event, usually a fundraiser, was held there.

Calls to demolish the building were made as early as 1960 and probably before that. By the 1960s, the building was in poor shape, and with the commercial square glistening with modernized buildings, marquis lighting, and neon, the city building was seen as a blight on all of this, an anachronistic monolith in direct contrast to the direction the square was heading.

Many smaller-scale improvements were made during the 1960s, making the building usable, but in 1968, the city decided to put it up for sale. It was purchased by the Standard Oil Company, owners of the station behind the building on Walnut Street, and they announced plans to clear the building for a parking lot and an island of gas pumps.