736 G Street

Address: 736 G Street

Legal Description: Lee’s Subdivision Out Lot 26, Lots 17-20 partial

Building:

Note: The early history of this site, which was platted in 1880, is incomplete.

1904 A brick building or an addition to the rear of the photograph gallery was erected by J. D. Reynolds in May. It is possible that it may have been the first structure built on that site.. The building was referred to as the J. H. Camp building as he owned the property. The first occupants were J. C. Bender who had a shoe shop, and Mr. Reynolds who sold patent medicines, etc. It was common at that time for two or more businesses to share the same building.

1905 J. D. Reynolds drove a medicine wagon for Dr. Koch’s medicines in the county for some time. He took a homestead near Simla, Colorado and planned to run his medicine wagon in the valleys.

1905 Bender closed his business due to ill health.

1905 In August, J. C. Bender sold his shoe shop to Mr. Heath who had been in charge of the work for some time. The stock of shoes was owned by J. D. Reynolds, then in charge of W. G. Rooker.

1905 In October, C. D. Volz occupied the building along with Mr. Reynolds. Mr. Volz advertised winter goods, shoes and half-soles.

1906 In May, C. D. Volz and wife moved to Friend.

1906 Mr. Reynolds moved his stock of goods to Simla, Cheyenne County in November.

1906 In October, J. C. Bender and family moved to Strang.

1906 In November Dane/Dan Wette rented the building (Photograph Building Annex) for his shoe repairing business.

1906 Fred Camp purchased the building. He continued it as a rental property.

1908 J. C. Bender returned to Geneva from Franklin and bought the shoe repairing shop of Dan Wette. Mr. Wette moved to Kansas City, Missouri.

1911 In May, John Bovee of Bee, Nebraska opened an ice cream parlor in the first door west of the photograph gallery. They will also serve soft drinks and short order meals. The room was painted and prepared for the new business.

1912 When Mr. Camp sold it six years later to W. M. Coleman, it was occupied by Smith Lines who operated a fruit and lunch stand. Smith Lines, or as he was familiarly known as Smitty or Shorty, because he was only 4 and a half feet tall and wore a full beard.

1912 William Coleman, a Geneva restaurateur, demolished the structure and replaced it with a 24’ x 62’ brick building. He moved his restaurant into it in December.

1913 In August, Wilbur Hanlin purchased a one-half interest in the Coleman Café. The new firm name was Coleman & Hanlin.

1913 Coleman & Pat’s Place--place to eat down by the depot--first door west of the Photo Gallery--the Depot Restaurant.

1913 In October, Pat Hanlin sold his interest in the Coleman & Hanlin cafe to his partner, Mr. Coleman.

1914 In March, Wilbur Hanlin purchased a half interest in the W. M. Coleman restaurant near the Northwestern depot.

1915 Wm. M. Coleman as proprietor of the Coleman restaurant, signed a trade arrangement with other Geneva business owners.

1915 According to Wilbur Hanlin’s obituary he and his family moved to Montana.

1917 The building was divided into two spaces. The Farmer’s Cooperative Store with groceries and general merchandise relocated here.

1917 W. L. Spear, who had a hardware and implement business located at 842 G Street, brought a Chalmers-Six, seven passenger car to Geneva from Lincoln for demonstration purposes. He made arrangements to use part of the building as a display room.

1920 The Farmer’s Cooperative Store relocated to 135 North 9^th Street.

1920 The Graham Furniture Company of Hastings, opened a store in the Coleman building formerly occupied by the Farmer’s Cooperative Assn. They bought, sold or traded second hand furniture as well as new furniture.

1921 C. L. and J. L. Gibson of David City opened a battery station in the Coleman building. The firm will be known as Willard Service Station, Gibson Bros. proprietors.

1923 Apparently C. L. Gibson is now the sole owner of the Willard Station.

1924 C. L. Gibson added Horseshoe tires to his stock of inventory. No further advertising was found after May. It appears that the Gibson had a household sale also in May.

1924 In June, Laufman’s Produce was located in a new place of business and ready to receive produce. Look for the Seward Creamery sign at the William Coleman building. The produce business was formerly located at 1040 G..

1925 According to Geneva resident Louise Koehler Picard, Mrs. Schooler’s Hat Shop was in the building about this time. It may have occupied the grocery store space.

1928 Mike Gergen Produce, a cream station, produce, flour and feed store, moved into the building from its former location on South 8^th Street.

1929 The 1929 telephone directory lists the business as Mike Gergen Lincoln Hatchery Produce.

1932 Mike Gergen retired in early 1932. He sold his cream station equipment to Art Dixon who moved it to his location on the west side of the square. The two large incubators were sold to the Lincoln Hatchery Company. W. G. Lewis, president of the company, hired a manager and continued the business.

1934 Les McPeck Produce opened with Les and Ann McPeck as owners. According to Ann McPeck, as business grew, it was not uncommon to have about 100 customers bring in eggs, cream and chickens on a Saturday night. The produce was trucked to Lincoln for processing and distribution.

1937 A custom hatchery was added. It became a specialty of the business.

1945 Les McPeck Produce and Hatchery continued in operation at this location with Les’s brother Francis (Frank) as manager, assisted by Ann McPeck and Charles Matejka. Les and Orval McDonald opened Geneva Produce at 818 G Street, a wholesale egg distribution center.

1952 This was an accommodation address for C. W. Swingle Rendering Company through 1964.

1955 The hatchery may have been discontinued. The 1955 telephone directory and subsequent ones list the business as Les McPeck Produce.

1956 McPeck Produce purchased the produce department of Heath & Heath, another Geneva business also known as the Ice Plant. It was located on the west side of the square.

1963 McPeck Produce was paying 20 cents per dozen for eggs delivered to the station. Gasoline in Geneva was 24.9 cents per gallon.

1972 Les McPeck Produce closed at the death of Les McPeck. Charles Matejka who had worked for the McPecks since 1945 purchased the business.

1976 Charles Matejka Produce was sold to Frank McPeck who operated it for the next sixteen years.

1992 Frank McPeck Produce closed. Business was poor because few local farmers milked cows or raised chickens for sale. The building was sold and used for storage.

1999 The Picard family of Geneva purchased the property.

2010 Chuck and John Picard received permission from the Geneva City Council to create three efficiency living units that would rent for short or extended stays.

2011 Hotel Geneva opened. Amenities at the hotel included a laundry area in the rear of the building and a furnished deck complete with a gas grill just outside the back door. The hotel was equipped with Wi-Fi and was handicap-accessible from the deck. The century-old building with its innovative use became a welcome business addition to Geneva’s historic downtown.

This was ongoing as of the last posting.