884 G Street

Address: 884 G Street

Legal Description: East ½ of Lot 79

Building: Geiselman Building

1877 Julius Spear purchased all of Lot 79 from the State of Nebraska.

1882 Justice of Peace, J. E. Spear had an office here.

1883 In June, J. E. Spear purchased the building formerly occupied by Mr. Jensen as a law office and moved it to the lot east of Mozee Bros. store.

1884 J. H. Luke & Co opened a real estate and insurance office in the building east of Mozee Bros. store. He also had an auctioneering business.

1884 In Dec., Arthur and Ernest Scott bought the Fillmore County Review from Mark Neeves and moved here from 145 So. 10th.

1885 The Review moved to 966 ½ G Street.

1887 E. K. Cobb bought the property from Julius Spear.

1887 The meat market near the corner of Center and Church Streets was moved and work began on a two story brick building.

1889 Orla Beals had a barber shop in a room he rented from E. K. Cobb. When the property and building were sold, he moved his shop to the basement of Luke’s brick block.

1889 F. Wight and Ed Blott bought the property from Edward K. Cobb. They ran a meat market here. They added a new meat chopper to their business which was run by a small steam engine.

1889 Wight & Blott moved the building formerly occupied as a barber shop back on their lot and replaced the building they occupied in front of the same, thus getting more room and a fine location for their business.

1890 Pardue and Burker opened a tin shop in the building that Wight & Blott moved to the rear of their lot.

1891 Wight & Blott made arrangements to build a new brick building.

1891 Ed Blott sold his interest in the meat market to Frank Wight.

1892 The Sanborn map showed that there was a meat market at this location, however it was a one-story frame building. Not sure why the plans for a new brick building did not take place, as the structure remained unchanged until July 1909 where the Sanborn map shows a brick building in its place.

1893 The Geneva Fire Department put out a blaze at Frank Wight’s smokehouse.

1896 J. W. Ong purchased the property from Wight & Blott.

1896 Mr. Ong then sold it to Daniel Geiselman.

1897 The Sanborn maps showed a meat market here. It was a one-story frame building.

1899 F. Wight moved his meat market to 936 G Street after purchasing the property from the county.

1902 In August, Ed Brainard bought an interest in the Ogg Meat Market. It was then Ogg & Brainard. J. C. Schmidt retired as a meat cutter.

1902 J. C. Schmidt moved from his former location at the Geiselman building, formerly occupied by Ogg and Brainard to his own market at 116 North 10th.

1902 The butcher stock and tools of Jargen Schmidt were sold at a mortgage sale. Ogg & Brainard owned and stored the fixtures.

1902 Ogg and Brainard closed their meat market in the Geiselman building in the west block. They sold their stock to Mark Alexander and planned to move the fixtures to another town and begin again.

1902 The room in the Geiselman building where the butcher shop was located was rented to L. W. Thompson who opened a lunch counter and confectionery there.

1903 L. W. Thompson sold his short order and restaurant, Thompson’s Chop House, to Elmer and Harry Ford. They operated under the name of Ford Bros.

1904 In July, Elmer Ford sold his restaurant and confectionery business in the Geiselman building west of the Geneva State Bank to Ivan Ertel and Guy Snodgrass. Mr. Ford moved to Oregon.

1904 In September, Ivan Ertel and Guy Snodgrass sold their restaurant and confectionery west of the Geneva State Bank to Charley Benson and Orey Hensley.

1904 Fire broke out in the Benson & Hensley Café in the early morning hours on October 25. The fire was so intense that it broke out the windows in the café and those in the Fraternity Temple to the east. Both the café and Fraternity Temple were destroyed.

1905 In October, Walter Geiselman built a new two-story building to replace the one that was destroyed in the fire. It had a front of gray pressed brick. It was 100 feet long. Besides the usual plate glass, it had three big windows, a transom in the rear, and a 6 x 10 foot skylight.

1906 In February, Dittmar & Sisler moved their stock of dry goods into their new quarters in the Geiselman building.

1906 From May through June, Miss Nathan had a studio over the Dittmar & Sisler store where she gave china and watercolor lessons.

1906 E. C. McPherren had a real estate office here.

1906 In August, Dr. G. D. Pendell returned to Geneva and located his osteopathy practice in the Geiselman block in the rooms formerly occupied by Miss Nathan as a studio and by McPherren’s real estate office.

1907 In September, Dr. L. L. Smead of Newton, Iowa purchased the practice, office, and equipment of Dr. Pendell.

1907 In November, Dr. G. D. Pendell returned to town and re-purchased the office equipment he had sold to Dr. Smead. Dr. Smead returned to Iowa, and Dr. Pendell sold and disposed of most of his equipment and returned to Yates City, Illinois.

1908 In September, Dr. Beck occupied rooms in the Geiselman building over the Dittmar & Sisler store. The new rooms were located on the same floor as the ones he vacated at the bank, but being front rooms might be considered more desirable. They could be reached from the hallway in the Bank building or through the one used to reach the Goodrich building rooms rented by Dr. Smith. A connecting hallway had been made.

1908 In October, Mr. Dittmar retired and his interest in the business was purchased by Charles M. Hourigan. The firm of Sisler and Hourigan continued to do business at the same location.

1909 The Sanborn Map showed a brick building on this lot which was occupied by a general store.

1911 Company G moved from the Odd Fellow temple to the hall over the Geiselman building. This hall was to be the company’s armory.

1911 In October, Sisler & Hourigan moved from here to their new quarters next door to the Nicholas hardware store at 942 G.

1911 In November, Felt and Waller moved their drug store from 818 G to the room recently occupied by Sisler and Hourigan. Felt and Waller were on the west side and Fiegenbaum’s jewelry was on the east.

1912 Felt and Waller sold their drugstore to Phil K. Moore, Nyal Pharmacy, Harry Cottrell, manager.

1913 Nyal Pharmacy was purchased by Chas. Gibson of Randolph. Fiegenbaum’s jewelry moved to 974 G.

1914 In October the Nyal Pharmacy moved to 974 G.

1914 In November, the ladies of the Congregational Church served a chicken pie dinner. Each meal was 25 cents.

1917 In February, the Winston Drug moved its stock of goods into the Geiselman building. They moved from 974 G Street. The move was made because they needed additional room for their stock.

1919 In January the Geiselman brothers foreclosed on Winston Drug. The fixtures were auctioned.

1919 In February, G. T. Whitney of Omaha leased the Geiselman building and opened a new drug store.

1921 The Geiselman brothers traded their store building in the west block to Moses T. Banta of Scottsbluff. Mr. Banta repaired the roof and had a new storefront put in.

1921 Moses Banta sold the property to F. J. Karpisek.

1921 F. J. Karpisek sold the property to A. W. Pekarek.

1921 American State Bank from Omaha took over the property.

1921 Mr. & Mrs. G. T. Whitney closed out their drug business and moved to Lincoln.

1922 The Sanborn maps showed the building as vacant.

1922 The building was used for church bazaars and dinners.

1922 J. M. S. Chessir, physician and surgeon, had an office in the Geiselman building.

1923 The building was used for church and community dinners.

1923 Fred Picard purchased the building and extended the building sixty feet to the north. A new modern front was added, along with steam heat and modern plumbing.

1923 In July, Fred Camp occupied the building with a modern grocery.

1926 In February, John Linnert bought the grocery store from Fred Camp..

1927 John Linnert moved his grocery store into the room in the east block vacated by G. Hauser and John Salzman at 974 G.

1927 The Nebraska Gas & Electric Co. (Iowa-Nebraska Light & Power Company) was located here. The company supplied electricity for Geneva through 1940.

1933 The Sanborn Maps showed a store here.

1936 After the fire at the Union Block, Fiegenbaum temporarily located his jewelry store here.

1941 Consumers Public Power District, a publicly owned company, purchased the property of the Iowa-Nebraska Light & Power Company. A new state law became effective that eliminated private ownership of electric utilities.

1943 The Sanborn Maps showed a store here.

1951 The Consumers Public Power District office moved to their newly remodeled building at 167 North 9^th Street.

1952 Brower Grocery, Henry Brower owner, opened here.

1953 Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Schneider bought the Brower Grocery. It became affiliated with the IGA group of stores.

1963 Schneider IGA closed and the owners retired.

1964 In February, the building was for sale. Geneva State Bank bought the building at a referee’s sale.

1966 In May, Lou and Max Lichti purchased the business of Owen and Frances Cartwright, Cartwright TV and Appliance Sales and Service located at 812 G. Lichti’s operated their place of business first door west of Geneva State Bank. (884 G)

1971 Lichti TV moved their business to the former Heisey’s location in the 900 block.

1972 Vacant

1973 In April, Dr. L. W. Kennel opened his dental office here.

1997 Dr. Kennel relocated his dental practice to 1008 G Street.

1998 Geneva State Bank moved some offices here.

2004 North Pointe Insurance Agency of Grafton opened an office here as part of Geneva State Bank Services. Patrick Rasmussen who had been in the Grafton office moved here to manage the agency.

This was ongoing as of the last posting.