996 G Street

Address: 996 G Street

Legal Description: Lot 88

Building:

DATE The State of Nebraska sold Lot 88 to Frank M. Bean.

DATE Frank M. Bean and wife sold Lot 88 to Allie Fleming.

DATE Allie Fleming and husband sold Lot 88 to C. S. Spear & J. Jensen.

DATE J. Jensen and wife sold their interest in Lot 88 to C. L. Spear.

DATE Jennie Brown sold Lot 88 to H. L. Smith.

1882 T. J. (Jeff) Flemming ran a livery stable at this location.

1883 T. J. Flemming went to Lincoln to purchase an entire new outfit of buggies for his livery stable.

1883 T. J. Flemming sold the lot and livery stable located on this lot to C. L. Spear.

1883 C. L Spear built a neat, commodious office in his livery stable.  His business increased so rapidly that he rented the Kellogg House barn also.  He bought some new buggies to supply the demand.

1884 Charley Downing, formerly employed as a barber by J. E. Mack, opened a confectionery, restaurant and barber shop.  He also advertised a bathroom with running water.  Cool refreshing baths were available.

1885 In July due to ill health, Charlie Downing sold his barber shop to C. Matson.  Charles Downing died August 1885 in Colorado where he had gone hoping the mountain air would bring him relief.  

1885 In September, C. Matson sold the business to Ed Martin of Fairmont.

1885 In December, The Geneva Shaving Parlor, E. C. Martin proprietor, was advertising that his business was hair cutting, shaving, shampooing and ladies and children’s hairdressing.  

1887 Although E. C. (Edmond Clarence) Martin  was not advertising in the newspaper, it was noted that “Ed Martin, the Geneva barber, was in Fairmont yesterday.”  The Martin family moved to Holdrege and later to South Dakota and Washington State.

1889 The Geneva Shaving Parlor, O. A. Beals proprietor, was advertising his business three doors west of the Exchange Bank.  No information has been located to document when the business changed hands or if it is even the same one.

1889 In December, J. S. Small purchased the livery stock of Dye & Reynolds.  Mr. Small ran two stables in Geneva.

1890 In July, L. W. Thompson bought the stock of confectionery owned by C. L. Spear.

1890 In August, Bailor and Frye purchased the livery stock of J. S. Small and had a general livery and feed business at the C. L. Spear barn.

1890 In September, A. G. Francis had a painting business over J. S. Small's livery stable.

1890 S. S. Walker was a painter and did wallpapering.  He had a shop over Clint Spear's livery stable.

1890 F. Power, V. S. Veterinary Physician & surgeon, a graduate at Manchester, England, had his office in Spear’s old barn, opposite northeast corner public square.  His residence was at the Fillmore House.

1891 In January, Lewis Bailor purchased the interest of his partner, Mr. Frey, in the livery business.

1892 In October, Sanborn Maps showed a confectionary in the southwest corner of the lot.  The balance of the lot was a livery barn.

1892 In October C. L. Spear sold his livery stock to Stephenson & Bone.

1892 In November, Geneva Restaurant & Candy Kitchen, J. B. Hinthorn proprietor was located here at the northeast corner of the square.  He had a lunch counter that served warm meals as well as candies, cigars and tobacco.  His place of business was the first door west of Spear Livery.

1892 In November, the Lash Bros. of Lincoln took possession of the goods in the Hinthorn restaurant and sold it to C. L. Spear, who then sold it to the Shaug Bros. of Iowa.  Eventually, J. B. Hinthorn and his family moved to Hiawatha, Kansas.

1892 In December, the Shaug Bros. were selling bulk oysters and bread.  The first advertisement was found in the Fillmore County Republican.  Lafe and Lon Shaug came from Eldon, Iowa.

1893 In January, F. Power, Veterinary Surgeon was located here at the Spear Barn.  His residence was at the Jameson Hotel.

1893 In May, L. W. Thompson went to Harvard to open a business.

1893 Arthur Bone died in October of typhoid fever and was buried at Atwood Kansas.  No information about his partner Stephenson.

1893 C. L. Spear sold the livery barn at 10th and G Street (Lot 88) to Jennie Brown.  Mr. Spear left Geneva and moved to Lake Preston, South Dakota.

1894 Jennie Brown advertised her corner livery barn was for rent.

1894 In July, L. F. Shaug sold his restaurant business to Willard Anderson.  Lon left for his home in Eldon, Iowa and then to New York City where he planned to make his future home.

1894 In December, Mr. Anderson had his restaurant papered and repaired in general.

1895 A fire was caused by the explosion of an oil lamp in the restaurant of W. A. Anderson at the corner of Center and Main Street. (Center and Main streets ran parallel to each other, so there could be no corner, however Jennie Brown did own the building at the corner of Court and Main Street.)

1897 The Methodist Church ladies held an exchange Saturday afternoon in the Anderson restaurant.

1897 In December, Walt Huston prepared to open a feed store in the Brown building recently vacated by C. A. Jarvis.

1897 Walt Huston had a feed and seed store in the southwest corner of the livery barn by the new scales.

1897 Sanborn Maps show a confectionary in the southwest corner (possibly Floyd Sandage’s restaurant) and a feed and seed store (probably Walt Huston) in the southeast and the balance a livery (Porters livery in the rear with an entrance on the side street).

1898 In May, Sandage & Co's east end restaurant had the best candies in the city.

1898 In June, Sandage & Mitchell dissolved their partnership.  Sandage bought Mitchell's interest.

1898 In July, a morning blaze started in the restaurant of Floyd Sandage and spread next door to the buggy and feed store of Walt Huston.  The building was an old frame structure, occupied in front by a restaurant and feed store and in the rear by Porter’s Livery stable with an entrance on the east side street.  

1898 In July, Walt Huston was unsure what he would do because of the fire.

1898 As a result of the fire in the restaurant of Floyd Sandage, he reopened his business in the room under the Geneva National Bank in the west block at 854 G Street.

1898 Jennie Brown tore down the old frame building at the corner of Main and Court Street that was recently partially destroyed by fire.  A modern store 50 x 100 was built on the site.

1899 In March, Walt Huston continued to sell brooms, axle grease, oyster shell, and oil cake, along with all types of seed.

1899 In September, Miss Jennie Brown returned from Oklahoma and is to erect a brick building on the corner where Walt Huston holds forth in the flour and seed business.

1899 In October, Walt Huston sold his feed store to C.A. Smith.  Mr. Huston retained his implement stock at 151 So. 10th.

1899 In December, C. A. Smith sold candy, fruit, nuts and tobacco at Huston’s old stand, northeast corner of the park, (southwest corner of the building.)

1900 C. A. Smith put in a partition between the confection and feed departments, papered and painted the front room.  He advertised that he would carry a complete line except cigars on account of the smoke.  He also advertised his location as near the northeast corner of the square, opposite city scales and Brown Blocks.  

1900 They tore down the livery barn at the corner of Main and Court Street (now 10th and G Street).  Jennie Brown, owner of the property, intended to erect a new brick block on the property.

1900 In June, there were two labor strikes in the process of building the new building here.  First, some men and boys were tearing down the old building when they found that they were to be paid $1.00 for a ten-hour day.  The workers quit working. They received a promise of higher pay.  The next week, the digging of the cellar began.  Men shoveled dirt into wagons and the loads of dirt were hauled to different people in town for 20 cents a load.  The pay was to be $2.00 a day for each man and wagon team.  The workers quit again. 

1901 Mohrman & Arends, The Famous, moved their general merchandise store to the new Brown building from their location in the Dworak Block (966 G Street).

1901 A. W. Shickley was employed at the Famous.

1901 The Sanborn maps showed a department store here.

1906 A. W. Shickley, employed at Mohrman’s, was asked to judge floral arrangements at the Nebraska State Fair.

1908 In June, Will Shickley resigned as clerk at Mohrman’s store to care for his mother who was ill.  He had been employed here for 8 years.

1908 A. W. Shickley was manager of the Electric Laundry.

1909 The Sanborn maps showed a department store here.

1911 A. W. Shickley and the rest of the Shickley family left for Wyoming.

1912 Henry Mohrman’s store was bought by C. W. Pierce, whose Boston Store was burned out.  Pierce became the owner of Henry Mohrman’s stock of goods in the building at the corner of Court and Main Streets, except for the groceries and queensware.  Mr. Mohrman removed all of the groceries and all of the queensware to the east room of the Union Block--812 G, where he intended to close them out. 

1912 Mr. Pierce planned to conduct an exclusive dry goods store at what had been the Mohrman stand for so many years.  Mr. Pierce’s business continued as The Boston Store.

1914 C. M. Pierce of the Boston store built an additional stairway to connect the main floor with the deck floor and moved the departments to new locations.

1919 Boston’s had a huge going out-of-business sale starting October 4.

1920 In February, W. L. Chenoweth & Co. opened a dry goods business, having formerly been at 135 No. 9th..  William L. Chenoweth’s partner in the firm was his father-in-law W. T. Rickly.

1922 The Sanborn maps showed a dry goods store.

1924 C. M. Pierce, formerly a Geneva businessman moved to Fairbury to take charge of a stock of goods.

1929 In September, the Chenoweth business was closed.  A bankruptcy stock sale was held with Mr. D. E. Geffen adding some new merchandise as well.  The Geffen department store also took possession of the Bailey grocery stock and it was moved to this location. 

1930 In January, the Geffen department store was moved to Sutton.  The Chenoweth family moved to Sutton where the Geffen department store was located.  When the department store was moved from Sutton to Denison, Iowa, the Chenoweth’s also relocated to Iowa.

1931 The C. A. Smith Furniture Exchange began operating at this location on the south half of Lot 88.  They carried a stock of new and used furniture.

1933 The Sanborn maps showed a store here.

1940 The C. A. Smith building was remodeled and the interior redecorated in preparation for occupancy by the Safeway Store.

1940 C. A. Smith entered into a 10-year lease with Safeway stores for the building at the corner of 10th and G Streets.  The Safeway store moved here from their previous location in the west block at 812 G Street.

1943 The Sanborn Maps showed a store here.

1980 Velma May Manning and Robert H. Manning sold Lot 88 to Clifford Wilson.  

1982 The Safeway Company closed all of their stores in the eastern part of Nebraska.  

1982 Clifford and Arlene Wilson sold Lot 88 to Pat and Larry Hilty of Fairmont.  They opened a supermarket at this location and named it Hilty’s of Geneva.  They also owned a Hilty’s store in Fairmont.

1988 Hilty’s purchased the East ½ of Lot 86 (next building west) for additional retail space.

1988 Marlin A. and Mayetta Domeier sold the north 60’ of Lot 88 (the former butcher shop and locker) to Hilty’s. 

2013 Hilty’s of Geneva was sold to Lucius LLC.  The building was vacant for ten years.

2023 In April, the Geneva Senior Center purchased the building with plans to move the center here.

This was ongoing as of the last posting.