128 So. 8th Street

Address: 128 South 8^th Street

Legal Description: Spears Subdivision Outlot 27, Lots 13 and 14

Building:

DATE E. R. Spears purchased Lots 13 and 14 from the State of Nebraska.

DATE E. R. Spears sold Lot 13 to James H. Bigelow.

DATE E. R. Spears sold Lot 14 to A. G. Camp.

DATE A. G. Camp sold Lot 14 to Silas B. Camp.

DATE M. W. Dinneen

1876 D. H. Conant, Attorney and real estate

1880 Silas B. Camp leased Lot 14 to William Purdy. Silas B. Camp was the son-in-law of William Purdy. Ida Purdy Camp was William’s daughter. William resided with Silas and Ida and died at their home January 27, 1883.

1880 William Purdy had a hardware, furniture store and restaurant. (Lot 14)

1882 Sam Yates ran a flour and feed store on Lots 14-15. He was also located east of the Baptist church at 1120 G Street.

1883 James H. Bigelow sold Lots 13 and 14 to I. P. Heath.

1883 C. H. Heath ran a harness shop and had a dwelling here.

1886 In March, F. G. Limback of Beatrice rented the south store of Silas Camp for a drug store after buying out Mozee’s stock of drugs. Dr. Mozee had an office in Limback’s store.

1886 In November, F. G. Limback moved his stock of drugs to 954 G.

1886 Parker and Son opened a grocery here in the building vacated by Limback the druggist.

1887 In January, Charles Heath sold his harness shop to Howard Kessler.

1887 In July, Kessler Harness was sold to George Peth of Fairmont. Mr. Peth also had a shop in Fairmont.

1889 In October, George Peth moved the stock of goods from his branch harness shop in Geneva to Fairmont.

1890 I. Adams, father of the Adams Bros. Brick and Stone Contractors, arrived from Iowa and started a boot and shoe business. Later he moved into the building vacated by Shumways Harness Shop.

1890 Henry Wittemeyer opened a large stock of tailoring goods in one of Camp’s buildings on the west side of the square. He moved to another location later.

1890 W. H. Goodel ran a second hand store and full line of furniture. He was located at the first door south of Mrs. Camp’s millinery store on the west side of the square.

1892 The Sanborn Map showed a building on Lot 13 and a blacksmith shop on Lot 14.

1896 D. B. Bentley bought out his partner W. H. Smith, and he ran the blacksmith business at Bentley & Smith with the assistance of his son Frank. Frank Bentley, the West Side Blacksmith, was at his father’s old stand on the west side.

1896 T. T. Jewell, a former resident of Geneva, but more recently in Ashland, opened a broom factory on Lot 14 with a new idea--a soft whisk brush for clothing or furniture.

1897 The Sanborn Map showed Lot 13 as vacant and a broom factory on Lot 14.

1898 T. J. Jewell came from Missouri and opened a broom factory on partial parts of Lots 14 and 15. John Christiancy and George Hedges ran the factory. The new broom factory had the name Jewell and Ritchie.

1900 S. J. Henderson and W. H. Henderson purchased the blacksmith shop of Flick and Dusek.

1902 The Sanborn Map showed a blacksmith shop on Lot 13 and a carpenter shop on Lot 14.

1903 Thomas M. Heath and wife sold Lots 13 and 14 to Nettie Bailor.

1907 Nettie Bailor sold Lots 13 and 14 to Carl Yates.

1909 The Sanborn Map showed a poultry and cream station on Lot 13 and a tie barn on Lot 14.

1910 Carl Yates sold Lots 13 and 14 to John Lamb.

1917 Walferd C. Peterson ran a repair shop and Ford dealership on Lots 13 and 14. He later leased the building formerly occupied by Menking Garage on the southwest corner of the courthouse square. He ran the Ford Garage and also repaired bicycles.

1920 John Lamb estate sold lots 13 – 16 to W. C. Peterson.

1920 Walferd C. Peterson sold Lot 13 and 14 to J. J. Lightbody.

1920 J. J. Lightbody built a 48 x 120 garage here. The building owned by Charles S. Lightbody housed 50 cars. In the early years there were two properties at the 128 South 8^th Street location, the other being 120 South 8^th Street. The new building encompassed both lots.

1922 Tharp Motor Company moved to this location from the Johnson building on north Church Street. C. R. Tharp bought the interest of D. E. Tharp. Tharp Motor Co., Buick Sales and Service occupied the building.

1925 J. J. Lightbody, owner of the building occupied by the Tharp garage, built a brick addition on the west end. It was 28 x 50’ and was used as a repair shop. The former repair room was used for storage and general purposes. The building became 150’ long.

1929 In October, the Tharp Garage and Buick Agency was sold to the Young Motor Co. L. M. Crawford of Fairbury managed the business.

1931 In November, F. G. Parkinson of Fairbury succeeded L. M. Crawford as manager of the Buick garage.

1931 In December L. M. Crawford, manager of Young Motor Co. garage and Col. R. A. Fate of Fairmont formed a partnership for the sale of used cars and rented the building formerly occupied by O. C. Bedford. Arnold Abresch worked for the Young Motor Co. in charge of the mechanical department.

1932 Iryl Shaner and R. O. Sigman, Chevrolet dealers, dissolved their partnership. Mr. Shaner continued as the Chevrolet dealer and had the repair shop and other parts of the business. Mr. Sigman took the used cars belonging to the company. Mr. Shaner moved to this location. The shop was in charge of Paul Shaner who moved here from Lushton. The new concern did business under the name of Shaner Chevrolet Co. Mr. Sigman remained at the old location in the Picard building in the east block.

1934 Ruse Motor Co. took over the building. They sold Ford V-8’s and Barnsdall products.

1935 In April, the Ruse Motor Company’s Geneva branch, was handling Ford cars and operating on the west side of the square. The business was moved back to Plattsmouth which was the headquarters of the company. The change was made because the company bought a chain of service stations operating near Plattsmouth.

1935 A Ford agency was opened in this location by L. V. Holdrege of Tyler, Minnesota. He stocked parts and repairs for the various Ford models. R. O. Sigman was also associated with the new agency.

1936 The Bedford Implement Co., owned and operated by Mervin Bedford, moved from the Bedford Produce building (180 So. 8th) to the garage formerly occupied by Holdrege’s Ford Garage. Bedford sold Chrysler and Plymouth cars.

1936 In February 1936, he sponsored a power farming demonstration of International Harvester equipment.

1949 The Bedford Implement Co. was sold to Ed and Dave Steider of Shickley.

Note: Prior to 1955 the address was 120 So. 8th, and beginning with 1956, the address became 128 So. 8th.

1955 Steider Implement, owned by Dave Steider and David Steider Jr. was sold to Clarence Boo. The name of the business changed to Boo Implement and continued as the International Harvester dealer.

1959 Charles Lightbody estate left this property to his niece Clarice Tice.

1960 Boo Implement was sold to Keith Burt, and he took over the International Harvester contract. The new business was named Geneva Implement Co. and remained at the same location, 128 South 8^th Street.

1963 Geneva Implement moved their business to North Highway 81.

1963 Melvin and Dolores Lonowski, owners of M and M Distributing Company, moved to this location from the London building on the north side of the square. They sold hardware and farm supplies and later became the Wheelers Store.

1967 Clarice and Frank Tice sold Lots 13 and 14 to Melvin Lonowski.

1968 Melvin and Dolores Lonowski sold the building to M and M Distributing. The M and M Store was one of six that merged with twelve Wheeler stores. Jack Taylor of Lexington was the manager of the new store which operated under the name of Wheeler’s.

1972 M and M Distributing sold the building to Howard Melton and Louis Issler. A new store on South Highway 81 was constructed for the Wheeler’s store.

1973 Howard Melton and Louis Issler sold the building to the Math Company which was organized by Leonard Thurin, Lewis McCreath and Charles Turner. The acronym stood for McCreath and Turner Homes. They built homes, and Mrs. McCreath decorated them. She carried a supply of drapery and decorating fabrics. They also sold GE appliances.

1978 Math Company discontinued their business and sold the building to Leonard Thurin and Melvin Schulz. Their new business was named Geneva Carpet.

1978 In addition Leonard began Kirby of Geneva selling and repairing Kirby vacuum cleaners. He also operated Steamway Carpet Cleaners from 1975-1979.

1980 Geneva Carpet also shared their building space with various businesses during the years they were located here. Marquita Bowman used a corner of the store for her business, The Book Shelf.

1980 The Fillmore Mutual Insurance Company had an office space here as well as Larsen Real Estate and Insurance, operated by Herman Larsen. JoAnn’s Fabric & Upholstery, Joann Cellar owner, used the back room for her business.

1980 In December, The Book Shelf moved to 908 1/2 G Street. The new location was the basement space formerly occupied by The Cellar.

1980 The southwest corner of the building was remodeled into a beauty salon. Ultimate Designs, operated by Vicky Hoarty, used the space for her business until 1984.

1982 The Backroom TV and Appliance, operated by Tim Hoarty was in this location.

1984 The Backroom TV and Appliance store occupied the entire building and the name of the business was changed to Hoarty’s TV.

1987 Hoarty’s TV relocated to 866 G Street.

1988 Fillmore County Development Corporation launched a plan to help individuals develop their own businesses. A cooperative business named Antiques Galore & More was begun. Mamie Salmon, secretary of Community Education and Recreation, was the manager. Partners in the business included: Hinrich’s Wood Shoppe (Rodney and Alyce Hinrichs); Pinetree Antiques (Richard and Carol Sieber); Cheryl Rassette, ceramics; Willie’s Antiques, of Crete; Judy Roth of Milford, crafts; and Grace of Henderson, sweatshirts. The Geneva School Success 111 students made craft items and helped with cleaning and sales as a means of learning the business which continued for two years.

1989 Natural Image, a beauty salon operated by Connie Fiala and Marla Lauenstein, occupied this space. Marla left the business in 2000. Connie remained and continued to operate her salon here at 128 ½ South 8^th Street.

This was ongoing as of the last posting.

1990 Lichti TV and Appliance, operated by Lou Lichti, opened a store here and his brother Max operated the business by the same name in York.

1991 Lichti TV and Appliance of Geneva lost their lease and was not able to locate another suitable location, so the business was closed.

1992 In April, Geneva Auto Parts moved into the building vacated by Lichti TV and Appliance.

1992 Donrich Supply, Inc. bought the building from Geneva State Bank.

1996 Geneva Auto Parts changed the name of the business to Auto Value.

2009 Donrich Supply, Inc. sold the building to Arnold Motor Supply.

2021 In April, Connie Fiala sold her salon to Simone Yates who changed the name to Creative Hair & Nails.

This was ongoing as of the last posting.