130 So. 8th Street

Address: 130 South 8th Street

Legal Description: Spears Subdivision, OutLot 27, Lots 10, 11 & 12

Building:

DATE E. R.  Spear

DATE James Bigelow, purchased Lots 10 and 11.

DATE Hiram Tucker, purchased Lot 11.

DATE George H. Hedges, purchased Lots 11 and 12.

DATE Jason L. Lemmon, purchased Lot 12.

DATE A. Koehler, purchased Lot 10.

DATE T. W. Patmon, purchased Lot 10.

DATE John Goodwin, purchased Lot 12.

1876 Geneva Meat Market was located on the west side of the square with John Goodwin, Proprietor.

1883 Mrs. George Hedges operated a millinery and dressmaking shop here.  (Mrs. George Hedges was the daughter of Hiram Tucker.)

1885 The Record office was found in the building west of the square once occupied by Mrs. George Hedges millinery shop.  Arthur T. Scott, a member of the Scott Bros., publishers of the Geneva Review, started the Record.

1885 Crowley Bros., manufacturers and dealers in rubber stamps.  Orders were to be left at the Record office.

1887 In January, E. H. Daley sold pianos, organs, and sewing machines.

1887 In November, E. H. Daley moved his business to 137 So. 10th.

1889 Payton & Young opened a tin shop.  

1890 In April, A. B. Payton of the firm of Payton & Young, sold his interest in the tin shop to Will Kessler.  

1890 Charlie Lau had the city laundry, although the location is not definite.  Charlie was later joined by a cousin Dick Low Lee.

1892 The Sanborn Maps shows a laundry at Lot 12 and a small building on Lot 11.

1895 George Bauer opened the West Side Shoe Repair Store.  It was listed in the 1895 Journal on Lot 12.

1896 George Hedges and wife sold lots 10, 11 and 12 to George Bauer.

1897 The Sanborn Map showed a dwelling on Lot 11 and a cobbler on Lot 12.

1902 The Sanborn Map showed a dwelling on Lot 11 and a cobbler on Lot 12.

1903 Dick Low Lee sold the china store and laundry business to C. E. Hyde.  Dick moved to Hastings to become a chef in a restaurant.

1905 George Bauer sold Lots 10, 11 and 12 to James Lightbody.  Mr. Lightbody built a new building on these lots at this time.

1906 In January, Frank Held had a tailor shop here briefly before returning to the Union Block basement.

1907 A small building was on the west side of the square, owned by J. J. Lightbody and fitted up for an office.  It was occupied by A. J. Murphy as a general distributing point for all kinds of seeds.

1907 In Mar., Frank Held returned here with his tailor shop until Jan. of 1908.  He moved to the basement of 918 G. 

1909 The Sanborn Map showed a building on Lot 11 that was storage and a building on Lot 12 that was storage.

1910 In September, A. J. Cunningham & Son was located on the west side of the square.  They were advertising their new improved feather washer, guaranteed satisfaction and delivery service. They urged their customers needing their service to have it done soon, as they would only be at this location about weeks longer.

1911 In May, Russel Lyman was granted a license for a pool hall.

1911 In May, the liquor license for John W. Dingman for the ground floor building at lot 12, outlot 27 was approved.

1911 In June, fixtures were installed in the south room of the Lightbody building.  Russell Lyman had his pool room there.

1912 A few trees in front of Russell Lyman’s pool hall were cut down in preparation for the use of the building as a garage.

1912 W. H. and C. A. Menking leased the room occupied by Russell Lyman’s Pool Hall and opened a garage.  They carried a line of Auburn cars and ran a machine shop.

1912 Apparently the building was split and the pool hall was on Lot 12 and the garage on Lot 10 and 11.

1912 The liquor license of John W. Dingman for  the ground floor storeroom of the  building on lot 12, outlot 27 was approved.

1912 A new steel ceiling was placed in the room occupied by the pool hall.

1913 Menking leased the newly built Lightbody building one door south of his present location.  Mr Lightbody was commended in the Nebraska Signal for erecting a fine building along with others he had built on the same block.  He owned all of the business buildings on South 8th Street except the ice plant and the gas stations.

1914 W. H. Menking and W. E. Bruce consolidated their auto repair departments.  Mr. Bruce moved into the Menking Garage.

1914 John W. Dingman was granted a liquor license for the ground floor of the building on lot 12, outlot 27.

1914 John Arthur (J. A.) Steel and his brother Will Steel operated a garage until 1918.

1915 W. H. Menking rented the building north of his present location (Lot 11) and cut openings between the two rooms to enlarge his floor space.  The room was necessary because of the heavy storage business of cars for traveling men who stop in Geneva overnight.  Mr. Menking had one of the largest garages in southeast Nebraska.  He was the agent for Studebaker, Buick, Overland, Willys-Knight and Chevrolet automobiles.  He sold cars from $550.00 to $1050.00.

1915 J. J. Lightbody operated the West Side Saloon (Lot 12).

1915 “At 8 o’clock tomorrow evening the two Geneva Saloons are to  go out of business and remain out until the voters of the city change their minds on the license question.”  The saloon building on the east side of the square was owned by Nelson Bros. of Minneapolis and the one on the west side of the square was owned by J. J. Lightbody. (Nebraska Signal April 28, 1915)

1917 Bell & Son operated a soft drink parlor in the Lightbody building west of the square.  It is possible that he used the front part of the pool hall. (Lot 12)

1918 L. C. Shaw moved his tire shop from Shickley to Geneva.  It had to have been in Lot 11 and was named S & S Tire Shop. L. C. Shaw and Will Steel were in business together.

1922 The Sanborn Map showed oil storage on Lot 11 and a tire shop on Lot 12.

1923 C. L. Shaw sold his business S & S Tire Shop to Will Myers and then repurchased it.

1925 Art Dixon had a cream station at this location.

1933 The Sanborn Map showed a store on Lot 11 and a restaurant on Lot 12.

1934 Leslie Pool of Seward County opened a lunchroom in the Ike Lightbody building on the west side of the square.  According to the application for their liquor license, their business was located at Lot 12, Out Lot 27.  They continued their business at this location until 1938 when they relocated to the building formerly occupied by Spear Hardware. (854 G Street)

1939 Clarence Budler bought the West Side Café.  His mother ran the cafe for him while he was in the service.

1943 The Sanborn Map showed a store on Lot 11 and a store on Lot 12.

1948 The Westside Grocery was in operation from 1948 until 1959.

1951 Clarence Budler sold the West Side Café to Harry Frantz of Lincoln, formerly of Geneva.

1952 Harry Frantz  operated a grocery store in connection with the West Side Café, when he purchased it.  Harry purchased the remaining stock of the Fairway Grocery that was owned and operated by Forrest Swails and John Freeman a 872 G Street.

1956 A colored TV set was installed for Harry Frantz at the West Side Café.

1960 Harry Frantz sold his business, West Side Café, to Thomas H. Nielsen.  Mr. Nielsen purchased the building from A. O. Lechtenberger.  Mr. Nielsen’s daughter Delores and son-in-law Dan Waldron ran the café until 1964. (130 South 8th Street)

1960 Fillmore County Implement Co. had occupied the south part , but the building was not used at the time of the sale. (136 South 8th Street)

1965 Mr. Nielsen leased West Side Café to Clarence (Alberta) Hulse and their son LeRoy.

1971 Thomas H. Nielson sold the building and the business to Ray Stransky of Giltner.  

1975 Lloyd Burklund operated Lloyd’s Repair and Used Cars here until the expansion of the West Side Café next door.  (136 South 8th Street)  

1979 Ray Stransky sold the business to Rocky (Lee) Sunderman of York.

1982 He renamed the business Mr. R’s.  He expanded the business into the building next door.  (136 South 8th Street)  The new addition was a popular evening/dinner restaurant.  Rocky continued the business until 1983.

1982 Lloyd Burklund relocated his business, Lloyd’s Repair, to the garage formerly occupied by Bill Soukup Repair Shop.  It was located 1 block east, 1 ½ blocks south and ½ block east of the County Courthouse.

1987 Clarence and Alberta Hulse sold Lots 10, 11 and 12 to Blue Valley Community Action.  (130 and 136 South 8th Street)  Blue Valley moved from their former location at 1343 G  Street.  Blue Valley housed a food pantry and clothing bank for the county.  They also started a Head Start program in this facility, but it was later moved to 1600 I Street.

2010 Blue Valley Community Action building received a face-lift through the efforts of the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Geneva.  Paint and shingles brightened up the front exterior of the building.

2016 Cole Williams, son of Cindy Williams, chose the Blue Valley building as  his Eagle Scout project.  With the cooperation from the BVCA board, donations of the community and the hard work of many volunteers, many improvements were made.

This was ongoing as of the last posting.