142 & 144 So. 8th Street
Address: 142 and 144 South 8th Street
Legal Description: Spears Subdivision, Out Lot 27, Lots 9 and 10.
Building:
DATE State of Nebraska sold Lots 9-10 to E. R. Spear.
DATE E. R. Spear sold Lots 9 and 10 to James. H. Bigelow.
DATE James H. Bigelow and wife sold Lot 10 to Walter H. Pardue.
1874 A. G. Camp and sons moved their grocery and dry goods store from G. E. Bigelow’s building west of the square and opened the first store of general merchandise in Geneva.
1884 James H. Bigelow and wife sold Lot 9 to Voris and Reed.
1884 Voris & Reed purchased the lot west of the square formerly occupied by George Bigelow’s dwelling. They were to erect a building very soon.
DATE Wm. T. Voris and John T. Reed sold Lot 9 to J. H. McIntire.
DATE J. H. McIntire sold Lot 9 to Daniel or David Reigle.
DATE Daniel or David Reigle sold Lot 9 to Samuel W. Light.
DATE Samuel W. Light sold Lot 9 to Davis Tope.
DATE Davis Tope and wife sold Lot 9 to James S. Small.
DATE James S. Small and wife sold Lot 9 to Alanson Chapman.
DATE Alanson Chapman and wife sold Lot 9 to Thomas M. Patmon.
DATE Thomas M. Patmon and wife sold Lot 9 to W. L. Spear.
1892 Walter L. Spear sold lots 9 and 10 to J. W. Smith and William Sohn .
1892 The Sanborn Map showed the Sohn and Smith Livery on Lot 9, and an ice house one the west of partial lots 9-11 and all of lot 10.
1893 In April, S. D. Moler was again a citizen of Geneva, having bought Edson’s livery barn on Church Street.
1893 In April, S. D. Moler & son purchased the livery business of Smith and Sohn at the new barn on the west side of the square.
1894 W. M. Sohn sold his one-half interest in the west side livery barn to James Lightbody. Mr. Sohn took his stock and carriages to Tobias where he continued in the livery business.
1896 J. W. Smith sold his one-half interest in the west side livery barn to James Lightbody.
1896 A. C. Wickizer ran the Park Livery Stable.
1897 The Sanborn Map showed the livery as vacant and a dwelling on Lot 10.
1897 A. C. Wickizer sold the Park Livery Stable located on the west side of the square to J. W. Dwyer and John Spivey. Mr. Dwyer moved here from Iowa, while Mr. Spivey had been in the livery business for several years in Geneva.
1898 James Dwyer sold his livery stable to Peter Weis. Mr. Dwyer returned to his former home at Sigourney, Iowa.
1898 The Park Livery Barn advertised their services in the Geneva Gazette. The proprietors were listed as Weis & McKeon.
1899 Joseph Owens and Peter D. Weis were in partnership in the livery business at the old Mercer barn on the west side. A few months later they bought the barn two doors north of the post office (135 No. 9th) and moved there.
1900 H. G. Porter moved his livery stock for the Old Settler’s Livery Stable here from 179 So. 10th.
1901 In June, Albert Kline bought out H. G. Porter livery, and the Old Settlers Livery Stable. He named his new business Park Livery Barn.
1901 In December, Kline and Lindgren sold Park Livery Barn to Wade and Hall who named the business Central Livery (Lot 9).
1902 The General Horse Company kept a $3,000.00 horse at the Lightbody stable. C. H. Burnett was in charge.
1902 C. A. Hall sold his interest in the Wade and Hall Livery Barn to J. Weaver.
1902 The Sanborn Map showed a dwelling on Lots 10 and 11 and an office adjacent to Lamb’s Livery, possibly the location of the Commission House.
1905 J. J. Lightbody built an addition to the J. T. Lamb Livery Barn. It increased its capacity to hold 40 more horses. (Lots 8, 9 and 10)
1906 In August, Johnny Lamb sold his livery business to Lem Moats of Grafton.
1907 In January, Johnny Lamb bought back the livery barn he had sold a short time before to Lem Moats. Lamb sold one-half interest in his livery business to his brother Lin Lamb of Lincoln.
1907 In January, A. J. Murphy opened a seed store in a small building on the west side of the square, owned by J. J. Lightbody.
1909 The Sanborn Map showed a livery barn here.
1909 In July, H. G. Porter and son Harry purchased the livery barn from John and Lin Lamb. It was called Star Livery Barn. Harry sold his bus line to Lee Ashton.
1913 Harry Porter moved his livery to the north barn at 137 No. 8th. Porter moved to the barn formerly occupied by Hourigan and Linnert, one block north of his old location (North 8th Street).
1913 James Lightbody owned the barn occupied by Porter. He tore it down and erected a brick building on Lots 9 and 10. The old barn was built in 1890. The new building was 60 x 100, two story brick with an office located in a corner. When it was completed, it was occupied by an implement house.
1913 In January, Menking sold his automobile and garage business to Frank Bailor and Charley Leonard.
1913 In March, Menking bought back the auto garage and livery business that he had sold to Bailar & Leonard.
1913 In December, Menking leased Lightbody’s new building here.
1914 Menking and W. E. Bruce consolidated their auto repair departments. Bruce moved into the Menking Garage where he was in charge of the repair department and Menking had charge of the sales department.
1915 Menking rented the building to the north on Lot 12 and cut openings between the two rooms to enlarge his floor space. The extra space was needed to accommodate the overnight storage of traveling businessmen’s cars. Menking and Bruce had one of the largest garages in southeast Nebraska.
1915 Menking’s Garage sold Chevrolet, Dodge, Buick, Overland, Willys-Knight, Studebaker and Ford cars.
1917 R. H. Shockey of Upland opened a repair shop in the Menking Garage.
1918 In April the Fillmore County Auto Company bought the business of the Menking Garage. J. C. Bradley, who had been employed as a salesman, took charge of the business. Mr. and Mrs. Menking moved to a ranch in Colorado.
1918 In April, the Fillmore County Auto Company, managed by W. C. Peterson, rented one of the Lightbody buildings west of the park to use for a salesroom for Dodge Cars.
1922 The Sanborn Map showed this to be used as a garage.
1922 In April, W. C. Peterson sold his business Fillmore County Auto Company, to Russell Tetard, agent for Ford products. Tetard operated as Geneva Motor Company for nine years.
1925 Knud Knudsen installed a ducco paint machine at Geneva Motor Co. and engaged in painting cars and furniture.
1930 C. L. Shaw was a dealer in Willys-Knight, Willy’s 6 and Whippet vehicles on display at Bruce’s Garage.
1931 Russell Tetard sold his Ford agency to E. H. Pyzer of Ohiowa.
1932 The Dodge and Plymouth Garage was located at 142 South 8th Street.
1933 The Sanborn Map showed this to be auto repair.
1933 Eric Johnson opened the Johnson Super Station selling and servicing Dodge and Plymouth cars and Champlin tires at 142 South 8th Street.
1937 Eric Johnson vacated this garage and moved into his new building at
1937 The Ford Garage, L. V. Holdridge proprietor, had a new location here in the building formerly occupied by the Johnson Service. He sold Ford tractors and also advertised Ferguson Systems, sales, service and repairs.
1937 J. J. Lightbody sold the building to Isaac (Ike) Lightbody. There was an apartment on the second story of the building.
1939 The Ford Motor Company moved into the renovated Lightbody building formerly occupied by Bill Bruce and Noah Steckly. The address would have been 152 South 8th Street. The building was divided and the south half became 144 South 8th Street.
1939 McCluskey Repair Shop was owned by Ed McCluskey. It was located in the south half of the building or 144 South 8th Street. He was helped by Glen Murell.
1941 In January, Roy Christiancy was a dealer for Nash and Hudson cars. He also sold second hand cars and provided storage for cars.
1943 The Sanborn Maps showed this used as a store.
1945 Fillmore County Implement Company, located in the north half of the building (142 South 8th Street), was owned by the Grant Motor Company of York.
1951 John R. Friesen purchased the Fillmore County Implement Co. from Grant Motor Company.
1955 John R. Friesen held a grand opening at his remodeled implement store.
1955 John R. Friesen purchased the well drilling outfit formerly owned by Richard Schafer and Clarence Boo.
1957 Ed McCluskey moved his small engine repair shop and lawn mower repair to his home.
1960 Friesen renamed the business Fillmore County Implement and Irrigation. He began to drill irrigation wells and sold John Deere machinery.
1968 After 16 ½ years in business, Mr. and Mrs. John R. Friesen announced the sale of the John Deere business to Leonard Fiala, Marvin Houdek, Marvin Nichols and Gene Nichols.
1971 John R. Friesen moved his well drilling business to 162 South 8th Street and continued there until 1976.
1974 Wynne Transport Service, Inc. moved into the 142 South 8th Street location. The business was owned by Don Wynne. They continued in this location until 1980 when they built a shop north of Geneva.
1981 G Kay Inc., owned by Richard and Mary Quick moved from the 162 South 8th Street location to 142 South 8th Street. They continued in this building until 1986 when they moved their office to their home. More information is available in the 162 South 8th Street record.
1993 Melvin and Carolyn Krause bought the building from Geneva Friesen (Mrs. John R.). Their business was a vehicle repair shop, Mel’s Automotive, located at 142 South 8th Street.
2014 Mel Krause retired in 2014.
2018 Carolyn Krause sold the building to Stone Cold Restorations, LLC, owners Steve Siebolt, Allen, Pamela, and Lathan Virus. They remodeled the second story apartment where the Virus family resided. The main floor garage area was used for auto repair, restoration and an auto body shop.
This was ongoing as of the last posting.