(20) Southwest corner of Third and Center Streets to mid-block

SW corner of Third and Center"George Stocker built the Union Block so many remember as Stommel's store (529 E. Third St.). Residences were upstairs and for many years the offices of Dr. Clara Faulkner. The building was razed and the Hobart Federal Savings and Loan building (555 E. Third St.) is now here. Next to this site was Charles Borger's harness shop with a residence above (525 E. Third St.). The House of Fabrics (525 E. Third St.) is now here and also uses the next building which was Charlie Gruel's meat market. Other butchers were Paul Schulze (Superior Market, 521 E. Third St.), Dollstedt and Uremovich. A barber shop once used a small room which is now the office of Gearhart Realty (519 E. Third St.). In the rear a locker plant operated until home freezers became common. Residences are upstairs."

Images (links open in a new window):
♦ The "general merchandise establishment" of Stommel & Scheidt, inside and out, circa 1898.
♦ In this view of Third Street, the Union Block is at left (undated, but probably from the first decade of the 20th century).
Stommel's store in the Union Block building in 1925.
♦ The interior of Charles Borger's harness shop in 1895.
♦ An undated view of the exterior of Charles Borger's harness shop.
Charles Borger at work in his harness shop.
This photo taken during Hobart's centennial celebration in 1947 shows Stommel's store in the background; at right is Carl Krause, the store's manager. We also have a photo of Carl (or Karl) Krause inside Stommel's; the photo is undated but by the calendar in the background we can guess at 1958.
Several more photos of Stommel's on July 4, 1947, during Hobart's centennial festivities.
♦ A back view of the east side of Stommel's on December 27, 1950.
♦ Someone was busy with a camera inside Stommel's in 1957, and I have the slideshow to prove it (25 images — for hardcore Stommel's fans only!).
♦ An exterior view of Stommel's store, undated but probably from the mid-1950s to early 1960s.
♦ Hobart Federal Savings, 555 E. Third, in 1962; inside HFS in 1972.
♦ The Hobart Locker & Meat Market, 521 E. Third, in 1967.

1 comment:

Ainsworthiana said...

[Bill sent me the following two stories about incidents in the extended Stommel family, along with the attached 1901 newspaper article. Thanks, Bill!]

First story: Alvina Krausse Killigrew, the wife of John P. Killigrew, is the daughter of William Krausse and Josephine Stommel. Alvina's mother Josephine Stommel Krausse died from injuries suffered in a June 28, 1935 car accident on Route 55. Alvina was the driver of the car. Carl Krausse is Alvina's brother. You have a picture of him in Stommel's store.

Josephine Stommel Krausse, the woman who died because of the accident, is the daughter of August Stommel and Alvina Korf. August and Alvia Stommel had seven children: Alvin, August W., Charles, Wilhelmina, William, Josephine, and Antonia.

William Stommel (1864-1949) was an owner of Stommel & Scheidt general store in Hobart. He is Alvina Krausse Killigrew's uncle/Josephine Stommel Krausse's brother. John Killigrew (1866 – 1910) was an owner of Fiester & Killigrew, also a general store in Hobart. John Killigrew was Alvina's father-in-law and John P. Killigrew's father.

Second story: August W. Stommel (Alvina Krausse Killigrew's uncle) married Katherine Jung, the daughter of Bernhard Jung and Katharina Exter. August and Katherine had three children: Charles, Roy and Ruth and they lived in St. John, Indiana. Their son Roy Stommel died of diphtheria without receiving medical attention because his parents August W. and Katherine Stommel were following the teachings of Dr. John Alexander Dowie, a Scottish evangelist and faith healer who founded the city of Zion, Illinois and the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church. Dowie preached total reliance on divine healing and against the use of all forms of medicine. Wikipedia has an article and picture of him. Bernhard Jung and Katharina Exter had other children besides Katherine. Two of their daughters were Caroline Jung Johns and Margurite Jung Flannigan. They are described as followers of Dowie in the attached story and are listed as living in Zion IL in a website on Dowie. William Stommel and his brother Charles are also mentioned in the story. August W. Stommel also owned a general store.

Link to newspaper story here