"Lot #1 of Hobart's plat was the site of Lew Hammond's tavern, a stage coach stop. In 1886 it was run by Mrs. David Young as Young's Hotel. John Gordon came from Pennsylvania that year to visit his brother, Dr. Pliny Gordon. He walked from the Pennsylvania Railroad station down Front Street and inquired at the hotel where he could locate his brother. He was told he was upstairs at a dance. John Gordon bought a ticket for $2.50 and was handed a slip of paper. This, he was told, was a deed to a lot in the new cemetery on Front Street and the dance was being given to raise money to build a fence around the cemetery to keep the pigs and cows from grazing there. Mr. Gordon relates the hotel later burned down. At least four homes were built in this block, Henry Sylvester Smith's being one. All but one have been razed or moved. In the 1930s a beach was developed with a block house built on the shore of Lake George. When the beach was closed, the little building was used as school rooms for Lake Shore School for the Retarded. When classes outgrew the building, they were moved to the West Hobart School building and the Chamber of Commerce used the building. The Lake County Public Library (100 Main St.) chose this site to build a new library for Hobart in 1968. In the middle of the block Harrigan Real Estate (124 Main St.) has built an office building. One residence, originally built by Henry Sylvester Smith, still stands (128 Main St.)."Images (links open in a new window):
♦ In this then-and-now post, we see the block building, which originally served bathers at the beach, converted to the Chamber of Commerce office.
♦ Speaking of the Lake George beach, here we see what a lively place it was around 1933, and again around 1940; and on July 4, 1931, it was packed to the limit.
♦ The new library under construction in 1968; this construction photo was taken August 2, 1968.
♦ The newly built library in 1969.
♦ Harrigan Real Estate at 124 Main in 1979.
"The George Pedersen building was on the corner of Main and Second. An apartment upstairs was his home. He operated a wagon shop on the first floor, and in the rear Ernest Niksch had a blacksmith shop. Niksch also had a blacksmith shop on Main Street on the lake (114 Main St.). Dr. Storer, Dr. Markle, and Dr. Pruitt had offices in the building after Pedersen left. Northern Indiana Public Service Company offices were here before they built across the street. At one time the Hobart License Bureau also was here. A new building on the site is Edward's Store for Men (201 Main St.)."