"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.
"'The Caring Place' was built as a convent for St. Bridget Church and was rented to small businesses when the convent was moved. It was once the site of the Stocker, later the Jake Kramer, Jr. (130 Center St.), home."
"George Stocker built most of the buildings in the 300 block of Main Street. The building on this corner was erected in 1888. It housed the First State Bank when it was organized in 1899. Scheidt and Keilman's "Bee Hive" was in the south room. They also had a front on Third Street. The First State Bank was closed in 1929 and Gary National Bank opened a Hobart branch here. When they built on the old mill site, Lincoln Loan opened offices. Now Knight Coin & Stamp (301 Main St.) uses the rooms. Dr. Weisjahn had a dental office upstairs. Now the upstairs rooms are residences. Where Scheidt and Keilman had the Bee Hive, a restaurant later opened. Marshall Parry moved his "Royal Blue" store here from Third Street. Leonard Blair succeeded Parry in the grocery business and Hobart Fetterer followed Blair. Later a shoe store and a carpet store were here. And it is now the Craft Corner."
George Stocker made shoes when he first came to Hobart and had a store in the next building, now Atseff's Unity Shoe Shop. Stocker, as postmaster, had the post office here."
"The next building, built by Stocker, was two stories with residences upstairs. Hobart Town offices were in rooms upstairs at one time. On the first floor was Murray's saloon, also Scheddell's Drug Store. Hartman operated a furniture store and later Herman Pflughoeft was in the furniture business here. When Schultz Brothers Variety Store first opened, the building was still two-storied but was later remodeled to one story."
"Strattan's Opera House, a two-story building, was built by George Stocker in 1876 and sold to B.W. Strattan. On the second floor was a theater with a stage, seating area that could be converted to a ballroom, and a balcony. At one time a superstructure was used to store scenery so it could be rapidly pulled up and down. Hobart was to Chicago what Philadelphia was to New York. Plays were tried out in Hobart before being put on in Chicago theaters. In 1923-24 Hobart High School used the theater as a basketball court. Many exhibitions and dances were held here before it was condemned. The second floor on Main Street front once housed the Hobart telephone exchange. Offices were used by various concerns — Strom's Tailor Shop (300 Main St.), Findling's Insurance Office, Calumet Finance and JP office. Other rooms were residences. Hobart Art Guild is now upstairs. The Hobart Bank was moved to the corner room on the first floor. Stocker and Strattan both operated general merchandise stores in first floor rooms. The A&P Store was here at one time, also Mundell's Flower Shop and a pool hall. Hobart Hardware now uses all the first floor. Rexall Drug Store once used the middle store and the third room on the east has been an ice cream parlor, bakery and newspaper store. Vossberg's Clothing also occupied the middle store at one time."