835 W Main - Old Madison Apothecary
It is believed that M. J. Child operated the West End Drug Store at this location as early as 1850. Later, the building housed the drug store of C.R. McLeland.The building is described as “a brick structure neatly finished.” It is located in a convenient place on the west end (of Madison). Inventory included a “good assortment of drugs, medicines, fancy articles, stationery, paints, oils, varnish, painters’ supplies, cigars, tobacco, etc, etc.,” according to the Weekly Courier, Oct. 31, 1884.Members of the Heberhart family operated the drug store for some time. The 1897 Sanford map continues to show the building at 835 W Main Street as a drug store. The 1909 Hoffman City Directory of Madison lists W. G. Heberhart as the owner of The West End Drug Store. The sign in front of the store advertises: Drugs, Paints, Glass, Oils. This photo of the store also shows a unicycle. Heberhart was reported to be an avid cyclist. The new owner in 1914 was William G. Rogers, who also owned Rogers Drug Store at 101 E Main Street, according to the Hoffman City Directory. While many proprietors lived above their shops, Rogers is listed as living in a residence at 423 Poplar St, with his wife Sarah. By 1923, the drugstore at 835 W. Main St was now operated by William H. Wetzel, who resided at 823 Walnut St. A photo of Wetzel’s store shows a modernized façade, featuring black and white Carrara glass bulkheads, with the name “WETZEL’S,” advertising “Drugs” and “Paints” in large letters across the front of the building. First floor windows were full-size glass panels with an inset doorway including a transom and glass side panels.In 1956, Wetzel sold the business to two employees, Robert L. Perry and Brooks E. Davis. Wetzel subsequently ran for office and was elected Mayor of Madison. He served from 1958 – 1960. The new owners changed the name from Wetzel’s to Perry & Davis, with the slogan, “The Friendliest Drug Store,” according to the 1957 city directory. Davis lived above the store at 835-1/2 W. Main St. Perry and Davis continued their partnership through 1971. At that time, Davis sold his half of the business to Kenneth E. Dunbar. Davis then ran for Mayor of Madison, was elected, and served from 1972 – 1975.The Perry and Dunbar Drug Store continued until Dunbar retired at the end of 2006. The drugstore was then sold to Erik and Jennifer Grove, effective Jan. 1, 2007. The Groves opened and operated the store as Madison Apothecary from 2007 until 2022. They had renovated the store as well as the apartment above, where they lived. Prior to its closing, this drug store was one of the longest-running drug stores in Indiana. In 2005, the Perry and Dunbar Drug Store received Indiana’s Century Award after 153 years of operations as a drug store. At the time the Madison Apothecary closed, the drug store had been in continuous operation for 172 years.
314 W Main - Rusted Roots Hair Lounge
This two-story brick Italianate style commercial building was built c. 1870. The cast iron storefront, made by the Madison Machine Company, was probably added in the early 20th Century. It has a one-story masonry addition and a one-story frame addition on the rear. At various times in its history, it has been used as a residence or a business, and sometimes both at once.The front part of the building was used as a beauty shop in the 1920s. Later, George Hill, a tire vulcanizer, lived at 314 W. Main with his wife, Grace. He died in 1943, but through at least 1942 he used the building for business purposes as well. There is a wonderful photo of George and Grace with some tires and the tools of his trade. By 1947, the building was being used as a thrift shop.According to the 1980 city directory, the structure was once again a beauty shop, Jean’s Beautiful People. Soon, however, John Ellsworth Wheeler acquired the building for his barber shop. He was a barber in Madison for 53 years, retiring and closing Wheeler’s Barber Shop on March 31, 2013. Wheeler was a veteran of the U.S. Army, in which he was a medic. After his death on March 16, 2014, he was buried at the Indiana Veterans Memorial Cemetery.Current owner Kim Kidwell is the Proprietor/BarberStylist at Rusted Roots Hair Lounge, carrying on the traditions of both the barbers and hair stylists who came before her
104 W 3rd St - Washington Fire Co.
Washington Fire Company No. 2, 104 W. Third St., is Madison’s second-oldest volunteer company, having been founded on Jan. 23, 1846. It is also recognized as the oldest firehouse in continuous use in Indiana. The building is owned by the City of Madison. It is the first and only home of Madison’s No. 2 Fire Company.Matthew Temperley and William or Isaac Dutton designed the firehouse in 1848. It was completed in 1850. This is a two-story fire station in the Greek Revival style. It is a long, rectangular brick building on a stone foundation, with a pedimented gable end facing the street. The existing bell platform on the roof replaced the original belfry in the early 20th Century.At first, firefighters relied on horse-drawn hose wagons. The back part of the first floor was a stable for the horses. Washington Fire Company was the first to bring a steam pumper to Madison. The pumper arrived from Philadelphia in 1860 and the cost was $2,000. It was a push-and-pull pumper, but it was a great advancement for the fire companies of Madison. In 1916, the company purchased a mechanized truck manufactured in Cincinnati by Ahrens Fox. The vehicle cost nearly $10,000.Changes were made to the building in 1901, 1922-23, 1947 and 1964. The three original round-headed doorways were removed in 1964 and replaced by an overhead door to accommodate modern fire-fighting equipment. The line of the original arched doorway remains visible.The second floor of the fire house has served as a social center and community center. The Washington Fire Company was once known as the “Silk Stocking Company” because of the wealth of its members. Dinners and public gatherings were held in the ballroom on the second floor. A colonnaded screen at one end marked off an area for speakers or amateur theatricals. Decorative touches upstairs included a pair of gasoliers fitted with Austrian crystal prisms. In 1925, the gasoliers were donated to the State of Indiana for use in the Lanier Mansion, but they have since been returned. The original Brussels carpeting of the second floor was replaced with red and white linoleum in the mid-1920s. More recently, the wood floors have been refinished.
209 E Main - Mad Flea
Built around 1880, 209 E. Main St. this three-story Italianate building has been the home to several businesses throughout its history. Of these businesses, the longest was the J F Wells & Co. furniture store. The proprietor, Frank Wells, like many in Madison, also lived above the store with his family. The first floor of this building remained a furniture store until 1949. But there was something truly unique about this store – it had strong ties to the Vail family and funeral home and sold caskets in addition to furniture.Cornelius Vail and J. H. White formed the Vail & White Furniture and Undertaking Company. The partners made their own caskets from wood felled in the nearby hardwood forests or they could order metal “burial cases.” They also crafted cabinets, chairs, mattresses, and looking glasses. The seven-member firm purportedly aided in the burial of President Zachary Taylor and former Vice President John C. Calhoun in 1850. After several years Vail bought out White, continuing to both make furniture and provide funeral arrangements, bringing in his son, George, to help with the business.Cornelius Vail was the son of a master shipbuilder, Thomas, who built military craft for the War of 1812, piloting them down the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans for service on the American side. Before the Civil War some believed that buying premade caskets was sacrilegious and one report noted that Vail was “almost mobbed for buying a small stock of ‘factory’ coffins.” People must have grown used to the idea of having premade coffins around because Vail remained in charge of the business until his death.By 1861 Cornelius changed the name of the business to C. Vail & Son.George Vail was born in Madison the same year his father and White began their partnership. He worked in Richmond for four years before moving back to Madison to help his father. George became the sole proprietor of the firm after his father’s death and like his father included his sons in the business, changing the name of the company to George C. Vail & Sons in 1895. Throughout this period the partners continued to make furniture from a store on the west side of West Street between Main and Second Streets. By the turn of the century the furniture store could boast of having a wide selection of Victor Victrolas in stock as well as a complete catalog of records, numbering more than 5,000 recordings.Frank and Harry Vail continued the traditions began by their grandfather and father after George’s death in late 1920. Frank’s son, Dana Vail, took over the business after his father’s death. Dana closed the furniture store around or shortly before 1949, but a longtime employee of Vail’s Furniture Store, John Gans, continued to sell furniture at 209–211 East Main, the last building that housed the furniture department, after Vail closed the store.Architecturally, this is a significant example of a commercial building constructed in the Italianate style popular during the late 19th century. The masonry building still shows its original character on the second and thirdfloors and even features historic wood windows with stone sills. Like many historic commercial retail buildings, the first-floor storefront, however, has been modified. The plate glass windows you see today along the first-floor frontage were installed sometime in the early to mid-20th century. Likewise, the area above the plate glass windows and awnings where the panels have been altered probably around the same time. Originally, the first floor of this building featured large multi-paned windows on the street frontage and prism glass block transom where the panels are currently.
232 E Main - Fine Threads / Little People's Boutique
John J. Craig was in business as a wholesale and retail dealer in groceries, produce, “stuffs,” china, glass, rope and brooms, located on Main Street in Madison, opposite the Court House, according to an ad in the local Daily Evening Courier, dated October 15, 1862. By August 14, 1863, the Daily Evening Courier reported, “Our city is continuing to improve. We notice that Mr. Craig has begun the work of tearing down the old building corner of Main Cross and Main streets, preparatory to putting up one of the finest buildings in the city.” At that time, Craig had entered into a partnership with Fred Dubach to build a new dry goods store on that location. That new 3-story building was constructed of masonry in an Italianate commercial style with brick exterior walls. The flat parapet roof included a decorative cornice with brackets. (The parapet height was required to be 42” to prevent anyone from falling off the roof.) Floral roundels adorned the windows.The partnership with Dubach only lasted about a year. Craig’s brother Henry then joined the business, which was named Craig and Brother Wholesale Grocery. Although John Craig died in 1886 of asthma and bronchitis, the 1887-88 City Directory listing shows: J & R Craig Co., located at 232 & 234 E. Main St., Grocers and Commission Merchants, Dealers in Flour, Bacon, Pure Wines and Liquors.By 1889, Nicholas Horuff took over the location and opened a dry goods store. His sons William H., Joseph A. and Charles N. joined the business in 1895. The business was so successful that they were able to purchase the building from Thomas Graham in 1897. The Horuff Building was associated with department and dry goods for a long time. Nicholas Horuff managed retail operations on Main Street for 68 years, 60 of those years in this building. The Horuffs enlarged the building twice, to the current 60’ frontage and 100’ deep. Two generations of Horuffs operated retail sales in Madison for a total of 90 years. They modernized the façade with three large historic steel casement windows with brick headers that are spaced across the front of the building at the second floor and at the third-floor levels. Similar smaller windows can be seen on the east side of the building, facing the Courthouse. The ground floor featured full-light windows and with glass sidelights and transoms surrounding the doors. Carrara glass bulkheads completed the renovated exterior.Carrara glass was a brand of pigmented structural glass developed in the United States in 1900, but became widely used around the world. The opaque white glass was a less expensive alternative to Carrera marble. The glass was much stronger than marble. It made an old building look updated and modern. Libby-Owens-Ford Glass produced a similar product which they named, “Vitrolite.” That name soon became the generic word used to describe all structural glass.By the 1940’s many elaborate 19th century store fronts, had been replaced with the updated clean lines of structural glass. The shades of white, beige and black soon were expanded to include many striking colors such as green, blue, tan and marbleized colors.Although Nicholas Horuff died in 1914, the business continued to operate as Horuff Sons through 1927, per the Hoffman City Directory of 1927. His son, William H. Horuff is listed in the City Directory as the vice president of the First National Bank as well as an owner of Horuff Sons. When the Horuff sons retired, the building was sold in November 1934 to R. Gold and Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Gold’s Department Store operated in that building for seven years. During that time, the building suffered a devastating fire. Following the fire, shoppers lined up on Main Street to buy discounted merchandise at the fire sale. (See photo)The building was then sold to George M. Daily of Highland Park, Ill., in 1941. Extensive renovations were completed by Daily. Daily hired Dwight (Speedy) Mills. Daily’s Department Store operated until May 24, 1944 when it was sold to Abraham Goodman and Major T. Jester. More remodeling and renovations were completed prior to the opening of the Goodman-Jester Store on November 29, 1945.This new store was described as a fairyland of modern decorations and merchandising.Dwight (Speedy) Mills was promoted to manager. Mills is credited with the growth of the Goodman-Jester Store. The store was known as one of the best department stores in the area. In 1954, it was tagged, “Madison’s Leading Department Store.” Major T. Jester took over the store in 1957. (See photo)Mills eventually purchased the store from the Jester Family in 1970, renaming it the Mills Department Store. The second floor Bridal Shop was THE place to find that perfect wedding dress. Speedy operated the store until his death in 1978. After Mill’s death, the building was vacant for a short period of time. It reopened in 1979 as a collection of small shops. By 1984, one of those shops was the Little People’s Boutique, owned and operated by Joy McDole, with her daughters Rhonda Sauley and Jill Taylor. In 1986, Rick and Rhonda Sauley purchased the building with his parents, Sam and Phyllis Sauley. Together, they remodeled the building to create “Main Street Village, Jefferson at the Crossing,” a collection of individual retail stores plus a restaurant. The concept was modeled after a similar facility in downtown Indianapolis. They spent about five months building out individual stores within the previously open floors of the department store. Thirteen shops participated in the grand opening in November 1986. The individual shops included ladies’ apparel, children’s clothing, ladies’ shoes, uniforms for nurses, lingerie, oak furniture and accessories, sweaters, activewear, handmade baskets and specialty crafts, natural-dried flower arrangement and antiques, children’s toys, candy plus ice cream, nuts, popcorn and the Village Kitchen – a deli-style diner, owned and operated by Damon Welch, later a Mayor of Madison.In 1993, Rick Sauley opened RLS Insurance with an office entrance at 325 Jefferson, on the side of the building. Today, Rhonda Sauley still owns and operates the Little People Boutique and also Fine Threads women’s clothing on the first floor of the building. The “Puttin’ On the Ritz” School of Dance, operated by Robin Oaks and Teresa Eversole, occupies the lower level.
128-130 East Main Street, Madison, IN, USA
Crawdaddy Music, 128-130 E. Main St., is a two-story brick Italianate style commercial structure built around 1880. The existing storefront is a mid-twentieth century Art Moderne addition composed of blue and grey porcelainized enamel steel panels and aluminum trim. The building has a low side gable roof with decorative sheet metal window cornices and bracketed roof cornice. Inside the second story, hooks and pulleys for raising heavy objects are visible. In the Sanborn Insurance Map of 1886 and 1892, the buildings at 128 and 130 were listed as a tailor shop and a dry goods and notions store, respectively.In the early part of the 20th Century, the dapper Robinson L. Ireland, a hatter and provider of men’s furnishings, was owner of R.L. Ireland at 130 E. Main. (Photo of R.L. Ireland courtesy of the Madison-Jefferson County Public Library.) Firemen & Mechanics Insurance was next door.The first mention of a second floor business usage was in 1909, when the city directory records that Dr. J.J. Rapp had a medical practice upstairs at 128 ½ E. Main St.By the 1920s and 1930s, the insurance office had been replaced by Miss Luella Ernst’s millinery shop. Miss Ernst was the eldest child of Louis Ernst, for whom Jefferson County’s Boy Scout Camp is named. In the 1920s she was frequently mentioned in the local paper as departing by train for millinery “openings” in Cincinnati or Indianapolis.Around 1940, Katy Klothier was the retailer in 130 E. Main Street, while the sign for Ernst & Co. can still be seen at 128 E. Main. (Photo courtesy Randy Lakeman.)Later, from the 1950s to the 1970s, Madson residents came to this location for both men’s and boys’ clothing. Jim Demaree Men’s Store was located at 128 E. Main, while Jim’s mother, Mildred Augustine Demaree, presided over Jim Andy boys’ clothing store next door at 130.One fondly remembered employee at Demaree’s was Jim’s uncle Lou Perry, who during the 1920s and 1930s was the vocalist for a popular dance band called Lou Perry and His Footwarmers. Lou was a gregarious employee. When he wasn’t waiting on customers, he could often be found in front of the store talking to passersby, according to his granddaughter, Louane Perry Sanders. Lou was the father of Robert L. Perry who was co-owner of Perry & Dunbar pharmacy on West Main. (Photo of Lou Perry and His Footwarmers courtesy of Louane Sanders.)Dave Carlow of Madison has a fun memory of the Demaree Men’s Store. For a time they sold bicycles, and Carlow purchased his first 10-speed there.By the 1960s and early 1970s, several vacant stores dotted the block where Demaree’s Men’s Shop and Jim Andy Boys’ Shop were located. On the morning of Sept. 16, 1975, the Madison Courier chronicled a fire in the rear part of Demaree’s. Only one counter and a stack of boxes of shirts burned, but heavy smoke damaged all the merchandise in the store. Soon after, Jim Demaree made the decision to close his store.During some of the history of Demaree’s and Jim Andy’s, Republican Party Headquarters was located upstairs at 128 ½. Later, Ella Ginn provided sewing and alteration services in the upstairs space.The downstair spaces were vacant for a while after Demaree’s closed, however in 1979 there was a new clothing store in 128 E: Osborn’s Sportswear for women. It was owned by Raymond & Patricia Osborn. In 1987, Rob and Dawn Houze purchased the buildings from the Osborns and began their 36-year occupancy that continues to this day. Crawdaddy Music started modestly, in the loft space of 128 1/2 E. Main St. At first, there was no way to go directly from the loft of 128 to the loft of 130. Rob cut an arched doorway, and in the process, uncovered some old paperwork, including a receipt or sales slip with the signature of Capt. Charles Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury, Madison’s seventh mayor, was owner of the Costigan-designed home at 301 W. First St., one of the jewels of Madison architecture. (Photo of signature courtesy of Rob and Dawn Houze.)Approximately 1995, Crawdaddy Music expanded into the downstairs of the combined 128 and 130 E. Main St. Rob Houze has been selling instruments and offering music lessons to generations of Madisonians for 36 years. A native Madisonian, Houze has played in bands since seventh grade. Nowadays he leads his own jazz band and freelances with various bands in “Indiana’s Music City.” In 2022, his business was a recipient of Madison Main Street’s Legacy Award. The presenter that night said, “Owner Rob Houze studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston is is himself an accomplished jazz musician –though he is very modest about his accomplishments and never ‘toots his own horn.’ In fact, the only way we could get him here tonight was to ask him to play!” (Photo of Rob Houze courtesy of The Madison Courier.)
111 E Second St - The Chandler Hotel
The Chandler Hotel has deep historic roots in Madison. The lot on which it stands was originally granted to William Hendricks in 1816, the year Indiana became a state as well as the year Hendricks became a U.S. Congressman. Later he was Indiana’s third governor and a U.S. Senator. He is buried in Madison’s Fairmount Cemetery.By 1859, McCubbin and Sons Livery stood on the site and a succession of horse-related businesses followed.The current two-story brick Italianate style structure was built c. 1870 as the Sam Herin Livery Stable. It has a hip roof covered with standing rib sheet metal that probably replaced the original wood shingles in the early 20th Century. The façade is embellished with decorative sheet metal cornice work. The original brick segmental arch still visible above the Chandler Hotel entrance marquee is a visible vestige of the days when that wide opening afforded access for horses and carriages.In 1886, W.C. Watt’s Fashion Livery, including an office and a frame carriage house situated west of the building, was here. In the 1890s, then-owner Samuel Herin was recognized as an authority on horses. Years later, historian Ron Grimes noted, “… his advice on horse matters was often sought by those wanting to make an equine purchase. An article of the day describes his stables as a ‘model of beauty and convenience.’” Sam Herin changed his business from a livery stable to a “sale stable” by 1904. Herin also added windows along the east and west sides.Louis Eisenhardt was the last to use the building as a livery and stable, in fact it was the last livery in Madison. Eisenhardt died in 1935.Other uses were found for the structure over the years. The Try Me Bottling Works moved from Main Street to this address in 1939. According to The Madison Courier of that day, “Roy Cranford, president and general manager of the concern, has leased the Eisenhardt property, a two-story brick building on Second Street now owned by Vawter Irwin, in which he will install $20,000 worth of new machinery.” Try Me offered such flavors as Red Rock Cola, NuGrape, Rose-Bud Root Beer, Five-O Chocolate, Cheer-Up and Lime-Rickey. Unfortunately, Cranford died a few weeks after this announcement. Someone else took over the bottling works, but it didn’t survive long. The Madison Courier, with offices nearby on West Street, purchased the building in 1972. The Madison Courier was first published weekly in 1837 and is now considered the second oldest newspaper in Indiana. For 50 years the Courier used this structure for storing large rolls of newsprint that could be moved to the printing press in the Courier building as needed. Curt Jacobs, from the last generation of the Garber family to own the newspaper, remembers helping to paint the interior of the building when he was around 8 years old. He recalls newsprint coming by rail to the west side of the city, near the present location of the wastewater treatment plant, then being off-loaded and taken to this building for storage. Jacobs later became the newspaper’s publisher.Livery stable … horse sale barn … soda bottling plant … newsprint warehouse. When The Madison Courier quit printing newspapers in Madison, 111 E. Second St. became non-essential. During Madison Main Street’s 2021 Loft Tour, it was highlighted as “raw space” ready for someone to transform. That happened sooner than anyone at the time expected.Dan and Matt Chandler had a vision for a small boutique hotel in downtown Madison. As they scouted an appropriate building, Curt Jacobs suggested this one. The Chandlers purchased 111 E. Second St. in January 2022. “Our hotel is a love letter to the town of Madison and all of the future guests who will experience a unique and memorable stay” said Matt Chandler, Owner, The Chandler Hotel. “So much intention and thought went into each detail of the property, paying tribute to this incredible destination, while elevating the quality of lodging for savvy travelers with a passion for perfection.”Barely one year later, The Chandler Hotel opened in the spring of 2023. While retaining much of the original structure, the boutique hotel has a contemporary design that features a rooftop terrace and many local Madison-made guest amenities. A grand staircase leads from the lobby to the second floor. Each of the five second-floor suites has a different theme: LaBelle Riviere, Midnight on Main, The Lanier, Sunset on Broadway and The Stableman’s Quarters. The building of many uses has taken its place as part of Madison’s new downtown industry: tourism.
209 W Main - Kentuckiana Mortgage
Built in one of the most popular architectural styles of the time, this 1875 Italianate building has been home to a grocery, stationery, notions (sewing items and accessories), billiards hall and cigar store among other things. If you look closely, you’ll notice the decorative pressed metal crowns above the windows are twins to those found on 213 W. Main St. The front doors, transom, and decorative metal work, like the sign frieze, cornice, brackets, and columns, on the first floor are also original to the building.The first store in this building was a grocery store owned by J. G. Schelke. He and his family lived on the second and third floors until about 1890 when the store became the N.T. Drake & Co. stationery store. Like Schelke, Nathan Drake and his family also lived above their store. In addition to stationery, they also sold pianos, organs, wallpaper, and newspapers among other items, making it more like a modern home goods store. Nathan also owned an upholstery shop nearby, at 323 West St.During its transition from a stationery store to a notions store (which is a store that sells sewing supplies and accessories like buttons, zippers, and lace or trim), a rear frame addition was added. However, just a few short years later, that addition was bricked on the outside and extended to be a two-story addition.These modifications allowed for the easy transition from solely a notions store to a notions store and billiards hall. The billiards hall must have really been popular and more profitable because in just a few short years, the location became a billiards hall and cigar shop, completely dropping the notions portion of the business.In the late twentieth century, this building housed an insurance agency, then the OVO Café owned by Greg Thomas. (See photo.) The popular café operated from 1998-2008. Since that time, Kentuckiana Mortgage has been in operation as the latest steward of the building.
