Folz Commercial Block

Folz Commercial Block View all images of Folz Commercial Block

Quick Timeline

1904	Building is built as an investment
1905	East addition is constructed for additional tenants
2000s	Building gets a facelift to attract new occupants

Location

Architecture

History

This large brick commercial block was another Jacob Folz Jr investment project. Research suggests that the section with the centered parapet was probably constructed in 1904 and that the first tenants were, from left to right, Heldt & Schuler implement company in the corner location, followed by druggist Theodore Gerke. The two-story, three-window brick section was added in 1905 by Folz for the Stinson Brothers dry good business, which also leased the adjacent one-story building from Folz. While Gerke and Heldt & Schuler (later Heldt & Voelker) were both home-town enterprises, the Evansville Stinson Brothers store, established in 1905, was but one of a regional chain operated--as the name implies--by the Stinson brothers. William E Stinson came to Evansville to manage the new branch store and stayed, becoming over the years one of the West Side community's more prominent business figures as well as one of its prime boosters. He was an incorporator of the West Side Business Association (1909) and the West Side Investment Company (1913), and he was also instrumental in organizing the Nut Club. In fact, he is said to have given the club its name. Stinson remained at the helm of the store's operation until 1945 when, at aget seventy-seven, he retired and closed the business. mesker storefront per gotmesker.com

Comments

13 - jacob folz commercial block

See also

Research notes

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