Odd Fellows Buildings (1869-1989) Video

We have another episode of Mooresville Moments, a local history video series.  This installment explores the I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows) buildings, which were located on the northeast corner of Main and Indiana Streets in downtown Mooresville.

Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) Buildings (1869-1989)

(Mooresville Moments #25)

by Mooresville Public Library

(click video box above to play)

There are always a few images or newspaper clippings that we don't use in the videos--it's a matter of viewing length and viewer attention spans--so we include those materials below.  (See also this blog post.)

Here's an advertisement for Warren Insurance Agency that appeared in the 1980 Mooresville High School yearbook, Wagon Trails (page 146).  Warren was the last business to be located in the first floor remnant of the second I.O.O.F. building, which was demolished in 1989.

 Click Images to Enlarge

The second I.O.O.F. building's demolition began in 1964, with the top floor being removed; the entire second floor was removed, leaving a first-floor "sliver" remaining, so that Citizens Bank could extend its new building's parking lot in 1965-66.  The article headline (below) declares the Odd Fellows building to be 105 years old (in 1964), but that's mistaken.  The second I.O.O.F. building (built 1881) was 83 years old in 1964.  Even if the reporter had been dating to the first I.O.O.F. building (built 1869, burned down in 1881), the age would only have been 95 years old.  The reporter's error arose from the I.O.O.F. capstone (dated 1859), which was installed atop the first Odd Fellows building in 1869, and subsequently placed upon the second Odd Fellows building in 1881.  The capstone commemorated the establishment of Mooresville's I.O.O.F. chapter (Morgan Lodge #211), which was founded on July 7, 1859.  The capstone was being removed during the 1964 upper-story dismantlement, and the reporter had incorrectly assumed that the capstone's 1859 date corresponded with the building's age.

 Mooresville Times

July 23, 1964

After the Odd Fellows capstone was removed in 1964, it was housed at Citizens Bank for a number of years. Some time later, it was kept at the Academy School Museum on North Monroe Street.  Since 2017, the capstone has been part of a wall in Mooresville Bicentennial Park (on the site of the Odd Fellows buildings).

 Mooresville-Decatur Times

October 21, 2017

Here's a 1962 aerial photo showing the Odd Fellows building (boxed in yellow):

East Main Street in Downtown Mooresville

1962 Mooresville High School

Wagon Trails Yearbook

Ernest L. Hadley had this stereo photograph (taken by local photographer J. P. Calvert) showing the fire damage to the first I.O.O.F. building (July, 1881):

 

Longtime Mooresville Historian Wanda Potts wrote about the fire in her 1999 newspaper column.

Mooresville Moments

Mooresville Times

June 23, 1999

  

Pleasant "Pleas" Mills' dry goods store is visible behind the Mooresville High School students celebrating their basketball team's victory over Monrovia High School on February 22, 1922 in the Main-Indiana Street intersection downtown.

 

 (Photo by local photographer Manley Brown)

Taggart Bakery & Restaurant (1888-1930) and Beyond

In 1888, John Allen Taggart and Lena Taggart started their bakery/restaurant at 15 West Main Street in downtown Mooresville.  In 1896 they replaced their wood-frame structure with a two-story brick building that still stands today.  Our video below summarizes the history of restaurants that served the public at this location for well over half a century.

Taggart Bakery (Mooresville Moments #24)

by Mooresville Public Library

We had some leftover images that didn't make the cut for the video, which we'd like to share here.  This 1919 photo (below) shows Lena Taggart with her brother-in-law and his wife, Joseph and Florence Taggart, who lived in Pasadena, California, according to the 1920 U.S. Census.  The front and back of the photo are shown below.  (Click images to enlarge.)

The enlarged portion of J. A. Taggart's obituary appeared in the video, but here's the part of the front page in which the article appeared.

Mooresville Times, January 3, 1908

John Allen Taggart's headstone at

Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis

At the turn of the 20th century, John and Lena Taggart lived in a fine home on the northeast corner of the intersection of North Monroe Street and West Morgan Street, across from the Academy School (which added, in 1909, Mooresville High School; in 1921, the high school gymnasium; and, in 1937, Newby Memorial Elementary School).  Four decades later, this home was owned by Butch Brown's parents, who operated Brown's Rexall Drugstore at 13 East Main Street in downtown Mooresville.

Here's a summary of owners of Taggarts' Bakery/Restaurant over the years:

Under the name Taggarts' Bakery and Restaurant

• 1888-1907:  John A. & Lena Taggart
• 1907-1913:  Lena Taggart
• 1913-1918:  Ross C. "Dinty" Moore
• 1918-1928:  Frank Hadley & Pete Culbertson
• 1928-1930:  William Tincher

Under the name "Dinty" Moore's Cafe:

• 1930-1936:  Ross C. "Dinty" Moore

Under the name Hadley Restaurant:

• 1936-1944:  Frank Hadley

Under the name Head Inn Restaurant:

• 1944-circa 1950:  Mr. & Mrs. Clayr (?) Ward

Under the name Taylor's Restaurant:

• Circa 1950-circa 1959

Under the name Clark's Restaurant"

• Circa 1959-circa 1966

During the 1990s and 2000s, I recall that Pat's Tavern was located in the Taggart building at 15 West Main Street.  Since 2016, it has been the site of Bran N Shorts Coffee House.

Mooresville-Decatur Times, January 30, 2016

A 130-Year-Old Landmark in Downtown Mooresville

One of the many tragedies of the tornado that devastated downtown Mooresville, Indiana on April 8, 2020, was the second-story collapse of the Bass Building, constructed circa 1890 on the southeast corner of the intersection of Main and Indiana Streets. (Click images to enlarge.)

The Bass Building at 3 East Main Street
after the 4/8/2020 tornado
(photograph © 2020 by Andy Hendricks)

Structural Support to the Bass Building (July 2020)

(photograph & video by William R. Buckley)

George W. Bass (1842-1924) was a Civil War veteran who moved to Mooresville in 1878. Around 1880 Bass built a single-story, wood-frame building to house his drugstore. We have a photo from about the time Bass opened for business. which shows the original structure, which was "a one-story, Greek Revival, gable-front frame building with Doric columns supporting a portico over the sidewalk," according to architectural historian Joanne Raetz Stuttgen.

(Circa 1880 photograph by J. P. Calvert,
donated to Mooresville Public Library
by Bonita Marley, October 23, 1968)

  (Circa 1885 photograph by J. P. Calvert showing East Main Street--Bass Drugstore is on the right)

 

 George W. Bass' house in Mooresville

(circa 1880 photograph by J. P. Calvert)

Around 1890, George Bass decided to upgrade his wooden structure, replacing it with a two-story brick building that has served the community for 130 years.  It was one of the oldest structures in downtown Mooresville.

The South side of East Main Street in downtown Mooresville

(Bass Drugstore is on the corner) 
(circa 1910 postcard photograph by J. P. Calvert)

1931 Photograph shows the Bass Building (far right)

when it housed Citizens Bank

(courtesy of Citizens Bank)

The Bass Building as it appeared in October 2007

(Photograph by William R. Buckley)

Compare the 1885 picture (below) with the 1920 picture (further below) to see the difference between the single-story and two-story buildings.  Both photos were taken from atop the Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church steeple, facing north.  Local photographers J. P. Calvert and Manley Brown took the 1885 and 1920 photos, respectively.

(1885 J. P. Calvert photograph courtesy of the
 Mooresville Times, August 8, 1974)

(Photograph by Manly Brown, 1920)

Let's add a couple of arrows to make the comparison easier.

The second floor consisted of a stage and large meeting room, which was used for town hall meetings, plays and musicals.  It was commonly called the "Mooresville opera house" around the turn of the 20th century.

The basement was the location for many businesses, including a barbershop (1890s-1920), and, most recently, a video store (2000s).

The first floor of the building was divided into two halves, which housed:

• West half:
• Bass Drugstore (1890-1920)
• First National Bank (1920-1927)
• Mooresville State Bank (1927-1930)
•  East half:
• Burch Grocery (1890s-1920)
• George Allison's Grocery (1920-1927)

 

Burch Grocery occupied the east half of

the Bass Building.  Burch used horse-drawn wagons

to delivery groceries
(circa 1908 photograph by J. P. Calvert)

Burch sold out to George Allison in 1920.

Allison operated his grocery there until 1927,

when he moved to South Indiana Street

(circa 1920 photography by Manley Brown)

Interior of George Allison's grocery

(George is standing on the right)

in the east half of the Bass Building

(early 1920s photograph)
 

In 1931, the separating wall was removed, allowing the entire first floor to be used by Citizens Bank, which operated in the Bass Building until 1966, when it was replaced by a clothing store (into the 1970s).

1931 Photograph shows the Bass Building (far right)

when it housed Citizens Bank

(courtesy of Citizens Bank)

(Below) Advertisements from the 1955-1968

Wagon Trails, Mooresville High School's yearbook

Those last three advertisements show Citizens Bank at its current location on the east side of North Indiana Street downtown.

The Bass Building has been an important part of Mooresville history for well over a century.  Restoration was not possible, but at least we can honor its place in our hometown community story.

UPDATE FALL 2022:  The Bass Building was demolished in September and October, 2022.  Learn more from this blog post.

Downtown Mooresville Soda Fountains of the 1950s & 1960s

If you're as old as I am, you may remember drugstore soda fountains in downtown Mooresville during the 1950s and 1960s.  Which stores had them?  Take my super fun quiz to find out!

Grandpa Billy Bob's Mooresville History Super Fun Quiz #7,

by Mooresville Public Library

Did you guess Brown's Rexall Drugstore or Hayes Pharmacy?  Both had full-service soda fountains.  Brown's was operating at least as long ago as the early 1940s at 13 East Main Street and was in business into the 1970s.  In 1947, Gene Hayes took over for Cooper Drugstore (ca. 1906-1947) in the Cooper building at 6 West Main Street and continued to operate there until 1965.

Advertisement from the 1964 Mooresville High School

yearbook, Wagon Trails

(click photos to enlarge)

Advertisement from the 1963 Mooresville High School

yearbook, Wagon Trails

Advertisement from the 1962 Mooresville High School

yearbook, Wagon Trails

That's the owner's son, Butch Brown, in the advertisements above.

Photo of the South side of East Main Street

from the 1963 Mooresville High School

yearbook, Wagon Trails

Enlargement of the above photo shows Brown's Rexall Drugstore

between Western Auto and B. F. Jones' Department Store

Advertisement from the 1959 Mooresville High School

yearbook, Wagon Trails

Photo of the North side of West Main Street (cropped)

showing Hayes Pharmacy

from the 1959 Mooresville High School

yearbook, Wagon Trails

Advertisement from the 1958 Mooresville High School

yearbook, Wagon Trails

Another downtown establishment had a soda fountain/lunch counter, at least through the mid-1950s.  Franklin Ice Cream Store opened in 1936 and operated at 16 South Indiana Street through circa 1955.  Copeland Appliance Store, which operated next door at 18-20 South Indiana Street (1950-1974), extended into Franklin's building in 1956.

Advertisement from the 1956 Mooresville High School

yearbook, Wagon Trails

Copeland Appliance Store at 16-18-20 South Indiana Street

(circa 1970 photo)

Franklin Ice Cream Store listed in the 1954

Robinson's Mooresville City Directory

Franklin Ice Cream Store

Grand Opening Advertisement

Mooresville Times, June 18, 1936

Franklin Ice Cream Store Advertisement

Mooresville Times, November 6, 1944

Mooresville Historian Wanda Potts' article

about Franklin Ice Cream Store in the

"Mooresville Moments" feature

(Mooresville-Decatur Times, 1999)

There were, of course, many other businesses that served ice cream in Mooresville during the 1950s and 1960s--Dairy Queen and Kelly's Restaurant immediately spring to mind--but if you were hanging out in downtown Mooresville, especially if you were a teenager, you likely dropped in at the soda fountains at Brown Rexall, Hayes, or Franklin.