A Century of Shoe Repair in Mooresville

For nearly a century, downtown Mooresville had a shoe repair shop at 13 North Indiana Street (then, later, at 25 West Main Street), beginning in the early 1900s.  In 1941, Ernie Marsh sold the business to John and Jennie Moore, who operated until 1948, when they sold to Leland and Orda Connell.  In 1972, the Connells sold to Ralph Reed, which opened as Dickey’s Shoe Repair (Joseph Dickey, manager) in January 1973.  In January, 1979, former Mooresville Times co-publisher John Anderson bought the shop from Dickey.  John and Shirley Anderson operated as S & J Boot Shop, moving to 25 West Main Street in 1982.  The Andersons (along with daughter Carol) retired in December 1998, closing a century of local shoe repair.

 

The photo above (ca. 1910) shows the I.O.O.F. (Odd Fellows) Building on the northeast corner of Main and Indiana Streets in downtown Mooresville.  Pleas (Pleasant) Mills operated his dry good store on the first floor, but if you went to the left (out of shot) beyond the "selz shoes" sign, you would have seen the shoe repair shop at 13 North Indiana Street.

The following newspaper clippings were used to compile the brief history (above).  Click on the images to enlarge them.

 

 

 

SOURCES:

Hillenburg, Amy, “S&J Boot Has Retirement Sale,” Mooresville-Decatur Times, December 2, 1998

Undated Photo (probably circa 1985), S & J Boot Shop at 25 West Main Street.

“Getting the Boot,” Indianapolis News, November 18, 1985.

“S & J Boot Shop Doing Shoe Prescriptions From Doctors,” Mooresville Times, April 4, 1984.

“Boot Shop To Move Soon,” Mooresville Times, 1982.

“Johnie Anderson Retires From Times, Purchases Shoe Shop,” Mooresville Times, February 22, 1979.

“Dickey’s Shoe Repair Advertisement,” Mooresville Times, January 4, 1973.

“Appreciation Advertisement,” Mooresville Times, April 13, 1972.

“Shoe Repair Shop Here Over 50 Years,” Mooresville Times, April 8, 1965.