North Side of West Main Street, Then and Now

The Visit Morgan County, Indiana website's Mooresville page has a photo (probably taken in 2022) that reminds us of a similar view captured on film roughly 60 years ago.

Photo courtesy of Visit Morgan County, Indiana website (ca. 2022)

(Click Images to Enlarge)

The pedestrian shown in the picture above is walking east along the north side of West Main Street in downtown Mooresville.  Compare it with this photo taken in the early 1960s, with the pedestrian walking in the opposite direction at about the same spot.

North Side of West Main Street, Downtown Mooresville (Early 1960s)

Rewind another 40 years or so to see how the north side of West Main Street appeared then.

North Side of West Main Street (July 18, 1920)

(Photo by Manley Brown)

Inexplicably, the writer of the above photo's caption stated that it captured the view "west on Indiana Street," which is impossible, because Indiana Street runs north and south through downtown Mooresville.  The view, however, IS west, but the street shown is West Main Street, looking across the intersection of Indiana Street in the center of downtown.

Manley Brown's 1920 perspective was repeated in this advertisement from the 1964 Mooresville High School yearbook, Wagon Trails.

The 1959 Mooresville High School Wagon Trails shows the north side of West Main Street in a gatefold shot.

Interestingly, in Mooresville Public Library's Indiana Room collections, there are many more photos of the north side of West Main Street than the south side.  There are about an even number of pictures showing the north and south sides of East Main Street, with comparatively fewer photos showing North or South Indiana Streets.  Perhaps aiming the camera northward was easier to capture better light, since the sun would have been behind the photographers for much of the year.

Learn some of the history of the north side of West Main Street from this digitized handout, courtesy of Mooresville Public Library's Indiana Room.

Bass Building Demolition

We've previously blogged about the George W. Bass Building, which was irreparably damaged by a tornado on April 8, 2020.  While walking through downtown Mooresville over my lunch break, I noticed that the structure is in the process of being demolished.

Bass Building Demolition Under Way (September 22, 2022)

(Click Photos to Enlarge)

(Photos by William R. Buckley)

 

It has been two-and-a-half years since the building collapsed, and although Mooresville citizens are undoubtedly pleased that the ruins are finally being removed, we are also saddened that another piece of local history is being carted away.  Since the structure couldn't be salvaged, however, removal was the only sensible recourse.

We've heard on the town grapevine that a parking lot will be constructed on the Bass site.  While that's beneficial for downtown businesses and customers, it seems a rather pedestrian use of the land.  But nobody asked my opinion, so I'll just sit quietly in an out-of-the-way corner someplace.

You can read all of our previous blog posts about the Bass Building here.

Farewell, Bass Building.  You gave us 130 years of wonderful history.  George W. Bass, wherever you are, would be proud of that.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2022:   A week after taking the photos above, I returned downtown to shoot some additional photos showing the progress of the demolition.  The concrete structure in the middle of the rubble was the Citizens Bank vault when the bank was located here (1931-1966).  Click the images to enlarge.

UPDATE OCTOBER 15, 2022:  The Bass Building is gone.  These photos (below) were taken on Friday, October 14, 2022.  Since it appears that grass seed has been planted (note straw covering), perhaps the land will now be used as a tiny park space, rather than as a parking lot as rumors previously reported.  An outdoor eating area would be nice.

A Tale of Two Kellers

Downtown Mooresville, Indiana has its G.A. Keller building (constructed in 1907) and Columbus, Indiana, has its C.M. Keller building (constructed in 1913).  These two buildings resemble each other, suggesting a similar construction plan, architect, or general contractor.  Were the Kellers whose names grace these structures relatives?

According to our self-guided downtown walking tour, George A. Keller (1859-1923) started his hardware and implement business in 1885, purchasing Alexander Conduitt’s property on East Main Street in downtown Mooresville.  In 1885 George constructed a one-story frame structure on the front of the property (nearest the street) and used Conduitt’s residence (built ca. 1843) on the back of the property as a storeroom until it was demolished in 1907.

In 1907, George began constructing a new brick building, which bears his name today.

The G.A. Keller building is the light-colored brick structure in the middle

(photo ca. 1910 by J.P. Calvert)

(Click Images to Enlarge)

The G.A. Keller building as it appeared in May, 2008

(photo by Mooresville Public Library)

Until 1921 Mooresville High School basketball games were played on the second floor of the G.A. Keller building, which had a wooden floor and was the only space sufficiently large to field a basketball court.  Fans sat in wooden chairs against the walls—essentially on the court itself—so out-of-bounds was a tricky matter of straddling seated spectators to pass the ball into play.

 

 "Where Were MHS Basketball Games Played Until 1921?"

Grandpa Billy Bob's Mooresville History Super Fun Quiz 6

by Mooresville Public Library

(HINT:  The answer is C.  The Second Floor of G. A. Keller's Hardware Building)

Mooresville Times article about the new G.A. Keller building (June 6, 1907)

Enlarged article

Mooresville Times, June 6, 1907

During construction George moved his old wooden store into the middle of East Main Street and continued conducting business there while work progressed on the new brick structure.  Eventually, citizens complained to local government officials, who pressured George to remove his old quarters.  George put the old building on logs, harnessed a team of horses, and, with the help of several stout fellows, hauled the structure to the southeast corner of West Main and South Monroe Streets, where it remains today as a single-family dwelling.

Old G.A. Keller building (constructed 1885) as a single-family home

at 155 West Main Street across from Mooresville Public Library

(2009 photo by MPL)

After a quick research of George A. Keller’s genealogy, we discovered that his father, Frederick Keller (1826-1908), moved (at age 22) with his parents and siblings from Baden, Germany, to Morgan County, Indiana.  George’s grandparents, David Keller (1790-1864) and his first wife, Salome Keller, and his second wife, Margret Keller (1810-1904), had several children, three of whom were boys.  George’s uncles (i.e., Frederick’s two brothers) were named Michael Keller (1823-1897) and Michal (possibly Michel or Michael) King Keller (b. ca. 1838-?).  So we can safely rule-out uncles as “C.M.” possibilities.  Additionally, none of George’s other relatives’ names appeared to have the initials C.M.  Most of George’s clan are buried in the Mooresville Cemetery, and nobody in the Keller family plot has initials C.M.

So we searched the federal censuses for a C.M. Keller who lived in Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana, around the turn of the 20^th century.

Christian Martin Keller (1860-1927) was listed as a plumber in the 1900 U.S. census.  He operated his business, C.M. Keller & Company, in Columbus, and, according to the Complete Directory of Bartholomew County, Indiana, 1903-1904 (p. 182), he owned (and presumably constructed) the C.M. Keller building in 1913, where, for decades, G.C. Murphy’s five-and-dime store operated.

G.C. Murphy Company (1950s) in the C.M. Keller building

at 415-417 Washington Street, Columbus, Indiana

(Photo courtesy of Historic Columbus Indiana website)

According to Ancestry Library Edition, Christian’s parents moved to Columbus from Pennsylvania prior to 1860, the year Christian was born (in Columbus).  So it doesn’t appear that Christian Martin Keller and George A. Keller were related, at least as far back as the late 18th century family trees.

Since both Keller buildings were constructed within a few years of each other, one may presume that similar, popular architectural styles were incorporated.  But it wasn’t “all in the family,” so to speak.

Hayes Drugstore (Then and Now)

Gene Hayes received his pharmacist degree from Butler University in 1938.  Mr. Hayes served as a pharmacy officer at the Eighth General Hospital, New Caledonia, in the South Pacific theater during World War II, where he met his wife, who was a nurse in the same unit.  After the war, he returned to his pharmacist position in a Martinsville, Indiana drugstore.

Gene Hayes in his pharmacy

Mooresville Times

Thursday, May 20, 1965

(click images to enlarge)
 

In 1947 Mr. Hayes opened Hayes Pharmacy at 6 West Main Street in downtown Mooresville.  He had purchased Cooper Drugstore at that location.  A. R. Cooper, Jr. (Al) and Fred Cooper, along with their father, A. R. Cooper, Sr., had constructed the L-shaped building at 6 West Main Street (circa 1906) and operated their pharmacy there until selling out to Mr. Hayes.  (The Cooper brothers had taken over the business from their father, who retired in 1916.)

Al & Fred Cooper Take Over the Firm

Mooresville Monitor, February 10, 1916

 

Advertisement from The 'Levenite,

Mooresville High School Yearbook (1911)

 

Like the Coopers before him, Mr. Hayes originally kept most merchandise behind the counter to be retrieved by sales staff upon customer request.  By the late 1950s, most items were displayed "self-service, on the floor" for customers to pickup while browsing, and then they would pay at the cashier.  Pharmaceuticals, of course, were always kept behind the counter in a secure area at the rear of the store.

During the 1950s, Hayes Pharmacy featured a soda fountain, which quickly became a popular teen hangout.

Advertisement from 1959 Wagon Trails

(Mooresville High School Yearbook)

 

Advertisement from 1958 Wagon Trails

(Mooresville High School Yearbook)

 

In the 1950s, downtown Mooresville sported three full-service soda fountains, as the video (below) explains.

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

by Mooresville Public Library

 

Hayes' Mooresville store was remodelled in 1956 (see below).

Staff at Hayes Pharmacy

(Advertisement from the Mooresville Times,

Thursday, November 15, 1956, page 8)

 

Hayes Drugstore's New Look

Mooresville Times

Thursday, November 15, 1956

Martha & Ray outside 6 West Main Street in Downtown Mooresville (formerly Hayes Pharmacy [1947-1965], now Ralph & Ava's Restaurant), holding a gatefold advertisement of Hayes Pharmacy from the 1959 Wagon Trails (Mooresville High School Yearbook) (Photos September 2, 2021 by William R. Buckley)

 

The Hayes' children, Martha and Ray, both worked in the family business while growing up in Mooresville (their home was located on Carter Street).  While in high school, Martha was paid $1 per hour, which was a decent wage for part-time student employees in the early 1960s.  Ray and Martha fondly remembered the soda fountain, as well as the nickel Coca-Cola bottles dispensed from a vending machine after the soda fountain had been removed.  They also recalled the large clock with a marble face, which was situated at the back of the store, and which is now housed in the Academy School building on the Newby Campus in Mooresville.

 

Mr. & Mrs. Hayes Outside the Pharmacy

(Undated Photo from Ray Hayes)
 

Ray recounted a couple of humorous incidents that occurred while he worked at the store.  There was a huge safe kept in the rear area, which was equipped with a tear gas canister that would discharge if anyone attempted to break into the safe.  One day the canister fell to the floor and ruptured, filling the building with tear gas.  Everyone had to be immediately evacuated until the gas was cleared.

Mortar & Pestle from Hayes Pharmacy

(2021 Photo by Ray Hayes)

 

Medicine Bottles from Hayes Pharmacy

(2021 Photo by Ray Hayes)

 

During the mid-1960s, Ray was working the counter when an extremely inebriated customer entered, demanding to purchase liquor.  Ray patiently explained that the store did not stock alcoholic beverages, but the customer was insistent.  Finally, the aggravated customer blurted out, "What the [expletive] kind of store is this?"  Unperturbed, Ray replied, "This is a pharmacy, sir.  We sell prescription medicines."  The intoxicated customer reflected upon this for a moment, then stated, "Well, gimme some rubbing alcohol, then."  Ray looked over to the pharmacist on duty, who had been laughing quietly but was now waving his hands wildly.  (Rubbing alcohol can be fatal if ingested.)  Ray explained that he didn't have any bottles of rubbing alcohol available, and the customer stumbled away into the night.

 

Barometer from Hayes Pharmacy

(2021 Photo by Ray Hayes)

 

Pharmaceutical Scales from Hayes Pharmacy

(2021 Photo by Ray Hayes)

 

Martha cherished her working experience at the store.  "We learned the value of a dollar by working there, and we knew how to make change, something many young people today don't seem to be able to do," she quipped.

 

Hayes Drugstore featured in the 

advertisement section of the

1959 Wagon Trails

(Mooresville High School Yearbook)

 

Hayes Drugs as shown in the

1964 Wagon Trails

(Mooresville High School Yearbook)

 

By 1965, competition from large pharmacy chain stores impinged upon the Hayes customer base.  As fewer prescriptions were being filled, Mr. Hayes made the difficult decision to close the Mooresville location and concentrate upon his Martinsville store.  The new owners, Norman Richhart, Jr., Gerald Richhart, and Chester Freeland, moved the business to the shopping center (built in 1965) at Monroe and Carlisle Streets on the northwest side of Mooresville, across from the Dog-N-Suds drive-in restaurant.

Hayes Pharmacy Sold

Mooresville Times,

August 12, 1965

 Hayes Pharmacy in Martinsville

Martinsville Daily Reporter,

Thursday, April 8, 1965

 

Martha reflected upon her family's business in the bygone days of local "mom-and-pop" establishments.  "You could find everything you needed in Mooresville at the many friendly businesses here," she explained.  "It was a great little town to grow up in.  People were very supportive of local business.  Your customers were your neighbors--people you knew well and liked."  It was an idyllic time for many "baby-boomers," and we salute the Hayes family and their entrepreneurial skill and commitment to making their community a better place.