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.