210 Main Street

208 & 210 Main Street–Hertzler Hardware, True Grocery, Bandito Burrito

Frank G. Hertzler, son of Dr. John Hertzler, operated a hardware store at this 208 Main Street site in partnership with Matthew Harvey Anderson, the banker who lived at 17 Front Street. Frank built and resided in the house at 25 Front Street. The original store structure here was destroyed in the 1912 fire, and the tax office records of the county show that the current building was constructed in 1940. A couple of years after Robert Edgar (“Pud”) True and his wife Gladys McFarlen True moved to madison, they bought the building and operated a grocery store in it for over 30 years, from 1944 to1976. In fact, during their first three months in Madison, the True's rented a room in the former residence of Frank Hertzler at 25 Front Street. They built a house in 1941 that was then in the county, just outside the town limits, at 318 Church Street. They moved into their new residence on January 1, 1942, and became leaders in the community and in the Methodist Church on Church Street for the rest of their lives. After Pud died, Gladys donated funds for the electronic chimes in the church that still sound throughout the historical district of Madison. For a time this building was also operated as an annex to the post office. when the post office was located next door in the 206 Main Street location. According to the 1890 Hartford Insurance Company map of Madison, an early structure at 210 Main was the office of Dr. Richard M. Fletcher. Later use of the location according to the 1905 AlabamaMercantile Book was the drugstore of Pride & Bradford. Thomas Logan Bradford was only 35 years old when he committed suicide by taking an overdose of morphine from this drugstore. He had married Fannie Burton, a daughter of John Mullins Burton, who owned the competing drugstore at the216 Main location. The Bradfords had bought the house at 306 Church Street in 1906 and had a daughter born there. Thomas had been employed by his father-in-law for a while but resigned to go into partnership in the store at 210 Main by about 1904. His suicide note mentioned failing health and business losses. There have been some indications that this drugstore was called the PhoenixDrugstore, possibly a name given it after Tom Bradford's passing when his partner re-opened the business. That could also have been the name for the rebuilt store after the fire of 1912 heavily damaged the structure. Tom's wife Fannie moved into her father's house at21 Front Street and wrote a weekly column about Madison for the Huntsville newspaper for the remainder of her life.210 Main Street, Madison, Alabama–Bandito Burrito Restaurant Annex–Old Black Bear BreweryA vintage comic book business utilized the 208 building in the 1990s, but it was later renovated by Walt and Larry Anderson to become the Bandito Burrito restaurant. The restaurant occupied not only208 Main, but it later included the location at 210 Main Street. Both are now being converted to become part of the Old Black Bear Brewery. The Madison Drug Company was established at 210 Main by Dr. Luther Wikle and his partner BenPorter in 1912. It may then have been given the name of the Phoenix Drugstore. Wikle later sold his interest to William Russell, a son of the constable of that name who also ran the gristmill for whichMill Road is named. In 1903 Constable Russell was killed by a woman when he served repossession papers at her house in regard to unpaid furniture. The Russell Millon Mill Creek at the south end of today's Balch Road at Mill Road was also the scene of a tragic accident in which 13-year old Joe Lanierwas killed. Articles were published in the same issue of the newspaper, on the same day. It was a truly horrific accident and tragedy in Madison