610 - 612 N. Main

The building at 610 N. Main was constructed around 1910 with modifications to the facade in the 1920s. 612 N. Main appears to have been built in the 1880s and housed a harness shop until the 1920s.

In the 1920s, two brother from Greece arrived in Newton "resolved to make and to fill a place of service in the community." They did this by opening a restaurant at 610 N. Main. By 1922, the Sunflower Cafe was a popular restaurant. The upstairs dining hall could accommodate 200 diners and "service was supplied with speed and efficiency."

The Sunflower Café was ‘the’ place to eat during the 1940s; “and you didn’t wear your everyday clothes to go eat there.” One woman who was able to get a job as a dishwasher noted that “it was a privilege to even work there as a dishwasher!”

Famous for “Newton’s best U.S. choice steer steaks and fried chicken our specialty,” the Sunflower Café was a popular meeting place for the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce and Lyon’s Club. The restaurant also boasted air conditioned dining. Paul F. with his wife, Theoni, owned and operated the Sunflower Café until the 1950s.

These buildings are also well known for the restaurant that replaced the Sunflower Cafe in 1957, the Guesthouse. The new owners, James Rutschman and Dr. J. W. Fretz, tried something new, the buffet. Not only was this the first buffet restaurant in Newton, it was one of three in Kansas.

Fretz and Rutschmann were also trail blazers in another way, they insisted on integrating, the first restaurant to do so in Newton. Most restaurants did not allow minorities to be seated in the main dining areas. Newton theaters and the swimming pool were still segregated in the 1950s. At the Guesthouse, all people were welcome to come in, sit down and be served at the Guesthouse.

The Guesthouse operated here until the 1970s. In 2012, a shingled awning was removed and the sign for the Guesthouse found. It was restored and is preserved beneath the current awning.

(Billie Wilson, Kristine Schmucker)