Deitrich Block

Built 1899

It was decided in 1899 to build the Dietrich block. There would be two rooms on Main Street and three rooms on Market Street. Henry Frazier planned and built it. At the time it was built, it had been thought that there was the possibility of it having three floors.

Mr. John Dietrich came to America from Switzerland in 1852. The Dietrich family had been in Ohio for a couple of months before settling in Bremen, Indiana. He attended the Bryant and Stratton business school in Chicago. Mr. Dietrich was a strong sturdy and industrious, aggressive character, who did not appear to realize that were was any limit to the amount of mental and physical work he could perform. Mr. Dietrich was very giving in all of the communities that he served.

Mr. Dietrich had a store in Bremen, Nappanee, and Syracuse. At the Nappanee store, he had a partnership with Noah Laudeman. The store was well filled with a large stock, consisting of dry goods, notions, hats and caps, boots, shoes, men's and boys' clothing, groceries, provisions, queenware, and numerous other articles that would make up the stock of a first-class store.

In 1900, W.W. Best was the first man to move into the Dietrich block with the expectation of Henry Frazier who occupied his rooms before the building was completed. In Mr. Frazier's room, he consulted, made his plans, wrote his specifications, and made his blueprints in the dark room which had been partitioned off from the back room of the suite.