Ruskaup Grocery/Tavern

What is now Cottage Home neighborhood had been platted less than a decade when Ruskaup purchased a lot at 715 Dorman Street. In 1875 he constructed a two-story brick grocery store with second-floor living quarters for his family. Were it not for strict rules forbidding commercial buildings in Woodruff Place in the 1870s, this grocery store might not have landed on Dorman Street. According to family legend, recent German immigrant Frederick Ruskaup wanted to build his grocery store in the newly developed exclusive Woodruff Place, but when his request was denied he purchased land and built his brick store two blocks west of the United States Arsenal (today Arsenal Technical High School).

Business was good and he doubled the size of the building in 1885, adding an L-shaped addition to the north and east, and started a tavern that would operate until Prohibition. His family lived upstairs until about 1892 when they moved into their new brick house next door designed by architects Vonnegut and Bohn. At that time the family’s living space above the store was converted into four apartments. The store featured a meat market, bakery, and a delivery service. Older residents recalled that the tavern had a sample room in the back for women (since proper ladies were not seen in bars) and a side door where customers, including children and women, could “rush the growler,” meaning they had their tin buckets and cans filled with beer to go. The grocer allowed customers excessive credit and when they could not pay up he made them sign over their houses. By the time of his death in 1901 Ruskaup had built and acquired over a dozen rental houses, including five Vonnegut and Bohn designed doubles across the street, and was one of Marion County’s top property tax payers.

From 1875 though the late 1950s three generations of Ruskaups operated the grocery. Son William H. assisted by his mother Mary, took over the operation in 1901 upon Frederick’s death. William’s sons grew up in the business.

Henry H. Luedemann, a relative of Mary Ruskaup, operated the neighborhood tavern and pool hall in the south half of the building until Prohibition, then he offered candy, ice cream, and soda. Luedemann managed the bar and confectionery for over 55 years, working well into his 80s and rarely missing a day of work.

After the Ruskaups closed the business in the late 1950s, the building was used as a pool hall and storage for Hogue Construction and Cliff Mills Caulking. Windows were boarded up and the decorative brackets removed. After sitting vacant for over two decades, owners John Dugger and Becky Garland began restoration of the building in 2007 with a new roof, replacement brackets, and interior stabilization. A façade grant from LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) partially funded the restoration and replacement of windows and doors.