Future home of new independent bookstore in Belleville has a long history. What we learned

By now you know (I hope) about the independent bookstore coming to Belleville.

In addition to the great bookstore we’re looking forward to, I wanted to look into the history of the unique, historic East Main Street building and the businesses that inhabited it over the last century since its construction began in the early 1900s.

Some of the businesses and organizations located there over the years, besides its first tenant, Belleville Savings Bank, included a brokerage firm, an optometrist’s office, McKendree College and Belleville Main Street, among others. The building also served as a venue for fundraising events and as campaign headquarters for the United Fund.

Anyone who visits the building at 20 E. Main St. can get a taste of its history by checking out the 2014 Belleville Historical Society plaque on the facade.

The plaque covers some key details of the building’s history, including background about Belleville Savings Bank, the date it opened in its new headquarters at the site, its consolidation with Belleville National Bank and later tenants of the building.

I found a lot more info in the archives of the Belleville Daily Advocate and Belleville News-Democrat. I thought they were interesting (let’s be honest, I totally geeked out about it) and wanted to share my findings.

The site before the bank

In 1877, Peter J. Kaercher opened a sample room, offering wines, liquors, beer and cigars, at 20 E. Main St.

Kaercher was also a member of the Belleville Savings Bank board of directors. His name appeared in a January 1899 edition of the Daily Advocate as a bank board member, elected at that year’s annual stockholders meeting.

He later served as the bank’s president and then as chairman of the board of directors.

Kaercher’s business was popular, and he celebrated its 25-year anniversary in February 1902.

By July 1906, the business was under the proprietorship of G.W. Voland, Saloonist. Ads for the business at this time listed Voland as “successor to Thomas May Jr. & Son.”

In March 1912, Voland moved the business to 24 E. Main St. The old saloon building at 20 E. Main was slated for demolition to “make room for a modern $50,000 bank building” for Belleville Savings Bank, according to a March 6, 1912, item in the Belleville Daily Advocate.

Less than two weeks later, the Daily Advocate reported that demolition of the old saloon started.

The article stated that the new building would be “one story in height and the design of architecture is said to be beautiful. It will be the last word in banking architecture.”

On July 6, 1912, the cornerstone of the Belleville Savings Bank building was “laid under the auspices of the Belleville Commercial club,” according to that day’s Daily Advocate.

The most detailed description of the building I could find comes from this article. Here’s an excerpt:

“It will be 103 ft. deep, 26 ft. wide in front, 42 ft., 2 inches wide in the rear, and 35 ft. high in front. The front will be imposing. There will be two monoliths of Woodbury, Vermont granite, 25 feet high, made of one piece, and each weighing 13 tons. These will mark the entrance to an 8-foot vestibule with a tile floor.

“On entering the bank one will be in a lobby 18x21 feet. The floor of the lobby will be tiled and the wainscoting will be of marble. There will be three tellers windows facing this lobby and at the southwest corner will be the six-foot corridor leading to the rear of the building.

“Facing this corridor one will find the offices of the cashier, the president, the vice president and the savings department. In the rear of the building will be the directors’ room, a consultation room, a ladies’ coupon and rest room and a men’s coupon room.

“Opening from the work room of the bank, which will be separated from the main lobby by elegant bank fixtures, will be the huge new steel fire and burglar proof vault. There will be a skylight over two parts of the bank, affording the best sort of daylight lighting system. This will be supplemented by a comprehensive system of artificial lighting. All electric light, telephone and burglar alarm wires will be carried in steel conduits.

“The Modulation system, said to be the last word in heating, is to be used in the building.”

The features described in this article did not change as the building was constructed, and many of them remain today.

The article also stated that the bank purchased the property in 1912 from Kaercher for $20,000 and that the contract for the building was $23,000. The vault would cost $12,525. Heating and plumbing was reported to cost $2,100 and the fixtures $10,000.

The cost of the entire project was calculated at more than $67,000.

20 E Main St Bank 1912 Clippings by Jennifer Green on Scribd

Banking begins downtown

Belleville Savings Bank opened its doors at 20 E. Main St. in downtown Belleville on Oct. 15, 1913.

The years that Belleville Savings Bank operated at the location were mostly uneventful. The most exciting (and I use that term loosely) was when the outside awning on the building caught fire in June 1933.

There was no reported damage.

Until its consolidation with Belleville National Bank in 1957, Belleville Savings Bank remained in its East Main Street building.

• Jan. 8, 1957: At the annual meeting of shareholders for Belleville National Bank, the proposed consolidation with Belleville Savings Bank was approved by a vote of 8,493 to 24.

• Jan. 14, 1957: Belleville Savings Bank shareholders voted to approve the consolidation with Belleville National Bank.

• March 2, 1957: This was the first day of business of the consolidated banks, then known as Belleville National Savings Bank, at 23 Public Square in Belleville.

That weekend, cash and securities were transferred from Belleville Savings Bank to Belleville National headquarters. Furniture and fixtures were moved as well.

The trustees of Belleville Savings Bank would “dispose of the property with proceeds to go to the stockholders of Belleville Savings Bank,” according to the Daily Advocate.

Bank Consolidation Clippings 1957 by Jennifer Green on Scribd

That time the bank almost became City Hall

After the bank consolidation, the building at 20 E. Main St. was vacant.

In April 13, 1957, the Belleville Daily Advocate reported the proposed use of the bank building as a temporary City Hall.

At that time, the offices at City Hall were being emptied. Plans were to demolish the existing building and build a new City Hall in its place.

City Hall operations were to temporarily move to Golden Rod Lodge, located at 14 W. Washington St.

The East Main Street building was found unsafe for use because of the weight of safes, billing machines and other equipment needed by the city.

City Treasurer and mayor-elect Jerome J. Munie met with the trustees of the former Belleville Savings Bank and proposed the use of the building for city operations.

The Daily Advocate reported on April 16 that the city council asked Bauer Brothers Construction Company to delay razing the current City Hall for 30 days while the bank trustees considered the proposal.

The three trustees, A.O. Hickcox, Irwin J. Leppold and Charles T. Rayhill, met to discuss Munie’s proposal.

At first there was hesitation to lease the property. The trustees told city officials they planned to try and sell the building and felt that leasing the building could hinder a sale.

Eventually, they agreed to lease the building to the city for $1,000 a month as the new city hall building was built. No length of time was guaranteed because the building could have been sold at any time.

Munie and a delegation of officials considered the offer but declined in the end.

The city decided to use the Golden Rod Lodge as originally planned after the contractor reinforced the flooring to accommodate the city’s equipment.

Temporary Belleville City Hall Clippings 1957 by Jennifer Green on Scribd

The old bank building, 1957 to today

The former Belleville Savings Bank building remained officially vacant until 1963, with a few temporary exceptions.

In September 1957, Hickcox turned the building over to Charles L. Joseph, volunteer director of the United Fund, for use as campaign headquarters.

The United Fund occupied the building until mid-November that year and did so again for the next three years.

The building was also used as the site of rummage sales and other fundraising events for groups including the Belleville Exchangettes, Belleville Area Humane Society, Belleville Zonta Club and Latter Day Saints Church.

Here’s a timeline for the building history from 1963 through today:

• Aug. 8, 1963: the Belleville News-Democrat reported that the old Belleville Savings Bank building and the adjoining parking lot would be sold later in the month at a public auction.

The article stated that the building was “extensively remodeled” in 1929 and 1943 but doesn’t go into specifics. However, there’s a 1952 news item that references a $10,000 remodel to lower the ceiling, add additional cages and use the alley space east of the bank for additional office space.

• Aug. 24, 1963: Belleville resident Lt. Col. Dwight E. Beers bought the bank for $65,000. Ownership details between Beers’ 1963 acquisition of the building and fall 1992 are not clear from what I could find in the archive.

• October 1963: Newhard, Cook & Company, a brokerage firm, leased about two-thirds of the old bank building, including the vault area, for its “East Side” office. It would take up residence at 20 E. Main St. on Dec. 1 and officially open the following day.

• December 1965: Dr. Paul E. Diehl, optometrist, was granted a building permit to partition an office at 20 E. Main St. He opened the office, which moved from 24a E. Main St., by February 1966, where he remained until moving again to 2801 W. Main St. in 1980.

• 1984: New York Life Insurance was listed in the Belleville City Directory as a tenant at 20 E. Main St.

• November 1992: By this time, L. Dean McKinley, a former McKendree College trustee and a member of the Union United Methodist Church in Belleville, is the owner of the Belleville Savings Bank building and donates it to McKendree College.

The college offered classes at the location and is listed in the Belleville City Directory in 1993, 1997, July 2001 and September 2002.

Bank Building Clippings 1963 by Jennifer Green on Scribd

• 1997: BEACON of Belleville is listed in the Belleville City Directory as a tenant at 20 E. Main St.

• April 1999: The Belleville Main Street office moved from 216 E. Main St. to the McKendree College building at 20 E. Main St. Belleville Main Street is listed at this address in the Belleville City Directory in 2000 and July 2001.

• 2003: The Bridgeman Insurance Agency moves into the building (according to the Historical Society plaque on the building)

• 2006-2009: By February 2006 (city directory listing), Bridgeman was joined by Pro Home. The following year’s directory lists only Bridgeman. The February 2008 edition adds Farmers Insurance Group. In 2009, Emmis Interactive and Lashley & Baer were included.

• 2010-2012: The 2010 city directory lists Bridgeman, Lashley & Baer and Emmis Interactive. Emmis is gone from the 2012 directory.

• 2014: Oates & Associates is listed in the Belleville City Directory at 20 E. Main St.

• October 2015: Attorney Kelly Garrett-Hicks establishes a new law firm with its office at 20 E. Main St. Hicks & Spector LLC is still a tenant today.

• 2016-2022: The Belleville City Directory lists Bridgeman Insurance, Hicks & Spector, Oates & Associates and Lashley & Baer, PC as tenants at 20 E. Main St.

• November 2023: The owners of Bridgeman Insurance agree to sell the building to Rob Eckman and Steve Mathews, who got the call the day before Thanksgiving.

• January 2024: Eckman and Mathews close on the sale of the building at 20 E. Main St. and will open their bookstore later in the year.

Kathy and Andrew Bridgeman, the building’s previous owners, were in the old bank building for 20 years.

Kathy Bridgeman said that it was a fluke that they were able to buy the building from McKendree College in 2003.

At the time, the building was not for sale. The Bridgemans approached the college about renting space for their insurance business.

But McKendree offered to sell them the building.

It was an “amazing kind of happenstance,” she said.

Then in fall 2023, the Bridgemans were in a similar situation that McKendree was in 20 years earlier.

They were already considering renting out the space at 20 E. Main St. when they were approached by Eckman.

Eckman asked the Bridgemans about leasing the space for a bookstore, which Kathy Bridgeman thought was an ambitious plan.

The Bridgemans went back to their Realtor for help in deciding whether they should lease the space or sell the building.

They decided to sell, and Andrew Bridgeman felt that Eckman and Mathews should have the first shot.

When Andrew Bridgeman called and offered to sell them the building, they accepted.

Bridgeman Insurance, Hicks & Spector LLC and Lashley & Baer, PC will remain as tenants.