11/20/2020
History Lesson! 621 N. Main Street (The Bauer Building)
Our building at 621 Main St was built in 1897 for Rouscher & Miller, dealers in choice and fancy groceries produce feed. Located at the southeast corner of Main and Delaware, it was also a corner saloon. But what makes the building unique is that it is an old Mesker storefront. Evansville’s own Geo L. Mesker & Co. produced steel facades that could readily be applied to commercial buildings to add great ornamentation and detail cheaply.
The building was originally addressed 1823 Main St and built to serve the growing North Main St. It soon became Marby’s grocery and later H Langhorst grocer. At some point Bauer took over the building and “M Bauer” was added to the parapet atop the building.
The building at 619 N Main St (to the right, south) was built sometime around 1930. Through the years the buildings were a variety of concerns such as the North Side Shoe Shop, the Banner Food Market and the Koressel Market. Below is a view of the North Main area in 1947.
