Once Jones Bros. Jewelers, now Rhythm & Brews: the history and prehistory of 519 Court St.

By Jared L. Olar

Local History Program Coordinator

Since 2011, the Brawner family has been serving up music and drinks from the 500 block of Court Street. Their tavern, Rhythm & Brews, first opened in 2011 in what was then a 70-year-old building that they leased at 513 Court St. Then on 5 June 2014, the Brawners purchased the building at 519 Court St., where Rhythm & Brews has been ever since.

Those who patronize their business, however, can see the evidence of their building’s history every time they walk in or out of the front entrance – because the front porch still prominently displays the words “Jones Bros.” That is left over from the days when 517-519 Court St. was the home of Jones Bros. Jewelers, a name well-known throughout Central Illinois. Jones Bros. Jewelers was based at 517-519 Court St. from 1939 to 1997.

In this Google Street View image from Aug. 2022, the old “Jones Bros.” business name is still visible on the porch of Rhythm & Brews at 519 Court St.

The business history of 519 Court St. predates the arrival of Jones Bros. Jewelers by about 45 years, commencing with a harness and collar manufacturing shop owned and operated by Fred W. Reichel (1866-1959) that first appears on record in the 1895 Pekin city directory. City directories and Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show that there was no structure located at 519 Court St. until after January 1892.

The March 1898 Sanborn map of Pekin shows Fred W. Reichel’s harness shop at 519 Court St. The 1898 Pekin city directory says John G. Albers, Singer Manufacturing Co. agent, was also at 519 Court that year. The 1885 and 1892 Sanborn maps, as well as the 1877 aerial view map of Pekin, show that the lot at 519 Court St. was then empty, and city directories do not show anything there until 1895.

Fred W. Reichel’s harness and collar manufacturing shop is shown at 519 Court St. in this detail from the Nov. 1903 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin.

Reichel’s harness-making shop continues to appear at 519 Court St. until the 1908 Pekin city directory. He briefly shared his building in 1898 with John G. Albers (1861-1919), Singer Manufacturing Co. agent, and also rented the second floor in 1908 to Charles H. Haynes (1873-1919). Reichel closed his shop about the time of the 1908 city directory, as we can see from the following year’s directory, which shows the Schlegel & Linneman electrical supplies firm at 519 Court St., owned and operated by John O. Schlegel and Fred F. Linneman. The 1909 directory also shows that the 519 Court St. building’s second floor was the home of J. F. and Mae Richford – J. F. Richford worked at a liquor store at 309 Court St.

In this detail from the Dec. 1909 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin is shown the electrical supplies business of John O. Schlegel and Fred F. Linneman.

It’s unclear how long Schlegel & Linneman occupied Reichel’s building, but by the time of the 1913 Pekin city directory we find the Rubart Bros. Bakery at 519 Court St., with Frank Conaghan living on the second floor. The Rubart brothers were Nelson Rubart (1888-1961) and John H. Rubart Jr. (1883-1953). The 1914 directory says Bert Cordin also had a butcher shop at 519 Court St. alongside the Rubart Bros. Bakery. By 1922, the Rubart brothers had moved their bakery across the street to 526 Court St., though their clerk Alma Rutledge (1871-1955) still lived upstairs at 519 1/2 Court St. The bakery was purchased in 1926 by Martin Nelson Larkin (1904-1987), who changed its name to Larkin Home Bakery, and kept Rutledge on as clerk.

Meanwhile, we find in the 1922 Pekin city directory that Fred W. Reichel, in partnership with his son Otto F. Reichel (1897-1940), had opened a grocery store at 519 Court St. that they called Model Grocery Co. The Reichels’ grocery store continues to appear in Pekin city directories at 519 Court St. (with Alma Rutledge still living upstairs) until the 1928 city directory. But beginning with the 1930 city directory, we find that Model Grocery Co. had moved to 523 Court St. As for 519 Court St., that address disappears altogether from Pekin city directories until 1939, which indicates that the Reichel Building was either vacant or had perhaps been destroyed in a fire.

The Oct. 1916 Sanborn map of Pekin shows a grocery store at 519 Court St. This must be the Model Grocery Co. of Fred W. Reichel and his son Otto F. Reichel. Two years earlier the Rubart Bros. Bakery was still located there.

The old two-storey Reichel Building at 519 Court St. is shown in this detail from the Sept. 1925 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin. The building then housed the Model Grocery Co., owned and operated by Fred W. Reichel and his son Otto F. Reichel.

In any case, the Reichel Building at 519 Court St. was certainly replaced in early 1939 by a new structure known as the Kensey Building. That is the same building – albeit undergoing remodeling and expansion over the years – that still stands at that location today. The building’s lot covers the addresses 517-519 Court St.

The 1939 Pekin city directory heralded the arrival of Jones Bros. Jewelers, founded by Orville Ralph Jones (1906-1988) and Earl Edwin Jones Sr. (1909-1986) on 4 March 1939. The 1949 Pekin Centenary, page 16, includes the following historical narrative for their business:

Jones Bros. Jewelers was founded March 4, 1939, by Orville and Earl Jones. It was started after many years of preparation and study in all fields of the jewelry business.

The actual start was in 1928, when Earl started to study at Bradley Horological Institute. A short time later Orville took up the study of Horology. There followed years of practical experience in all fields of the jewelry business. Their combined experience includes watch and jewelry repairing, jewelry manufacturing, clock repairing, diamond setting, engraving, and jewelry designing.

Earl Jones took up the study of Gemology, and in 1936 received the title of Certified Gemologist and Registered Jeweler of the American Gem Society. He was president of the Northern Ohio Guild of the A.G.S. and has served as instructor at their annual Conclaves for many years. At present he serves on the Board of Governors of the Gemological Institute of America.

Earl was working as designer and sample maker of Orange Blossom rings at the Traub Manufacturing Company and Orville was managing the watch repair department at Wm. Taylor Son & Company in Cleveland when they decided to combine their talents.

In 1942 the Town and Country Gift shop was added, and 1947 the store was completely remodeled and enlarged to its present size. The remodeled store includes a large China and glass department in a separate room, a gift shop, a new silver department, and a much larger jewelry section. The repair department has grown to include four watchmakers and three jewelers. During the Christmas Season there are as many as 20 employees.

From a small beginning in 1939 their store has grown to the largest jewelry store and gift shop in Central Illinois.

A photograph of Jones Bros. Jewelers’ original storefront. When the jewelry store first opened, the business only occupied a third of a the Kensey building, but soon spread out into the entire building and even expanded the structure with rear addition.

Jones Bros. Jewelers first city directory advertisement, from the 1941 Pekin city directory. The business was found in March 1939.

In this photograph from the late 1940s that was reproduced in the Pekin Daily Times, Jones Bros. Jewelers co-founder Earl Jones uses a tool to measure ring size while Zillah Kriegsman (1907-1964) adjusts the focus on a gemscope.

A detail from the Jones Bros. Jewelers advertisement in the 1949 Pekin Centenary volume.

Further valuable details of the history of Jones Bros. Jewelers are provided by the 1974 Pekin Sesquicentennial volume, on pages 50-51:

In 1939 Orville Jones came to Pekin in search of a suitable location in which to start a jewelry business in conjunction with his brother Earl. Since he unfamiliar with the area, he stopped at the John M. Goar Agency to see if any useable sites were available. Much as Goar wanted to see a new business come to Pekin, he simply didn’t know of a good location at the time, but just as Orville was pulling away from the curb, Goar came running out of his office, having recalled a building under construction that might very well prove satisfactory. The Kensey building he showed them appeared to be the best location the Jones brothers had seen, and Jones Brothers Jewelers has been located there ever since.

With the aid of one assistant, Jane Prettyman Smith, Orville officially opened the business in March of 1939; in the fall Earl and his wife, Edna, moved to Pekin to help operate the enterprise, which at that time occupied one-third of the Kensey building. Today the store employs 21 people and has grown to fill the entire building as well as an 18-foot addition to the rear of the original structure.

From their first days in business, the Jones brothers have stressed good repair work and service. They were among the first in the area to offer the ‘Bride Has Whispered’ service, allowing prospective brides to register their silver and china patterns, as well as any special gifts they might choose from the store’s vast selection. A Certified Gemologist since 1936, Earl has held that title longer than any other living jeweler in the world; because he is especially interested in special order work, a number of loose stones are available at all times, making Jones Brothers Jewelers one of the more accommodating and respected firms in the area.

A Pekin Daily Times newsprint photograph of the Jones Bros. Jewelers storefront from Nov. 1954.

The Jones Bros. Jewelers storefront from the mid- to latter 20th century. The building, constructed in early 1939, is now the home of the Rhythm & Brews tavern.

Jones Bros. Jewelers final city directory advertisement under their original ownership, published the 1979 Pekin city directory. Orville and Earl sold their business to the Woolseys that year.

The Jones brothers remained the co-owners of their business until 1979, with Orville as president and Earl as vice-president and treasurer. They retired that year and sold Jones Bros. Jewelers to Robert Bennett Woolsey (1945-1989) and his brother E. Baird Woolsey, sons of Robert Baird Woolsey (1921-2003) of Woolsey Funeral Home. Bennett was president of Jones Bros. Jewelers until his death, and his brother Baird served as secretary-treasurer until the mid-1980s when he returned to the family’s funeral home business. In 1981, a second Jones Bros. Jewelers store was opened in the Metro Center in Peoria.

Many still remember Bennett’s whispered suggestion “Jones Bros. Jewelers” in his television commercials. Born in Galesburg in 1945, Bennett came to Pekin with his family in the late 1940s and grew up in Pekin, playing football at Pekin Community High School. Bennett was very active in the community, serving on the church council of St. Paul United Church of Christ and on the board of directors of First Federal Savings and Loan Association. He was also a member of the Boy Scouts, Pekin Elks, and Empire Lodge 126. Sadly, in the late 1980s Bennett’s tenure as company president fell under a shadow as he faced sentencing in federal court for sales tax evasion, and he took his own life on 27 Dec. 1989.

R. Bennett Woolsey (1945-1989), president of Jones Brothers Jewelers from 1979 until his death.

Jones Bros. Jewelers continued to prosper in Peoria and Pekin under the leadership of Bennet’s widow Betty Jo (Pratt) Woolsey. In the summer of 1997, however, the decision was made to close the Pekin store. Headed by Bennett’s and Betty’s son Bob Woolsey since the late 1990s, Jones Bros. Jewelers today continues the heritage of Orville and Earl Jones in Peoria at 7705 N. Grand Prairie Drive.

After the Pekin Jones Bros. Jewelers store closed, the 517-519 Court St. addressed disappeared from Pekin city directories for a couple years. Then in 2000, we find a listing for Pekin Bath & Body & Gift Shoppe, owned by Doris Gray. Her store was succeeded at 517 Court St. by a magazine dealership called Beers Direct USA (later called Magazine Yellow Pages), owned by Cathy Beers, a business that first appears in the 2004 Pekin city directory. Also listed in the 2004 directory in the 519 Court St. half of the building was DUI Countermeasures, with Colleen Moore as manager.

This Tazewell County Assessor’s photograph shows the storefront of 519 Court St. as it appeared in Dec. 2001, when Doris Gray’s Pekin Bath & Body & Gift Shoppe was located in the building.

One wonders if the fact that a business called “Beers Direct USA” was sharing a building with DUI Countermeasures may have influenced Cathy Beers’ decision to change the name of her business. Be that as it may, Magazine Yellow Pages last appears at 517 Court St. in the 2014 Pekin city directory, while DUI Countermeasures is last listed at 519 Court St. in the 2011 directory. However, from 2010 to 2014 we find Amanda Rogy’s consignment shop Amanda’s Closet at 517 Court St. Finally, beginning with the 2015 city directory, Rhythm & Brews is listed as the sole occupant of 519 Court St.

In this Google Street View image from July 2011, Amanda’s Closet consignment shop is shown at 519 Court St.

A Tazewell County Assessor’s photograph from June 2013 shows an estate sales business at 519 Court St. Pekin city directories do not identify this business, however.

The old “Jones Bros.” business name can be seen on the porch of Rhythm & Brews, 519 Court St., in this Google Street View image from July 2018.

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Bakeries and barbershops, and local theatre – the story of 407 Court St.

By Jared L. Olar
Local History Program Coordinator

Since the spring of 2022, the historic 407 Court St. building has been the home of Artistic Community Theatre, a local theatre troupe with about four decades of history. ACT was founded in the 1980s in Bartonville as the Campus Players, changing its name to Artistic Community Theatre during the 1990s. ACT formerly had its theatre in the former Pekin Mall and presented plays at the Mineral Springs Park Pavilion and various other locations. In 2022, James and Nona Buster of Reprise Productions Inc. acquired the 407 Court St. building and extensively remodeled it, turning it into a theatre building for ACT.

Artistic Community Theatre’s storefront and sign at 407 Court St. are shown in this recent photograph. The ACT building has been extensively remodeled and refurbished, but in the past has twice housed popular downtown bakeries. PHOTO COURTESY OF NONA BUSTER of REPRISE PRODUCTIONS INC.

Artistic Community Theatre’s storefront at 407 Court St. featuring ACT signage is shown in this Aug. 2022 Google Street View image, but before the installation of the prominent oval ACT sign.

For the greater part of Pekin’s history, however, the address of 407 Court St. has been better known for bakeries and barbershops than for community theatre. Though Artistic Community Theatre’s building has undergone extensive changes throughout its history, the building and the building’s site have a remarkable business history reaching back to the mid-1800s.

“We wanted to save a building in downtown Pekin to renovate and house Artistic Community Theatre before they disbanded after 20 years without a home base. The building is original to the block but through the years things have changed,” said Nona Buster of Reprise Productions Inc.

The most notable change was the removal of the building’s third floor, which seems to have occurred about the mid-1990s. The 407 Court St. building also received a new facade in or about 1994, and that facade, along with the rest of the building, was refurbished about 2015. Extensive repairs were also necessary after the structure’s back wall collapsed by the alley about 2010.

“We decided that ACT deserved a beautiful space to perform in, and Pekin deserved a beautiful space to visit and be entertained,” Buster said. “It took almost a year to do extensive renovations and now we have a theatre designed with Pekin’s river town history in mind.

“We’re small and intimate with cabaret seating for 50, with a stage, snack bar and comfortable lobby to meet friends, enjoy a beverage, and discuss the evening’s performance,” Buster added. “We are coming to the end of our second sold out season, and we are so grateful for all the love and support of our community. My husband and I are so proud to be able to help preserve a part of Pekin’s history and support live theatre in the Art Block of downtown Pekin. Check out our lighted sign after dark!”

It is also very appropriate that the Artistic Community Theatre building has an unexpected and very tangible continuity with the building’s past: Nona Buster’s own godmother belonged to the Nedderman family who previously owned the 407 Court St. building from the late 1800s until the early 1950s.

“Imagine my surprise when I found out that the building my husband and I bought in January of 2022 was the same one my godmother and her sisters’ family owned way back when!” Buster said.

“My godmother’s name was Minnie Nedderman Wiemer. Her husband William (my godfather) owned and operated Noel Funeral Home until his death in the mid 1960s when Mr. Henderson bought it. Aunt Minnie’s two maiden sisters, Emma and Frieda Nedderman, were my sister Karen’s godmothers. They also had brothers, but by the time I was old enough to know the family they were all older. They always talked about the family bakery when we got together. My dad grew up across the street from the Wiemers and they were members of St John’s Lutheran Church in Pekin.

“I was baptized there as an infant and we became members. My grandfather Frankenstein died of influenza in 1918 and the Wiemers helped my grandmother who spoke very little English with her three small children. We always visited the Wiemers on Christmas Eve and Santa came too. The Wiemers and the Neddermans were a big part of our lives. That’s why it thrills me to own their building now. I hope they are proud!”

Before the Nedderman family began their long tenure at 407 Court St., we find that the first Pekin city directory in 1861 shows two businesses that appear to have been located at or very close to today’s 407 Court St. One was a barbershop operated by a German immigrant from Hesse-Darmstadt named John Monath (born about 1834), located on the north side of Court Street three doors east of Fourth. The other was a store that sold dry goods, clothing, and hardware, operated by Abner Seelye and located on the north side of Court Street four doors east of Fourth.

Ten years later, the 1871 Sellers & Bates City Directory of Pekin shows another Hesse-Darmstadt immigrant named Henry Reinhart (born about 1850), barber and hairdresser, located on the north side of Court Street six doors east of Fourth. That appears to be the same site that came to be numbered 509 Court St. (later renumbered 407 Court St.). The 1876 Pekin city directory shows a saloon at “509” Court St. operated by Adam Reinhardt (1824-1886), who lived upstairs above his saloon. It is unknown if Henry and Adam were related, though it’s quite possible. Adam’s will, dated 8 Dec. 1885, says his building was located “on the West part of lot fourteen and on the East half of lot fifteen in Block number Seventy two (72) in the original town now city of Pekin.” That places his building precisely on the site of today’s 407 Court St. building — and a close examination of an 1870s photograph of Adam Reinhardt’s saloon, comparing it to other photos and records, shows that it is the very same building that is now the Artistic Community Theatre building. Adam left his building to his widow Elizabeth.

The area of 407 Court St. is shown in this detail from an 1877 hand-drawn aerial map of Pekin. At that time, the site today known as 407 Court St. was the location of a saloon operated by Adam Reinhardt, but just a few years prior it had been the site of Henry Reinhart’s barbershop.

An 1870s photograph of the saloon of Adam Reinhard (or Reinhardt) at 407 Court St. Despite much remodeling, and the addition and later removal of a third floor, this same building still stands today as the Artistic Community Theatre building.

At the time of the May 1885 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin, the building numbered “509” (i.e. 407) Court St. included Adam Reinhardt’s saloon, a barbershop, and the Moenkemoeller & Schlottmann cigar factory (but the cigar factory was later renumbered 409 Court St.).

The 1885 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin shows a saloon and barbershop at 509 Court St. (todays’ 407 Court). The proprietor of the saloon is unknown, but the barber at the time of the 1885 map was almost certainly Charles Traub (1847-1898), who is listed in the 1887 Pekin city directory as owner of a barbershop at that address. Besides Traub’s barbershop, the 1887 directory also says John Moenkemoeller and Henry Schlottmann had their cigar factory at 509 Court St. – however, that section of the 509 Court St. building was afterwards renumbered as 409 Court, the address that the Moenkemoeller & Schlottmann cigar factory had in later city directories.

The Jan. 1892 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin shows Wessle B. Weimers’ bakery and a barbershop at 407 Court St.

By the time of the 1893 city directory, Wessle B. Wiemers (1854-1897) had established a bakery and confectionary at 407 Court St. In the 1887 directory, Wiemers’ bakery had been at “513” Court, two doors east of “509” (407) Court St. Besides Wiemers’ bakery, the 1892 Sanborn map of Pekin also shows that a barbershop was still located at 407 Court., though the identity of that barber is unknown. Wiemers’ bakery is listed in both the 1893 and 1895 city directories.

In 1896, Wiemers sold his bakery to two men: one of his employees, Edward J. Kunkel (1870-1949), and a former employee of prominent Pekin baker and confectioner Albert Zerwekh (1859-1908) named Reinhardt John Neddermann (1876-1939). They carried on the business under the name Kunkel & Neddermann Bakery, under which name the business is listed in the 1898 Pekin city directory. Besides the bakery, the 1898 directory also shows Charles Lohnes (1869-1906) as a barber at 407 1/2 Court St. After selling his bakery, Wiemers moved in March 1986 to Toulon, Illinois, where he died 28 May 1897. His body was brought back to Pekin and interred in Lakeside Cemetery.

The Kunkel & Neddermann bakery and confectionary at 407 Court St. and Charles Lohnes’ barbershop are shown in this detail from the March 1898 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin.

On 22 March 1899, Reinhardt Neddermann bought out Kunkel, and Reinhardt’s younger brother John Engelbarth Neddermann (1874-1951) came on as partner to found what was originally known as Neddermann Bros. Bakery at 407 Court St., later Neddermann’s Sanitary Bakery, and finally just Neddermann’s Bakery. Following is a brief account of the Neddermann brothers’ bakery from the 1949 Pekin Centenary, page 52:

“Their only machine was one used in making cookies, and the ovens were fired with coke. Neddermann’s bakery is still in the same location, and bakes from some of the same recipes used before the turn of the century. The Pumpernickle bread which is a favorite of customers is prepared from the recipe that delighted purchasers in 1899.

“In the days of the horse and buggy, Neddermann’s was a favorite gathering place of farmers who came to Pekin to shop. Many customers of today are the third generation of their families to enjoy ‘Neddermann’s’ delicacies.”

“Pekin: A Pictorial History” (1998), page 126, also hands on the Pekin old-time memory that Neddermann’s was “famous for aromatic Redskin peanuts and the Neddermann brothers always in starched French cuffs (and the Neddermann sisters in gingham aprons).”

Nedderman’s Sanitary Bakery & Confectionary, 407 Court St., is shown as it appeared about 1910.

The Neddermann brothers are shown in this vintage photograph of the interior of Neddermann’s Sanitary Bakery. Shown at left is Reinhardt J. Neddermann (1876-1939) and at right is his brother John E. Neddermann (1874-1951).

The detail from the Dec. 1903 Sanborn map of Pekin shows the location of Neddermann’s Sanitary Bakery at 407 Court St. and the Fuchs & Zillion barbershop at 407 1/2 Court St.

The Dec. 1909 Sanborn map of Pekin shows Neddermann’s Sanitary Bakery at 407 Court St. and William J. Solomon’s barbershop at 407 1/2 Court St.

Neddermann’s Sanitary Bakery at 407 Court St. and W. M. Beal’s barbershop at 407 1/2 Court St. are shown in this detail from the Oct. 1916 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin.

An advertisement for Neddermann’s Sanitary Bakery, 407 Court St., from the 1924 Pekin city directory.

In this detail from the Sept. 1925 Sanborn map of Pekin, Neddermann’s Sanitary Bakery and Robert England’s barbershop are shown at 407 and 407 1/2 Court St.

Reinhardt lived in an apartment above the bakery at 407 Court St.  When he passed away in Sept. 1939, his younger brother succeeded him as head of the business and also moved into Reinhardt’s residence above the bakery. Their younger sister Emma S. Neddermann (1880-1971) assisted John in running the business. Neddermann’s did not long survive John’s passing on 9 Feb. 1951, however, and the 1952 Pekin city directory listed 407 Court St. as vacant.

A black arrow touches the top of the old Neddermann’s Bakery building a 407 Court St. in this detail from a late 1940s photograph of downtown Pekin.

Meanwhile, the barbershop at 407 1/2 Court St. had seen a long succession of owners. After Lohnes in 1898, the 1904 city directory shows William M. Fuchs and John Zillion as co-owners of the Fuchs & Zillion barbershop. By 1908, Zillion had been replaced by William J. Solomon (or Soloman) in the barber firm of Solomon & Fuchs – but in the 1909 directory it is just Solomon alone. Then in 1913 the barber was Joseph M. Whistler, followed in 1914 by W. M. Beal, then Robert England in 1922 and 1924, Earl E. Champion in 1926 and 1928, Roy L. Bailey in 1930, Arthur E. Bailey in 1932, and William M. Weeks in 1934 and 1937.

The 1939 city directory heralded the arrival of the Boston Barber Shop at 407 1/2 Court, with barber Russell G. C. Beaver. He is again listed as owner of the Boston Barber Shop in the 1941 directory, but Arthur E. Bailey returns as owner of the barbershop in the 1943 directory – because Beaver had sold his business and enlisted in the U.S. Marines to fight for his country during World War II. Bailey continued as barber at 407 1/2 Court until the early 1960s, last appearing there in the 1962 city directory.

After Bailey, in the 1964 directory we find Roy Carr of Creve Coeur as owner of Roy’s Barber Shop at 407 1/2 Court St. Carr sold his business to Mack Simpson, who opened Mack’s Barber Shop at that location, as indicated in the 1965 city directory. Mack’s Barbershop continued until the early 1970s, and is last listed in the 1973 Pekin city directory.

A black arrow indicates the old Neddermann’s Building at 407 Court St. in this detail from an aerial photograph of downtown Pekin taken about 1950.

After Neddermann’s Bakery went out of business in 1951, it was not long before a new business moved into the former Neddermann’s Building. The 1955 Pekin city directory shows that Bard Optical Co. had opened a branch at 407 Court St., operating there until the mid-1960s and lasting appearing at that address in the 1965 city directory. During that time, Pekin’s Bard Optical saw a rapid series of managers: Willard Benson in 1955, then Earl Goin in 1956, then Stuart S. Levine in 1958, then Leonard Greenberg in 1959, and finally Bernard Stern, who is listed as Bard Optical’s manager from the 1961 to the 1965 directories.

The former Neddermann’s Building at 407 Court St. is shown in this March 1958 photograph. At the time, the building was the home of Bard Optical and Arthur E. Bailey’s Boston Barber Shop. Compare the second floor windows here with the second floor windows of Adam Reinhardt’s saloon shown above.

After Bard Optical’s departure from 407 Court St., the 1966 directory does not show a listing for the address, only for Mack’s Barber Shop. In the 1968 directory, however, we find Ferdinand’s Wigs, owned and operated by John F. Hawkins until the time of the 1971 city directory. We then see a quick succession of ephemeral businesses at 407 Court St. In the 1972 directory, none other than Jay Goldberg is listed as trying his hand at a record store in the old Neddermann’s Building, calling his shop Ian’s Music Parlor. Goldberg’s shop was succeeded in 1973 by Kevin Diekhoff’s The Freak Boutique, which was in turn succeeded in 1974 by Ora Logsdon’s Headquarters Boutique beauty shop.

The 1975 Pekin city directory shows 407 Court St. as vacant. This was the start of a long hiatus at 407 Court St., because by the time of the 1978 directory the address had completely disappeared from Pekin’s directories. It did not reappear in city directories until the mid-1990s. It was evidently during that hiatus that the old Neddermann’s Building underwent extensive modifications that included the removal of the building’s third floor and the installation of a very different façade.

The 400 block of Court Street is shown in this detail from a 1988 aerial photograph of downtown Pekin. The site of the former Neddermann’s Building is generally indicated by the black arrow.

The Tazewell County Assessor’s website says the current 407 Court St. building was constructed in 1994. Significantly, the 407 Court St. address reappears in the 1995 Pekin city directory, which lists Larkin’s Home Bakery & Café at that location, owned and operated by John Martin Larkin (1944-2010) and his wife Jeanie Kristin (Sinn) Larkin. The history of Larkin’s Home Bakery long predates this business’ arrival at the former site of Neddermann’s Bakery. The Larkin Bakery got its start in 1909 as Rubart Bros. Bakery, 519 Court St. (later at 526 Court St.), which was purchased in 1926 by Martin Nelson Larkin (1904-1987) and his wife Lillian Darlene (Schuetts) Larkin (1910-1995). They moved the bakery to 1211 Court St. in 1968, but they closed their business and retired in 1975. Then in 1988, their son John reopened the bakery at Eighth Street Plaza, and in 1994 moved the bakery to 407 Court St.

The former Larkin’s Bakery & Cafe stands vacant in this Tazewell County Assessor’s photograph from Feb. 2002, a year after John Larkin had sold the building to MTCO Communications.

John and Jeanie operated Larkin’s Home Bakery & Café until 2000, and sold the 407 Court St. building in Feb. 2001 to MTCO Communications. The address again disappeared from Pekin city directories after 2001, not to reappear until the 2017 directory. It was apparently during 407 Court’s second hiatus from Pekin city directories that the building suffered the collapse of its back wall. But the building was saved by Todd Thompson of 353 Court LLC, who purchased the former bakery building in Jan. 2015 and refurbished it.

The former Larkin’s Bakery building at 407 Court St. is shown in this July 2011 Google Street View image. The building was then vacant.

The former Larkin’s Bakers & Cafe building bears “for sale” signs in this Tazewell County Assessor’s photograph from June 2013. By that time the building had stood vacant for about a decade.

The building next appears in the 2017 directory, which lists Kevin Stark as the owner of Will Harms Office Supplies at 407 Court St. (Will Harms had formerly been located at 345 Court St.). Other recent directory listings for 407 Court St. include Cindy Bonnette’s Vinyl Art Studio (beginning with the 2018 city directory) and The Dewitt HQ Inc., owned by Chris Dewitt, consultant (beginning with the 2019 city directory). Finally, on 7 Jan. 2022, the building was acquired by Reprise Productions Inc., and Artistic Community Theatre moved in that spring.

A Google Street View photograph of 407 Court St. from July 2018, after Todd Thompson of 353 Court LLC had refurbished the building.

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