December 1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

• 214 W. Jefferson HISTORICAL CONTEXT This property is located on the south side of W. Jefferson Boulevard, east of the alley between S. Lafayette and S. Main in downtown South Bend, Indiana. It is described as 22' W. Lot 259 of Original Plat South Bend. The building was probably constructed in 1903 as office space. Its original owner was Rose Melville Mizey. In 1906 the existing structure was incorporated into the Jefferson Building constructed at the corner of W. Jefferson and S. Main Street by F. W. Keller, Charles Weidler and Frank and William Toepp and designed by Freyermuth and Maurer. Because of the continuity of design it may be inferred that the original building had been designed by Freyermuth and Maurer or that the facade was altered by them to match the new construction. The resulting office building covered an area of 66 feet on Main Street and 165 feet on Jefferson Street, was four stories tall. offered 125 rooms and had a lobby that boasted such conveniences as an in house barber shop. The building was constructed so tha� it connected with the pre-existing office building, located at 214 W. Jefferson, which was to become the west annex. The building was owned by Frank and William Toepp at this time. In 1916 the Jefferson building was converted to use as a Hotel which offered 125 rooms and had a lobby that boasted such conveniences as an in house barber shop. Most office tenants relocated to the newly constructed Associates Building across the street at this time. • Mr. William Toepp was in the dry goods business with his father Peter Toepp, the firm was called, "P. Toepp & Sons", located at 121 West Washington. However, the business went under after the store was destroyed by the fire that devastated South Bend's business district in 1881. In 1890 Peter Toepp embarked in the jewelry business with his other son Frank. The name of the firm was F.C. Toepp & Co., it was located at the corner of Main and Washington Street. Peter Toepp retired in 1896 giving his share to his son Frank who continued to run the business well into the 1900s. By 1951 the current owners of the hotel spent $100,000.00 in renovations to bring the hotel up to modern standards. They then leased the hotel to James Murfree in October of 1959. Mr. Murfree owned hotels in Lafayette and Elkhart, Indiana and had hopes of bringing business back to the Jefferson hotel. His first move was to make W.R. Weatherford the hotels resident manager. Mr. Weatherford was experienced in hotel management through his past work with Lafayette hotels. These efforts were to no avail, in 1961 the hotel was closed. The structure remained virtually empty for the next 20 years, until the early 1980s when the main body of the hotel was demolished and replaced with a fast food restaurant, leaving 214 W. Jefferson standing by its self. After the hotels demolition the building at 214 W. Jefferson became owned by Milt's Restaurant. The restaurant occupied the first floor and left the upper three floors empty. Milt's restaurant was bought out by Barb's Restaurant in 1985. Barb's Restaurant eventually went under and was purchased by Steve Moerlein in 1996. Mr. Moerlein is a lawyer who intends to restore the building to its original use as office.space. •