Thursday, November 20, 2014

Page 1B

The Odessan, Odessa, Missouri

Spotlight
History repeats itself at Silver Fox

Silver Fox...Merchants of Antiques and Uniques,

above, opened March 1, 2013. After six expansions by the business owners,
Barbara Greeson, Judy Shelby and Sue Sanders, and a storefront makeover,
by building owners Joe and Jamie Wimberly, a Christmas Open House was
held the last two weekends. Left, owners, Greeson, Shelby and Sanders
sit in front of built-in drawers original to the north building which was a
hardware store for many years.
photos by Hannah Spaar, the late Bill McEwen, Linda Gillis,
Danny Lane and Katie Lockhart.

by Linda Gillis
The town of Odessa has seen its share of dramatic
events over the years; res, wars, the Great Depression
and epidemics claimed many victims, but also made
many heroes. Tragedies strike and people go on with
their lives. Sometimes buildings are destroyed, but
many buildings remain from Odessas early days. One
such building is the former Independent Order of Odd
Fellows building, originally built in 1905; it has been
witness to many changes over the years.
Silver Fox Merchants of Antiques and Uniques, 206 S.
Second Street, opened March 1, 2013, holding a grand
opening from March 15-17. Business, owned by Sue
Sanders, Judy Shelby and Barbara Greeson, has
expanded six times.
Sanders and her co-owners rent the I.O.O.F. building
from Joe and Jamie Wimberly, owners, who bought
the building in 2011 from the Leake family.
As business increased, the owners expanded into the
rear of the building. They expanded once more into
the buildings to the north which once housed several
hardware stores.
It is ironic the buildings which have such long histories are now housing antiques with long histories of
their own.
The rst building on the site, the I.O.O.F. building,
was home to a millinery shop on the north side and a
barber shop on the south, in the late 1800s.
The original hardware building had about two-thirds
of the space and in the rest of the building was a racket
store and a stationery shop in the north portion and a
tin shop in the rear. The upstairs was a warehouse.
Fire
Fires were one of the hazards of the day. A re on
January 6, 1893, burned a large section of the southwest block of downtown Odessa, but the southeast side
was spared.
That was not the case on the night of January 29,
1900, as a small re ignited in the millinery shop.
Temperatures below freezing did not help volunteer
reghters as the strong north wind whipped the
ames higher and higher. People watched helplessly
as the ames consumed the block from the millinery
shop to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and its
manse in the rear.
At the time, it was thought the re was purposely set
at the millinery shop so the owners could collect the
insurance. Lending credence to the rumor was the fact
the owners packed the belongings in their home and
left town that night.
From the time of the re through April 1904 the block
remained empty except for two buildings at the north
end of the block that had not burned, Prince Produce
and Grocery store, now Heritage Realty, and two buildings housing Wagner Hardware and a jewelry store. An
eggs and poultry shop with a hen house in the rear had
been built about two-thirds of the way down the street.
The Presbyterian Church had relocated south of the
modern-day Ralph O. Jones Funeral Home.

Wives of IOOF lodge members founded the Coronet current location at 306 South Second Street. They
Rebekah Lodge 149 and also held meetings at the lodge. operated the Ralph O. Jones Furniture Store in the
The two clubs often held joint events and fundraisers. I.O.O.F. building and had a storage area in the rear
for caskets. The funeral service remains in the 300
block of South Second and has been sold to Steven
Fuller, Lexington.
In the 1980s, I.O.O.F. lodge members decided to sell
the building and an auctioneer, Lawrence Bauer, was
the buyer. For a short time it was used for consignment
auctions and then sold to Tony and Michelle Leake,
who made structural improvements. The Leakes sold
bathtubs and other xtures. After they closed, an online
baby clothing business was in the building until it was
purchased by the Wimberlys.

IOOF building... This

early

photo of the IOOF building shows the central

stairwell leading up to the lodge and businesses
on the second oor. P.J. Heisler Grocery is on
the left side of the lower level and H.N. Brown
Furniture Store is on the right.
H.N. Brown Furniture Store on the south side of
the building and P.J. Heisler Grocery were the rst
two tenants. H.N. Brown ran an advertisement in the
December 28, 1905, issue of the Odessa Democrat, announcing they were in the Big New Store in the Odd
Fellows Building.

Merry Christmas...

H.N. Brown
Furniture Store ran many advertisements
greeting customers and making suggestions for
Christmas gifts.
H.N. Brown
H.N. Brown Furniture Store, owned by Harvey Newton Brown, originally owned by Adams & Cox who sold
furniture and a complete line of undertaking supplies,
moved into the I.O.O.F. Building during the last week
of December, 1905. Brown and his wife, Mary Louise
Lewis Brown had 11 children by the time their busiH.N. Brown
ness was moved into the I.O.O.F. building. The store
Furniture Store held a clearance sale as they
also had a man employed to handle undertaking and
prepared to move to the I.O.O.F. building in Deembalming who was licensed by the Missouri Funeral
cember, 1905.
Directors Association.
Dr. J.T. Biggs, a dentist, had an ofce at the top of the
stairs at the west end of the building. Dr. L.V. Dawson,
physician and surgeon, and Evert Keller, who sold real
estate, insurance and offered business opportunities
and investments, also had ofces upstairs. For a time,
police court was held in the building.
Odd Fellows members held meetings, dinners and
other gatherings in the lodge and on June 7, 1914, a
public Memorial Day ceremony was held with the Rev.
Budd as speaker.
The community was so supportive of lodge fundraisers that on April 19, 1921, the lodge was able to make its
nal payment. When the lodge was built, membership
was about 115 and by 1921 membership was nearing was another venture H.N. Brown was involved
in, rst as a co-owner and later buying out John
200.
Phillips to run the company with his son, James.
Blincoe and Sons
At one time Blincoe & Sons Furniture Store and Fu- Katie Lockhart found this example in a Kansas
neral Service, owned by Ben Blincoe, operated in the antique shop.
Brown also managed the Odessa Canning Company
building. They rst operated out of a building at 101 S.
Main Street, which burned, so the building and busi- beginning in 1891 and in 1895, he and John Phillips
ness owned by Chris Wagner at the north end of the purchased the plant at auction. In 1897 Brown bought
northwest block of downtown Odessa was purchased. out Phillips share and ran the company on his own until
That building burned as well and that is when the 1915. That year Browns son, James W. joined his father
in running the business and then was the sole operator
business was moved to the I.O.O.F. building.
An even larger tragedy struck when Ben and his sons, from 1924 until the plant was sold in 1943.
The rst labels used at the plant were Lafayette
Horace and Clifton, died within months of each other.
Myrtle Blincoe put the business up for sale and Ralph Brand Tomatoes although later the wholesale businesses the plant shipped to provided their own labels
and Irene Jones purchased it in 1954.
On January 2, 1958, the Jones family moved their put on at the plant.
continued on 8B
living quarters and undertaking business to the

Clearance sale...

Odessa Canning Company...

Postcard of the I.O.O.F. Building shows the

original 1905 block at the top center of the
building.
Odd Fellows Lodge
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Odessa as Lodge 446 on January 25, 1884, by
Grand Master Charles D. Lucas, assisted by members
from Lexington, Wellington and Independence. In 1904
the group purchased two lots on South Second Street
from Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Kuchinski.
Construction began on a $7000 two-story building
in 1905 with the lodge moving into their grand new
quarters in December. The rst ofcial use was January
2, 1906, when new ofcers were installed.
Lodge members met on the second oor and leased
the ground oor and a portion of the second oor to a
variety of tenants.