The Bentley Block: 600 Block of Main

by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

 

Did you recognize the scrolls on the building at 601 Main?

Prairie Harvest, 601 Main, 2015.

This weekend Prairie Harvest is celebrating their 17th Anniversary of business.  Enjoy this history of the building at 601 Main, Newton through photos. Which one do you remember?

The Bentley Block, 1880s

Bentley Block, 601 Main, Newton, Ks, 1883.

1885 Newton City directory lists the following businesses at the location: German National Bank (601 Main); Bentley & Perde Real Estate Brokers (601 1/2); Bowman & Bucher, Attorneys (601 1/2); J.W. Murphy, Real Estate (106 W. 6th); Gross, Boyd & McConnell, Barbers (104 W 6th); E.E. Sellers, Cigars (104 W 6th).

Hanlins Department Store: “The largest Cash Department Store in the State” ca. 1905.

Postcard, 600 Block of Main, west side, 1905. (The Opera House tower is visible at far right.)

Hanlins Department Store, 601 Main, ca. 1905.

West side of the 600 & 700 Blocks on Main Photo by Stovall Studio for booklet, “Newton, Kansas: Past & Present,Progress & Prosperity Souvenir,” 1911.

Hanlins Mercantile Gets a New Look  in 1911.

The front of the building was significantly altered, changing the main entrance and adding an imposing front facade in 1911.

Booster Day Parade, October 42, 1911.

Hanlin Lewis Mercantile, 601 Main, ca. 1911.

The Era of J.C. Penney & Co and more Changes, 1957

J.C. Penney Co., 601 Main. 1957.

500 & 600 Block of west Main, Newton, 1957.

More changes for the front facade when the cornice was removed sometime in 1957.

Harvey County Fair Parade in front of J. C. Penney Co, 601 Main, 1957. (can you find the graffiti left by the NHS class of 1957?)

More drastic changes  in the 1960s/early 1970s when metal siding was installed over the front facade of the building at 601 Main.

Chisholm Trail Parade in front of J.C. Penney Co, 601 Main, 1991.

Businesses since J.C. Penney & Co closed.

Stage, 601 Main, 1997.

Dollar Super Store, 601 Main, 2002.

A Revitalized Building and a Return to the older facade.

Prairie Harvest, 601 Main, 2015.