I have a confession to make. I love a mystery.
As a professional archaeologist, I piece together various clues in a search for meaning, whether the clues are broken ceramic plates, the scatter of food remains from a long-ago meal, property deeds tracing land ownership, or the locations of buildings on a site. These multiple lines of evidence – documents, ceramics, architectural debris, and so on – can be combined like puzzle pieces to show us a larger picture of what day-to-day life was like in the past.
Even the more recent past has secrets to share, because many of the artifacts of everyday life were so commonplace to the people living it that few items were written about or recorded in images and photographs. Vinyl records come to mind; my two daughters were shocked to see how large they were, because they live in an age where CDs and iPods are common. Big, bulky LPs were as much a mystery to them as Edison’s wax phonograph cylinders might be to my generation!
Yet, photographs, artifacts, and structures from the past all have stories to tell, stories that can help us connect in a very personal way to those who created our community. For example, it is easy to overlook the local landmarks we see day after day, on our way to the bank or driving our kids to school. However, the buildings lining Mahomet’s Main Street have their own stories to tell, each with ties to local history and the residents that contributed to the town’s development. The old Jahr Hardware store building, on the corner of Main and Lincoln in downtown Mahomet, is but one of these special buildings.
When I first visited J. T. Walker’s Brewery, the current occupants of the Jahr building, I was fascinated by the original tin ceiling, wooden floor, and open areas where the brick course was visible through the plaster. There was an obvious sense of history and age to the structure, which presented a new mystery to me: what was the building’s story?
I have the great fortune to be the Curator at the Museum of the Grand Prairie, which gives me access to many artifacts which help tell the stories of our shared history. A few hours research led me to the discovery that building was built by Frederick Oscar Jahr, the son of German shoemaker Henry August Jahr. August had immigrated to Illinois by way of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and we have in our collections a naturalization certificate from Wyandot County, Ohio, granting Henry August Jahr citizenship in 1858. Additionally, we have a leather billfold or passport which includes several stamps and several pages of notes in German. One note reads “August Jahr from Upper Sandusky, Ohio” which is in Wyandot County.
Upon arriving in Mahomet, August started a shoe repair shop in what was described in 1955 as “a small wooden building where Brown’s Barber Shop now stands” and in the mid-1980s as “where Marsh Insurance is now.” (Any long time residents of Mahomet recognize that location?) August’s son Frederick Oscar Jahr first went to work in Holzer’s General Store, which was on the north side of Main Street, a few buildings east of what is now the Brewery. In 1903, Frederick purchased an existing grocery and hardware business located across the street from the present building, where the current Busey Bank stands, and established F.O. Jahr’s Grocery and Hardware.
Frederick’s business endeavors proved successful, as he purchased the property across the street in 1910 to construct a new store building. Local architect Joseph Royer, who designed several local buildings including the Middletown School building, was contracted to design the building. Our collection contains several contracts and checks for the labor, building supplies, and materials used in construction of the building that would become J. T. Walker’s brewery. Frederick Oscar Jahr sold his business to his sons, Frank and Albert, in 1937. We have several artifacts from the store’s later years, including a photoengraving of a newspaper ad from early July 1973. It stands as a testament to the longevity of Jahr’s business, as it advertises a 10-day celebration and sale in honor of the store’s 70th year in business.
The Jahr family’s story shares common threads with many other families in our region, all of us descendants of immigrants who came from far-off shores seeking a new life. It is these threads that bind our community and weave our shared history, and in many ways, this history is still being woven. The Jahr building has found new life as J. T. Walker’s Brewery, and thanks to the careful restoration done by owner Justin Taylor, patrons can enjoy the beautiful tin ceiling and other architectural elements original to the building while sampling some of their fine craft beers.
Taylor, a fourth-generation Mahomet native, shows his appreciation of the town’s history in both the loving restoration of the century-old building and in the names of some beers, including Nine Gals Ginger Saison (named for the Ohio/“Nine Gal” Tavern which looms large in local legend) and the Daniel T. Porter (named for a local businessman and Postmaster of Mahomet). When restoring the building, Justin sought to balance the many modern standards and health code requirements with maintaining the original architectural features and personality of the building.
“I wanted to keep it as authentic as possible, to keep the original design as much as possible,” he said. Justin has done an admirable job. While some changes were necessary (installation of the brewing equipment necessitated removing the front glass windows and changing the design, for example), the original character of the building shines through at every turn. Additional finishing touches like the tin panels in the bar and brew house, repurposed from the restaurant building’s ceiling, keep to the same time period as the building’s construction and maintain the historic atmosphere, while family heirloom pieces have been added for shelving and storage behind the bar.
So, mystery solved and workday done, I will be looking with new appreciation as I drive past the old Jahr building on my way home. Thanks to the Taylor family, the building has found new life without losing its old charm, and I hope they will continue to weave their family story into the history of the community for many years to come!
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Valerie Hall is currently the Curator at the Museum of the Grand Prairie. Along with developing exhibits and educational programs at the museum, Hall also updates the Museum of the Grand Prairie blog with stories, and volunteers her time in the MAYC B.L.A.S.T. program.
