Hasselbachs Market
Anthony P. Hasselbach bought the property at 106 S. West Street in April, 1905, for $4,000.00. He immediately began to demolish the existing wood-frame building (which had housed Eisenhour’s Restaurant) to build a 2-story brick building to house his ‘saloon’, as reported in the Bellevue Gazette. In an April 16th article, the Gazette stated that “...Henry Flagler, the Standard Oil magnate and multi-millionaire at one time kept store there.” Historian Bill Oddo said, “Business growth in Bellevue began at that location, with the Harkness-Flagler connection.”
Plans changed as the building was being built and in the fall of ’06 it was announced that R. Haensler, groceryman and saloonist who occupied one room in the Tremont House for 26 years, would sell out his grocery stock and move his saloon business to the Hasselbach building. After leasing the building, he realized that it was spacious enough to house an expanded grocery business, so he put his son Edgar in charge of the grocery, with the assistance of Edgar’s brother Clarence; and Mr. Haensler continued to operate his saloon from the Tremont House.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hasselbach and his family moved into the 2nd-floor apartment in the new building, while maintaining his popular saloon and restaurant in its original location at 214 West Main (currently the Elks Club). Hasselbach Saloon was a popular place, but local laws in those days tried to control drinking by voting to be ‘wet’ or ‘dry’. Frequent ballots changed the status from one year to another, so Mr. Hasselbach hedged his bets, and had two buildings – one in each County. That way, if one County went ‘dry’ he’d close the doors of his saloon on that side of town and open up again on the other side of town.
Mr. Haensler operated his grocery in the Hasselbach Block for a number of years.In the mid-40s, it became Hasselbach & Paul Grocery; Ralph Hasselbach ran the store. A short time later, Hasselbach & Paul Insurance was founded and run out of the store until the business grew enough to move into the offices at 107 West Main – where it remains today, under the ownership of Tom Barth.
Charles and Celia Goodsite bought the grocery business and operated as Hasselbach’s Market in the building for many years, specializing in quality meats. In the early 1960’s there were 3 meat markets within a few hundred feet of each other: Hasselbach’s, Sylvester’s on W. Main and Siesel’s on N. West St. plus Kroger’s was in the 100-block of East Main, next to the Ben Franklin store. Hasselbach’s was the last downtown specialty market, closing in the 1980’s when the Goodsites retired. During these many years, there were 3 business owners but the name ‘Hasselbach’ endured in the Market’s name.
In 1992, Reitz Electric bought the building and moved their electrical contracting business into the shop.Richard Reitz, 3rd generation owner, operated the business from 106 South West until his death in 2008.
The building was then purchased by David and Elizabeth Kile. Restoration and renovation work on the store took several months. A suspended ceiling was removed, the original tin ceiling restored and re-painted; the original hexagonal-tile floor was restored; lighting installed, and showcases, both antique and modern, were added. Liz Kile’s business, The Golden Acorn, moved to its new home at 106 S. West St., in 2008. The Golden Acorn was born in Milan, Ohio in 1989 , and has evolved from a bookstore to the lively giftware and housewaresshop highlighting downtown Bellevue.
