Along Main Street: 309 E. Main Street

The Lowell Area Historical Museum is taking us on a stroll along Main Street and sharing the history of buildings in Lowell’s historic downtown. To learn more about Lowell history, visit the museum website to explore its collection of local artifacts and records.

Address: 309 E. Main
Date Built: 1905
Owner when built: Weldon Smith
Builder: I. A. Wood
1st business: Weldon Smith Bakery

Robert Graham moved the wooden building at 213 East Main to this empty lot in 1879 so that he could build a new brick building on the former site. By 1885, the wooden building had either been torn down or moved away.

The Weldon Smith family operated a bakery in Lowell from 1899-1908. In 1901, he had his bakery in the Pullen building next door and lived upstairs. In 1905, Smith let the contract for a new two-story bakery on this lot to I. A. Wood. It was to be built of cement blocks and its size would be 22’x60’ with a one-story bake shop, 16’ x 30’ at the rear. The interior was to be finished in yellow pine. The ground floor was to be divided into two rooms, a large bakery and lunchroom, and a kitchen. The second floor was arranged for housekeeping. Other bakeries located here following Weldon Smith’s were those of W. R. Schloerke, G. H. Uglow, Herman Strong, and Frank Houk.

After bakeries, this building housed plumbing and heating businesses. Charles W. Cook Plumbing and Heating operated here from 1928-1946. Dave Clark Sr. purchased the building and business in 1947. His son, Dave Clark Jr. bought the building in 1964 continuing the Plumbing and Heating business until 1985.

Lowell Sports Shoppe (1987-91) and Lowell Graphics (1993-95) operated here next. Then it became the headquarters of Overbeck Construction for 20 years, 1999 to 2020. Brookstone Investments (Eric Springer) purchased the building in 2021. They provide customized retirement planning solutions based on their clients’ individual needs and goals.

Below is what 309 E. Main Street looked like when the cement block building was being built during the flood of 1905. The plate glass windows have not yet been installed. Notice the stylized cement blocks which were popular during the early 1900s. You could purchase block making machines from Sears and Roebuck Co.

And here’s what 309 E. Main Street looks like today: