I just came across this 1950s era photo of the 147-year-old building at 538-542 West Water Street (left) and the building directly east of it at 532-536 West Water.
From 1950-1965, Clarence Ottoway operated Otty’s Bar in the west room of the building erected by Fred Schendel and August Ponto in 1877. The east room housed the G.J. Knaack hardware store from 1927-1949 and Princeton Hardware & Supply from 1949-1956. The building, most recently occupied by Once in a Blue Moon restaurant, is vacant today but is reportedly being prepared for a pizza restaurant. My generation remembers Verona Olson, who combined the rooms when she operated the Skogmos clothing store.
The City of Princeton Historical Walking Tour plaque incorrectly states the building at 538-542 was home to the Commercial Hotel, which was one lot east.
Looking east in our 1950s photo, we see Joe Wilsey’s furniture store and Mae’s Uptown Bar at 536 and 532 West Water, respectively. That building was erected in 1880 and torn down in 1996.
Wilsey, who also had a funeral business, housed his furniture store in multiple locations before closing it about 1974. Clifford and Mae Bentilla operated Mae’s Uptown from about 1953-1965.
If you come across any old photos of Princeton, please share them!
You can read the full history of all the of the Water Street buildings in earlier posts on this site.
Thank you for reading and caring about local history.
Great story. Thanks for sharing!