Feature 212: 111-115 North Main Street (in 2011)

Classification: Contributing.
Historic Name: S.S. Kresge Company Building.
Architectural Style: Modern.
Construction Date: ca. 1890/ca. 1951 (major addition and remodel).
Period 4 of Harry S Truman's Life: Attaining National Prominence, 1934-1953.
Tax Identification: 26-230-13-13.
Legal Description: Old Town, block 13, lot 53.
Description: Contributing two-story brick and concrete commercial building; rectangular in shape; flat roof; brick exterior; large plate glass windows (ground floor) and double-hung sash windows (second floor); recessed entrance on west-facing facade and angled corner entrance. The building is located on the southwest corner of North Main Street and East Maple Avenue across from the Courthouse; sidewalks extend along north and west walls; a three-story building adjoins on south.
• Alterations: The building facade possibly was remodeled in early 1900s; major addition to north wall (extending the building to Maple Avenue) and exterior remodel completed around 1951.
History/Significance: The S.S. Kresge Company Building stands on the site of two buildings; one two-story building with two shop spaces (111-113 North Main Street) possibly dating from the 1890s but remodeled in the 1920s, and one three-story building (115 North Main Street) on the corner lot. This taller building was the home of the Henry J. Ott and Company Furniture store, a long-lived Independence business. Around 1926, the Charles Tucker Furniture Store took over the business and moved into the old Ott store space; Tucker's remained there until the late 1930s when it moved into the new Gentry Building (at 205 West Lexington Avenue [Feature 183]).
In 1950, fire destroyed the Ott/Tucker building. To the south, the two-story building housed a drug store (at 111 North Main) and Sampson's men's clothing store (at 113 North Main) in the early 1930s. Kresge Company moved into both shop spaces probably in the 1920s, at which time the building probably underwent a major remodeling. Not long after the destruction of the neighboring Ott/Tucker building in 1950, Kresge announced its intention to make a major addition to its store on the north side. Kresge Company's addition, completed on the site of the Ott/Tucker building completed by 1951, also involved remodeling the facade of their existing building. In the 1970s, a Sears Surplus Store occupied the old Kresge Company Building.