Feature 240: 106-108 West Maple Avenue – Building #1 (in 2011)

Classification: Contributing.
Historic Name: Knoepker Building and Bridges Grocery Building - Building #1.
Architectural Style: Commercial.
Construction Date: 1906 & 1906-1907.
Period 2 of Harry S Truman's Life: Establishing Community Roots, 1890-1919.
Tax Identification: 26-230-03-14.
Legal Description: Old Town, east part of lot 11.
Description: Two contributing two-story brick commercial buildings; both rectangular in shape; with flat roofs concealed by parapets; brick exterior; double-hung sash windows (four bays on each building) on the second floor; large plate glass windows on ground floor facade. The building is located in the middle of the block on the north side of West Maple Avenue directly across from the Courthouse; is adjoined by commercial buildings on the east and west sides; a sidewalk extends along south-facing facade.
• Alterations: Both buildings were remodeled together in the early 1940s by the Knoepker brothers who occupied both buildings at that time; rear one-story extensions on both buildings removed.
History/Significance: Frederick Herman Henry Knoepker founded a dry goods business in the late 1890s; he soon became established at 106 West Maple Avenue. F.H.H. Knoepker had come to Independence with his parents in the 1870s. Young Knoepker worked in the grocery business of his father, George W. Knoepker, and his partner, Charles A. Nagel, (who conducted their business at 118 West Maple Avenue [Feature 243]). In February 1906, fire destroyed Knoepker's store at 106 West Maple, along with the Clinton Block to the east. This fire probably damaged or destroyed the neighboring grocery store to the west as well as the building at 108 West Maple.
Knoepker built the present two-story building on the site of the old structure. His neighbor to the west also erected a new building on the site of the burned structure. In 1908, Bridges Grocery Store, operated by Joseph E. and William C. Bridges, occupied the ground floor shop at 108 West Maple Avenue. Bridges Grocery continued doing business in this building into the 1920s. In 1921, F.H.H. Knoepker brought his two sons, Melvin and Carl, into his business. By 1930, Knoepker's had expanded into the Bridges Grocery building at 108 West Maple. In 1943, Melvin and Carl Knoepker acquired the business. Not long afterward, they remodeled the entire building inside and out. F.H.H. Knoepker died in 1947. The Knoepker store remained at this site for decades, expanding into 108 West Maple.