early building occupant identified by papers left under building's attic floor boards

the noble square neighborhood "cornerstore" facing demolition began as a single story brick workers cottage, likely constructed in the latter half of the 1870's. through time the back section of the structure remained residential, while the front underwent dramatic reconstruction, including removal of the majority of the facade.

the new entrance, likely fabricated by the milwaukee artistic metal ceiling co., consisted of a faux stone stamped steel facade and a decorative circular window with steel muntins. it is much larger than the original, but identical in shape. the towering plate glass "display" windows flank a centrally located entrance door and once offered passerby a full view of products in showcases. additionally, it provided ample natural light before the building was fully electrified (sometime after 1925).

this expansion from residential to a mixture of residential and commercial use happened sometime after 1900, when the l. marski grocery store established operations there. based on the largely unchanged interior configuration, the owner no doubt resided in the the rear; the presence of certain paperwork attests to this. shortly after the great depression, it was expanded with an addition and a garage, right up against the alley.

much of what transpired while the store was in operation, well into the depression, was revealed through piles of pay stubs, pamphlets, signs, business cards and other items tucked away under the attic floorboards. sadly, rodents destroyed the majority of these documents, so there are many more fragments than complete documents.

still, i managed to piece together enough of this ephemera to gain a clearer understanding of this small grocery operation. it is a fragile picture that would likely have faded with the wrecker's tearing into the building, destroying any and all memories entrenched in its walls.

update: as of 1-17-2017, the former l. marski grocery store has been demolished. with the exception of the pile of old ephemera found under attic floorboards, along with images of the exterior and interior taken when this blog post was first published, the building, and its history, have been wiped clean from the cityscape. tragic.