Mallon Building

The Mallon/Minkert building, at the northeast corner of Montgomery and Bill streets in Francesville, Indiana was built by local businessman John H. Mallon in 1899. It replaced a frame structure on the same site, built in 1872, which burned. Mallon came to Francesville from Morgan County, Indiana in 1865, and in 1868 began to clerk with Samuel Reishling, who is credited as having begun the second-ever business in the town. A few years later Mallon struck out on his own, and the 1883 history of the county says of him, "He is probably doing the leading business of this town." It was built in 1899, and is a two-story, rectangular brick building measuring 40 feet wide and 80 feet deep. After Mallon's death in 1915 the store was taken over by his son Cecil, who operated it until 1949, 77 years of continuous business under the ownership of father and son. The store had an extremely close call in December, 1945, when a massive fire enveloped the block of buildings to its immediate east, on a bitterly cold night. Francesville historian Alyce Onken remembers standing on the street during the fire looking at the building, thinking, "It's gone for sure." Miraculously, despite the near-total destruction of its neighbors, the building survived with only minor damage. A careful eye will note a cosmetic repair to the east wall as the only reminder of the calamity. Many current residents

Data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).