The Landing was a place of firsts. The Randall Hotel, which was Fort Wayne's first hotel in 1823, was managed by Winifred Randall. Before managing the hotel, she was the first woman in the United States to manage a lumber mill. She also helped found Fort Wayne's chapter of the DAR.
Perry and Winifred Randall owned and operated the Randall Hotel in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Read more on The Randall Circle website or Randall Circle 58 page pdf a collection of assorted photos, newspaper articles and memories from various family members.
1828 Jacob Fry tannery location, 1870 Robinson Hotel became the Grand Hotel, 1889 Perry A. Randall bought and renamed the Randall Hotel. Razed in 1963. Read more in Indiana’s Best $2 Hotel by Tom Castaldi published June 27, 2013 in History Center Notes & Queries blog.
A May 15, 1964 closure and auction of the hotel posted May 15, 2019 by The History Centeron Facebook Stated: Hotel accommodations in downtown Fort Wayne abounded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Options ranged from the large and extravagant Hotel Anthony to the small and humble Hedekin House. One of the better known mid-range hotels in the city was the Randall Hotel. The hotel held the names of the Robinson House, Hotel Grand and Hotel Brunswick before being purchased by local attorney, Perry A. Randall in 1889. After becoming a largely residential hotel in the 1930s, the Randall closed and was razed in 1963 with the death of Winifred Randall. One year following the closure of the Randall, an auction of the hotel's contents was held, fifty-five years ago today, on May 15, 1964. Several items were purchased by citizens of Fort Wayne at the auction and subsequently donated to the Historical Society. As the demand for downtown hotels increases, today we share some memories of one of the grand old hotels of Fort Wayne’s past. #sociallyhistory.
As I remember … by Randall, Winifred J., Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County, 1960, an Archive.org. The Foreword states: These are some of the memories of the visitors and guests of the Randall Hotel over the years as Mrs. Winifred J. Randall, owner of the hotel, has recorded them. It became the practice of Mrs. Randall on the arrival of guests who had spent their youth in Fort Wayne, to get out her typewriter and ask them to tell in their own words what they could recall.
Rankin House: Little House, Big History by ARCH Inc., posted August 11, 2020 on YouTube/
ARCH Inc. presents a virtual, video tour of the historic Rankin House. This tour is possible because of the support of the Community Foundation of Greater Foundation and our generous donors to the #GivingTuesdayNow project. Join them in supporting ARCH Inc. and its historic preservation work in the Fort Wayne area by visiting archfw.org. Invest in history for our future.
#3 - ALEXANDER TAYLOR RANKIN HOUSE. YEAR CONSTRUCTED: c. 1841. Located at 818 S. Lafayette St., the structure appears to be fairly non-descript, but was constructed by one of the leading abolitionist personalities of the 19th century. Built in the Greek Revival style, the brick home also may have served as a school at some point in its history. The interior retains most of its original features, including wall and trim finishes as well as a period staircase and railings. Alexander T. Rankin took part in the Underground Railroad that smuggled slaves from the south into the north. The home is the only standing structure in Fort Wayne that is known to be connected to abolition and the Underground Railroad. It is the current home of ARCH. (Photo courtesy of ARCH). Copied from FORT WAYNE FIVE: Oldest city structures on the National Register of Historic Places published January 4, 2018
The News-Sentinel newspaper archived on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
3400 Coliseum Blvd, Suite 200, (800) 732-9473. In 1929 Victor Rea was named manager of Dudlo Company. In 1933 he formed Rea Magnet Wire read their History and timeline on their web site www.reawire.com. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reamagnetwire/. Rea Magnet Wire Company, Inc. is one of the world's largest manufacturers of magnet and nonferrous wire products. Rea produces copper, aluminum and brass-insulated magnet wire and bare wire used in the manufacture of motors, transformers and coils. Rea also manufactures a number of specialty wire products. Copied from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Rea Magnet Wire, a local employer founded 90 years ago, has been sold to a German company in what is being described as “a perfect match” of operations. Terms of the sale, which closed Friday, were not disclosed. Elektrisola plans to retain the Rea name, the company’s five manufacturing plants, its leased corporate offices in Fort Wayne and all of its employees, officials announced Friday in a news release. Rea Magnet Wire employs about 800, including about 230 in Fort Wayne. Along with Indiana, the company has operations in Connecticut, Virginia and Mexico. ... Victor Rea, who founded the company, sold it to Alcoa in 1960. Vann was among a group that bought it from Alcoa in 1986. Elektrisola employs about 4,000 worldwide at 14 plants in seven countries. The manufacturer, which bills itself as the world’s largest manufacturer of fine copper wire, was founded in 1948 in Germany. Copied from Rea Magnet Wire's North American magnet operations sold; employees to be retained Sherry Slater | Journal Gazette March 31, 2023 .
POSITIVELY FORT WAYNE: It's an antique lover's dream. Billing itself as the "region's destination for the best of the past," you could spend hours inside Reclaimed Fort Wayne Salvage Co. looking through everything it has to offer. Emily Dwire WANE 15 takes you on a tour!
POSITIVELY FORT WAYNE: "Oh wow" seemed to be the most popular reaction for people watching this story 🤣 I know I said it more than once as we walked through this place during the interview lol check out Reclaimed Fort Wayne Salvage Co. and ALL it has to offer!
POSITIVELY FORT WAYNE: "Oh wow" seemed to be the most popular reaction for people watching this story I know I said it more than once as we walked through this place during the interview lol check out Reclaimed Fort Wayne Salvage Co. and ALL it has to offer!
In the world of groceries, the modern supermarket reigns supreme. However at the turn of the 20th century, it was the local neighborhood market that was the center of the grocery shopping scene. One local store, Redding’s Market, 1102 Rivermet Avenue, began serving the Lakeside Neighborhood in 1911. Elzie Redding ran the grocery with his wife, Della, and their two sons Dale and Forest. In the 1920s, the Redding’s purchased a farm which became a valuable source to the store and provided Lakeside with the freshest produce and dairy. In 1960, Elzie Redding passed ownership of the grocery store to his son Forest and grandson Steven. This multigenerational business served the community for almost a century, before closing in 2003. Visit the History Center to see artifacts from Redding’s Market.
Ivan Lebamoff Reservoir Park 2300 South Clinton, city block bounded by South Clinton on the west side, East Suttenfield on the south side, Lafayette Street on the east side, and Creighton Avenue on the north side. 13.1 acres. Since 1880 from City of Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation. In 2009 was renamed for former Mayor Lebamoff who helped find funding to rebuild it in the mid 1970s.
The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River by Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs, Publication date 1917 on Archive.org.
Page 560, Reservoir Park. Scene of the Great Fort Wayne Historical Pageant in June 1916. An ideal spot for the presentation of the historic pageant of Fort Wayne, entitled "The Glorious Gateway of the West.' was found in Reservoir park, where a cast of more than one thousand Fort Wayne citizens enacted six scenes depicting the thrilling, inspiring story of Fort Wayne. The temporary amphitheatre accommodated fourteen thousand persons. On the closing night of the pageant every child of Fort Wayne of school age was admitted free of charge. The event was considered the most artistic success in the history of pageantry in America.
In 1900 Ivan Lebamoff Reservoir Park began its life as a reservoir built to maintain a safe water supply. Early in the 1960s a new water filtration plant was built, and the old reservoir was demolished and integrated into the famous 50-foot hill, popular with winter sledders. In 2009 the park, at 2300 S. Clinton St., was renamed after the former Mayor Lebamoff, who helped find funding to rebuild it in the mid 1970s. Do you have a memory of this urban park?
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At the top of the hill was the cap to a 4.8 million-gallon water tank that was built in 1880 and supplied the city's first municipal water system. Water from deep rock wells was stored in the tank until it was needed. Copied from The story behind the hill in the park by Kevin Leininger August 29, 1981 inCityscapes - People & Places series of articles from the archives of
The News-Sentinel newspaper.
Fort Wayne celebrated Indiana’s 100th birthday in 1916. As part of the centennial event, which began the second week of that June, the largest temporary construction project in the city’s history was completed at Reservoir Park to host an ambitious historical pageant. Designed to hold 14,000 people, the seating for the historical pageant rose from the edge of the artificial lake to the top of the reservoir hill. A noted dramatist was brought in from Chicago to write the play, and lighting was rigged so that the performances could be presented at night. Over 1,000 local costumed citizens participated in the six-act play named “The Glorious Gateway of the West” on the pylon-flanked stage. Tickets to the pageant were fifty cents each. Some of the play’s highlights included a large replica set of the fort as a backdrop, an Indian village complete with wigwams, the actor playing Anthony Wayne arriving on stage uniformed astride a white horse, and the rousing finish with all the participants and audience jubilantly singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a giant American flag slowly rose over the stage. The play was performed six times during the two weeks of the celebration and was seen in total by an estimated 50,000 people. As well as the pageant, the stage was used on the first Sunday afternoon of the celebration by 600 choristers from local churches and singing societies performing to the packed amphitheater for a free-admission concert of religious and inspirational patriotic music. The city also celebrated with a visit and talk by former President William Howard Taft, a giant parade thorough the gaily festooned downtown, and an industrial and business exposition featuring 200 booths just north of downtown near the League Park baseball stadium (in today’s Headwaters Park) which included adjacent free rides and amusements.
Randy Harter is a Fort Wayne historian and author of two books on local history.
In the summer of 1916 Reservoir Park was the center of a city-wide celebration of the state’s 100th birthday and it was incredible. A massive stage was built over Res Park lake and bleachers for 14-thousands spectators were constructed up the slope of Res Park hill. 1100 Fort Wayne citizens volunteered as actors in an extravaganza titled ‘The Glorious Gateway of the West’. Read the rest in The Day Res Park was the Center of the World by
Eric Olson, 21Country Featured ReporterFebruary 9, 2017 on 21AliveNews.com archived on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
HISTORY JOURNAL ▸ Jan. 1, 1962: Sledders set off from the top of the hill at Reservoir Park. At the bottom of the hill, young ice skaters can be seen on the frozen pond enjoying the last day before school resumed. Read more:
In these photos, Ft. Wayne residents enjoy the snow and ice skating at Reservoir Park. Allen County residents have long flocked to the park in winter months. A 1911 article in the Fort Wayne Sentinel notes skating season was officially opened on Dec. 28 that year. "The intense cold of last night froze the water in the lake just barely enough to allow juvenile skating and early this morning every home in the neighborhood of the park was supplying its quota to the crowd which grew in numbers as the day wore on." #waybackwendesday#snow#iceskating#winterwonderland#bundleup
These photos are courtesy of our Community Album. Check out more pictures from the collection here: http://contentdm.acpl.lib.in.us/
(1911, December 28) “Skating Season Formally Opened at Reservoir Park”. Fort Wayne Sentinel, p. 1.
Rialto Theatre, Fort Wayne, Indiana from John Gevers on Vimeo. John Gevers produced this copyrighted video in 2013. It explains the known history of the Rialto Theatre in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The narrator is Angie Harrison, then-director of The Reclamation Project, the organization that then owned the building prior to its current owner. The building has since been sold and the new owner is exploring promising possibilities for restoring the theatre. For more information, contact John at: john@johngevers.com.
This video was posted in the comments to a series of photos posted from the John Gevers Photography collection.
History of the Rialto Theater, built for $150,000:
*1924: The 700-seat theater opens at 2616 S. Calhoun Street.
*1940s: Remodeled in 1942 to the plans of architect Alvin M. Strauss, adds 300-seat balcony.
*1952: Marquee sign goes up.
*1967: Theater sold by James Heliotes family to partnership consisting of the local Mallers-Spirou Management Inc. and Alliance Theatre Corp. of Chicago.
*1979: Mallers-Spirou closes the theater and puts it up for sale.
*1980: Theater sold to Taso Promotions of Chicago, which briefly shows Spanish-language films.
*1982: New local owners buy theater and reopen it as a pornographic movie house.
*1986: Allen County Prosecutor’s Office sues to seize the Rialto, claiming the owners violated state racketeering and corrupt organization law. Owners later plead guilty to distributing obscene material and promoting prostitution, but do not lose the building.
*1989: The Rialto closes.
*1990: Historic-preservation group ARCH Inc. places the Rialto on its Endangered Structures List.
*1993: The city names the Rialto a locally designated historic district.
*2003: Local group The Reclamation Project buys the theater. Members plan to make it a center for theater, the arts and urban ministry. This never happened.
Built in 1924, the Rialto Theatre was one of Ft. Wayne ’s most popular neighborhood movie houses. Here is some information about the workers who helped this theater thrive.
It was built by Greek Immigrant, James Heliotes, who began his business career in the United States as owner of the Columbia Candy Kitchen, a restaurant and sweet-shop in downtown Ft. Wayne .
James, “the Mister,” as he was commonly referred to, had owned the Broadway Theatre and later sold it to open the Rialto. He also purchased the building north of the Rialto to house the Rialto Furniture Company.
James made his home at 1840 Florida Drive and raised two sons, the eldest being George, who was Business Manager of the theatre. The younger son, John took care of the furniture store. John and his wife Violet had one daughter, Jan.
Also prominent at the Rialto was John Gater. John was a long-time employee, having worked at the Broadway. John was Theatre Manager and was responsible for operations. John opened and closed the theatre every day, usually working seven days a week. He would come in around 9 or 10 a.m., open the theatre at Noon, and would take some time off in the afternoon, returning around 4 p.m. and working to closing.
Another individual who bears remembering was Nickolas Pouletsis. Nick just kind of “hung around,” sometimes cashiering or taking tickets and trying to be useful. Nick also went by his pen-name, Nick Penn. He was the artist who designed and drew the cartoon strip, “Little Lulu.” He sold his cartoon creation and left Chicago to come to Ft. Wayne. Nick’s wife, Laura worked for an engineering firm on West Main St. Find the newest electrical panel in the Rialto switch room and you’ll see the labeling on the switches in cartoon lettering style. That was Nick’s handiwork.
Thank you Cinema Treasures and Jack Dold for posting this information. The picture is from the 1950s.
It's #waybackwednesday! The 700 seat Rialto Theater had its grand opening at 1 pm, on August 20, 1924. The $150,000 building ($2.5 million in today’s money) was designed by O.C. Brunswick of Chicago.
In a Fort Wayne News Sentinel article from the time, various architectural and design features were described, including the outer lobby and box office which were “finished in terra cotta with polychrome terra cotta walls and barrel ceilings. Massive drinking fountains add to the attractiveness”. The building was equipped with “octagonal lighting fixtures throughout” and the “latest type screen was installed to ensure bright and clean pictures. A large pipe organ was located in the orchestra pit”.
After more than 60 years, the theater closed its doors in 1989.
This week, the Indiana DNR Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology (DHPA) will feature historic theaters found in Indiana. DHPA previously conducted a Historic Theater Initiative to document these historic structures to determine how many there were, how many are left, and note their condition at the time of survey. Structures inventoried as part of the Historic Theater Initiative can be found in the State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD): on.IN.gov/shaard.
The Rialto Theater in Fort Wayne was constructed in 1924 by James Heliotes, who also operated a candy factory in Fort Wayne. Chicago architect D.C. Brunswick designed the theater and A.M. Strauss designed the Art Moderne marquee and the second story balcony. During a showing of “The Ten Commandments” in 1967, violence broke out in the theater after a teen shouted a swear word during the film. Several shots were fired, though no one was injured, according to a 1980 News-Sentinel article. The Rialto saw a decline partially due to flights to the suburbs. The theater closed by 1989, and in 1990 it was placed on ARCH Inc.’s Endangered Structures List. In 2003 there were plans to reinstate it as a theater, but this did not come to fruition. As of 2019, it was still vacant. It is an Outstanding-rated resource and surveyed as part of DHPA’s Historic Theater Initiative (IHSSI 003-215-34084; T-12). More: on.IN.gov/shaard.
Theater History: Closed in 1989, placed on ARCH Inc.'s 1990 Endangered Structures List. Purchased by local group, The Reclaimation Project, in 2003 to be used as theater, arts, and urban ministry center.
1235 E. State Blvd. started in 1957 as Nick's Rib Bar 2 doors east of current location. Von Filippou and Nick Stamanis bought out Del-Mar bar to start Nick's Rib Bar. Read more of The Rib Room History on their web page. Discussed January 31, 2017 on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook
Richard's Bakery
1130 Wells Street • Fort Wayne, IN • 260.424.4012. For nearly 80 years, Richard’s has baked and fried Fort Wayne’s best donuts. From their 2011 About pageon the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
1) interior of the original Al Riegel Cigar Store before the 1919 remodel that doubled the size of the store. Frank A. Bougher at the right.
2) Frank A. Bougher at the helm c.1961 after he gained full ownership when partner died George Kuntz.
3) walking home on a now non existent stretch of Columbia Street 1967 approximately were the Garage for the present day Rousseau Center, AKA. the City County Building parking garage stands. Land cleared were Riegel's stood for 92 years. Present store is in the background here also.
215 East Berry Street between Clinton and Barr Streets, now the Standard Building originally called the Electron Building, was erected in 1869, lasted 20 years, then became the Academy of Music. The rink attracted good skaters by Kevin Leininger published February 2, 1982 in the Cityscapes archives of
The News-Sentinel newspaper.
Ringling Brothers Circus
Circus Day in Our Town by Encyclopaedia Britannica Films Publication date 1949 Usage Public Domain Mark 1.0 YouTube
This film has amazing footage of a circus coming into a town, the townspeople helping with construction of the circus tents, the clowns preparing for their performance and the variety of circus acts and the crowds viewing them.
Rivergreenway around downtown. Enjoy your Rivergreenway!
Robee's House of Beef
1967–1968: RoBee's and Marriott In 1967 the Azar's Big Boy restaurant franchise started RoBee's House of Beef restaurants in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The Marriott Corp., which had acquired Bob's Big Boy and the Big Boy trademark in 1967, acquired RoBee's in February 1968 with plans to expand nationwide. RoBee's franchises would first be offered to Big Boy franchisees to coincide with their existing Big Boy territory. At the time there were 13 RoBee's restaurants in six states. Copied from Roy Rogers Restaurants at Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
History of Roy Rogers Restaurants Nov 23, 2022 e chang on YouTube.
Roy Rogers Franchise Company, LLC is a chain of fast food restaurants primarily located in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. The chain originated as the rebranding of the RoBee's House of Beef chain of Fort Wayne, Indiana, acquired by the Marriott Corporation in February 1968. However, Marriott first used the Roy Rogers Roast Beef name on conversions of the company's Junior Hot Shoppes in the Washington, D.C. area in April 1968, then the existing RoBee's stores. An aggressive nationwide franchising campaign was launched. At its peak, the chain included over 600 locations. As of September 2022, the chain had 41 locations
We're very excited to have the Rockhill House, known to neighbors as "Wingspread," on this year's Home & Garden Tour. This massive 5,000 square foot home was recently converted from an apartment complex back into a single-family home, and still maintains tons of original character.
Join us September 9 & 10 to see it for yourself! Buy your tickets now and save $2 per ticket.
918 Van Buren Street, just north of Washington Boulevard, is a brick building built in 1840 when Abraham Lincoln was a young man. It is the oldest house within the West Central neighborhood and one of the oldest in Downtown. See Mary Rockhill-Tyler House photos and information on ARCH ( Architecture and Community Heritage) who has restored the majority of this house, including the entire first floor.
For "Throwback Thursday" we are going to combine two other favorites! An edition of "From the Scrapbook" and "By the Way"! This is from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in the fall of 2008 when ARCH bought the property. In 2007 the Mary Rockhill- Tyler house (top picture) was split from the Kuhne house (bottom picture) on Lot 142 of ROCKHILL'S AMENDED ADDITION. And by the way .... Hofer and Davis, Inc. provided the surveying services for ARCH.
Preservation and restoration of historic buildings is a key goal for ARCH Inc., and the 2021 completion of the project to bring the c. 1840 Mary Rockhill-Tyler House in West Central back to life as a home for the first time in more than a century was the culmination of significant effort and investment for us. The last time the hall-and-parlor-style house was lived in, before being turned into a garage for a more modern home nearby, it needed no plumbing, water or electricity, and it was heated by a Franklin stove. Now it has all the 21st century facilities and conveniences, and it is leased to a resident with the rental income providing support for ARCH’s programs and operations. Learn more about this lovely old house and ARCH’s work to restore it to life at archfw.org, where you can also join the others who support ARCH as members and donors, without whom accomplishing this goal would have been impossible.
Roller Dome North is at 444 W. Coliseum Blvd, orginally out in the country at the corner of Lima and California Roads. Roller Dome South 4540 Bluffton Road opened in 1972 and closed August 9, 2015. See Roller Dome North discussion in Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne photo. Roller Dome North has a Facebook page. South-side skating rink to close 43-year run on Bluffton Road to end Aug. 9 by Jeff Wiehe was published July 22, 2015 in The Journal Gazette newspaper. See Marg Wall in our People section who started Roller Dome with her husband Jim Wall.
We are now at The Rink Vintage Goods and More in the old South Side Roller Dome. Booth #711 - we have lots of fun roller skating magazine ads and art, earrings, etc. in addition to our usual treasures.
The concrete pillars that stand at the intersection of Columbia and Harrison Streets are from the Wayne Hotel.
— thinking about old memories.
Harrison and Columbia streets. Built as the Wayne, sold and renamed Jones, then Rosemarie Hotel. Designed by local architect Frank B. Kendrick, and built in 1887 on the site of Dana Columbia’s original 1831 twenty-room Columbia House hotel (for whom Columbia Street is named).
On this day in 1975, the Rosemarie Hotel, located downtown on Columbia Ave, burned. Arson was named as the cause for the fire, the second in a series of three fires that ripped through several other buildings on the landing including Protective Electrical Supply, Old Fort Draperies and Third Presbyterian Church on Harrison. The Diehm Memorial Museum of National History at Franke Park was also destroyed by arson less that 2 weeks later. Read more about the fire in our Genealogy Center archives (https://goo.gl/RRIRR8) and more about the hotel from the The History Center (https://goo.gl/an87Mz).
For "Throwback Thursday" we share this staff photo by John Sorensen from the Fort Wayne Journal - Gazette on February 5, 1975 showing the lobby of the Rosemarie Hotel on The Landing after a fire on February 3rd. BTW...Hofer and Davis did many surveys On The Landing in 103 years!
For "Throwback Thursday" we revisit the fire on February 3, 1975 of the Rosemarie Hotel on The Landing. This is a photo by Journal - Gazette photographer John Sorensen and article by Al Brakoniecki.
Throwback Thursday: February 1975, fires on The Landing published with photos August 30, 2018 on The Journal Gazette newspaper. A story about fires in the 141-year-old Rosemarie Hotel and the five-story Old Fort Draperies office building, at Columbia and Harrison streets on The Landing on February 3, 1975 and then a second fire in the Old Fort Draperies and a separate blaze about the same time at Third Presbyterian Church on Harrison the next day February 4, 1975. Arson was suspected in both office building fires and the hotel blaze. Both buildings were eventually razed. The Old Fort Draperies site is now a parking lot, and the Rosemarie Hotel site was later replaced by an ivy covered structure that has recently been torn down as part of a project to revitalize the one-block stretch of Columbia Street between Harrison and Calhoun streets.
1904 - Zeigler Began With Hoaglands - McClure's for April Has Special Interest to Fort Wayne People The Fort Wayne News, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Friday, March 25, 1904, Page 6. Subheadline and first line: McCure's for April contains an intensely interesting article from Lincoln Steffers entitled "Enemies of the Republic" and dealing with the system of graft which he argues is kept alive by the respectable business interests of the country.
15-page document mentions Royal Baking Company, William Ziegler, Joseph Hoagland and many others: The Archive of American Journalism, Lincoln Steffens Collection, McClure’s Magazine, April, 1904, Enemies of the Republic, The Political Leaders Who are Selling Out the State of Missouri, and the Leading, Businessmen Who are Buying It, Business as Treason --- Corruption as Revolution
Fort Wayne has been home to numerous industries over the years, including the manufacture of soap. Established in 1880, The Soap Works began production and by 1883 it was expanded under new management. Gustav Berghoff acquired the struggling company 1892 and helped it grow into a prosperous enterprise. He changed the name to the Rub-No-More Company in 1906. In the mid 1880s the company introduced “Globe Soap.” In subsequent years other brands were introduced, “Rub-No-More” (1895) and naptha floating soaps (1920). In the last years of operation Rub-No-More was making Naptha Soap, Yellow Naptha Soap, Soap Flakes, Washing Powder and Spotless Cleanser. Less profit and more competition from large companies led Gustav to sell the company to Procter & Gamble in 1926. #sociallyhistory
Summit City Soap Works was First established in the late 1877, the company struggled almost immediately. When new ownership finally arrived, Summit City Soap Works became a very profitable business, especially with the introduction of their latest and greatest product, Rub-No-More Washing Powder. After several years, the company changed their name from Summit City Soap Works to The Rub-No-More Co. Business skyrocketed and sales were through the roof! In the mid 1920's, the once then local soap manufacturer decided to sell all rights to Proctor and Gamble and was manufactured and sold under their label for several more years. Copied from Summit City Soap Works About page. The Fort Wayne Beer page about the Berghoff brothers states: Gustav's soap company had been renamed, "Rub-No-More" in 1912 and was extremely successful, eventually selling trademarks and formulas to Proctor and Gamble for the sum of $325,0000 in December of 1926, but retaining ownership of the building and grounds. With no actual operating business in the Rub-No-More facility the Berghoffs incorporated as the Berghoff Properties Inc. In 1928 Gustav purchased the Wayne Home Equipment Co. and formed Wayne Oil Burner Co. in 1932 which would be located in part of the Rub No More facility. In Jan 1933 with the end of prohibition approaching Gustav along with his sons: John , Walter, and Edward raised capital and incorporated The Berghoff Brothers Brewery Inc, to be located in the soap works buildings on Glasgow Ave. In the 1920s the Board of Health was seeking a permanent injuction against the soap manufacturer operations because of the offensive odors given off from page 302 in the book Soap Gazette and Perfumer. A 1925 ad says since 1883, sells five-cent Water Softener, Floating R-N-M White Naptha Soap and Spotless Cleanser in extra-large ten cent can is satisfying millions in the middle western states. Originally posted February 26, 2013 but no longer found on the original Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana page on Facebook. Gustav Berghoff sold Rub—No—More Soap Company in 1927 from Berghoff Brewery — German page at
200 @ 200 2016 Bicentennial items at
The History Center. Business letterhead photos were posted April 4, 2019 by the Indiana Archives and Records Administration at IN.gov on Facebook. “Washed Up:” A Discovered Artifact and the Rub-No-More Soap Company by Justin Clark published June 29, 2021 at the Indiana History Blog by the Indiana Historical Bureau of the Indiana State Library.
I know I said it more than once as we walked through this place during the interview lol check out 
