Allen County, Indiana Genealogy

Loos Grocery Store open wagon. (Loos0002) in the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library. Open Delivery Wagon with signage "Staples & Fancy Groceries". Adult male driver and child rider. Image taken on Suttenfield with Reservoir Park pond in background. House in center with domed roof is at northeast corner of Clinton and Creighton. Pointed steeple behind it is Faith United Methodist Church at northeast corner of Clinton and DeWald.

A May 23, 2022 post by The History Center on Facebook:

One of the top priorities of humans is to find a food supply. For most of the people of Fort Wayne, this is accomplished at a grocery store. In the first city directory, there were a total of 49 individual grocers with in Fort Wayne city limits. A grocery store is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. Larger types of stores that sell groceries, which are known as supermarkets, usually stock significant amounts of non-food products, such as clothing and household items. Small grocery stores that sell mainly fruit and vegetables are known produce markets, and small grocery stores that predominantly sell prepared food, such as candy and snacks, are known as convenience shops or delicatessens. Fort Wayne has had a multitude of grocers ranging from the small family run stores to large chains, both local and national. Today we honor some of the past grocery stores that have served the people of Fort Wayne.

The post had over a dozen photographs of early grocery stores such as Andrew Deitschel Grocery, HL Cline Groceries, Dry Goods and Notions 1402 E Creighton in January 1915, Egg Carton used by Wayne Grocery located 926-930 Broadway, c. 1912 and 1915, Kelsey Bros Grocery and Meat Market, 1895, 2508 Broadway, Scott Food bag, c1995, Vegetable scoop made by hand and used in George Knoll Grocery, c1843, Maloley Bros, c1950, Egg Carton from Wayne Grocery, c1915, Oddou Grocery, c1900, Cap from milk bottle sold at Redding's Market.

 

The Andrew Deitschel grocery store from their post was at 1027 Third Street with his house at 1023 third shown on page 337 of the 1914 City Directory listing his wife and children, some who may be shown in the photo. Notice the brick sidewalk and horse-drawn wagons on the right side of the building. Google map shows the building and house are still there in a 2019 image. For some genealogy information Andrew and Catherine Deistschel are found in the Genealogical Records of German Families of Allen County, Indiana, 1918 on page 29 with more information on our German Heritage page.

Fort Wayne, IN chain grocery/supermarket locations, 1925-87 post by Andrew T. 04 Aug 2018 on Groceteria.ca.

We stumbled across Groceteria.com and thought some you would be interested in this website. Established in 1999, this...

Posted by Heritage Documentation Programs, NPS on Saturday, March 16, 2024

Saturday, March 16, 2024 post by the Heritage Documentation Programs, NPS on Facebook:

We stumbled across Groceteria.com and thought some you would be interested in this website.

Established in 1999, this website is about the history of American and Canadian chain supermarkets, from the 1920s through the turn of the century and beyond.

Learn more at http://www.groceteria.com/

HEARD ABOUT THE HABS/HAER/HALS COLLECTION?
Conducting research on a historic site, structure, vessel or landscape? Consult the nation's largest archive of historical architectural, engineering, and landscape documentation - the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection - in The Library of Congress at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/

#GroceryStores #RetailHistory #Supermarkets #HistoricStores #HistoricSupermarkets #HistoricArchitecture #chainsupermarkets

Eavey's grocery is probably one of the most recalled local grocery stores, Maloley's, Rogers, Scott's and others too. Dozens of early markets and grocery stores are listed in early city directories that can be found on our City Directory page or our Timeline pages.

A February 9, 2023 post with photo generated over 150 comments by the second day on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook stated: Heiny's Fish Market, late 1970's. Now a parking lot between Fairfield Manor and the Family Dollar in the 400 block of West Creighton Avenue, Fort Wayne Indiana. A February 9, 2023 post by a Heiny descendant shows a 1983 newspaper article stating the Heiny Market started in 1898. Page 294 in the 1898 Fort Wayne directory shows the Heiny's as clerks at other stores or Nicholas as an insurance agent, then page 319 in the 1890 city directory shows Nicholas Heiny has a dry goods store at 73 Wells Street with Edith and Lawrence as clerks. A May 26, 2024 post from the book 20th Century History of Fort Wayne copyright 1975 - Bicentennial Edition page 570. This is a map of Supermarkets and Shopping centers. Circled numbers but nowhere does it have a legend telling you what the numbers represent. Another May 26, 2024 post shows a 1955 photo of a Kroger Supermarket cashier checking out a customer at the downtown Kroger on W. Jefferson Blvd. at Webster St.

I'm a bit of a grocery store geek. This interesting and makes so much sense. Not likely to see any improvements in the next 4 years.

Posted by Chad Nabity on Thursday, December 5, 2024

Thursday, December 5, 2024 post by Chad Nabity on Facebook:

I'm a bit of a grocery store geek. This interesting and makes so much sense. Not likely to see any improvements in the next 4 years.

The Great Grocery Squeeze How a federal policy change in the 1980s created the modern food desert, Stacy Mitchell, The Atlantic.

[ Also shared December 1, 2024 by Steve McMichael Mayor of New Haven on Facebook

Great read- most smaller communities (including City of New Haven Indiana ) long for the “good ole days” of 3 grocery stores…. Here’s a good explanation of why, in part, the old chains like Maloleys, Scott’s, Roger’s, Lynn’s [ bought several Maloley buildings ] and White Swan no longer exist ]

[ Fort Wayne's first Walmart store opened January 31, 1990 ]

1907 - Many Tons of Beans - Fort Wayne People Eat An Enormous Amount - 2,150,000 pounds

Article from Mar 18, 1907 Fort Wayne Daily News (Fort Wayne, Indiana) 1907, Beans, Fort wayne

1907 - Many Tons of Beans - Fort Wayne People Eat An Enormous Amount - 2,150,000 pounds Fort Wayne Daily News, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Monday, March 18, 1907, Page 6.

MANY TONS OF BEANS

FORT WAYNE PEOPLE EAT AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT.

Over 2,160,000 Pounds Consumed in One Year In This City.

Bean soup, pork an', baked beans, bean pie and various other forms of preparing the vegetable are responsible for the use of over 2,160,000 pounds of beans in Fort Wayne in one year. The major portion of these 1,080 tons goes into the stomachs of Fort Wayneites, although casual visitors from Boston dispose of a certain amount.

It is rather startling to think of the hold beans have on the population of this city. In many homes beans form part of the daily diet, in numbers of other residences a great pile of beans is baked on Saturday and these are disposed of during the following Sunday. Placed end to end, the beans consumed in Fort Wayne in one year would probably girdle the earth a number of times, and heaped in one pile would a maker a good sized hill. Beans form the most stable and saleable products which the local grocers handle. One grocer in the heart of the city has disposed of over 250 pounds in the last three months, and others have as large sales in proportion. It would seem as though a great many of the inhabitants of Fort Wayne had come from New England.

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