#6: 2884 Main Street

This structure was built as a drug store and run by P.O. Griste. If you look at the doorway you can still see the black and white tile that was typical of many drug stores of that era. Mr. Griste sold toys upstairs at Christmas time and kept the store open until midnight. From an Article in the East Troy News, December 15, 1915, “Yes sir, those mechanical toys at Griste’s drugstore are the ideal of perfection. They are practical and, unlike many others, have lasting qualities. See the little electric engine pulling coaches on a round track, the current propel same being obtained from any electric light socket in your home. Then too, the Meccano toys teach practical lessons to boys about construction work, and on that account are way ahead of others. Drop in and see them.”

The building was later taken over successively by Charles Zinn, CJ Blanchard, Fred and Bill Zimmer, and John Rademacher and Ken Pluess. The name of the store under John Rademacher was The Gift Tree. While co-owned by Rademacher and Pluess, Ken Pluess converted it into a liquor store. For three years John Schulke owned the building, followed by Lenn Hotz for another three years. In 1983 Achilles and Karen Arestides became the owners of the Wine Seller, and the business was sold to Mr. John Biersack in 1998.