General Store, I.O.O.F Hall & Bank Building

The I.O.O.F. (International Order of Odd Fellows) met on the second floor for many years, in fact an old photo of the apparently not quite finished building was labeled "I.O.O.F. Building". The Woodmen of America (insurance) also had a office on the second floor. At some point there was also a small theater on the second floor.

So where did the "General Store" name come from?

Well it seems like Wm. G. McMenus opened his general store in the building in the 1920s and operated it here until he sold the business to Phil Hendrix in January 1946 and retired. Just one year later Hendrix sold the business to Russell Hall an Tom and Rex Sturdavant. I don't know what happened to the Sturdavant brothers, but by 193 the sign on the front of the store just listed "Russell Hall". Russ Hall ran the store until 1964 when he sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Massey. I haven't figured out when they closed the store, but I understand they were the last to operate it.

So where was the bank?

The bank was located at the back of the building, with the entrance facing Front Street and the railroad tracks. The bank entrance was where the boarded up section at the far right is in this photo. It was a three section store front with doors in the middle section. W. H. Shank was the president of the bank from 1910 to his death in 1931. He was the father of J. Edward Shank who operated the Midway Camp in the early 1930s.

There's still a bit of ghost writing on the wall on Front St. Some ghost writing still shows on this side of the building.

The front of the building has two store fronts and, on the far left in this 2023 photo, an entrance to a stairway leading to the second floor. That entrance was a later addition, it wasn't there when the building was new.

This is the only historic building still standing in downtown Phillipsburg, and sadly it's not aging well at this point in time.

Photo(s): 2023