24029 (506) w. lockport street
24029 (506) W. LOCKPORT STREET 24029 (506) – (1899) - This building was built soon after the 1898 fire in a simple commercial vernacular
style. It is a one story brick building with a pressed metal cornice and the storefront has been infilled with brick; leaving only a small window and residential style door. The molded storefront cornice is not original. The upper façade is of yellow face brick and the cornice has ornamental end brackets, corbels and rosette ornaments. It had been the U.S. Post Office before the 1898 fire, and remained the Post Office until at least 1912. Despite the storefront alterations, the upper façade retains its essential historic character that was manufactured by the Mesker Brothers Iron Works based in St. Louis, Missouri and operated by Bernard and Frank Mesker. They were a designer and manufacture of ornamental sheet-metal facades and cast iron storefront components from the 1880s through the mid-twentieth century, marketing their products in a catalog that displayed their designs. The brothers learned their iron-working skills from their father, John Mesker, who operated a stove business in Evansville, Indiana and later branched into galvanized iron for buildings. There are Mesker storefronts in every state. About 1936 Kelly’s Beauty opened here and became Kelly’s Barber Shop in 1952, later evolving into Kelly’s Barber and Billiard’s Shop by the 1970s when the business moved into the former church on Illinois Street across from the Library in the mid-1980s. After Kelly’s moved from 506, it became the Plainfield Insurance Agency and later Wells Fargo Mortgage.
style. It is a one story brick building with a pressed metal cornice and the storefront has been infilled with brick; leaving only a small window and residential style door. The molded storefront cornice is not original. The upper façade is of yellow face brick and the cornice has ornamental end brackets, corbels and rosette ornaments. It had been the U.S. Post Office before the 1898 fire, and remained the Post Office until at least 1912. Despite the storefront alterations, the upper façade retains its essential historic character that was manufactured by the Mesker Brothers Iron Works based in St. Louis, Missouri and operated by Bernard and Frank Mesker. They were a designer and manufacture of ornamental sheet-metal facades and cast iron storefront components from the 1880s through the mid-twentieth century, marketing their products in a catalog that displayed their designs. The brothers learned their iron-working skills from their father, John Mesker, who operated a stove business in Evansville, Indiana and later branched into galvanized iron for buildings. There are Mesker storefronts in every state. About 1936 Kelly’s Beauty opened here and became Kelly’s Barber Shop in 1952, later evolving into Kelly’s Barber and Billiard’s Shop by the 1970s when the business moved into the former church on Illinois Street across from the Library in the mid-1980s. After Kelly’s moved from 506, it became the Plainfield Insurance Agency and later Wells Fargo Mortgage.
