Bliss Mercantile Building

One of the best nineteenth century buildings on Main Street is the Bliss Mercantile building. It was built as a general store by George C Bliss in 1878. Bliss was a Civil War veteran who returned to Center Point in 1865 and built two business places and a number of houses. He was a Center Point businessman for 35 years.

In 1919 his widow sold the building to the Evening Star Company for use as a lodge hall where the Knights of Pythias met. Since 1920, the Knights met on the second floor and the first floor was rented to many businesses.

· Jewel Durst Restaurant 1920s

· Sharkey Davis Restaurant 1920

· Abes Tavern 1950s

· Zieser Tavern

· John and Vi’s Tavern

In 1972 the Evening Star Company gave the building to the Center Point school district. They were going to use it for storage. For a couple of years, it was known as The Teen Center where teens could hang out. In 1976 the newly formed Center Point Historical Society purchased the building to set up their museum. They occupied the space until 1996. Many of the Knights of Pythias artifacts were still stored on the second floor and today are in the depot museum.

Renovations

In 1996, due to the floor joists rotting on the ground floor, the historical society was forced to vacate the building.

In 1997 the building was rescued by Bill Zeller and Tom Darland, neighbors and reconstruction cohorts from Palo. In a Cedar Rapids Gazette article, they said “The building was too nice and you just can’t replace something like this.” They were undaunted by the $50,000 estimate to repair and the two began the project. After the stone basement floor was removed, the ground was tiled for drainage and new concrete was poured. A new sidewalk, sloping away from the building, was also poured to keep the basement dry. A new stairway was built. Where the wood was rotted on the first floor beams, they replaced it with new treated lumber. The second level floor was jacked up at the rear of the building to make it level. They said the most impressive feature might be how straight and true the walls have remained. Bill said “You just can’t build something like this today”. When the repairs were done, they listed the building for $40,000, calling it a bargain, hoping a business would buy it.