303 Dodge Street (Racine, Wisconsin)

303 Dodge Street is a restaurant building along the northern bank of the Root River in Racine, Wisconsin. Formerly an automobile service and gas station, the building's address was originally 1001 North Main Street. After the Main Street Bridge was replaced in 1996, the property was no longer easily accessible from Main Street, so the address was changed and the gas station was converted into a restaurant building. Like the neighboring restaurant building at 209 Dodge Street and the nearby Pugh Marina, the building is owned by the Pugh family.

History
Theodore Bidwell applied for a license to operate a gasoline filling station at 1001 North Main Street in February 1942. Wiese Auto Sales, a car dealership based across the street at 1101 North Main Street, used the area as part of its business in the mid-1940s. The Pugh Oil Company applied for another license to operate a gasoline filling station at the same site in September 1949. L. A. Richards operated a filling station, Richards Super Service, at the location around 1950.

Stan R. Trucker applied for another license at the same address in September 1951, with which he operated what became known as Stan's Super Service Station, later Stan's Pugh Station. The filling station building, which is still standing and used today as part of the restaurant building, was built in 1965.

The Landing (1983–1996)
The next operator of the filling station, Dale Coleman, added Captain Dale's, a sporting goods shop, to the property. Coleman leased the property from Pugh Coal Company on a month-to-month basis, until Pugh broke the lease. Coleman sued Pugh over the lease breakage in January 1983. Later that year, Pugh had a dispute with the city of Racine, over the city's use of another leased Pugh property to house its water safety patrol. In response, Richard Pugh suggested housing the patrol in the building at 1001 North Main Street, on which he had already been planning to build an addition.

Pugh converted the building into The Landing, a combined automobile filling and service station, convenience and sporting goods store, and boat chartering service in 1983. On the morning of January 15, 1987, a gasoline pump caught fire after a motorist accidentally attempted to drive away with the nozzle still attached to his car, requiring the nearby Main Street Bridge to be temporarily closed.

The Landing closed on June 3, 1996, in anticipation of the demolition and replacement of the Main Street Bridge, immediately south of the building. Because the new bridge was designed to be higher than the old one, reducing the need for it to be opened for boat traffic, Main Street in front of the building was raised by four feet, cutting off the building's driveway. The city of Racine stated that it was willing to build a new driveway, but Pugh stated that the new layout would have a negative impact on business and chose to use the building for a new kind of business.

Livingston's Landing (1997–2006)
In September 1996, during the bridge construction, William Pugh received permission to expand the former gas station building, adding 1370 sqft to fit the building's new use as a restaurant. After the new bridge was completed, the Pughs moved Dr. Livingstone's, a restaurant they operated at 230 Main Street, into the former service station. The new restaurant was known as Livingston's Landing, a combination of the names of "Dr. Livingstone's" and "The Landing". The restaurant's bar opened on May 15, 1997, with lunch service beginning on May 19 and its first Friday fish fry taking place on May 23.

Sandpiper's Waterfront Grill (2006–2009)
The owners of Danny Palms, a restaurant at 2322 Lathrop Avenue, opened their second restaurant Sandpiper's Waterfront Grill in the former Livingston's Landing building on June 16, 2006.

John's Dock (2009–2018)
John Dunk opened a restaurant and tavern, John's Dock, on (September ), 2009. The restaurant also included a bar called Ben's Beach Bar, operated by John Dunk's son Ben. After nine years in operation, the Pughs did not renew Dunk's lease in 2018, saying that they intended to redevelop the property. The restaurant's final day of business was September 23, 2018, but Dunk stated that he was looking to reopen the restaurant at a new location. Dunk ultimately opened a new establishment, Dunk's Public House, at 3207 Washington Avenue in the West Racine in November 2019.