434 Main Street (Racine, Wisconsin)

434 Main Street
General information
Type	Commercial building
Location	434 Main Street Racine, Wisconsin
Opened	February 1, 1869
Owner	Blacktree LLC

434 Main Street is the address of a building, originally known as the Edward McEnery Building, in downtown Racine, Wisconsin, on the west side of Main Street between 4th and 5th streets. The three-story Victorian building was constructed in 1869 for a dry goods store. The building was owned by William J. Smith and his estate from 1893 to 1971. After a major fire in 1935 that damaged the F.W. Woolworth variety store next door, the wall between the two buildings was removed and 434 Main Street housed the remodeled store's lunch counter. After the Woolworth store closed in 1966, the building was separated from its neighbor again, and was home to a gift card shop operated by the Cherkinian family from 1972 to 2017.

The building is one of 73 contributing properties to the Old Main Street Historic District , which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places .

History

First floor

The interior of Thrift Shoe Store in 1926.

The building was constructed in 1869 for businessman Edward McEnery, the operator of a dry goods store which moved into the building on February 1, 1869. Before the current Racine addressing system was introduced in 1881, the building was known as 160 Main Street. By 1881, 160 Main Street was occupied by Bazar of Bargains; the store remained in that location after the renumbering to 434 Main Street. In 1884, the building was the location of A. Wulff's piano and organ store, when Sheldon W. Vance entered into a partnership with Wulff on October 1, 1884. The Wulff & Vance store closed and auctioned its remaining stock on October 29 and 31, 1885.

The Grand Union Tea Company chain opened a grocery store in the building on October 16, 1886. William J. Smith, the operator of a saloon in the neighboring 436 Main Street building, first became involved with the building in March 1893, when he petitioned the city council to have his license transferred to 434 Main Street.

The Model, a millinery business, announced in January 1912 that it would move into the building from its previous location at 302 Main Street. The store's lease expired on July 1, 1922, and it moved into temporary quarters at 413 Main Street, where it reopened two days later.

Beginning March 1, 1926, the F. W. Woolworth Company, which had recently opened a Woolworth variety store in the neighboring building at 436-438 Main Street, leased the building from the estate of William J. Smith for a period of thirty years. The building became home to a Thrift Shoe Store chain store, which held its grand opening on March 27, 1926.

A fire that began in the Thrift Shoe Store basement on the morning of June 22, 1935, severely damaged the building as well as the neighboring Woolworth variety store, and caused lighter damage to the building's other neighbor, the Kresge variety store at 430-432 Main Street. The Woolworth store acquired the Thrift Shoe Store building after the fire, removed the wall between the two buildings, and enlarged and remodeled the store into the new space. The first floor of 434 Main Street was primarily occupied by the store's new lunch counter and soda fountain. The enlarged store opened to the public on December 5, 1935.

After the Woolworth store closed on December 31, 1966, the store's lease required the space to be restored to its prior state. The company hired L. S. Jones & Sons, the same contractor which had removed the old wall three decades prior, to build a new wall in April 1967, separating 434 and 436 Main Street from each other once again. At that time, 434 Main Street was still owned by the estate of William Smith.

The facade of Cherkinian's Card Shop in 1986.

Jack Cherkinian purchased the building from the Smith estate on December 6, 1971. Cherkinian moved his Hallmark gift card shop, previously located at 421 Main Street, into the building in January 1972. The store was part of a chain of gift card shops in Racine operated by the Cherkinian family, and it became known as Jan's Card Shop under the ownership of Janet Cherkinian. The shop permanently closed with Cherkinian's death on March 31, 2017, at which time it was one of the oldest operating businesses in downtown Racine. The building was purchased by Lakebirch Properties in September 2017, which subsequently sold it to Blacktree LLC in April 2018. In November 2019, Blacktree applied for a White Box Grant from the city of Racine to help fund its ongoing renovation of the building.

Second floor

W. L. Ballinger, an optometrist and jeweler, moved across the street, from 435 Main Street, into the building's second-floor space in May 1931. Ballinger advertised the new shop by offering "low prices on optical and jewelry service [...] for the first time in the history of Racine". The June 1935 fire and subsequent renovation forced Ballinger to move to a temporary location for six months, returning to the building in December. On September 2, 1938, Ballinger's office moved back across the street to 433 Main Street. Later that month, the space was occupied by Vincent's Jewelry, which operated above the Woolworth's lunch counter for decades. Vincent's Jewelry was robbed on February 19, 1973, when three men stole dozens of diamond rings and watches valued at over $5,000, according to owner Vincent Nasiatko. Vincent and Doris Nasiatko closed the store and retired from the jewelry business later that year.

External links

• 309 4th Street on OpenStreetMap
• Property Record: 434 MAIN ST, Wisconsin Historical Society