Happy 130th birthday, Schreiber Building

In addition to being the second day of Christmas, this also is close at least to being the 130th birthday of Chariton's Schreiber Building, a fine and still standing (although altered) two-story brick that stands just south of First United Methodist Church at the intersection of North Main and Roland.

This had been the site of a blacksmith shop since Chariton's earliest days, operated during 1888 by William Schreiber (1857-1949), a 30-year-old German-born smithy who had established himself as a builder of fine carriages and farm wagons and needed suitable headquarters for his operation. Construction began during August or September (depending upon which report you read) and Schreiber had moved in by Christmas.

Here's a report on Schreiber and his new building, published in The Chariton Herald of Dec. 27, 1888:

"One of the most energetic, straight forward, reliable business men of Chariton is Mr. William Schreiber, the manufacturer of wagons, carriages, sleighs, etc., and who carries on a general smithing business one block north of the northwest corner of the public square.

"Since the middle of September, Mr. Schreiber has put up, on the corner south of the M.E. Church, a large and substantial two-story brick building, 40x80 feet, divided into two apartments, each 20x80 feet, the north rooms along Second Avenue (now Roland) being completed with large plate glass windows in front, which he now occupies with his large manufacturing business; the lower rooms being occupied by the numerous forges in front and by the wood workers in the rear, while the second story is used as a finishing and sales room.

"The building itself is a credit to the city not only in appearance but also in the solidity and permanency of the structure, and it is one of the most commodious buildings for the business in which Mr. Schreiber is engaged to be found anywhere in southern Iowa.

"It is none to large, however, for the increasing business which, by painstaking industry and fair honest dealing, Mr. Schreiber has so well earned, and we should not be surprised if inside of two years he will be compelled to occupy the whole building in order to accommodate his business and supply all his customers. For the present, however, or as soon as the south side shall be completed, He intends to rent it out for a store of business room.

"We congratulate him upon his business success since coming to Chariton about nine years ago and trust that the same may be continued indefinitely."

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The Herald's predictions were accurate and during the early 1890s, the lower two-story annex at far left in this photo, which dates from ca. 1896, was added. After 1900, the innovative building with an arched roof that now houses Pierschbacher Funeral Home was constructed across the alley to the east as a clear-span manufacturing annex.

Of course the infernal internal combustion engine eventually destroyed the market for carriages and sleighs, but the Schreiber buildings then were adapted to serve the emerging automobile industry and did so for many years.

But all of this was in the future when the 1888 Herald report was published, accompanied elsewhere in that edition by this advertisement for Schreiber products: