The inscription in the corbelled cornice of this two-story residential/commercial block identifies its first owner, William Bowen, and declares its construction date as 1907. By 1909, the Eagle Saloon occupied one of the two storefronts while proprietor John Skubitz lived upstairs with his wife and three children. Bowen opened his own retail grocery in the second storefront in 1910, stocking both “staple and fancy goods,” and moved his family into the other second-floor apartment. While Bowen’s business operated only until 1912, a grocery and saloon under various proprietors long served this South Butte neighborhood. The saloon became a soft drink parlor during Prohibition and Paul Dosen, who lived upstairs, reopened it as a beer parlor in the 1930s. Living above one’s business was a convenience prized by most neighborhood shopkeepers like Dosen, Skubitz, and Bowen. The Bowen Block, with its original pent-roofed double storefront and upstairs apartments, is an excellent example of this tradition.
Images
