The Stein Building

The Stein Building. . For more than 30 years after the turn of the century, the Stein Brothers Store provided quality merchandise from all over the world to south central Nebraska shoppers. Stein's buyers made regular trips to Europe purchasing goods, like Belgian lace and Bohemian crystal, directly from manufacturers. The Steins , Herman and Edmund , were among the first advertisers in local newspapers to list goods in stock and state their prices. They were also known for their elaborate Christmas window displays., Located at 620 West Second Street, the Stein building was easily identifiable by the unique lions' heads on the brick facade. It was built in 1906 by former Nebraska Governor and U.S. Senator Charles Dietrich after fire destroyed an earlier Stein's Store at the same site. In 1925 the Steins purchased the building from the Dietrich estate., Stein's closed on November 17, 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. From 1934 to 1968 Montgomery Ward's occupied the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places as an outstanding example of Prairie-stvle commercial architecture., In Recognition of Hastings' 125th Anniversary , Adams County Historical Society- 1997.