Gasberg Building

Gasberg Building. 278 - 25th Street. , This building was constructed circa. 1891. The property came into possession of the James O. Stephens family in 1870 and was deeded to Solomon C. and William J. Stephens in 1880. In 1894 the building was bought by the Eccles Lumber Company. Later owners included the infamous “madame” of the Street, Dora Belle Topham, (1906) and the Smith’s Jewelry and Loan Office (1943). The property was sold in 1994 to the current owner, Junichi Jene Holloway. , Business known to have occupied the building include B.G. Mott, Cigar and Tobacco retail (1891), Chris Gasberg, photographer (1891), Jacob Kertz, pawnbroker (1895), Samuel Drozdowitz, retailer of music, loans and jewelry (1899-1908), and Uncle Sam’s Loan Office (1908-1948). Smith’s Jewelry and Loan occupied the building in 1943 through the early 1980s. The building was renovated in 1994 to accommodate Tarenah’s Jewelry and Beauty Supply. , The brick structure is a vernacular two-story, two-part commercial block building with modest decorative features. Linear corbeled columns extend down the entire face of the outer edges of the building. The cornice has a wide band of decorative molding with a large fan shaped molding centered beneath the cornice. , The street level section of the building includes large display windows in heavy wooden frames which encompass a recessed entrance with transom windows. On the west side of the street level section of the building is a half-paneled, half-paned stairwell entrance door with two transom windows above it.