Our History

The story of the building

Before the 1920s this location was a general store, Heard Brothers, as seen by the paint still visible on the front of the building.  They specialized in dry goods, Shoes, Ready to wear.

The following information was compiled by Larry A. James with the Shoal Creek Heritage Preservation:

V. Jensen established a furniture business, selling both new and antique furniture in the mid 1920s at 111 S Washington Street.  H.J. Fox purchased V. Jensen in August of 1943 and operated it as Fox Furniture.  Fox sold to Bill Mardick, in May of 1951, who operated it as Mardick Furniture & Appliance.  Dave Box was the first manager.  Dick Reed managed this business for forty-three years, retiring on August 16, 1996.  The business closed after 2000.

R.E. Armstrong established the Coffee Pot Café about 1934 at 115 S Washington St.  He sold the business to A.L. Henderson in February of 1950 who in turn sold it to Charles Haas in May of 1951. 

Marks Shoe Shop was operating at 117 S Washington Street in June of 1940.  By August of 1945, it was called East Side Shoe Shop and was operated by W.R. Reagan.  Gilbert Offenbacker and his wife, Doris, took over the business in 1949.  The Offenbackers operated the business until December of 1988 when it was sold to Bill Johnson.

In 2004, Debbie McClellen opened an antique business in the old furniture store and later expanded into the old Coffee Pot building as well.

Neosho Computer & Electronics moved to 117 S Washington Street in the 2000s.

The building was vacated in 2020 and purchased by Merten Family in December of 2020.  They cleared out and cleaned the property before they sold it to Bryan & Charlotte Ward in September of 2021.  Renovation of the Eastside Social began in October of 2021.  Metal was removed from the front of the building on October 19, 2021.  Original glass was found in the front of the Coffee Pot and East Side Shoe buildings. 

In December 2021, demolition to remove a large portion of the rear of the buildings due to structural issues began.  In January 2022, the roof was removed from the remaining structures to replace with new material.  During this project it was found that the buildings at 113 and 117 were not structurally sound and the difficult decision was made to raze the structures and create an outdoor patio for the restaurant.  The buildings were removed by January 14, 2022.

Interior brick was cleaned, partial floor area was removed for plumbing and preparation for a new concrete floor were done in February 2022.  Concrete was poured for the interior restaurant area on March 8, 2022.  Once this step was completed construction began on the interior of the structure.

Historical integrity and repurposing of materials:

The owners painstakingly preserved the original materials to be repurposed in the update. They shopped local estates and boutiques for lots of antiques to maintain the historic feel of the space and honor the previous century of Neosho stories. "We have tried to be intentional in the use and repurposing of all structural pieces from the demolished buildings."

The front, side and patio columns of the remaining structure were bricked using bricks from the demolished buildings. The bar and pillars inside the structure are also brick from the demolished buildings. The beam from The Coffee Pot and East Side Shoe building are the footrest for the bar. The glass from those buildings has been repurposed in the private dining/meeting room within the Eastside. The front door of the furniture store is the side entrance to the private dining room and old barn doors that were in the back of the building are the front entrance. Multiple sky lights were scattered throughout the original structures, and they have been repurposed into the restaurant in four locations.  

The Wards are so excited to share this special space with the Neosho community.