The History of Family Inheritance
Research and Writing by Landon Jones, and Toby Frazier
On this spot once stood the Gibson Hotel, built and owned by Thomas R. Gibson & his wife. The hotel had a masonic lodge and an opera house (Crawford Mirror 7-16-1891 1). It was rebuilt after the fire of 1904. It was then Dillons. Dillons sold work shoes for $1.59 and up, boys shoes for $1.49 and up; young men’s dress oxfords for $1.95 and up; for blanket lined jumpers for $1.75, men’s gray fleece lined sweater for 95 cents. Jonah and Nina Greig were the next owners.
The Greig’s store sold general goods and was a family business. It was also a grocery store at one point under the Greig’s ownership. It was sold in 1982 to three businessmen, one of them was one the Delmar Hutson. Some of the other businesses having occupied this structure have been: Bill’s Dollar Store, Meramec Accounting and Tax Service, etc. In more recent years, Family Inheritance Antique Flea Market has called this building home.
These are the windows (today, boarded up and painted white) where milk and meat was
delivered to the Greig’s.
The Gibson Hotel once stood on this spot. It was burned in the Fire of 1904, which destroyed
many of Steelville’s Main Street buildings/businesses.
This is what the building looks like today as of April 2018 (Google Earth April 2018).
Here are some photos of Greig's, from the past.
Behind the Greig’s building was the Cooper Lumber & Furniture Co. and was torn down in the 1969 due to the owner, Maurice A. Cooper, retiring.
Here’s a news story about Cooper Lumber Co. shutting down (Crawford County Mirror).
The Cooper Lumber building was where the parking lot is located, today. The furniture store was located in the building on the left (foreground).
Works Cited
1. “Crawford County Mirror”, September 4, 1969, No. 26.
2. Information contributed: Nina Grieg. February 2019
3. Steelville Schools Yearbooks - advertising sections.
4. Google Earth, April 2018.
5. “Steelville Star”, October 2, 1936.
6. “Crawford Mirror” July 16, 1891, Newspapers.com
