SCHROEDER-KLEINE GROCER COMPANY

Photo courtesy: Jim Massey

SCHROEDER-KLEINE GROCER COMPANY. Started in 1853 and incorporated in 1892, the company occupied buildings located at 90 to 104 and 70 to 78 South Main Street and employed twenty-seven people. Strictly a wholesale grocer, the company had seven representatives traveling Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In addition to staple and fancy groceries, the company carried many fixtures for the grocery store including wrapping paper, broom racks, butter tubs, egg cases, scales of various sizes, and a large line of delivery baskets of different materials and sizes.

Popular brands carried by the firm included Tiger, Post Boy, and Western Chief.

The Riverworks Building, 40-44 Main Street, is the first downtown rehabilitation of warehouse buildings. The warehouse buildings were constructed in 1894 for the Schroeder-Kleine Grocer Company (44 Main Street) and the M.M. Walker Company (40 Main Street). The nearly identical brick buildings are designed in the Romanesque style. At the turn of the 20th Century, the two grocer companies were considered to be most prominent wholesale food distributors in the upper Midwest region. The M.M. Walker Company was a wholesale fruit distributor and was said to have the cold-storage capacity to store 14 rail cars. It had a refrigerated first floor, ice room on the second, and warehouse space on the third floor. (1)

The Schroeder-Kleine Grocer Company supplied a diverse assortment of goods to grocers throughout the upper Midwest region. Similar to the M.M. Walker building, the Schroeder-Kleine Co. building was fully electrified and each floor was readily assessable by freight elevators. (2)

The building’s owners, Chris Miller, Miller Development Group and Patrick Duffy, Chatham Bay Group, concluded the two year rehabilitation effort in 2011. The project was undertaken with United States Green Building Council LEED principles in mind and certification is under consideration. The rehabilitation included the restoration of storefronts, millwork, interior beams, brickwork, and flooring. The building received new efficient windows and mechanical systems on all three floors. The owners created 50 market rate apartments and commercial space. To finish the project, a 1300 square foot rooftop terrace with views of the Mississippi River was built. The buildings are listed on the City of Dubuque historic register as well as the National Register of Historic Places. The project is an example of how well sustainable development and historic restor ation projects come together to create places where people want to live and work. (3)

See: RUMPF, HOSFORD & FERRING

The 1884-1885 through 1890-91 Dubuque City Directory listed 394 Main as the address of this wholesale grocer.

The 1899-1900 and 1915 Dubuque City Directory listed 90-104 S. Main as the address.

The 1922 and 1923 Dubuque City Directory listed 44-48 Main.

The 1939 and 1941 Dubuque City Directory listed 40-42 Main for this wholesaler.

The officers were Frank SCHROEDER, president; Fred A. Rumpf, vice-president; John H. Kleine, secretary and treasurer; and John P. Ferring, assistant secretary and treasurer.

Letterhead. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

Six-foot wide rice paper and bamboo umbrella. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

Tobacco cutter

Metal tag. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

Photo courtesy: Cathy's Treasures, 158 Main

Shipping box for tea. Photo courtesy: Jim Massey

Canned corn

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Source:

"Dubuque's Wholesale Grocers Among the Oldest Concerns in Iowa," Telegraph Herald, March 10, 1910, p. 1

1. "10th Annual Ken Kringle Historic Preservation Awards Announced," New Release. City of Dubuque, Online: http://www.cityofdubuque.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2759

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.