In 1888, August Bechtold (1847-1930) erected this building with a sweet shop at the front and the brick bake house at the rear—Bechtold Bakery & Confections, where he and his wife, Louise, made bread, pies, cakes, and candies. He bought the property from A.P. McCombs (1824-1916) and C.P. Fields. The bake house had original brick ovens that were insulated with sand. The family lived in the remaining downstairs rooms and on the second floor with its overhanging porch. When August Bechtold died in 1930, his son Charles (1874-1958) took over the business. Charles discontinued baking in the late 1930s but the candy store was continued into the early 1960s at least. The original ovens are still in the wall of Angel’s Barber shop that is in that space now. The Bechtold stores are shown on the 1899 and 1904 Sanborn Insurance Maps.

The Bechtold family sold the property in 1967 to Arthur Coates of Omnitec, Inc. and he owned this about 10 years. He was a research chemist with the U.S. Army Ballistics Research Laboratory who married Marie Maslin Silver (daughter of Frank S. and Marie Silver) in 1957. Arthur and Marie sold this property in 1967 to Herbert J. Kelly and William F. “Bill” DeMund when they moved to nearby Aberdeen.

Herbert and Bill opened and operated The Galley Restaurant here very successfully for several years into the 1980s, with Danny Williams as the chef. Bill DeMund’s mother, Anne, lived in the cozy three-room apartment above The Galley Restaurant. In 1987 Bill lived in a four-room cottage in the rear of the restaurant, which had begun many years previously as a carriage house. After The Galley closed, Robert “Bob” and Gladys Stone opened “Stone’s Family Restaurant” here for a time but closed by 1991. Their daughter is Melissa Carr.

By 1992 the property was bought by Cecil F. and Kathryn Hill, who are real estate investors and the second floor became Renee Lustt’s first apartment, painted a “memorable neon green.”

The Galley was reopened by Ernie and Helen Nagy in 1993 (who owned the Tidewater Grille at the time) but limited their hours to serving breakfast here from 7 am to 2 pm. The building was distinctive for its green exterior and upstairs porch and a replica was included in the Cat’s Meow series of Collectibles. By 1998, this had become Abbe’s Art Gallery and Café selling works of local artists while serving breakfast.

Mallard Point Associates LLC bought this property in 2004 and sold it 14 years later to 109 South Washington Street LLC. This is an investment property comprising stores and apartments, a detached 2-bedroom cottage, and a hair salon.

County Records
Built 1984. 4470 sq ft, 1 story, 7,400 sq ft lot with separate building in rear.