These contiguous lots are known to have been leased separately from Dr. Thomas Chew Hopkins by Charles J. Zeitler (1827-1913) in 1867 and 1871. Zeitler advertised his jewelry business in The Aegis & Intelligencer issue of January 18, 1867 (see the attached photo), that was in this building. In 1888 in the Havre de Grace Republican, Charles Zeitler advertised that he sold wedding gifts and “clocks, watches, rich jewelry, and American watches.” He served on the City Council for a couple of terms in the late 1890s and in 1900 Charles Zeitler sold this property and business to George Warren Hughes (1868-1940) and moved to Baltimore.

George and his wife Laura A. Hughes (1871-1958), who had come to Havre de Grace in 1895, lived on the upper floors of the building and George improved on the jewelry business of Zeitler, which he operated successfully for more than 40 years. He also was elected to the City Council in 1911. Their son, Guion Hughes, died in 1916 at the age of 22 while serving in WWI. For the 1940s, this building became a County Liquor Dispensary, managed by Joseph Henry Moore, who died in 1945.

During the 1950s to 1970s this was the retail “Bata Shoe Store #44” where locals bought the popular high-top sneakers called “Bata Bullets.” Brooks Robinson and his children are said to have worn them. The huge Bata Shoe Factory had been built in nearby Aberdeen in 1938 by Czechoslovakian Thomas Bata and became a haven for other Czechoslovakians wishing to flee their country. In its heyday, the factory was Harford County’s largest employer with 3,400 people (including many Havre de Grace residents) who made 20 million pairs of shoes each year until 1992 when it closed (the complex was demolished in 2004).

This store had a large (about 28-inch long) white Bata Bullet high top that they displayed in the window that is remembered by many. The Bata shoe store was Laura Skinner’s first paying job at $1.25 an hour plus commission. In the late 1970s, Thelma Bloom had a ceramics store here and taught classes, but some remember the store better for her three Boston bulldogs that were always there.

In 1992, John and Kathy Klisavage bought this building intending to make it a photography studio (named “The Photographer’s Studio”). Not long afterward, however, they decided to focus only on rare books and antiques. In the year 2000, they expanded their Washington Street Books business into the Western Auto space next door and bought 129 North Washington Street.

County Records
Built 1945. 7854 sq ft, commercial retail, 12,000 sq ft lot. Formerly separate properties, both #129 and #131 are now recorded together by Harford County.