This demolished building was part of the property sold to the Morning Star Lodge #20 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) in 1857. The IOOF owned this until 1983 so they obviously rented it to those who occupied the store during that time.

The Democratic Ledger weekly newspaper was founded in Havre de Grace in 1894, by Elmer H. Pritchett (1854-1907) with the first copies in hand-set type from their office here. They were printers and publishers, with offset and letterpress printing, and advertised “From a Business Card to a Volume.” Pritchett sold the newspaper to Leo Michael Moore, Sr. (1880-1946), who issued his first edition in September 1907. In 1932, Leo Moore purchased the property directly across the street, built a modern brick building, and established a complete publishing business there at 463 Franklin Street.

This was later the office of Greenleaf Metal Fabricating Company that sold and serviced hot air furnaces. Morning Star Lodge #20 of IOOF sold this small building in 1983 to Emerson “Mitch” Mitchell who opened The Sportsmen’s Center, specializing in fishing tackle, and hunting and sporting goods, including guns. Mitch was a WWII Army veteran and was awarded a Purple Heart for his service. The store especially catered to teams, schools, clubs, and organizations for sportswear. This store also was an outlet for Boy Scout supplies. Jay McSpadden enjoyed talking with Mitch for hours about fishing and guns; what stood out for Ted Johnson about Mitch was that he was one of the few businessmen that would “not run black children out of his place just for being black.” Stan Rodia says it was a magical place for kids to listen to the tall tales men would tell to Mitch. And Dan Lee loved the smell of leather and wooden bats when he went in. For Donald Wooten, Mitch was a “good man,” who allowed Donald to make weekly payments on his first .22 rifle that he bought with grass-cutting money. Mitch also was a 34-year member of the Susquehanna Hose Company.

Mitch moved The Sportsmen’s Center to Otsego Street (at the corner of Legion Drive) in the early 1984. After Mitch died in 1990, Bessie Urban Mitchell, his wife, decided to keep The Sportsmen’s Center open and that with the help of her sister, Emily Urban Hambry, felt she could keep it in business. Sadly, they were both shot to death in their seventies during a robbery in January 1992 that stunned the whole town. Their assailant was caught and convicted.

For a short time after The Sportsmen’s Center moved from here to Otsego Street, this building was used by the Faith Baptist Church. During 1984-1985, this was Darce’s Antiques, owned by Orie and Darce Davison and in 1986 it was Old Line Antiques, owned by Willa Gaitanis and David Walden. Later, it was Bundles, Inc., followed by Summer Place Antiques and then Franklin Street Antiques, run by Julia Groner and the late Fred French, specializing in cookie jars, lunch boxes, and other antiques in the early 2000s. After Julia died in 2009, Fred French sold the building to Scott and Michelle Schnur who painted it a bright yellow color and named it “Just for Fun.”

In 2017, the Schnurs sold the building to Darlington LLC. It is thought that the new owner intended renovating it but in April 2018, the City condemned the building. Apparently it was not structurally sound and could be seen leaning on adjoining buildings for support. In April 2019 the building was demolished. The lot is still owned by Darlington, LLC.

County Records
1200 sq ft lot.