Knollenberg's
Mystery Sign
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This was all that was visible at first, but it was enough to get started. The sign painter is certainly Isaac R. Woods, who was listed in the earliest City Directory in 1857 and remained in Richmond until his death in 1913. Below is his advertisement in the 1859 Directory. |
1859 Richmond City Directory
The image above was scanned from a photograph that was taken approximately 1865 looking east from the corner of 8th and Main. The prominent sign seen in the lower right is the sign that has been uncovered on the ground floor of Knollenberg's. The sign was probably painted around 1862, because Zimmer opened his business in this new location at this time.
| The image at right shows the same buildings a couple years later, probably around 1870. George Knollenberg bought the single story frame building and opened his store in 1866. The fading Zimmer sign can still be seen above Knollenberg's store. |  |
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In 1877, Knollenberg built the first of today's existing buildings, seen in this 1881 advertisement. When Knollenberg built it, he bought six and a half inches of real estate from his neighbor to the east, which equates to the exterior wall of that building. He used that wall as his eastern wall, and what was the exterior wall of the neighboring building became Knollenberg’s interior wall. |
| The next addition was made in 1888 on the east side of the 1877 building. That wall with the 1862 exterior sign was now firmly inside, and the sign would remain hidden until recently. |  |