Office of Public Defender

The current location of the Office of Public Defender at 305 N. Market Street in Maryville, Missouri, used to comprise of three smaller buildings. The stores changed over the years until they merged to become the office that stands there today. The types of businesses varied greatly from grocery stores to skating rinks. Many of them were featured in ads in the local papers, though information available about these historic businesses in the local newspapers varies dramatically.

The northernmost building, farthest from Burny’s, was an office hall in 1886. It changed to contain sewing machines by 1891, then sold “agricultural implements” from at least 1900 to 1909. At the turn of the century, it also acted as a carriage repository and evolved into a buggy repository by 1909. It likely dealt with carriages and buggies because of the stable next door during those time periods. In 1902, G. W. Moffit sold buggies in that location, and in 1908, it had been sold to A. O. Mason and Phipps in 1908 for their agricultural business.

The middle building started as a carpenter, then became a steam laundry, then an electric theatre (movie theatre) and roller rink. The carpenter was presumably owned by James Row. He posted ads in the Nodaway Democrat papers from 1870-1871 detailing his location and high-quality cabinets. “Ludwick’s Star Steam Laundry” opened March 10^th, 1891 and also posted many ads in the paper. Several promoted their “guaranteed satisfaction” regarding “Commercial men’s Headquarters”, but others asked to hire girls to work for them. Ownership of the laundry changed hands several times, eventually ending up with Mr. Buhler.

The site transformed into a roller rink and remained that way from at least 1908 to 1977. In the year of 1908, it hosted a masquerade party and the attendees seemed to enjoy their time there with the newspaper calling it a full house. It was also popular in the late 70s as evidenced by several 4^th grade students commenting how on they wished the building’s quality would improve or that another skating rink would open in town.

The building just to the north of Burny's started as a grocery store, one among many in town at the time. It was a plumber from roughly 1891 to 1900, then it became a garage by 1909. It is likely that the grocery store was built by P. C. McNellis with the help of John Russell in 1880 on the “corner of Third and Market streets”. However, other newspapers report a grocery on the “east side of square” being run by J. A. Mall from 1882 to 1883. Ads talk about Mall’s cheap goods and his coal and dry goods. Regardless, it was run by McNellis in 1888. By 1900, it became a plumber.

The garage came into business sometime around 1909, and their job was to repair Ford vehicles, a rising car manufacturer of the time. Presumably, it was named the O.K. Garage, and it was owned by Albert Mercer and Russell Bagby. In 1918, Mercer left the shop to run for chief of police (he did not win, as he ended up dropping out for alternative business plans). It remained the O.K. garage until at least 1922, but was replaced with a new garage run by Charles Rose in 1923. By 1938, the building had been purchased by Hugh Armstrong who chose to remodel the location for tenants. In 1939, it was leased to Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Tarpley and became a typewriter exchange. It remained that way until at least 2013.

Today, the three buildings have combined to form the Office of Public Defender for the nearby courthouse, and it has been that way since 2017.

“ALBERT MERCER QUITS RACE A Business Deal Just Made Looked Better Than Elective Office,” Weekly Democrat-Forum and Maryville Tribune, March 21^st, 1918.

“:All well and hearty and Lieber & Co. are busy selling dry goods and carpets,” Weekly Democrat-Forum and Maryville Tribune, April 19^th, 1883.

“Bought Rubber The Buggies,” The Maryville Daily Forum, August 21^st, 1902.

“Charles Rose,” The Maryville Daily Forum, September 4^th, 1923.

1886 Sanborn Map: Maryville, MO, https://dl.mospace.umsystem.edu/mu/islandora/object/mu%3A142612

1891 Sanborn Map: Maryville, MO, https://dl.mospace.umsystem.edu/mu/islandora/object/mu%3A142619

“James Row. Carpenter and Builder,” Nodaway Democrat, September 7^th, 1870.

“James Row. Carpenter and Builder,” Nodaway Democrat, April 2nd, 1871.

“James Row, Cabinet Maker All Kinds Of Cabinet Work,” Nodaway Democrat, June 15, 1870.

Google Maps, https://www.google.com/maps/place/Office+of+Public+Defender/@40.3481658,-94.8717185,19z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x87eac51557f205d1:0xd3bfd1e5aad9554e!8m2!3d40.3481416!4d-94.8714081!16s%2Fg%2F1tftfw9b?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D.

“Ludwick’s Star Steam Laundry,” Maryville Daily Democrat, August 16^th, 1893.

Maryville Daily Democrat, March 10^th, 1891.

Maryville Daily Democrat, May 18^th, 1894.

Missouri State Public Defender, https://publicdefender.mo.gov/maryville/.

Michael J. Steiner and Brent Trout, Images of America: Maryville (Lanham, MD: Arcadia Publishing, 2013)

“New Implement Store,” Nodaway Forum, March 5^th, 1908.

1900 Sanborn Map: Maryville, MO, https://dl.mospace.umsystem.edu/mu/islandora/object/mu%3A142623

1909 Sanborn Map: Maryville, MO, https://dl.mospace.umsystem.edu/mu/islandora/object/mu%3A142629

“1938 – 25 YEARS AGO – 1963,” The Maryville Daily Forum, October 24^th, 1963.

Nodaway Democrat, April 5^th, 1894. 

Nodaway Democrat, November 2^nd, 1882.

“Potatoes Wanted,” Nodaway Democrat, May 10^th, 1883.

“Round-Abouts,” Nodaway Democrat, March 11^th, 1880.

“Sells Interest In Garage,” The Maryville Daily Forum, March 15th, 1918.

“Star Steam Laundry,” Nodaway Democrat, December 23^rd, 1897.

“Students take on the issues,” Maryville Daily Forum, March 21^st, 1977.

“Tarpley Moves Exchange To Armstrong Building,” The Maryville Daily Forum, February 24th, 1939.

The Maryville Daily Forum, September 26, 1922.

“They All Wore Quaint Togs,” Maryville Tribune, February 6th, 1908.

“Wanted,” Nodaway Democrat, May 11^th, 1893.

“Wanted,” Weekly Democrat-Forum and Maryville Tribune, June 14^th, 1883.

Weekly Democrat-Forum and Maryville Tribune, May 10^th, 1888.