Hannah Berger Building - 211 South Main Building History
The 200 block of South Main was dense woodland in 1880, but in 1881, the railroad arrived in Jonesboro, which called for the development of businesses in the area between the railroad and the courthouse. The 1903-04 City Directory lists the location as the Kentucky Exchange Saloon - one of eight saloons on South Main.
From 1906 to 1915, 211 South Main was under the ownership of Hannah Berger, whose story, until now, has gone untold in both the history of Downtown Jonesboro and the local Jewish community. Hannah (1884-1916) was the daughter of Austrian immigrants Marcus and Henrietta Berger, who were pioneers in the Jonesboro Jewish community. Marcus (1844-1906) arrived in Arkansas in 1883 and after setting up shop in Walnut Ridge with Isaac Less, he moved to Jonesboro and opened the area’s first wholesale supply house that drew customers from a 75-mile radius because prices were as low as those in St. Louis. Marcus played a leading role in establishing a synagogue for the Reform Jewish congregation. Temple Israel was dedicated on January 1, 1898, and a religious school immediately followed; Hannah Berger and Moses Sachs were the first to be confirmed in 1899.
Census records for both 1910 and 1920 list Hannah in the household of her widowed mother with no occupation, so one can assume from the additional listing of servants that she was simply a socialite. However, newspaper articles and ads from the early twentieth century reveal that she was actually a successful property owner and manager. The Jonesboro Evening Sun reported on August 6, 1906 - exactly six months after the death of Marcus - that a new business block featuring a four-store building was being constructed by Hannah Berger. The brick and concrete building was to “be for the purpose of retail business houses on the first floors and offices in the upper floors.”
A constant movement of businesses in and out of 211 South Main - along with the other three stores at 213, 215, and 217 South Main - designate Miss Berger as one of the early proponents of pop-up shops. A variety of businesses offered dry goods, suits and overcoats, furniture, glass blowing gallery, and millinery. A teaser printed in The Jonesboro Daily Tribune stated, “Don’t fail to see the beautiful glass dress, made entirely of spun glass, this week only.”
The temporary rental business served Hannah well, though, because in 1912, the Jonesboro Evening Sun reported that she purchased a resident lot on the corner of Main Street and Warner Avenue for $2,600 - one of the highest prices paid in years for one of the most beautiful resident lots in the city.
With so many contacts in the retail industry, it is easy to imagine that Miss Berger was introduced to a host of Jewish businessmen, one of whom finally caught her eye. Carl Strauss was a successful clothing manufacturer and local hero in St. Louis. In March 1914, the Missouri Athletic Club caught on fire, killing more than forty people and topping the list of deadliest blazes in the city’s history. Strauss, who was staying at the club, managed to lead “half a dozen of his fellow club members to safety through the smoke-filled halls.” Interestingly, Strauss’s other claim to fame was being shot by his scorned lover after she learned of his engagement to Hannah. She told police that Strauss had promised to marry her and for the past seven years had paid her expenses and introduced her as his wife upon checking into hotels. Strauss did not press charges, and Hannah stood by his side through the ordeal.
The two were married in November 1914 and moved to St. Louis in 1915. On December 24, 1915, their infant child was brought by train from St. Louis to be buried in the Temple Israel Cemetery, and a few weeks later, Hannah Berger Strauss was also laid to rest alongside her father and child in Jonesboro’s Jewish cemetery.
After Hannah moved to St. Louis in 1915, the area was designated the New Berger Block, but the opening and closing of shops did not slow under the direction of her brother Alex Berger.
It would be over one hundred years before a lady’s name would grace the building as Eleanor’s Pizzeria. Now, the 211 South Main Loft D is home to Veronica Guinn Etiquette, in great hopes that a lady’s name will bring success and continue the downtown legacy of Hannah Berger’s female entrepreneurship.
This excerpt is from extensive research by the brilliant Lindsay Penn and her work in Heritage Studies. Lindsay is a dear friend and shared her research of the building when I purchased the loft in 2019.
