Frank G. Hertzler, son of Dr. John Hertzler, operated a
hardware store at this 208 Main Street site in partnership with Matthew Harvey
Anderson, the banker who lived at 17 Front Street. Frank built and resided in the house at 25
Front Street. The original store
structure here was destroyed in the 1912 fire, and the tax office records of the
county show that the current building was constructed in 1940.
A couple of years after Robert Edgar (“Pud”)
True and his wife Gladys McFarlen True moved to Madison, they bought the
building and operated a grocery store from 1944 to
1976. In fact, during their first three
months in Madison, the True's rented a room in the former residence of Frank
Hertzler at 25 Front Street.
The True's built
a house in 1941 that was then in the county, just outside the town limits, at
318 Church Street. They moved into their
new residence on January 1, 1942, and became leaders in the community and in
the Methodist Church on Church Street for the rest of their lives. After Pud died, Gladys donated funds for the
electronic chimes in the church that still sound throughout the historical district
of Madison.
For a time this building was
also operated as an annex to the post office.when the post office was located
next door in the 206 Main Street location.
According to the 1890 Hartford Insurance Company map of
Madison, an early structure at 210 Main was the office of Dr. Richard M.
Fletcher. A later use of the location
according to the 1905 Alabama Mercantile Book was the drugstore of Pride &
Bradford.
Thomas Logan Bradford was only
35 years old when he committed suicide by taking an overdose of morphine from
this drugstore. He had married Fannie
Burton, a daughter of John Mullins Burton, who owned the competing drugstore at
the 216 Main location. The Bradfords had
bought the house at 306 Church Street in 1906 and had a daughter born
there. Thomas had been employed by his father-in-law
for a while, but resigned to go into partnership in the store at 210 Main by
about 1904. His suicide note mentioned
failing health and business losses.
After the passing of Tom Bradford, there are indications the drug store reopened as the
Phoenix Drugstore. However, it may have also been the name for the rebuilt store after the fire of 1912
heavily damaged the structure. Tom's wife Fannie moved into her father's house
at 21 Front Street and wrote a weekly column about Madison for the Huntsville
newspaper for the remainder of her life.
A vintage comic book business utilized the 208 building in
the 1990s, but it was later renovated by Walt and Larry Anderson to become the Bandito Burrito restaurant. The
restaurant occupied not only 208 Main, but it later included the location at
210 Main Street.
The Madison Drug Company was established at 210 Main by Dr.
Luther Wikle and his partner Ben Porter in 1912. It may then have been given the name of the
Phoenix Drugstore. Wikle later sold his
interest to William Russell, a son of the constable of that name who also ran
the gristmill for which Mill Road is named.
Since 2015 208 and 210 Main have been occupied by Old Black Bear Brewing. Old Black Bear is a favorite hangout for locals and guests. Often on Friday nights during the summer there is live music on the patio to the east of 210 Main.
