Chippewa County WI Genealogical Society

06/19/2026

Have a great weekend!

06/17/2026

DB’s 2026 Bluelight Special #24
22 West Spring Street

The 1890 Chippewa Falls Sanborn map shows a vacant lot. The first record of occupancy I can find for this lot dates to June of 1891 when the City Directory records the Ed Siegrist saloon. Surprise - a saloon on West Spring Street!

June 1896: Richard Kunsman was granted a saloon license for this property

1907: The McKinnon & McCleary saloon. Peter McKinnon and James McCleary

October 13, 1908: Peter McKinnon was fined $100 and $5 court costs for having conducted a poker game in the back of his establishment

1909-1915: Knute and Gunnar Helland operated their first violin shop here. They then moved to 33 West Spring Street.

1911: Peter Everson opened a barbershop, sharing the building with the Helland Brothers.

June 1922: Mrs. Wm. Duren sold this property to Mrs. Pauline Rodiger. Later that same month Fred C. and Eckhardt A. Rodiger began the Rodiger Meat Market.

August 1942: The Rodiger Meat Market holds a closing out sale, dispensing of all equipment as well.

The building remained unoccupied until August 15, 1946, when James Dupey first opened Dupey’s Food Market

October 1946: Don Nadeau of Boyd, WI purchased the business and opened Nadeau’s Food Market, occupying the building until late in the year 1959

October 1960: Victor J. Figlmiller began Chippewa Sewing Supplies here

1961: Chippewa Sewing Supplies and Arrow Office Machine, owned by James Hanson

1963: The building sits vacant. The first occupancy I can verify is the Chippewa Health Center operated by David Torrey, which opened in December of 1970

June 1971: Al’s Radio and TV Service moved here, owned by Alvin Pinkert

November 1984: Don Stolp purchased the business and renamed it Stolp Radio & Television

September 1988: Electronic Business Equipment opened , operated by Scott Martell and others

1996: Elite Karate established business, moving to 410 Bay Street in 2000

2002: Spirit Tatoo. I couldn’t find any information on this business other than the name

Now begins a stretch where I can not find any occupancy until PAW-sitive Pet Grooming opened in approximately 2022. I’m sure the building was used either commercially or residentially, but I can’t verify that.

Many thanks for viewing and feel free to message me with any additions or corrections.

Respectfully, Dennis Brain
Chippewa County WI Genealogical Society and Old Chippewa Falls Facebook site.

06/17/2026

Getting to know fellow genealogists is great. It is a great way to get help and ideas.

06/12/2026

06/11/2026

Your family research may lead you to a name on this chart. What an honor it would be

06/10/2026

DB’s 2026 Bluelight Special #23
226 East Columbia Street

Like most small towns in America, Chippewa Falls has had a plethora of “ mom & pops” grocery stores. And frequently they are operated successively by different families until finally losing the battle with chain grocery stores. This is yet another store in that line.

The 1930 Chippewa Falls Sanborn map shows a vacant lot at this address.

August 1933: Carl G. Johnson and wife Sophie opened a new confectionery and grocery store at 226 East Columbia Street. Previously,since 1923 they had lived with their family next door at 224 East Columbia Street and operated a confectionery store out of their home.

May 1938: Carl was shot at his store during an attempted robbery. The last article I read about this event was from 1942, at which time there were still no arrests or suspects. Newspaper accounts state he never fully recovered physically.

March 1949: Bimil J. and Irene Rynes purchased the business and operated it for a short time as Rynes Grocery

October 1949: Conrad and Kathleen Landsem assumed ownership and opened The Landsem Grocery. Conrad was formerly the Chippewa County Sheriff.

April 1952: Glen and Margaret Ritzinger purchased the business and opened Ritzinger Market. They lived directly south across the street at 225 East Columbia Street.

June 1956: Julius and Ruth Olson became the final owners of this small independent grocery store, opening Olson’s Grocery, which soon was retitled The Pac-A-Sac. They lived two lots north of the store at 416 North Grove Street and Ruth was the daughter of Carl G. Johnson, the original owner. They continued the business until July of 1967.

As always, thank you for viewing and feel free to message me with any additions or corrections.

Respectfully, Dennis Brain
Chippewa County WI Genealogical Society and Old Chippewa Falls Facebook site

06/09/2026

Don't forget to use Find A Grave. It's easy to use and the best part is it's FREE!

06/09/2026

If you are interested in learning more about how to use the family history software FAMILY TREE MAKER, they will be doing an in-person and virtual presentation on Saturday, June 20th from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library (Riverview Room 306) in Eau Claire, WI.

Join us for an event with Chippewa County GS, Dunn County GS, Genealogical Research Society of Eau Claire, and St. Croix Valley GS.