Frankel Building Next To Receive Historical Marker

Frankel Building to be honored with historical marker.

Unveiling of the 1889 Frankel Building Historical Marker set for April 18 at 6 pm

OSKALOOSA – The unveiling ceremony for the Frankel Building Historical Marker will take place on the Smokey Row Stage, 3131 109 S Market Street, on Thursday, April 18 at 6 pm. The public is invited to attend.

The ceremony will include a welcome by Steering Committee member Ann Brouwer, comments and introductions by Mayor Dave Krutzfeldt and a short program by the building’s historian, Calvin Bandstra. Attendees will also have the opportunity to tour the upstairs of Smokey Row, a space not normally open to the public.

“This is the sixth historical marker to be placed as part of a volunteer, community-based Historical Building Marker project,” said committee member Sherry Vavra. “The Fire Station, Courthouse, Iowa Building, Trolley Place and the Centennial Block Historical Building Markers have already been installed and we could not be happier with the support we are receiving.”

Committee member Ann Brouwer said the historical marker project is made possible by the volunteer efforts of many people and businesses throughout the community. Ten buildings have been targeted in the historic district for building markers.

“Each historical marker includes the year the building was built, pictures of the building through the years, a few interesting and fun facts to appeal to community members and visitors, and a link to a website at the Chamber of Commerce for a more detailed history of the building,” Brouwer explained.

Calvin Bandstra, the volunteer researcher for the Frankel Building, helped to identify many interesting facts about the Frankel Building’s past. “You would not see the building we have today if it were not for the fundraising efforts of the Oskaloosa Downtown Development Group (ODD) who saved the building in 2002 when the roof and south wall collapsed,” Bandstra said.

Isaiah and Babette Frankel, who created the Frankel Building, were the first couple to be married in an Orthodox Jewish ceremony in Iowa in 1864. Their grandchildren, Louise Frankel Rosenfield Noun and Joseph Frankel Rosenfield, funded the landmark 1969 Supreme Court Case, Tinker v. the Des Moines School District, which guaranteed free speech to students.

The building was briefly owned by a company controlled by Scott Hinkley, Sr., a fraudulent investment counselor and former Quaker minister, who fled Oskaloosa with a stash of diamonds and cash in 1996. The building’s current occupant, Smokey Row, has been a destination for many presidential candidates on the campaign trail.
Oskaloosa Main Street Director Emily Brown maintains a webpage for all of the historical markers on the Oskaloosa Area Chamber and Development Group website. According to Vavra, the website is a place where people can go to get a more extensive history of the historical buildings obtained by the building’s researchers.

“The website is a work in progress and can be added to as information comes forward,” Vavra said. “We encourage people with any information regarding the history of the building and/or its occupants, as well as photos of the building throughout the years, to contact us.”

According to Brouwer, many volunteers collaborated to make the historical markers possible, including John Grahek from Clow Valve, which is donating the brass for all of the markers. The pattern for the mold that Clow used was developed by Tom Stone from Musco Sports Lighting and donated to the committee. Colt Mefford is donating his services to install the historical markers and Lyle Siefering of Mahaska Title is providing the “chain of ownership” on each building for the chamber website.

“In addition to the researchers who have stepped up to uncover the history of these buildings, countless others have helped in various ways to make the project possible,” Brouwer stressed.

If you would like more information or you have information to share about the historical buildings in Oskaloosa, contact Brouwer at 641-660-8075 or Vavra at 641-660-7504.