Jun 27, 2024

📷 Throwback Thursday: 606 N. Main - Vol. 76

Posted Jun 27, 2024 10:51 AM
The Chateau Tavern - 606 N. Main - 1961 (during Centennial Parade) (Harold Nevius Owner). Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.
The Chateau Tavern - 606 N. Main - 1961 (during Centennial Parade) (Harold Nevius Owner). Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.

Hutch Post, in partnership with Steve Harmon and the Conard-Harmon Collection, is proud to present Throwback Thursday. Enjoy a weekly release from Steve Harmon as he presents the "Hutch - Then & Now Collection."

STEVE HARMON
Hutch Post Contributor

Today's "Throwback Thursday Collection" takes us to the 600 block of North Main on the east side.

The red-brick building at 606 N. Main was built about 1920 and its first tenant was Roy Grice Confections.

By 1934, it had become the Rendezvous Restaurant, owned by John Davis.

In 1936, it changed course and became a night club. On Dec. 21, 1935, Vern Waggoner opened "The Chateau." The first photo shows the opening day announcement in the Hutch News.

The Chateau Night Club - Opening Ad - 606 N. Main - Dec. 21, 1935. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.
The Chateau Night Club - Opening Ad - 606 N. Main - Dec. 21, 1935. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.

In 1959, Walter McMillan purchased the building and it became the Chateau Tavern until he sold it to Harold Nevius in 1960. The second photo shows The Chateau during the 1961 Centennial Parade.

The Chateau Tavern - 606 N. Main - 1961 (during Centennial Parade) (Harold Nevius Owner). Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.
The Chateau Tavern - 606 N. Main - 1961 (during Centennial Parade) (Harold Nevius Owner). Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.

The third photo shows it in 1962.

The Chateau Tavern - 606 N. Main (Harold Nevius) 1962. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.
The Chateau Tavern - 606 N. Main (Harold Nevius) 1962. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.

The establishment was visited many times by the Hutch Police. Harold finally had enough, so he sold the enterprise to Thomas Vincent and built the Fireside Club just outside the city limits in 1964.

In 1967, it became the Kimbell Insurance Agency.

In 1979, Don Paige started his dance studio upstairs at 606 ½ N. Main, which lasted for 36 years.

Deshazer Insurance Agency was there in 1983. Advertising Specialties was there in 1991. The fourth photo shows the building at 606 N. Main today with Kansas Secured Title doing business there. The building is owned by the Masonic Lodge of Hutchinson, Inc.

The Chateau Tavern - Kansas Secured Title  - 606 N. Main - May 16, 2024. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.
The Chateau Tavern - Kansas Secured Title - 606 N. Main - May 16, 2024. Courtesy of the Conard-Harmon Collection.

To purchase a print, contact: [email protected].

Throwback Thursday is brought to you by:

Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce
STRATACA Kansas Underground Salt Museum

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