You Can Experience Iowa’s Oldest Business Still in Operation
I was watching a special on the oldest business in the US. It started back in 1613, just a few years ago, in Virginia. The Shirley Plantation was a tobacco grower that shipped all over the world. That got me to thinkin', and that can be dangerous. What is the oldest business in Iowa? It didn't take long to find out.
How many Presidential proclamations or executive orders still stand to this day? A federal permit, that was granted by everyone's favorite President Millard Fillmore (Cue Hail, America) Let's think about all the great things brought forth by the most favorite of Presidents and that is Millard Fillmore. There was that one thing he did the federal permit that allowed a business in Iowa to open. That business is Breitbach's Country Dining, which opened in 1852. The original building was destroyed by fire in 2006, but they rebuilt. That business is still in operation today and you can go there. The ownership still remains with the Breitbach Family. That is the oldest business in all of Iowa, according to Busy Beaver Button Company.
Speaking of the oldest, what's the oldest business in Iowa City? Little Village Magazine gave us that answer. John's Grocery in Iowa City is the oldest continually operated business in the city. Around about 1848, Samual Baker opened a grocery store in the building. It was renamed John's Grocery when it was purchased by John Alberhasky in 1948. Not long after, in 1854, Hands Jewelers opened.
John Hands was a watchmaker and jeweler from England. The current owner of Hands is John Hands' great-grandson, and he's the fourth generation of his family to own the store.
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