Imagine strolling down Cass Avenue in the early 1900s. At 309 Cass, you’d find Edward Lefevre’s grocery store—a neighborhood fixture started around 1899.
This wasn’t simply a place to pick up groceries. It was part of the rhythm of everyday life. Lefevre operated the store until his death in 1940, when butcher John Poelstra purchased the business and carried it forward for another couple of decades. The Poelstra family even lived in the apartment above the store.
Over time, the building changed hands and personalities. The Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge #127 moved in, followed by the Railroad Bar, and eventually the Engine House.
Different names. Different eras. Same Cass Avenue address.
And somewhere beneath all those layers is the story of a little grocery store that once helped feed a neighborhood.