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The two buildings containing the Brookville Heritage Suites have been a part of Brookville's
historic Main Street for generations.
In 1869, Amelia Frederika Melchior purchased much of this tract from
Richard Authurs, who occupied an 1846 house which stood on the western portion of the property. Born in
Germany in 1843, Amelia came to Brookville with her parents in 1852 and twenty years later married
John Wilson Henderson. She would become Brookville's first woman merchant, opening a millinery store in 1869.
In 1874 a disastrous fire swept through this block of Main Street and destroyed or seriously damaged many of
the buildings on this side of the street. Mrs. Henderson re-built the damaged property and by 1890 had
added the commercial fronts to the buildings. The stairway and much of the interior trim in the Suites
is retained from the 1846 residence.
Mrs. Henderson's store operated well into the 1920s, eventually becoming the longest continuous business
in town. She stocked only the most up-to-date merchandise and traveled to the East each year to replenish
her inventory. Her store was in the space now occupied by the state liquor store. She lived upstairs with
her husband and their son, Wade.
In the 1930s, Greek immigrant George Christy purchased the property and until the late 1950s operated
Christy's Grill from the former Henderson storeroom.
The naming of the Henderson Suites and the Christy Suite honors these two families who together were vital
ingredients in Brookville's commercial history for nearly a century.
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© 2007 by Taylor and Taylor Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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