At the southwest corner of Court and 5th Streets, the Gollober Building has sat since 1881. It was built by its namesake, Nathan Gollober, for $20,000 (just over $630,000 in 2025) at 721 5th Street. Prior to that, the corner held a small frame building that housed the only ice cream saloon in town, owned by William Peckham.
The Gollober Building was announced in December of 1880 with R.W. Jones as the architect.
Nathan Gollober was born in Prussia, Germany in 1831 and came to the U.S. at age 19, enduring a 42-day sailing journey. After working as a teamster for the New York Fur Company, riding for the Pony Express, and working as a stone mason, Nathan twice enlisted in the US Army and was discharged on June 20, 1864.
In the fall of 1868, Nathan received the patent to 120 acres in Chapman Township in Clay County. A year later, he began working as a security guard for John Kennedy, who ran one of three general merchandise stores in Clay Center.
In the 1870 census, Nathan’s assets were listed as six horses, 13 milch cows, 10 swine and 15 other cattle for a value of $1,700 and land value of $2,000. (Combined for about $90,000 today.)
In 1870 Kale Kuhnle joined Nathan to establish Gollober & Kuhnle. Their merchandise was brought to Manhattan by rail and then by wagon to Clay Center. Mr. Kuhnle, eventually ran that business alone and Mr. Gollober partnered with Peter P. Kehoe to buy and sell land, feed cattle, and lend money.
Gollober functioned as a bank, holding and collecting money, especially for farmers, before there was an actual bank in town. After Mr. Kehoe was appointed cashier of the First National Bank, that partnership was dissolved. In 1880, Nathan married Frances “Frankie” Samuelson in Platte County, Missouri, and their son Arthur Samuelson Gollober was born soon after. Nathan was 49 at the time of his son’s birth.
The 1880s was a booming time for Court Street in Clay Center. A hardware store, Farmers and Merchants Bank, and furniture store were all built. The latter was owned by George Fullington who announced $20,000 worth of furniture to fill his store. (Just over $633,000 today.)
In 1881, Gollober constructed a building to house an opera house/community gathering area on the corner of 5th and Court. It included a 30 x 46-foot stage, a dressing room, and private box attachments. That area became known as the “Gollober Block.”
In March of 1881, Louie Lord, a popular American stage actress of her time, opened the first show and performed there. In December of that year, young people attended the next “regular club dance” in Gollober’s new building.
Political orators gave campaign speeches and hot contests were fought on the stage. It’s most likely that a grocery store was kept in the north side of the building’s ground floor.
Gollober’s building underwent a major renovation in 1914, a year that is displayed on the building today. More in next week’s edition.
