DVORAK MERCHANDISE STORE

     Anton Dvorak came to Silverhill during the summer of 1921. He bought the inventory of the Norden Hotel annex Grocery and merchandise store, and began renting the entire building. Anton and his wife Frantiska, and son Joseph moved from New York city to Silverhill that year and began living in the second floor apartments as they worked downstairs.

The Hotel Norden and Annex about 1921. Anton Dvorak rented the annex building on the right from 1921 through 1924. In 1923 Anton installed a telephone in the store. Click here to read more about the Hotel Norden and Annex.

The Hotel Norden Annex about 1921. Anton Dvorak is standing in front of the store. Click photo to enlarge and examine the buildings behind and to the right of the annex. The first building is the Lutheran parsonage, then the back of the Lutheran church. Then lastly, the schoolhouse with the belltower.

     In April of 1924, Anton Dvorak bought two lots of land next to the Hotel Norden. In October of that year he began contruction on his new general store and home. The building was completed soon after.

     In May 1939 Anton purchased and installed a 550 gallon underground gasoline storage tank.

On the right is the Dvorak Merchandise store. On the left is the Dvorak shipping platform used to collect the farmer's produce to take to the railroad station in Robertsdale for shipments to the north.

Inside Dvorak's store the calendar shows December 1939 behind the counter. Joe Dvorak is displaying a round sign which seems to read: COMPLETE MEAT CURING SERVICE. Anton Dvorak is next to him. A sign at the far right on the shelf reads: Motors Generators rewound all Electrical apparatus repaired by Anton Valla Jr. Silverhill, Ala. The back of the photo is dated January 5, 1940.

Inside Dvorak's store, dated March 1, 1941.

     In May of 1941, Anton sold his store to John J. Novak, who sold it to George and Louise Lundberg in January 1947. The next year, the Lundberg's sold it to Eric and Muriel Hallberg in December 1948.

     After the Hallberg family bought the property, they operated a soda fountain and sandwich shop. They became famously known for their homemade donuts.

     Judy Hallberg Easley remembers her mother, Muriel Olson Hallberg, making all the donuts, coffee breads, pies and cakes. On Sundays, when there was a ball game in Silverhill, it would be standing room only! The building once again became a social gathering place, continuing for the next few years.

     On Friday, November 11, 1955, the first Veterans Day holiday given to the students, the brick Silverhill School building was completely destroyed by fire. The Hallberg family still owned the store building and allowed the school to use it as the school lunchroom. Muriel Hallberg and Mrs. Cain cooked and served the food to the children. This was the school lunchroom for the next two years until a new cafeteria was built.

     The property continued to change hands several more times over the years until 2004 when it was purchased by Joan and Reggie Henderson. They remodeled the building and opened Joan's Beauty Shop. To date, this is the longest business to remain in operation in the building.

     Location: The Dvorak Merchandise and Hardware store was on the southwest corner of 4th Avenue and Broad Street or County Road 55 (town block 28, lots 1-2). This building still exists today at its origianl location as Joan's Beauty Shop, 21871 Broad Street in Silverhill.

     Interesting facts:

1. The building was once used as living apartments.


2. The building was once used as a pet shop.


3. The building was once used as a recreation center.

Newspaper Clippings and Articles of
The Dvorak building
Click each to expand and read.

The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Aug. 25, 1921	Fairhope Courier, Fri. Aug. 26, 1921
The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Apr. 27, 1922	Fairhope Courier, Fri. Mar. 2, 1923
Fairhope Courier, Fri. Oct. 31, 1924	Fairhope Courier, Fri. Dec. 5, 1924
The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Oct. 21, 1926	The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Aug. 18, 1927
Fairhope Courier, Thu. Nov. 22 1928	The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Apr. 24, 1930
The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Oct. 21, 1943	The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Mar. 7, 1946
The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Apr. 4, 1946	Fairhope Courier, Thu. Aug. 8 1946
The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Dec. 30, 1948	The Foley Onlooker, Thu. May 25, 1950
The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Dec. 7, 1950	The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Dec. 21, 1950
The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Feb. 8, 1951	The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Mar. 1, 1951
The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Jun. 28, 1951	Fairhope Courier, Thu. Aug. 9, 1951
The Foley Onlooker, Thu. Nov. 15, 1956	The Baldwin Times, Oct. 28, 2016