This building appears on the 1885 Sanborn Insurance Map as the City Hotel, said to have been run by John P. Adams. Previously owned by Amos Spencer (1816-1899), who built an addition to the hotel in 1880, Amos deeded the hotel to John N. Spencer (1845-1916) in 1881. By the 1894 and 1899 Sanborn Insurance Maps, the City Hotel had become the Spencer Hotel, operated by John N. Spencer. Prior to the 1907 opening of the Masonic Temple building at 213 North Washington Street, it’s said that the Masons held their meetings here or at the Odd Fellows Hall on Franklin Street.

In 1889, it was reported that Lewis W. Williams of Spencer House sold everything to Walter Maxwell, who in future would be conducting the business of Spencer House. But during 1895-1898 George Burroughs managed the Spencer House. Change in management came again in 1903 when Ira Wells leased the hotel to improve it and create a first-class operation. John Spencer died in 1916 and it is unclear at what point the hotel ceased to operate. It is known, however, that "Child's Grocery Company" was located on the ground floor here with telephone service in 1916.

In 1925, during an ownership dispute between George R. Carver and Margaret R. Carver, the Circuit Court appointed a trustee to sell this property. The new owners were Beulah W. Lyon Spencer (1875-1955) and Harry Z. Spencer (1874-1933), Beulah being a member of the Lyon Pharmacy family. They owned the building through the deaths of both of them and in 1956, Beulah’s estate sold the building to A. Tolson “Tad” Lyon and Madeline, and his brother, G. “Taylor” Lyon and Helen.

According to locals, the two top floors were used for gambling during The Graw racetrack heydays from 1912 to 1950 and Annie McLhinney Cochran (the daughter of Charles and Mary McLhinney) has said the top two floors were practically untouched since the Speakeasy era. Old chalk betting boards were still on the walls, showing the names of people betting on the races, and markings were still on the walls from the pool games. On the third floor, she said, wallpaper with Greek columns could still be seen. (She said this, however, before her mother sold the building and before it suffered some severe damage, including losing its roof.)

In the early 1940s, this was one location of The American Stores, with C.A. Wilson and Wilson Elliott selling furniture, among other things. In the late 1950s, Shafer’s Appliances operated here, where Don Shafer sold Zenith, RCA, and Whirlpool brand appliances, TVs, and lawnmowers. Sue Lingenfelter recalls that they displayed a large working TV in their window that was a big attraction because only wealthy people could afford TVs in their homes then. Shafer’s Home Appliances advertised locally that they had a “Complete line of Philco Products, television, radio, paint, wallpaper, washers and dryers, wall and floor tile, and Magee rugs.” James Miller’s memories of Shafer’s, however, was of repeatedly being told not to play with the electric black-and-red shoe buffer right inside the door! Don Shafer’s grandson, Peter Shafer, says he has fond memories of growing up with the “Shafer Appliance Team,” but Christmas there was the most special with a “tinsel tree of spinning colors like a Lite-Brite machine.”

In early 1972, the two Lyon brothers and their wives sold the building to Charles L. McLhinney (1931-2007) and his wife, Mary Catherine. The McLhinneys moved their News Depot into this ground floor space from 212 North Washington Street, where they had been for five decades. Under Charles, they continued to operate their news business as before, complete with the welcoming aroma of hot roasting peanuts floating out onto the street. They suffered a small fire in the late 1980s on the dock in the rear of the building where the boys’ newspaper delivery bags were assembled. They recovered but ended home delivery that year and the business closed in 1997 when Charles McLhinney retired.

The ground floor became the office of RE/MAX Realty for several years until 2017 when it became the realty office of Joseph Banick for a short time. It was sold by Mary Catherine McLhinney in 2018 to 208 North Washington Street, LLC. The building appears to have been unused since then. Some work on the façade, however, has been done such as repointing the bricks, and replacing windows on the front of the building.

County Records
Built 1930. 4320 sq ft, office building, 4800 sq ft lot.