Slow to Grow

Grove City was slow to grow during its first 10 years.  In those early years, William F. Breck constructed the first general store in the community, operated the first post office, and met construction demand by building a brick plant on a tract of land behind the present St. John’s Lutheran Church on Columbus Street.  He also operated a sawmill and grist mill at Broadway and Grant. 

With brick and lumber from his plants, William Sibray, a brick mason and plasterer and George Weygandt, a carpenter, built many of the early homes in the community including a 20-room house on the northwest corner of Broadway and Park.  After Breck’s death, the large house operated many years as the Woodland Hotel.  It was also a one-time home for aged women.  The house was dismantled in 1922.