201 East Main - 207 East Main Street (south side)
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201 East Main Street (Jacob Lingard/Dick's grocery store)
203 East Main Street (originally in 205) (Orrin Bergey Jewelry store)
205 - 207 East Main Street (O.B. Dahle & Son General Store)
207 East Main Street (Axel Krohn Printing Office) - demolished
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201-207 East Main Street
This brick commercial vernacular building was erected in three sections. The first section (behind the front facade of 201-03) was erected in 1887 to house the O.B. Dahle and Son General Store. This section retains a few Italianate-influenced details, including segmental-arched window hoods, the paneled cornice board, and paired scrolled brackets. The second section, erected at 205-07 East Main Street in 1904, was an addition to what was then the Dahle Brothers General Store. It has brick corbelling and a pressed metal cornice. The front facade of the 1887 section was redone circa 1920 (Village of Mount Horeb Tax Rolls; photo on file at the Mount Horeb Area Historical Society), and has a little abstract Craftsman detailing. Herman and J. Theodore Dahle, of Mount Vernon, had this building erected in 1886-87 (Blue Mounds Weekly News, September 29, 1886) for their general store. Their father, Onon B. Dahle (1823-1905), founded the business in Daleyville around 1852, after returning from prospecting for gold in the west. In 1877, Herman Dahle opened a branch of his father's business in Mount Vernon. The Dahle brothers came to Mount Horeb in 1886. This was the first business building on East Main east of Second Street. It was called O.B. Dahle and Son from 1887 until at least 1891, Dahle Brothers General Store from at least 1893 until 1924, and Dahle Brother Department Store thereafter. The general store had a grocery in [the] basement, and from at least 1891 to at least 1895, a creamery in the basement as well. The first local electric light plant was owned by Herman Dahle, and operated from the basement of the Dahle Brothers store from January 1, 1897 until about 1901, when Dahle sold the plant to John Ward and John Bohn. They moved the plant to their feed mill, located at 117 South First Street (demolished) (The Mount Horeb Centennial Book, 1861-1961, p. 27). The Dahle family sold the department store to the A. Hoff Company in 1929, and the grocery to Jacob Lingard in 1931 (The Mount Horeb Centennial Book, 1861-1961, p. 29). The grocery was then located in 201. Kahl and Nygard bought the grocery from Lingard in 1941, operating it for more than 20 years. Richard Dickman's grocery, "Dick's", has been in the building since at least 1985 (Mount Horeb Presettlement to 1986, p. 22). There have been various other uses on the first floor of the building since 1930, including W.O. Bergh's restaurant and bakery (opened in 1932), a Gamble store (207, 1934- 1979), a clothing shop, a radio shop, a dairy supply store, a liquor store, and a shoe repair shop. The post office was located in this building from 1887 until circa 1894, and from 1935 until 1955. The Dane County Superintendent of Schools had office space on the second floor of the building from 1967 until 1975, as did chiropractor Dr. Albert Grove (1966-1970) (Mount Horeb Presettlement to 1986, p. 22, The Mount Horeb Centennial Book, 1861-1961, p. 57). Orrin Bergey's jewelry store has been located in number 205 since at least 1970. This property was owned by Herman and J. Theodore Dahle (and Theodore's estate following his death circa 1912) from 1886 until at least 1930. Ralph Dahle then owned it until 1941. Kahl and Nygard owned the property from 1941 until at least 1965. Orrin Bergey has owned it since at least 1970 (Village of Mount Horeb Tax Rolls). The Dahle Building is not individually eligible for historic designation, but is a contributing element in the potential National Register Main Street Historic District, and the potential locally-designated Main Street Historic District. 
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