Locust Street a Hidden Gem in a Booming Business Corridor
| 2018 Q4 | story by writer Liz Weslander | photos by Steven Hertzog
Locust & Seventh
It’s easy to miss, but just past the North Lawrence Bridge, at the intersection of Second and Locust streets, is a sign that points drivers east on Locust Street to the North Lawrence Historical Business District. The often-overlooked designation is a nod to the historic stretch of Locust between Second and Seventh streets that predates North Lawrence itself.
“Before it was annexed by the city of Lawrence in 1870, North Lawrence was the town of Jefferson,” says Ted Boyle, president of the North Lawrence Improvement Association. “Jefferson had a little downtown, and that was Locust.”
Thanks to creative business owners, a local contractor and the enduring hard work of a longtime Lawrence family, the five-block section of Locust continues to bustle today. A cluster of antique and home-furnishing stores at Seventh and Locust streets anchors the historic area at one end, while long-standing Mexican restaurants and a neighborhood tavern ensure a steady flow of people near the other end. Here, we take a closer look at what has kept this historical piece of North Lawrence ticking.
Dana Lynn Niemack, owner of Tooter and Tillayes
Seventh and Locust
If you were heading to the corner of Seventh and Locust streets during the 1870s, it was likely to visit Dicker’s Grocery Store, which occupied the still-standing building at 646 Locust. Head to Seventh and Locust on a Friday or Saturday today, and you’ll find people looking for that perfect piece for their home in one of the five antique and home-furnishing stores clustered around the intersection.
But if you passed through the intersection 20 years ago, you would have seen empty, neglected buildings. That is certainly what Amy Ballinger saw when she bought a home a few blocks from the corner in 1997. However Ballinger, former owner of Amy’s Attic, 700 Locust St., also saw potential.
“One day, I drove past the old and greasy empty building there, and then went home and told my husband that we were going to rent it,” she says. “I didn’t know what it would be yet, but it was calling to me.”
Ballinger and her husband had been collecting old pieces of furniture at auctions for many years, and as they fixed up the building at 700 Locust (which is on the southeast corner of the intersection), it became clear that it would become a space for them to sell refurbished items from the auctions. Within a few weeks, they opened Amy’s Attic, which would become the pioneering antique store at that corner. Ballinger says the business was immediately successful.
Hollie Blakeney owner of Hoopla.
The Ballinger family decided to take a short break from the business in 2004, which was right around the time local developer Jon Davis bought the Amy’s Attic building, as well as the historical buildings on the southwest corner of the intersection at 642, 644 and 646 Locust, where the old Dicker’s Grocery used to be. Davis says when Ballinger came to him and expressed an interest in getting her business up and going again, it gave him a good reason to fix up the Amy’s Attic property as well as the historical buildings across the street. Davis says the buildings at 642-646 Locust, which were built in 1863, were fairly neglected and needed some significant investment. In 2005, Davis finished the complete restoration of the 642-646 Locust properties, turning them into three viable storefronts and four apartments.
Ballinger says other antique businesses starting showing interest in and moving to the corner following Davis’s restoration. Getting the historic designation for the area furthered the corner’ visibility, Boyle explains.
“Jon put a couple million into that corner and put those buildings back to their original state inside and out,” he continues. “We’re pretty proud of them. When we went and got the designation six or seven years ago, it helped put that corridor on tourist maps and helped out the businesses there.”
Although Ballinger sold Amy’s Attic in 2014, she says she loves that the area she saw as a diamond in the rough many years ago is flourishing today.
“I had the foresight that it would be something eventually, but I did didn’t know it would become this shopping mecca,” Ballinger says.
Dana Niemack owns Tooter & Tillaye’s Home Goods, 644 Locust St., one of the shops currently operating in the restored buildings at Seventh and Locust streets. Niemack says when she opened her store in 2012, she and Ballinger were the only ones there. Now there are five stores, all open on Fridays and Saturdays, and business is steady, Niemack says.
The Art House
“It’s become a popular weekend destination. It’s easy parking, and people really like the vibe of North Lawrence. They love the trains,” she continues. “I like the corner because it’s supportive. We are all women business owners, and every shop has its own distinct flavor.”
Niemack says she makes an effort to suggest bars and restaurants in North Lawrence to her customers as an alternative to going back over the bridge to Downtown Lawrence.
“Their brains go over to Mass, but we always mention places like La Tropicana and El Matador that are not on Mass but are still great,” she says. “It’s nice that customers can shop on our corner and still have a drink and lunch without leaving North Lawrence.”
Kathy Del Campo mixing a margarita at La Tropicana on Locust Street.
La Tropicana and the del Campo Family
La Tropicana Mexican Restaurant, 434 Locust St., is one of the longest-running restaurants in Lawrence and the perfect place to get a firsthand taste of the rich history of North Lawrence Historical Business District. On a recent Tuesday afternoon at the restaurant, 82 year-old Severina del Campo, La Tropicana’s matriarch, sat at a table talking with a group of friends. Her daughters, Catalina Martin del Campo, who runs the front of the house, and Laura Martin del Campo, who runs the kitchen, were there, as well, tending to business and sipping coffee as the last of the lunch crowd finished eating.
“Mom is still here every day doing prep work,” Catalina says. “That’s what she likes. It keeps her going. Sometimes I’ll want to try do something a little different, but we always go back to her way, because she’s the boss, and she knows best.”
La Tropicana has been in Severina’s family for many years. Severina is Kansas-born and lived in Lecompton as a young child in the 1940s. At that time, her grandfather, Thomas Garcia, owned La Tropicana, which he operated as a bar. While still a young child, Severina moved to Mexico City with her parents and some of her siblings, and it was there that she met her late husband, Jessie Martin del Campo Sr. The couple married and had four of seven kids while still living in Mexico but moved back to Lawrence in 1965 and took over La Tropicana, which was still owned by Severina’s family. They changed it from a bar to a restaurant in 1967 and set up house in the upper level of the building.
Despite being a little out of the way, location has not been a big challenge for La Tropicana during the years.
“We don’t do a lot of advertising,” daughter Martin says. “My parents always believed in the old way, which is word of mouth. We have a lot of loyal local customers. This is their little oasis away from everything else. A lot of them have known me since I was a little girl, and sometimes their children or grandchildren are working here now.”
The Del Campo family also owns the building a few doors to the east at 508 Locust St. Prior to their ownership, the space operated as the Shamrock Tavern in the 1950s and the Gold Band Tavern in the 1960s. During the years, some of Catalina and Laura’s siblings have operated bars and clubs out of the building; but now, the family is content to rent the space. The building currently houses Frank’s North Star Tavern, which has been there since 2012.
Martin del Campo says she’s been pleased to see the improvements occurring in the area during the past last 10 years.
“The antique stores down the street are great,” she says. “It’s so good because I know them really well. They come here, they tell people about us, and I tell people about them.”
While La Tropicana is part of the family fabric, Martin says it is also lot of work. If their mother, Severina, ever decides to retire, she says the sisters might consider retiring along with her.
“Mom believes in having a place for the family to come and eat when they’re hungry,” Martin explains. “I don’t think my great-nieces and nephews, who are all under 5, realize this is a restaurant; they think this is a home. It’s hard to say about retirement, but being here day in and day out, I think we would all like to enjoy some family time, not just on our one day off but whenever we feel like it.”
North Lawrence Historical Business District Businesses
- Amy’s Attic Interiors & Antiques: 700 Locust St.
The Art House: 700 Locust St.
Hoopla: 646 Locust St., Suite B
Tooter & Tillaye’s Home Goods: 644 Locust St.
Topiary Tree: 642 Locust St.
Frank’s North Star Tavern: 508 Locust St.
Schaumburg Photography: 500 Locust St.
El Matador Cafe: 446 Locust St.
La Tropicana: 434 Locust St.
Locust Street & Seventh