Digital Division
309 Division St
Arcade Building
est. 1895
Fittingly dubbed for its arcaded windows on the ground floor, the Arcade Building has a strong, solid look to it. This heavy facade was appropriate for its original purpose: a piano and organ factory, built in 1895 by Lurton D. Moses. The Arcade was constructed with this intent in mind, but his business abruptly closed just three years later.
In the following years, the building saw multiple remodelings and reworkings. In the playful spirit of its name, the Arcade Building actually had a downtown bowling alley and roller rink for a brief time located here in the early 1900s before Arcade Cafe opened in 1910. Through a couple name changes and many owners, the restaurant at 309 Division stayed strong until 1936, when the Green Lantern Cafe closed down to make way for Drentlaw’s Jack Sprout Food Store—quite the name for a grocery market.
The street-level facade used to have one large arcaded window instead of the present look with three separate arcaded windows/doors
Gene Drentlaw, owner of Drentlaw’s Jack Sprout Food Store
A restaurant returned to the space once more when the Collegian Cafe had a stint here in the 1950s and 1960s. As the name implies, this cafe was meant to serve as a gathering spot for students at the two colleges in town, and indeed it was. The Collegian itself is no longer here, as it was replaced by a travel agency after vacating the space. But, the Collegian was a relic the community came to love during its time, as the Bearded Mermaid is today.
Local business history—the ways businesses grow and change—reflects where the community is as a people. The Arcade Building’s history is one of over 70 examples of this on Northfield’s Division Street alone.