Digital Division
501 Division St
Scofield Building
est. 1868
Situated at the lively intersection of Division and East 5th Street, the Scofield Building at 501 Division Street—the northernmost property encompassed by the present-day Reunion restaurant—was built in 1868. It was almost entirely rebuilt after an 1878 fire, as indicated by the decorative gable up top. By either measure, this makes it one of the oldest buildings still standing in Northfield’s historic downtown. The wood-frame building that originally stood on this lot, constructed in 1855 to house Jenkins Tavern, was lost to a fire just a few short years after its construction. While the frame in which the tavern once resided has been lost, the tradition of 501 Division as a place for townies to gather, chat, and have a drink or a bite to eat has remained throughout the town’s history.
The Corner Bar, as it was known, was established here in the 1940s and was an immediate hit, and it saw some of its greatest success after being purchased by Joe Grundhoefer in 1982. Out of this sale, Grundy’s was born, but was not finished leaving its mark. Grundhoefer bought out the two interconnected buildings directly south of 501 later that decade, and later merged his bar with the Rueb ‘N’ Stein restaurant—already a fixture of the downtown for over a decade at that point—expanding it to include all three spaces. Grundy’s Rueb ‘N’ Stein lived on until its longstanding owner’s retirement in 2017, when the satisfied Grundhoefer closed the Rueb’s doors to make way for a new gathering spot for Northfielders to open them back up again. The Reunion, a restaurant and bar with a rustic and distressed vibe, has taken over the space. Its bar still sits in that same spot where it has for so many years: the Scofield Building.
