Springfield Then & Now: A skinny building with a long history

This skinny building at 1112 W. Main St. has a long history, stretching back to the early 1900s when it was a depot for the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway. 

Around 1913 it was the Leffel Bros. cigar shop before becoming a confectionary, followed by Joseph Thomas’ soft drink place. 

Then it was the Johnson-Williams Company for poultry supplies before in 1927 Arthur Johnson and James Williams opened a restaurant. 

In 1933 John Smith operated a drug store and there was also a post office in the same location. 

In the late 1930s, John Smith later took over the restaurant and in 1942 his son, Bob M. Smith, took ownership and named it The Wedge, later Poor Bob’s Wedge Café and Restaurant (or just Poor Bob’s). 

The place was known for its onion and limburger on rye, pickled eggs, and for shaking when the trains passed by. 

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