The Downtown Waterville Historic District encompasses all of one block of Locust Street plus the west end of a second block and a few buildings along North and South Chelan Avenue. In all there are 17 contributing and 2 non contributing buildings in the district. All buildings are of brick, save for the Centennial Feed Building, a single storey wood framed building on the west side of North Chelan. The brick for the district was manufactured locally in brick yards, first established in 1889. The oldest structure in the district, on the northeast corner of Locust Street and Chelan Avenue, is the First National Bank/Kincaid/IOOF Block, constructed in 1891.
The town of Waterville must have been in desperate need of either a pool hall or a new post office in 1914, as this building was completed by contractor E. Pfuller in 60 days for owner O.E. Knemeyer. The building marks the western edge of the Downtown Waterville Historic District. If further construction ever took place to the west on this block, it no longer exists.
While still in reasonable condition, the brickwork shows substantial weathering. Both bays of the two bay building have been substantially altered. We have no information on how long the post office remained in the building. The present post office is one block to the east, opened June 10, 1989. The first post office in Waterville opened in 1887 in the second structure to be built in the town. Since that time it has moved about in the downtown area, finally setting in the 1989 building in which it resides to this day.
Today the western half of the building is occupied by a restaurant and lounge/bar,
Knemeyers Eatery & Spirits, operated by two local sisters. The sign on the eastern half reads "
Two Tipsy Sisters", indicating it to be the office for the sisters. They have chosen to use the original name of the building,
Knemeyer in the name of their eatery.
O.C. Knemeyer Building
Building #14; O.C. Knemeyer Building
Address: 115-115 1/2 West Locust Street
Classification: Contributing
Date of construction: 1914
Description and History: The Knemeyer Building is a one story brick structure with two storefront bays; it measures 42 feet across the facade and 70 feet deep. The bays are framed by brick piers which rise to a corbelled cornice. The frieze above the storefronts is decorated with recessed panels. Although some original storefront material has been lost, part of the original transom windows are still visible.
O.E. Knemeyer was a prominent Waterville merchant who served on the city council in the early 20th century. In 1914, he had this block constructed by E. Pfuller and the structure was completed within 60 days.
Initially, the building housed the post office and the Frank and Frank Billiard Hall.
From the NRHP Registration Form![]()