John Posch
Shoemaker from Austria
In 1912, at age 24, John Posch came to the United States with a dime in his pocket and a bag of tools. In Austria, he had apprenticed for four years as a shoemaker and passed his test to work the trade. In Greenville, he started up his business in a two room house at the corner of East South and First Streets. In 1947, Posch bought the building at this location and started selling ready-made shoes from the International Shoe Company.
John Posch, his sons Carl and Louie, and employee Ed Merrifield would work from 7:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. repairing bushel baskets full of shoes, sometimes upwards of 150 pairs of shoes a day. With $1500 in inventory, they added hardware and plumbing to the business and at one time employed five people. Later they would be the first to sell Honda motorcycles. John Posch and Son is Greenville's oldest continuing family-operated business.
In its earliest days this building housed F.H. Wheeler's Harness Shop.
Marker is on College Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
