The Bentler Building was originally built by a druggist by the name of Robert John Scott in 1892. How and when it acquired the name Bentler Building isn’t readily known but the Bentlers were shakers and movers in the local economy and seem to have bought the building. Like many pharmacists of the day Mr. Scott had two over the counter specialties sold nationwide with some success: Rose Glycerin Powder and Scott’s Headache Powders. On the first floor was the pharmacy. The second floor featured a stage and dressing rooms and served as the community meeting room and social center. As was common at the time an upper floor was rented or leased to fraternal organizations, perhaps the IOOF and Masons, occupied the third floor. Owing to its adaptability the Bentler Building was unofficially referred to as the Towne Hall.
This is the intersection as it is today. The Bentler Building is long gone being replaced by a memorial the local soldiers who gave all. The camera angle is virtually the same as in the period photo. In both photos the orientation is looking north along what has become US 25, the venerable Dixie Highway. In the vintage photo the Model T is on Commonwealth Avenue, the name it has to this day.
