Our Past Is Present April 12, 2017

April 12, 2017

       J.J. Pennell was a well-known Junction City photographer between 1886 and 1922.  In 1908, he built the building at 801 North Washington Street, which housed the Miller Pharmacy at the street level and his photography studio upstairs.  After Pennell’s death, his widow and son moved from their home on Fourth Street to the second floor of this building.  Here Joseph Stanley Pennell wrote his novel The History of Rome Hanks, which was a best seller in 1944.  In 1960 he sold the building to the College of Emporia and moved to Oregon after his complaints about a noisy calliope fell on deaf ears.  The main floor was then occupied by “Gamble’s” as a department store.  The second floor was used by the Red Cross and the basement by the “Republic Printing”.  In the 1960’s the upstairs was again rented as living quarters.  In 1998, the building was restored and occupied by the Geary County Court Services