Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers opens Monday at 1597 N. Henderson St. in Galesburg. Before that, it was an H&R Block. And long before that, it was one of Galesburg’s best-known liquor stores — Big 10 Liquors, built in 1968 by Jerry Mower.
WGIL’s Rick Heath, whose wife Carol is the daughter of Jerry Mower, dug through old family photos to find these images of the store’s construction. The photos offer a rare look at what the site looked like more than 50 years ago — and the story behind how it got there.
Big 10 Liquors didn’t start on Henderson Street. According to Heath, the store first opened in 1958 at 10 W. Main St. on the west side of Galesburg’s public square. A decade later, Mower bought Galesburg Drive In Liquors from Steve Mingare and set his sights on building a new, modern liquor store on North Henderson Street.
While a new Butler Building was being constructed behind the existing Drive In Liquors on Henderson Street, Mower continued operating out of the original building. The photo of the yellow Drive In Liquors building — with its Package Liquor sign — shows the store that stood out front during the transition. The other photos show the new Butler Building going up behind it.
The new Big 10 Liquors was completed before Christmas of 1968 — an era when liquor stores were closed on Sundays. The move from the old store to the new one happened over a single weekend, with merchandise transferred and the original building demolished in time for Monday morning.
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers opens at the site Monday, March 30, at 10:30 a.m. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
