After countless hours of research and preparation, Gibault history students gave presentations last Wednesday night on historic Waterloo buildings.

The presentation was done as part of a junior year history class taught by Matt Schweizer, who worked with the city to set up a project that would benefit both Waterloo and the students, fulfilling criteria for a class research project.

The students were tasked with picking a historic downtown building and researching its owners and uses over the years.

Last week, in a series of 10-minute presentations to a packed city council chambers, 40 students told those gathered about 10 Waterloo buildings.

The first building detailed was Gallagher’s Restaurant at 114 W. Mill Street. Students told of how they met with James Gallagher for general history and then went to the courthouse to do some more digging. They went through deed books and lot numbers and talked to two local historians.

One of the things they highlighted was how much they enjoyed learning about a building they drive by every day, rather than just learning out of a textbook.

They traced the people associated with the building back to the 1830s, when it was a hall and saloon. It was also a barbershop, a dog kennel and a shooting range.

John Gallagher purchased the building in 2003 and restored it to the building Waterloo sees today.

The next building was 113 S. Main Street, which is now TWM Engineering. The building was a butcher shop in its earliest days, and moved on to a bank, and then to TWM in 2004.

The students noted that TWM wanted to keep the original feel of the bank and made efforts to do so by adding a door that looks like the door to a safe.

The students went through the courthouse a lot for this building, tracking two lot numbers.

The third building was the first public school of Waterloo at 218 N. Main Street. The building was a schoolhouse in the 19th century, when there was no uniformity of textbooks. Kids who attended school brought books their families had around the house, like biographies and the Bible.

The students talked about how they struggled with learning about straw purchases and joint tendency agreements in the 1950s and 60s.

The fourth presentation detailed 219 and 221 S. Main Street, presently known as Bean Tree Café. It used to be two separate buildings, but is now one. Because of this, the students had to track both properties.

The students discovered a legend about the building’s cellar, which has low ceilings and tight quarters.

There is speculation that the cellar was used for the Underground Railroad and was used to house runaway slaves.

The building also used to be the Nickel Block Deli, which got its name from a traveling man who said he was amazed at the number of things you could get in Waterloo for a nickel.

They discovered there were 25 to 30 transactions of the building over its lifetime.

The next group presented on 110 S. Church Street, which was previously a grocery store known as Schmidt’s A.G. Super Shop.

In November 1956, the building, which was the first built specifically to be a grocery store in Waterloo, was completed. The store was up-to-date with the latest technology, including conveyor belts and “magic doors.”

After that, it was a series of grocery stores including an IGA.

In 2013, the Nobbe family bought the building to use at their headquarters for Wm. Nobbe & Co., Inc., which is what it is today after opening last year.

The sixth group presented on 121 S. Main Street, which is now Bountiful Blossoms.

Their building dated back to 1871, when it was originally built. It’s a two-story brick building that changed hands many times over the years. It has been everything from a craft store to an insurance company.

The building was the City Hotel originally and was divided into three levels that contained suites, a tavern and a space to store horses on the bottom level.

The seventh group talked about 202 S. Main Street, now the Capitol Theatre.

The theatre has been owned by the Independent Order of the Odd Fellow since the 1920s.

In December 1925, the construction of the building was nearly completed. The first story of the building was a lodge room, with the second floor reserved as a movie theatre.

Opening night was March 30, 1926, with a showing of “The Dancer of Paris,” a famous silent film that had its first showing in Waterloo.

Adult tickets were 30 cents, and children were 15 cents.

Dances, proms and other formal gatherings took place there in its early days.

The eighth group presented on the 580-square-foot home at 112 N. Main Street, which has a history that spans 155 years.

The previous owners include recognizable names like Huetsch and Bollinger.

It was sold in 1869 for $1,400 and was, at one point, divided up into 1/32s for eight children.

The ninth group uncovered the history of 117 N. Main Street, which is now JV’s Downtown Bar & Grill.

The building used to be a brewery in the mid-to-late 1800s. It had tunnels running underneath it, which were closed off during Prohibition. When Prohibition was repealed, attempts to reopen brewery were unsuccessful. However, the Vogts purchased the building in 1985 and have successfully turned it around.

The last students presented on 141 S. Main Street, which recently changed from Subliminal Subs to Mama’s on Main.

It was the Southern Hotel in its early days, and a tavern was added in the 1890s. It had an arcade, too, which burned down in 1896. Waterloo residents may also know it as an Italian restaurant, then Obee’s, then Subliminal, and now Mama’s on Main.

Waterloo aldermen praised the students and their teacher for such an informative project during Monday’s city council meeting.

“The students did a great job,” Waterloo alderman Steve Notheisen said. “I learned a lot.”

This semester, a new group of Gibault students is working on uncovering the history of 20 additional downtown Waterloo buildings.

The information gathered will go on plaques to be displayed on the sides of the buildings.