On West Water Street in Decorah, early commercial and civic life took shape through stores, banks, hotels, and entertainment venues. The first store, built in 1851 at Water and Washington Streets by Aaron Newell and Morris B. Derrick after earlier locations nearby, became known as the Pioneer Store, with Newell's Hall on its second floor; after fires in the late 1850s and again on October 20, 1871, a more fireproof stone and brick building replaced it and passed through various owners. Among them was Bertha Christen Mott, who began as a clerk at age 15, returned to work after the 1886 death of her husband James Mott, opened a store with H.A. Warner in 1901, bought him out in 1920, and with her children operated Mott and Co.; in 1925 Charles Altfillisch remodeled the building into a three-level store with a tea room and Decorah's first automatic cash transfer system, before the building was sold in 1947 and occupied by J.C. Penney Co. five years later. At 108 West Water Street, a proposed bank site in 1862 was occupied by W.G. McLaughlin's small leased cobbler shop, which James Easton and Leonard Standring had moved into the middle of the street with oxen and rope before constructing the National Bank in Italianate style; a third floor was added in 1886, and later remodeling gave it a simpler Classical Revival façade. The Steyer Opera House at 104 West Water Street, built in 1870 by Joseph Steyer in the Italianate style, hosted plays, concerts, lectures, political rallies, and appearances by violinist Ole Bull before declining after competition from the Grand Opera House; its space later served activities including basketball, roller skating, dancing, and bowling, and after purchase and restoration by Helen Basler in 1997 it again became an elegant venue and conference center adjoining the Hotel Winneshiek. Decorah's hotel history on this stretch began in 1849 when William and Elizabeth Day received travelers in their log house, followed by the Winneshiek House begun in 1854 and completed in 1855, enlarged in 1865 and 1877, and showing Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, and Italianate influences. The present Hotel Winneshiek was begun in 1904 and completed in 1905 to a Beaux Arts design by E. Hill Turnock and Ohrenstein of Chicago, with 51 guest rooms, public amenities, and ornate interior finishes; after decline in the 1930s and later use of rooms as apartments, Helen Basler restored it, and it reopened on April 27, 2000. Another nearby site first held the Decorah House hotel, built in 1854 with the M.O. Walker stage line office; by 1871 a brick Italianate building rose there, later housing Andrew O. Sampson's clothing store and the European Hotel, then remodeled in 1906 for the Decorah State Bank, whose vaults still remain, while later years brought a succession of commercial and professional tenants.