Fritz Krueger and his family emigrated from Germany to America in 1885, settled in Mt. Vernon in 1891, and he quickly became a prominent businessman and contractor. At this site, Krueger constructed a building with bricks from his Mt. Vernon kiln and operated the Fritz Krueger & Son business, which carried general merchandise including apparel, furniture, and hardware. Construction remained his primary business, and he built many prominent buildings such as the Houk & Adams Building in Mt. Vernon, the Stanford Courthouse (1909), which is still in use, as well as banks and college buildings. In 1913 he doubled the size of his building and The Boone Way Opera House opened as Mount Vernon's first theater, with George Owens as proprietor, locally known as "The Picture Show Man." The theater contained a player piano operated by J.G. Machal, and during films Mrs. Ruth McFerron accompanied the silent pictures by playing appropriate songs on the piano. In 1926, fire destroyed the Krueger & Son merchandise store and The Boone Way Opera House. In 1927 the Kruegers sold the property to a group of local investors who built a new brick building for use as a union hall for the Junior Order United American Mechanics, Mount Vernon Council No. 45. Known as the Junior Order Hall, it was short-lived and closed in 1933. The property then passed through several hands and was split in 1959, when an additional building was constructed on the western portion.