Skip to content

Buggy shop to be restored at Sonnenberg Village

PHOTOS PROVIDED

Now and then: The Moser Buggy Shop was moved from the Kidron Volunteer Fire Department property, left, and will be renovated at Sonnenberg Village with plans to make it look how it did  originally more than a century ago, right.

From left, John Moser, Willis Sommer, and Jack Moser in an Inter-State automobile.

DGKN staff report

KIDRON  Another historical building, which is proving to be a valuable part of this community’s history, has been added to the growing Sonnenberg Village just outside of Kidron.

The Kidron Community Historical Society intends to restore the Moser Buggy Shop to its original appearance and give it a new life celebrating its various uses over its more than 105-year history. The structure joins a list of more than a dozen other historically significant local buildings that already have been restored and preserved, or are in the process of moving onto the 5-acre campus along Hackett Road.

“This building is turning out to be more valuable to the community than we thought when we started,” Sonnenberg Project Manager Ray Leisy wrote in an email.

In early December, the Kidron Volunteer Fire Department contacted KCHS President Art Neuenschwander and offered the original Moser Buggy Shop to the society provided it was moved by the end of the year, according to information provided.

The fire department is in the process of building a new station on the property.

Neuenschwander contacted Leisy and Abe Troyer about the move. Plans were drawn by Michael Lehman, permits were obtained, and the building was moved to Sonnenberg Village the first week in January.

This spring, the buggy shop will be placed on a new foundation. Volunteers will work on restoring the building to its original appearance from 1915.

Local historians and KCHS board members Fritz Sprunger and Leora Gerber researched and gathered information about the buggy shop and John F. Moser.

Read the complete story in the Feb. 24, 2021 edition.

2 Comments

  1. Rose Marie (Gerber) Emery on March 9, 2021 at 11:44 am

    Letter to the Editor,
    Thank you for the February 24, 2021, feature article regarding the restoration of the buggy shop at Sonnenberg Village which contained, for me, a surprising and meaningful piece of community and family history. I always knew my father, Elam Gerber, along with Willis Sommer (pictured with others), operated the Kidron IGA Store beginning around 1930 but I did not know what my father had done for a living prior to that time, other than it had something to do with cars. Fascinating! How well I remember those buildings–and all those familiar names. Again, thank you–from Tucson, Arizona.

    • Editor on March 9, 2021 at 1:43 pm

      Dear Rose Marie,
      Thank you for your comment. We will run this as a Letter to the Editor in our March 17 edition. I’m glad you found the story meaningful to you. Local history certainly is fascinating. Thank you for reading our paper! All the best, Christina McCune, managing editor

Leave a Comment