German native Hugo Zapp established his mercantile business in Fayetteville in 1865. In 1900, after a fire had burned his wooden store at this site, Zapp had this 2-story brick building constructed. Intended to be the finest structure in the city, the Romanesque revival building features decorative brickwork in a checkerboard pattern. In 1915 another merchant, F.C. Knippel, bought the store, and it was operated by his family for more than fifty years. RTHL - 1983