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3 weeks ago

Fresh Paint Completes Major Renewal of Historic Herbig Bakery

The Bradford Landmark Society’s historic Herbig Bakery is receiving a fresh exterior coat of paint, completing a series of major improvements that will help preserve one of Bradford’s oldest surviving frame buildings for years to come.

Board member Dr. Ron Binder announced that the work is underway and nearing completion. Local painter Ricky Stiles is renewing the building’s exterior, which has shown peeling paint in recent years. The project gives the familiar building at 45 East Corydon Street a crisp new appearance while protecting the structure that has served as the Landmark Society’s headquarters since 1969.

“This will finish just about all of our work on that building,” Binder said. Recent improvements have included a new roof, gutters, windows, doors, signage and façade work. “It will be good for many years.”

The bakery’s history reaches back to 1878, when French-born baker Celeste Gall operated the “French Bakery” during Bradford’s oil-boom years. The business supplied bread and pastries to hotels throughout the city. In 1883, Gustav “Gus” Herbig, an 18-year-old German immigrant, joined Gall as an apprentice; four years later, he purchased the business.

For decades, the bakery was known for its breads, rolls, pies, cakes, cookies and other baked goods. After Gus Herbig’s death in 1939, family members continued the business, including his granddaughter, Virginia Loveland Miles, who operated the bakery until the early 1960s.

Mrs. Miles made the building available to the newly formed Bradford Landmark Society in 1969, and the society later became its owner. Today, the former bakery safeguards the society’s growing archives, historical and genealogical collections, photographs, records and rotating displays. Protecting that collection — and the building that holds it — is an essential part of being good stewards of Bradford’s heritage.

The public is encouraged to visit the Herbig Bakery and see its local-history displays and research resources firsthand. The Bradford Landmark Society is currently open at the bakery on Fridays; visitors may call ahead at 814-362-3906 for current hours and information.

For more information, visit bradfordlandmark.org.

Photos: Dr. Ron Binder ... See MoreSee Less