A short time ago, I had that particular joy of taking my granddaughter to Sunday brunch at the Grid Iron Sports Bar & Grill here in Webster City. Its brunch buffet is not to be missed and will satisfy a 9-year-old as well as a 69-year-old!

My mind drifted, as it is prone to do, and I wondered about the history of the place (imagine that). It seems several of my own “Neighbors” had a bit to do with it. This is a story with more twists, turns and characters than a Hollywood murder mystery.

Try to keep up … after all, isn’t life simple in a place like Webster City?

Marion Hughes was born in July of 1909, the son of Meade and Emma Hughes. Marion’s father was in the grocery and meat business, owning Hughes Market from 1911. Marion grew to become a partner of his father in their store on Des Moines Street. In 1937 a new store opened, Marion’s Food Market, located on the corner of Seneca and Bank. A year later, Marion sold the store to Don Doty, who had also worked at the Hughes Market and happened to be his brother-in-law. The store was renamed as Don’s Market until it, too, was sold in 1940.

When Marion sold his business, he opened what was called a “chicken shack” next to the Shady Oak camp east of town on old Highway 20. An article on it was published in the Daily Freeman Journal on August 15, 1938.

Shortly after the United States entered World War II, Marion enlisted in the Army. He turned the Shady Oak Inn over to Kenneth Wright to manage “for the duration.”

Marion spent his time in service in Hawaii and returned to Webster City following the war’s end, having attained the rank of sergeant. He again went into business with his father at Hughes Market. Retiring in 1949, the elder Hughes turned over the store to his son and daughter, Jessie Doty.

Meanwhile, in 1950 the Shady Oak Inn was sold to Robert and Helen Essig, expanded and renamed the Shady Oaks Motel. The couple ran the motel for many years, until January of 1981.

The restaurant became the Grid Iron in 2008, separate from the motel units. Apparently, the motel became small apartments and, eventually, was vacated and deteriorated.

Webster City obtained the motel site in 2017 and the building was burned down, as training for firefighters, in the spring of 2018. Shortly after, the owner of the Grid Iron was sold the land by the city.

Today the Grid Iron sits on a nice site, with plenty of parking. In case you lost your way reading this article, let me list a few residents of “Our Neighborhood” who had a part in it:

Meade Hughes (1884 – 1963), Emma Hughes (1882 – 1968), Marion Hughes (1909 – 1990), Don Doty (1898 – 1953), Jessie Doty (1903 – 1998), Robert Essig (1912 – 1971), and Helen Essig (1917 – 1982).

Our Neighborhood is a column by Michael Eckers focusing on the men and women whose presence populates Graceland Cemetery in Webster City.