Our building on Butler Street and the structures behind it were built by a German immigrant and his wife, Gotfried and Amalie Bokermann, between 1885 and 1890. The Bokermanns paid a grand total of $6000, half for the land and half for the building, for their business and residence. Between 1885 and 1908, the property operated as a butcher shop, but the family, who must have been doing well, moved to a house in Stanton Heights in 1896.

In 1908, the Bokermanns got out of the meat business and rented the place to others. A few years later, in 1919, three Croatian immigrants, Anton Starcevic, Joseph Gerich, and Cenko Poropatich, the founders of Union Provision and Packing Co., rented the place. Four years later the three men bought the property for $28,000.

The Union Provision and Packing Co. slaughtered 50-60 hogs per week and produced hot dogs, baloney, bacon, pudding, and other goods. They also killed and butchered cattle - several of the older residents of Lawrenceville have stopped by and told us that they remember that the cattle occasionally got loose and went rambling down Butler St.

This photo was taken in the early 1940s and shows a young Robert Poropatich (left) with his father Cenko (middle) and Anton Starcevic (right) in the retail meat market. Note the elegant tin ceiling, the marble panels on the wall to the left, and all the great wood trim.

The Wholesome Foods Act of 1969 brought slaughtering to an end. By then the business was owned by Cenko Poropatich's son Robert and Stephen Check. They ran the place as a butcher shop for the next 25 years. In 1993, Robert Poropatich, who was by the then the sole owner, sold the business to Rick and Diane Johnson in 1993 and retired to Florida.

Under the Johnsons, Union Provision sold organic meat and specialty items, and processed deer and other game. Sadly, Rick Johnson died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1999 and shortly thereafter the company ceased operation.

(Thanks to Carol Peterson, our property historian, for much of the above research and text.)

The Slaughterhouse Gallery & Studios is Born

In the spring of 2001, two naive woodworkers, Garth Jones and Don Reed, were wandering through Lawrenceville looking for a commercial property to house their woodshop. Until then they had worked in a cramped basement and all the wood, tools, and employees just didn't fit anymore. A faded 'For Sale' sign in the front window of Union Provision caught there eye and they just had to take a look. The property was huge, at least by Lawrenceville standards and most of the historical details (marble, molding, trim, industrial equipment, etc.) were still there, but the place was a wreck. Reed and Jones almost passed on the property, but after another deal fell through and a good deal of brainstorming with local architect Jill Joyce on how the spaces could be used, they jumped in.

After more than a year of work the wood shop was up and running, several studio spaces were in use by up and coming artists, and the former butcher shop was in good enough shape to use as a pop up gallery from time to time.  Over the next decade plus the artist community grew.  The place became an integral part of the local gallery scene and, for a few years, hosted a monthly poetry reading series.  During that time the neighborhood changed drastically, from a rough area beset with drugs and crime to an increasingly wealthy and renovated region of funky restaurants and expensive shops.

Times Change Again

Don Reed passed away in 2015 after a long battle with cancer.  Garth Jones, along with his other half, Tara Meyer, decided that running the place as it had been without Don just was not going to be fun.  A new vision was born.  After amazing design work by Moss Architects and nearly a year of work by Prime1 Builders, the Slaughterhouse is now a residence, the home of Allegheny Aikido, and still the wood shop for Jones Furniture Designs.