Author: Sabra Gossett, Collections Manager
Did you know Berman Museum’s founder, Farley Berman, was also the head of a department store?
Jacob Berman (1876-1948), Farley’s father, founded Berman’s department store in 1900 after immigrating to the United States from Lithuania. The store was on Noble Street, first at 1230 and later at 1112 Noble. When Jacob Berman passed away in 1948, Farley took over the family business until it burned down in 1961. Berman’s later reopened on the same site with a new proprietor and was operated as Berman-Gayle’s until the 1990s. Today, the “new” Berman’s sign can still be seen at the back of the Calhoun County Courthouse Annex on 1112 Noble St.