A little bit about MCH

The building where the Minden Coffee House is located was built sometime in the late 1800s, right on the Kearney County courthouse square. Because it was a brick building, it was a fairly substantial edifice and might have been a lot of things in the beginning.  We also know our building was once a furniture store and a five-and-dime, and rumor is it might have also been a mortuary. All we can say for sure is there are a few strange pieces of equipment still in the basement.

We know that when the railroad came to town in 1883, Minden was home to three general stores, two hardware stores, two drug stores, two furniture stores, two implement shops, one grocery store, two hotels, two livery stables, two churches, a meat market, a bank, five physicians, and six lawyers.

The current restoration was done in 2007, when four local couples leased the building and put in countless hours restoring the wood floors, exposing the brickwork, and modernizing the lighting, heating and air conditioning.

When you sit here today with a hot muffin and a steaming cup of joe, even if you’re on your laptop or iPhone, you can feel the history.

A little bit about me

I was born in Lincoln, graduated from Lincoln Northeast High School, and spent four years in the Navy aboard the USS Enterprise. After graduating from Nebraska Wesleyan University, I spent over 20 years in the telecommunication industry, most of it traveling around building fiber optic network in the US and Canada.

 I’ve always have had a passion for great coffee, great food, and fine dining. Cooking and food was a big part of my family life. My grandparents had a small café in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and I remember whole days my family spent preparing gumbos from fresh-caught shrimp and blue crab.

 In my travels, I always looked for unique coffee houses and have spent many a happy hour sipping coffee and enjoying great food in charming little shops not unlike MCH in places from Boston to San Francisco and Toronto to Dallas.

My family and I have lived in Minden since 2002, and when the opportunity to buy the Minden Coffee House came around in October of 2009, it seemed like an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, like it was meant to be. I decided to follow my passion.
If you’re in the neighborhood, come and visit. I’d love to join you for a great cup of coffee.