06/17/2026
One of the demonstrations that will be featured on Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Belleville History Field Day is a soap-making demonstration courtesy of Kathy from Sea Street Soap Works! Sea Street Soap Works is a small-batch, hand-crafted soap and body care company based in Belleville, Illinois. It is built on a love of natural ingredients and skin that feels good.
While Kathy will be set up at 633 East Garfield Street on Saturday, Sea Street is actually one of our neighbors, located at 100 South Charles Street.
Building contractor Charles H. Simmons built 100 South Charles in 1909 and sold it almost immediately to Louis Wolfort, president of L. Wolfort & Company, the second-largest horse and mule dealer in Belleville. Coal mine operators seeking mule power for the mines were major customers of Wolfort's. Wolfort was active in commercial and social affairs. He was a director of St. Clair National Bank and a member of the Belleville Turnverein and the Elks.
His wife, Rose, was active in women's organizations and was the treasurer of a district of the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs. Following Wolfort's death in 1927, Rose and their children moved to Florida but retained ownership of the house until 1938, when she sold it to Arthur Daab, a farm implement dealer. The Daab family lived in the residence until the early 1970s.
