Landmark Belleville car dealership purchased by Chicago-area group
The 107-year run for the Joseph family’s car dealership in Belleville has ended with the sale of Oliver C. Joseph Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, according to a website announcement by the new owners.
David Taylor Belleville Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram is listed on the website as the new name of the dealership, which still had Oliver C. Joseph signs on it showroom and service building on Monday.
St. Clair County property records show the site off IIllinois 15 sold for $6.9 million on Jan. 22.
The dealership traces its roots to 1914 in Belleville and has billed itself as the “oldest continually operating Chrysler Corporation Dealership in the world.”
The David Taylor dealership’s general manager is listed as Jason Young. He briefly spoke to the Belleville News-Democrat last month and agreed to meet with a reporter about the sale, but has not returned multiple messages left for him at the dealership since.
Brad Joseph, who had been listed as the Oliver C. Joseph dealership’s principal, also has not returned multiple messages left for him on his cellphone since last month.
In 2006, the dealership moved from downtown Belleville to a new building on a six-acre site at 3795 West State Route 15 near Frank Scott Parkway.
St. Clair County online property records on Monday listed 3795 West IL 15 LLC as the property owner. This company lists an address of 1497 N. State Route 50 in Bourbonnais near Kankakee , which is the address of Taylor Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.
Last month, the county property records listed Bison LLC/Brad Joseph as the owner.
“Although the dealership is now under new ownership, David Taylor Belleville kept plenty of the familiar faces that you loved,” the company stated on its website.
A “handful” of new employees have been added, according to the website.
Dealership history
Oliver C. Joseph was 24 when he founded the dealership in 1914, according to the former Joseph dealership’s website.
The dealership began in a Civil War-era building in the 200 block of West Main Street in downtown Belleville.
“1914 was an eventful year for Young Oliver C. Joseph,” the website said. “He was only 24 and recently married. His rare College Degree was serving him well as Principal of Summerfield School near Lebanon.”
Governor French Academy took over the former showroom along West Main Street after the dealership moved to the Illinois 15 site.
Oliver C. Joseph’s son, Oliver Dee Joseph, led the dealership until 1998. That’s when the founder’s grandson, Brad Joseph, began overseeing the day-to-day operations of the dealership, according to the former Joseph website.
Railroad car
When the Joseph family opened their new, 25,000-square-foot dealership off Illinois 15, they moved their 1927 railroad car from West Main Street to the inside of the new dealership building.
Oliver Dee Joseph, who died in a house fire in 2009, purchased the 86-foot long rail car in the 1970s. It’s named in honor of the dealership founder Oliver C. Joseph and it features three bedrooms, a dining room, parlor and kitchen.
“Oliver D. was well known to people across the region for greeting customers at the door of the dealership, personally answering the phones and appearing on the dealer’s television ads that also featured a talking moose,” according the 2009 obituary for Oliver Dee Joseph.
