Pomona Cooperative Union Building (M&M Electric / LOFTon2nd) Date: 1896, Altered 1950s 543-545 W. Second Street

This is the oldest building on this side of the block. Two-storied and constructed of brick, the building served as a store with a community hall above. The front facade retains its basic shape, although it has received several alterations. The rear elevation is all original and conveys the feeling of the typical 1890s commercial building.
Longtime residents remember this two-story brick building as the place that had the best dances in town. The second story meeting and activities hall was a community gathering place for several years. Built by the Pomona Cooperative Association in 1896, the first floor of the structure housed the association’s private grocery store. The members of this group believed that they were helping to “stem the tide of private monopoly and oppression” by running their own grocery company.
Here’s the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for the Edison Historic District in Downtown Pomona.