If he were still alive, Edward Kabelin would be surprised how that
seed he tossed in the ground 100 years ago has taken root and grown.

That's how long it's been since Kabelin purchased an interest in


Webber Hardware on Lincolnway in LaPorte.

Two years after that purchase, Kabelin and his son, Russell, purchased
the remaining interest in Webber Hardware and changed its name to
Kabelin Hardware, which today has grown to seven Kabelin Ace stores in
Indiana with 220 employees.

"I think he would be pretty amazed and pretty excited and proud that
it has lasted this long," said Diana Kabelin Corley, the fourth
generation of the Kabelin family involved with the stores. "And that
it started with just buying into Webber Hardware."

Corley said she started getting excited about the anniversary and the
history of the family business as she started working on the
anniversary celebration. "As we started to look through the old
pictures and put stuff together, it became a little more exciting. I
went, 'Wow, this is pretty neat.' "

Perhaps the most amazing thing is that the family has remained the
stores' owners all 100 years. And it's not just token ownership