This Paducah baking tradition spans 5 generations, combining old-fashioned quality with a modern dream.

In 1873, a young Prussian immigrant, Franz Kirchhoff, embarked on a dream. He and his young bride, Hannah Baumer, opened Kirchhoff's Bakery in a small building in downtown Paducah.

In the beginning, bread and other products were baked in a wood-fired oven using Old World methods and proven family recipes.

In the early years, the family lived above the bakery. The customers were local residents and river boat travellers. At the sound of the steamboat whistle, day or night, Franz Kirchhoff was out the door and off to the Ohio River bank with his iron wheel cart. Eventually, Franz's son and grandson joined the family business.

Kirchhoff's Bakery prospered and was the leading regional bakery, supplying the daily bread for Paducah's tables through 1957.

In 1996, Louis Frank Kirchhoff, the great-grandson of Franz, reacquired the property on Market Square to follow his own dream. Kirchhoff's Bakery reopened for business in the fall of 1997 by the fifth generation of the family, Ginny Kirchhoff-Elmore.

Today's Kirchhoff's Bakery and Deli combines Old World recipes and quality ingredients to make fresh artisan breads, delectable pastries and fresh sandwiches, soups and salads.