In 1899, the building that now houses our bakery was owned by J.P. Montavon. Around 1907, the original bakery, known as Daylight Bakery, was founded by August Knockle, a German immigrant who brought his passion for baking to the community. He ran the bakery until 1927, when Barbour K. Counts purchased it and continued the business under the Daylight Bakery name. However, in 1941, the bakery officially became Counts Bakery, a name that many of our long-time customers fondly remember.
Barbour Counts ran the bakery until 1984, cementing its place as a beloved local institution. That year, after working at Counts Bakery for many years, Helen Singleton took over ownership and promptly changed the name to Helen’s Bakery. If you were brave enough to call it Counts Bakery, well, you’d soon hear Helen’s unmistakable voice yell at you from behind the counter. “It’s HELEN’S BAKERY!” she would say, making sure everyone in town knew she was the boss. Despite her feisty personality, the bakery’s delicious treats kept customers coming back for more—Helen’s cookies, cakes, and cinnamon rolls were simply too good to resist.
In 2019, after decades of preserving the legacy of Counts Bakery, Helen passed the torch to Kathy Allegra. Kathy, with her deep respect for the bakery’s rich history and her passion for continuing its success, took the business to new heights while staying true to the bakery’s roots.
Then, in December of 2022, by pure chance, Taylor walked into the bakery she had grown up loving. Kathy, who is a distant cousin of Taylor, jokingly asked, “You wouldn’t want to buy a bakery, would you?” Taylor immediately said, “No way!” Owning a bakery was nowhere on her radar at the time. Having started her own custom sugar cookie business in 2020, she was focused on that—owning a storefront was the last thing she wanted. However, she couldn’t shake the thought of it after leaving, and after much contemplation, she called Kathy. The rest, as they say, is history.
On April 9th, 2023, Taylor proudly became the new owner of Counts Bakery (even though everyone in town still calls it Counts, and she’s totally fine with that). Kathy graciously passed down all the cherished recipes from both Counts Bakery and Helen’s Bakery.
Taylor’s connection to the bakery goes way back. As a child, some of her fondest memories were walking over to Hermann’s Meat Market next door with her grandmother, then popping into Counts (which was Helen’s at the time, but to everyone in town, it would always be Counts) to grab her favorite sugar cookies. Her grandpa, Boone, was a regular too, stopping by almost every day for those delicious maple pull-apart cinnamon rolls—a memory she holds dear. In the early 2000s, Taylor’s mom owned a store across the street called “My Favorite Things,” and Taylor would often walk across the street to grab a cookie or treat from the bakery.
To see it all come full circle is amazing. Taylor never dreamed she would own a bakery, let alone the very one she grew up enjoying, right across from the store her mom once ran. Now, as the proud owner, Taylor is dedicated to continuing the bakery’s rich traditions and serving the community the same beloved recipes that have been passed down through the generations. She hopes to keep the tradition alive for many years to come.
