By Norma Higgs
I received a call from friend Tweezer Brown and as we talked about last week’s story, he made me realize I should have gone down Main Street a little way, as there are interesting things to write about that section.
He was right, so this week we are going back to that corner to check out some history. At 635 Main Street, during 1956, Oscar Bell owned the building now known as Williamson Funeral Home and it was the Bell Funeral Home. Oscar and his wife Leuell lived upstairs. Next door at 639 Main is the First Unitarian Church and Carl Slenk had done some research on this structure and found an interesting quote as follows: “Work on the excavation for the new building was started on July 20, 1921, and proceeded with difficulty because it was solid rock. The rock, however, broken up into the proper sizes, on the recommendation of the (building) committee, served as the rubble exterior with which the outside of the building is faced.”
Carl and Liz Slenk operated the Manchester House Bed and Breakfast at 653 Main for many years and have since retired. They are great volunteers for various beautification projects and spent lots of hours painting the fence along Whirlpool Street last summer and fall. They always sign up for the Beautify Niagara citywide cleanup, which I will be writing about soon as it is scheduled for April 24. Dr. Irwin Walker lived in their house in 1956 and owned several properties behind it on Sixth Street during this period.
The next building at 659 Main owned by Wright and Kremers, Contractors, occupied the entire southeast corner at Main and Pine. Stine’s Drug Store was a major tenant and James Hill was the manager here. His wife Amy operated the Stine’s corset shop around the corner on Pine in the same building. A prominent dentist, Archie Butler had offices here but the best-known occupant had to be Frank P. Johnson who ran a grocery business at this location and also had a liquor store at 529 Third. Johnson delivered to just about everyone in the Lewiston Heights area and the Jefferson Apartments. Grocery orders were taken by telephone and he offered same day delivery service, which was very popular and lucrative for him. He lived nearby at 722 Cedar Ave.
John Whalen had a small confectionery store at 669 Main and Tweezer recalled he had a large stock of greeting cards in his store. He sold sandwiches and some other lunch items but did no cooking. In 1959, Albert D’Amico took over the business and it later became the Page Boy Luncheonette in 1963, operated by Mrs. Dorothy Page. She apparently did not stay long as in 1964. Caroline DeSantis and Mary Aquino were next and the business was the Main-Pine Coffee Shop for several years with full service. Wright and Kremers used the entire second floor for their office location, housing drafting and bookkeeping employees as well as the managing partners. They also owned other properties across Pine Avenue.
Brown’s Service Station was across the street at 701 Main and Tweezer was there for 40 years. Norman Hays and Edward Hammer, Optometrists occupied 717 Main and the Ann Hall Gift Shop was at 719.
Wolfe Tire Service, located across from Brown’s at 718 Main, was very successful according to Tweezer. This business also had a gasoline service island and was owned by Alton Wolfe who lived in St. Petersburg, Fla. On the same corner was the Firestone Store. An automobile accessory business, the store also sold many miscellaneous household items. Roger McKain was the store manager at this time.
Further north at 730 Main was the medical office of Dr. Morley Bernstein and the law office of Hovey and Kushner. Carl Slenk found some interesting items on this building. Built in 1902 by Frederick J. Lovelace, a prominent lawyer, it was purchased by Paul Schoellkopf in 1915 and occupied by his family until 1949. This house was located next to the larger home of his father, Arthur Schoellkopf (the site occupied by Wolfe Tire and the Firestone Store mentioned above) and currently a gas station and car wash. Paul, along with Arthur and Jacob were leaders in developing Niagara’s Hydroelectric power. Like many other historic houses in town, an addition was added in the front turning this residence into an office building. Kushner and Kushner, PC, Roscetti and DeCastro, PC and Attorney, Anthony Parone currently occupy it.
I will end this tour with information I found in Carl Slenk’s writings of two other places of interest on this block. James Davy, who owned Davy Pulp and Paper Company, built at 742 Main in 1893, now occupied by Hooper Realty, Inc. Essentially the Queen Anne style exterior is as it was originally constructed. Further north at 770 Main, the original house is well-hidden by the “modern” glass front office addition. Built in 1892 by Frank E. Johnson, it was occupied by the William Gassler family in the early 1900s. They operated Gassler’s Bakery on the corner of Main and Niagara streets and donated a stained glass window in the First Presbyterian Church.
We are fortunate to have a few of these historic buildings remaining and it is interesting to learn about their early occupants.
