Wanzer Block

Details
Name
Wanzer Block
Address
304 E State St Ithaca (as of 1899)
90 E State St Ithaca
Year Built
1888 (ca.)
Building Type
Commercial
Construction
4 story Brick structure with Brick lining.
Block Number
59
Annotations
1910 Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlas of Ithaca

"Gro."

Description


Media (Photos, Videos, Audio Recordings)
Wanzer Block
The middle section, 302 E State [Lehigh Valley Railroad] was built in 1905. The buildings to the left of 103 N Aurora St [Wanzer & Howell]: 105 and 107 N Aurora St had the same businesses from the photograph [Charles A Brown grocer-105  and Wheaton & Perry-107] in the 1907-08 city directory only.

Wanzer Block
The middle section, 302 E State [Lehigh Valley Railroad] was built in 1905. The buildings to the left of 103 N Aurora St [Wanzer & Howell]: 105 and 107 N Aurora St had the same businesses from the photograph [Charles A Brown grocer-105 and Wheaton & Perry-107] in the 1907-08 city directory only. ca. 1905-1908

Tax assessment photograph taken in 1954 for the purposes of government appraisal by Roy Wenzlick & Co.

Tax assessment photograph taken in 1954 for the purposes of government appraisal by Roy Wenzlick & Co. 1954

Tax assessment photograph taken in 1954 for the purposes of government appraisal by Roy Wenzlick & Co.

Tax assessment photograph taken in 1954 for the purposes of government appraisal by Roy Wenzlick & Co. 1954

Add Source/NarrativeSources & Narratives
101-103 North Aurora St. and 302-304 East State St. Historic name: Wanzer Block

"Four-story, buff brick commercial building at the comer of East State Street constructed in 1905 to join an earlier painted brick Aurora Street building (ca. 1865) and an earlier State Street buff brick building (1888) into a single building; retains three street-level storefronts with display windows, angled comer entrance, sidewalk access to commercial or storage space in the basement. 101 North Aurora Street retains period storefront, 302- 304 East State Street storefront redesigned in the early twentieth century, 103 North Aurora Street storefront replaced in the late twentieth century; roofline of all three buildings capped by stamped metal entablature with a garland swag frieze and a denticulated comice. The comer building retains a single angled bay with wide windows above the comer entrance; four bays on each flanking facade have rectangular windows with stone lintels and sills and historic one-over-one sash; the adjoining three-bay Aurora Street facade (originally a three- story, Italianate-style brick commercial building) retains windows with ornate cast iron segmentally arched window hoods and sills; historic two-over-two sash in the second and third stories; fourth-story windows retain stone sills; the adjoining brick State Street facade retains a two-story, three-sided frame bay windows projecting from the second and third stories and a row of five narrow, brick arched windows in the fourth story. Built 1905. 
Architect: Arthur N. Gibb 
Historical note: Arthur N. Gibb designed the comer building in 1905 to connect the Aurora Street building (ca. 1865) and the State Street building (1888), and added a unifying fourth story to the Aurora Street facade; the entablature of the State Street facade was reproduced to encompass the entire building. The Wanzer Block housed grocers. Head’s Camera Shop, and, briefly, the Lehigh Valley Railroad ticket office."

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Ithaca Downtown Historic District, December 18, 2004

Resident Household in 1880
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Olin L StewartM28HeadBottling Works
Resident Household in 1900
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Daniel H WanzerM63HeadRetired
Catherine H WanzerF63WifeNone
Resident Household in 1900
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Clarence F WyckoffM23HeadManufacturer Type Writers
Allen N DrakeM23PartnerSecretary Rt Booth Co
Resident Household in 1910
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Peter J HuntM42HeadPainter
Alice L HuntF39WifeStenographer
Resident Household in 1910
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
William L WoodM55HeadMusician
Resident Household in 1910
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Charles A CourtwrightM47HeadBaggage Man
Mary A CourtwrightF36WifeNone
John ReamerM40HeadLaundryman
Helen M ReamerF39WifeNone
Resident Household in 1910
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Mary E StilesF63HeadNone
Raymond StilesM23GrandsonNone
Marguerite StilesF20GranddaughterNone
Resident Household in 1920
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Fred C AikensteinM37HeadBarber
Lillian B AikensteinF35WifeHairdresser
Resident Household in 1920
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Sadie MerithewF43HeadLaundress
Marjorie F MerithewF21Adopted DaughterAssembler
Resident Household in 1920
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Frank R ConlinM57HeadStore Clerk
Carrie M ConlinF33WifeNone
Della SeeleyF18Sister-in-LawClerk
Resident Household in 1920
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Nellie M SouleF38HeadClerk
Genevive SouleF14DaughterNone
Esther L SouleF12DaughterNone
Resident Household in 1920
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Mary A PoorF59HeadNone
Leon C PoorM31SonBaker
Resident Household in 1930
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Henry JamesM35HeadHeat Treater
Ida L JamesF33WifeBookkeeper
Charles F JamesM14SonNone
Resident Household in 1930
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Louis SmithM53HeadCarpenter
Ethel SmithF35WifeStenographer
Resident Household in 1930
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Violet H CassF32HeadClerk
Alice M DaughertyF31SisterWaitress
Earl DaughertyM32Brother-in-LawPainter
Harry DaughertyM6NephewNone
Resident Household in 1930
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Herbert HowlandM41HeadCarpenter
Helen A HowlandF40WifeCashier
Resident Household in 1940
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Walton FisherM53HeadExperimentalist
Grace FisherF49WifeNone
Resident Household in 1940
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
John J CulpM61HeadSteward
Josephine CulpF57WifeNone
Resident Household in 1940
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Herbert HowlandM40HeadCarpenter
Nellie HowlandF40WifeBookkeeper
Resident Household in 1940
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Grace MartinF46HeadNurse Maid
Virginia L KimbleF19NieceSecretary and Bookkeeper
Resident Household in 1940
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Vera SpergerF48HeadOperator
Henrietta I MannF19LodgerSecretary
Resident Household in 1950
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Grace T FisherF59HeadNone
Catherine GriffithF15LodgerNone