Wilgus Block / Rothschild Brothers Department Store

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Details
Name
Wilgus Block / Rothschild Brothers Department Store
Address
155-159 E State St Ithaca (as of 1899)
55-59 E State St Ithaca
Year Built
1868
Demolished
1975
Building Type
Commercial
Construction
not specified
Description
The Wilgus Block was built in 1868 and encompassed buildings at 155 E State St, 157 E State St, and 159 E State St. It was initially home to Marsh & Hall Dry Goods (dry goods, groceries, crockery, and carpets) and GW Melotte Dentist circa 1878, and from 1889 to 1975 Rothschild's Department Store. The 3rd and 4th floors housed the Wilgus Opera House and Ithaca Conservatory of Music (later Ithaca College) from 1894-1911. The Wilgus Block was demolished in 1975 and, along with several other buildings, replaced by Center Ithaca in 1980.

Rothschild Brothers began in 1882 as the Boston Variety Store at 224 E State St. In 1889 Rothschild Bros dry goods and variety store moved to the Wilgus Block where it was located until 1975 when it moved to its new building at 215 E State St.
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Marsh & Hall Dry Goods Co and GW Melotte Dentist 57-59 E State St. Later Rothschild Bros Department Store.

Marsh & Hall Dry Goods Co and GW Melotte Dentist 57-59 E State St. Later Rothschild Bros Department Store. 1879

Rothschild Bros Department Store, Ithaca Conservatory of Music (2nd floor)

Rothschild Bros Department Store, Ithaca Conservatory of Music (2nd floor)

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
Rothschild Bros, Department Store-155-159 E State St

Ithaca, NY

Rothschild Building-155-159 E State St 
Rothschild Bros (Jacob, Isaac and Daniel), Department Store
Business Men's Association, Henry A Winton Agent
Christian Science Reading Room
Ithaca Conservatory of Music
Dr Martin B Tinker, Surgeon
John M Wilgus, Architect

Norton Printing Co, Ithaca, NY

Rothschild Building-155-159 E State St 
Rothschild Bros, Department Store

Norton Printing Co, Ithaca, NY

Rothschild Building-155-159 E State St  
Rothschild Bros., Department Store

H. A. Manning Co, Schenectady, NY

Rothschild Building-155-159 E State St 
Rothschild Bros', Dept Store

H. A. Manning Co, Schenectady, NY

Rothschild Building-153-159 E State St 
Rothschild Bros' Dept Store

H. A. Manning Co, Schenectady, NY

 “Demolition of the old Rothschild’s department store began this morning, while 40 paces away the new store is nearing completion on schedule. The old store first opened its doors in 1889. It will remain in business until Friday, Aug. 15, when it will close for the big move down the State Street mall…The escalators—Ithaca’s first, and the only ones for miles around, are tested and ready to roll…The new store has been in the planning for nearly four years. Rothschild said costs will total more than $3 million, nearly three-fourths of that amount spent on the building and the rest on interior work and new selling fixtures…. 
  Rothschild said his new 80,000-square-foot building has 55,000 square feet of selling space—slightly more, on only two floors, than the 45,000 [square feet] his old store had on five…. 
  Architect of the building, chosen by the state’s Urban Development Corp., is the firm Warner, Burns, Toan and Lunde, and interiors are by Christopher and Gilbert, a New York City firm that has done considerable store design….The store’s construction is being financed through $2.5 million worth of bonds, issued by the Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency.” 

“Down Tumbles the Old, Up with New Rothschild’s,” Ithaca Journal, August 5, 1975, 3.

Resident Household in 1880
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Anna M PhillipsF22HeadDress Making
John L DoyleM19BlankClerking
Frank EschenburgM22BlankBarber
Philip MillerM24BlankBarber
Joseph GrimmerM23BlankBarber