Mahoning Valley Forum

Youngstown & The Mahoning Valley => North Side Youngstown => Topic started by: Towntalk on August 28, 2011, 04:30:30 PM

Title: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: Towntalk on August 28, 2011, 04:30:30 PM
This 1910 ad was for new homes in what is now the Wick Neighborhood area.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yyJIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F4EMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4763%2C6923858

Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: Youngstownshrimp on August 28, 2011, 04:36:03 PM
Nice picture, obviously before the entitled moved in.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 29, 2011, 01:49:09 AM
There WERE NO "entitled" in the Wick Park neighborhood in those days.. for SURE.   This was one of the wealthiest
neighborhoods in the entire city... and not just the Wick family either.  This was one of the neighborhoods you moved
to after you made your fortune - by working your a** off.

The 1907 Sanborn Fire Insurance maps show the area before the construction of Illinois and Indiana avenues, and
the extension of Bryson Street north of Madison (formerly called "Millicent Avenue" after Millicent Wick).  Wish there
were photos of more of these houses when they were new....

LOL

:)
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: Youngstownshrimp on August 29, 2011, 07:43:10 AM
Yes, now the entitled are being community organized to create more entitled.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 29, 2011, 05:06:42 PM
Ron -

PLEASE don't take offense to this - but aren't you a little bit off topic?  We were discussing an old newspaper article about the Wick Park
neighborhood circa 1910... what the heck does this have to do with "entitled" people in the year 2011? 


It's a discussion about history.. you have every right to voice your opinions on this forum.... and I have no issues with that at all... but could
you at least post messages like this on threads where they are related to the topic that was started by the poster?

Thanks buddy.....

:)
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: northside lurker on August 29, 2011, 08:08:31 PM
Allan, from my observations on this board, it seems that the "entitled" are defined as anyone who doesn't work in the private sector.  So, with that in mind, (and trying to stay on topic, a little) are you saying that no judges, councilmen, mayors, or other elected officials ever lived in this neighborhood?
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: Youngstownshrimp on August 29, 2011, 08:23:37 PM
Sorry people, got carried away.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 06:51:38 AM
I was speaking to the idea that the former Henry Kirtland Wick plat - was one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city at
the turn of the 20th century.  I'll post some of the homes I have photos of.. they were all built between 1907 and 1930 or so.

I had always wondered about the exact period in time when H.K.Wick (or his heirs) started platting out that large chunk of land east of
the park and around the Wick Log cabin that Charles Owsley designed for them - which is where present day Illinois Avenue is.  In the
attached clip from an old 1907 Sanborn map - you see the log cabin, and the un-divided platt of land around it.  So sometime between
1907 and 1910 is when Illinois ave, Indiana ave and the extension of Bryson street were laid in and the land platted out into home lots.

I really did not (and still don't) intend on getting into a discussion of what anyone's idea of an "entitled" person is...not the subject of
this thread at all...
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910 - Fred Orr residence
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 07:17:47 AM
Fredd Orr was in the funeral business.  He hired Charles Owsley to design this house at
Illinois Avenue after he became very successful in his skilled profession.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910 - Mason Wick residence
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 07:19:09 AM
I don't have any real biographical info on Mason Wick.  I think he was in the banking business...
this house is also on Illinois ave
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 07:21:00 AM
Doctor C.C   Booth was a company doctor and surgeon for Youngstown Sheet and Tube.
This house is  on Bryson Street between Indiana and Illinois Ave.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910 - Fitch residence
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 07:22:41 AM
This is the J. H. Fitch residence on Indiana avenue - now the infamous Y.S.U. fraternity
house where those people got shot... I'm sure Mr. Fitch is turning over in his grave over
what happened at his house...


Charles Owsley was the architect of this home, also.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910 - Arsoned Mansion on Illinois Ave
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 07:30:15 AM
This mansion is now gone...  it was arsoned a few summers ago.  Fortunately, I had the opportunity to
go through the place and photo-document the mansion before it was burned.  The sheer size of this
home and the elaborate floor plan inside speaks to the fact that whoever lived there was very, very
wealthy.

This former mansion has a twin sister just a few doors down the street - identical in almost every
detail from the outside, and most likely quite similar on the inside.  I hope someone buys the place
and does something with it before it meets the same fate as the mansion in this photo....
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910 the "Twin Sister" Mansion
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 08:27:40 AM
This mansion is No. 38 Illinois Ave - the "twin sister" to the one that got burned down...

No historical info on who lived there originally.  It was occupied until a couple years ago.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910 - 58 Illinois
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 08:39:07 AM
This house was vacant and boarded up when I first photographed it a few years ago.
Since then, someone bought the place, and did some rehab work on it and now it
is occupied again.

One small success story for the neighborhood...
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910 - No. 25 Indiana Ave
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 08:46:15 AM
This house was acquired by the N,S,C,C, and re-habbed a couple years ago.  They did a fantastic
job restoring the interior.  A very beautiful old home inside.  Wish I had some historical info on it.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910 - No. 124 Illinois
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 08:58:44 AM
This house was built ca. 1922 as far as I can tell.  it was originally the pastor's house for the Unitarian
Church and sits on a double lot right behind the church.  I bought this property a few years back and
have slowly been fixing it up.  I have already put a lot of time and money into the place, and there is
still lots more to do... it will come, in time.

The second floor apartment got a MAJOR renovation back in April of 2010... refinished hardwood floors,
updated bathroom, new walls and ceilings, insulation and some wiring updates.

You can see a slideshow of most of the work here:  http://allthingsyoungstown.net/124illinois/slide001.html
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: northside lurker on August 30, 2011, 01:06:36 PM
Quote from: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 06:51:38 AM
I really did not (and still don't) intend on getting into a discussion of what anyone's idea of an "entitled" person is...not the subject of
this thread at all...
We don't have a "thumbsup" smiley here.


I believe the "twin sister" house has been bought.  Also, the NSCC has slowly been finding new owners for their houses.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 01:40:32 PM
I had an email an email conversation with a friend of mine in Youngstown several days ago - almost ALL of the houses
that were owned by the coalition have now been sold to private owners.  This is great news for the neighborhood,
as people will be moving into these homes and fixing them up.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: Towntalk on August 30, 2011, 08:40:33 PM
Here is a 1909 picture of the Charles A. Owsley home. Sorry that its not perfect Allan but it is a newspaper photo from 1909 and the sizing restrictions here prevent a better quality.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: AllanY2525 on August 30, 2011, 11:33:08 PM
Here's a larger photo of the Owsley residence on Broadway Ave taken from "The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder" magazine


I have an article on my website that has this house and many other buildings he designed  - taken from this same magazine.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: northside lurker on August 31, 2011, 10:01:53 AM
Which houses were designed by Charles H. Owsley, and which by Charles F. Owsley? ;)  (I don't know if Charles F. Owsley did any of them, actually)
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: AllanY2525 on September 01, 2011, 05:36:52 PM
The pictures from the magazine article say below each photo - the house on Broadway was designed by both of them, for the elder Owsley's retirement home.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910 - Some info on Mason Wick
Post by: AllanY2525 on September 08, 2011, 03:18:38 AM
I was digging around the Vindy archives on Google News the other day and found out
a little bit about Mason Wick:

Apparently, he and some others were responsible for forming the "Log Cabin Land Co." and
platting out the remainder of the land around H.K. Wick's log cabin (on Illinois Ave) and selling
home lots - many of them with houses already built on them - between 1909 and 1912 or so.

He kept one lot for himself and built the residence you see pictured below on it.  From the
street, this house is turned sideways, and faces the Wick Log Cabin.
Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: Towntalk on September 08, 2011, 09:34:16 AM
Allan, not to change the subject very much since the Renner mansion is in the area under discussion, did you view the strange Renner ad that I posted under the heading "Strange Renner Ad Part 2" yesterday for your benefit? In checking Renner ads leading up to that ad and after I didn't find a repeat of the inclusion of "Budweiser Beer" in any of them which is why that ad is so strange.

Title: Re: Wick Neighborhood Area 1910
Post by: AllanY2525 on November 26, 2011, 09:54:32 AM
I found this real estate listing on a Historic Homes site, posted by a
member of the Northside Coalition:


Frank F. Lyons House
1010 Bryson St.

Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3.5
Square Feet: 2,380
Year Built:  1910

Architectural Style:
Eclectic Houses
(1880-1940)

1010 Bryson was built by Frank F. Lyons and Elizabeth Lyons, who lived there from 1910 until 1920. Lyons was president of the Lyons/Laerie Medical Supply Co. in Youngstown. The home was subsequently owned by Beecher P. Higby Sr., who had prominent Ford and Lincoln dealerships in Youngstown. The neighborhood is home to a number of significant civic, religious and cultural institutions: Stambaugh Auditorium, Rodef Sholom Temple, First Unitarian Church and Wick Park.

THe Lyons House is a two-story, Craftsman home on Youngstown's historic North Side. It's a contributing property in the Wick Park Historic District (National Register of Historic Places). The Lyons house has an open floor plan. A large living room spans the width of the house and has two sets of pocket doors in a French-door style. An elevated sitting area lies opposite the living room and has Spanish plaster, a red tile floor and fireplace. The second floor has four bedrooms and two full baths. The attic is finished and has a full bath. The house is constructed with Tapestry Brick, an art brick manufactured by Fiske and Co., Inc. of New York. The building's upper floor is stucco. The house has two large parapeted Flemish gables in a Spanish Mission style. Despite its architectural significance, 1010 Bryson has some challenges. The main roof needs to be replaced as does the roof on the front porch and garage. The house also needs restoration of some of its eaves. Despite these challenges, 1010 Bryson is a wonderful building and representative of the golden age of Youngstown. Large open rooms make it appropriate for a public function and upper floor bedrooms could serve as apartments.