Mahoning Valley Forum

The Federal Building, 100 West Federal Street, is up for auction on Tuesday, October 20.



This sign is in the front window.  The website address did not work for me.  Notice the "Buy It Now" price at the bottom of the sign.

That building is as old as the Wick Building. I have photos of it that date back to the early 1900's. It might even go back further.

Quote from: Towntalk on September 25, 2009, 09:34:13 AM
That building is as old as the Wick Building. I have photos of it that date back to the early 1900's. It might even go back further.

I think it is older.  This building and the Wick Building were designed by the same Chicago architect, Daniel Burnham.

In looking through my collection of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, the first reference I could find for the Federal Building was in the 1907 map. Do you have any further information as to the date? The 1896 map shows a long building that looks like the 1907 image, but is not named.

The auditor's site lists the Federal Building as being built in 1902, and the Wick Building in 1910.

But, the auditor's site also lists the Wick Log Cabin on the north side as being built in 1900.  And, I was under the impression that that structure was one of the first to be built in the area.  So, take the dates (when they go back that far) with a grain of salt.

The 1902 date sounds about right because it would match photos in my collection that are from the turn of the century.

Frankle Brothers Cigar Store in one photo occupied the store front on the corner of West Federal and North Phelips. They later moved to a store front on North Phelps, and unless I'm mistaken that store front is now occupied by Pig Iron Press. (I could be mistaken, but it was in that area.)

Here is the picture. Note the other buildings.

Not knowing much about 1900 Youngstown, I did see some interesting pictures today. If you get a chance to stop at the surgical center at Southwoods in Boardman there is an entire wall of poster size pictures from the early 1900's through 1960's of Downtown Youngstown, Mill creek and Idora.

The wall is in the cafe area.

Found this on eBay. Note the date 190-.

Frankle Brothers was founded in 1884 so if that building was the origional site that would help date the Federal Building.

Here are some notes I was given from a downtown walking tour by Donna DeBlasio:

Quote
The Federal Building is notable for several reasons: it was designed by Daniel H. Burnham, it is Youngstown's first sky scraper, and it housed the first offices of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company.  Built between 1898-1899, the four story building exhibits elements of both the Neo-Classical Revival and Commercial styles.

Not to be disagreeable, but there were other buildings downtown that were as tall ... The Tod House Hotel ... The first Mahoning Bank Building ... The Andrews Hitchcock Building ... The Second National Bank Building ... all on Central Square prior to 1889 and the Mahoning County Court House (Wood and Wick).

Ewers Department Store was also there. This building was purchased by the Stambaughs who added several floors. Looking at the building today you can still see the added floors.

I'll go through my photo library and if the pictures aren't already up on my Webshots site, I'll add them.

She might have been referring to the building's construction.  I don't know if it is, or not, but maybe the Federal Building was the city's first relatively tall building constructed with a steel frame? (church steeples can be very tall, but churches are never considered skyscrapers, for example)

Westsider:

Here's the link to the album I referred to:

http://community.webshots.com/album/574808214TkGuDr?vhost=community

Note: The Commercial Hotel was located on the west side of Wick Avenue between Commerce and Wood Street.

Thanks for the pictures.  I really like many of the buildings downtown, but I sometimes wish that more of the buildings from this previous "generation," like those in your pictures, were still around.

And yes, by "skyscraper," I'm almost sure that the structure of the building is what makes the difference.  The buildings in the pictures you posted may have been taller, but they were almost certainly masonry structures.

Again I might be wrong, but I think that the Davis building, Wick Building, and the Federal Building are the last of the truely old downtown buildings prior to 1900.

I'm not sure about the Stambaugh Building. I do know that prior to being an office building it was a department store ... Ewers. They later moved up to West Federal Street, but do not know when the building was built. Prior to its construction, the Park Hotel was located on the site.

The Second National Bank was torn down to make way for the Palace Theater in  about 1927.

The website address in the sign now works, if anyone is intersted.  Through that link, you can see many pictures, and schematic floor plans.

Unfortunately, much of (but not all) of the historic character this building might have had appears to be gone or covered.  There's cheap wood panelling and dropped ceilings everywhere.  But it still looks like a good deal for $150,000.

On a local radio talk show this morning, a man from Art Youngstown said his group is trying to raise the money to buy the Federal Building.

I've heard that too.

I don't know what they have in mind, but I think it would be great if they could set up artists' lofts and let the resident artists use some of the storefronts.

I would love to see the web site, if someone could please post it here on the forum...
as I am an avid fan of antique homes and buildings...

Jay,

Thanks for posting the link to the website.  I wish they had larger photos,
and more of them... looks like there are some great architectural features left
in the interior of the building.... but no telling what else might still be there,
mainly because of the drop ceilings, etc.

The other thing that I wonder about is: WHY is the owner letting the place go so
cheap?  This is a LOT of building for $150K.

I wonder if any prospective buyers have brought in a building inspector to check
the place out?

Walking by at noon, I saw that this building has already been sold.

Let us know who bought the building.

Three men from Niles, Ohio, bought the Federal Building.  The story is on the front page of the Wednesday, October 21 newspaper.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/oct/21/federal-building-sells-150000/