January 7, 2020 – listed with freebridgerealty.com, 4 new condos are a magnificent re-use of Easton’s old Granary building.
521 n. 13th St. Easton PA 18042
Easton Granary Condos were listed for sale, Jan. 2020 with freebridgerealty.com Boutique Brokerage.
1.15.2020 MCall article on Easton Granary Condos
1.8.2020 LehighValleyLive article on Easton Granary Condos
2.10.2020 Unique Condos fly off the shelf, LehighValleyLive article
WFMZ visits, to check out what all the fuss is about… 2.13.2020
With Richard Hope’s permission (eastonhistory.com), here is his research on 521 13th St. Easton: Thank you Mr. Hope!
The Granary was built before 1904, and used by Frank C. Williams as a warehouse and rail depot for his flour milling operations along the Bushkill creek. The property is located on North 13th Street on the South side of the Bushkill, across the stream from the Simon Silk Mills.i “The grain warehouse is one of Easton’s last remaining historic buildings with an untouched interior”,ii a rare remnant of Easton’s past as a major grain and produce center. The architectural features of this warehouse include heavy-timber columns and beams, brick walls a foot-and-a-half thick, and gable beam & doors for lifting goods from the street to each floor. The building also includes a roof monitor (cupola) for ventilation and light, and did include a steam-powered central elevator shaft.iii The old attached shed/loading dock has now (in 2015) been removed.
- Between The Granary and the Bushkill is the parking lot currently associated with the entry from North 13th Street to the Bushkill Creek Trail – part of the Karl Stirner Arts Trail walkway along the creek.
The Granary’s piece of property appears to have been part of a tract of more than 106 acres of land amassed on both sides of the Bushkill creek by Daniel Wagener. Wagener (1766 – 1842), as a boy, had joined his father (early settler and mill owner David Wagener) in Easton in 1777.iv When he was only 19 years old, he had rented and run one of his father’s mills.v He subsequently built and ran a number of other mills along the creek.vi When he died in 1842, he left a “Merchant Mill” and houses, as well as this acreage, to his daughter, Susannah Burke, in a trust separate from the debts of her husband,vii Easton merchant (and 1825 Chief Burgess) Joseph Burke. The trust specified that after her death, the properties would be sold, and the proceeds split up among the “heirs of her body”.viii
- A mill known as the Burke Flour Mill on the North bank of the Bushkill operated below the bluff where “Lynn’s Garage and Pat’s Brake Service Inc.” are now located. It continued to stand there until at least 1914, but has now been reduced to nothing more than foundation ruins and a mill dam in the creek, which still provides a swimming hole for Easton boys.ix
Susannah Burke died in 1858.x The mill on the North bank (with about 10 acres of land) was sold outside the family,xi but the remaining property (over 106 acres) was sold to David D. Wagener and James McKeen in 1859 for $9,400 and five cents.xii (David D. Wagener was one of Daniel Wagener’s two sonsxiii – i.e., Susannah Burke’s brother). Unfortunately, David D. Wagener died the following year, so in 1861 his estate sold his half interest in the property to his co-owner, James McKeen.xiv
Early maps of Easton do not show The Granary or any predecessor building. A small structure, possibly a shed, appeared in a map dated 1857, but (unlike The Granary) it was set back from 13th Street. It stood between the Bushkill and the next street just to the South of that creek, which was identified as “Madison Street”, then a part of the regular Easton rectangular street grid.xv Madison Street itself no longer exists at this location; it has been replaced by the Arts Trail. At all events, the shed was gone (or deemed not worth mapping) from an 1860 Easton map.xvi
An 1874 Atlas of Northampton County did not depict individual buildings in this location, but it did depict “Madison Street” adjoining 13th Street just South of the Bushkill. The next named street to the South of the Bushkill was Chidsey Street (obviously named for the influential Chidsey family of Easton,xvii and still in existence, running next to the North side of Route 22 today). In 1874, an unnamed alleyway was shown between Madison and Chidsey Streets. The present location of The Granary would have been along North 13th Street next to the unnamed alleyway shown in the 1874 map.xviii
1874 Atlas Excerpt
Meanwhile, the property where The Granary would be located changed hands during the intervening period. In 1869, James McKeen (then identified as a “Lumber Merchant”) sold more than 55 acres of this tract lying (in part) from “the middle of the Bushkill creek” and running “along [the] public road”. The purchaser was butcher Andrew Herster.xix Andrew Herster died in 1882, leaving much of his property by will to his son, Andrew J. Herster.xx However, it appears that he had already conveyed this particular tract of land to his son ten years before his death, in 1872.xxi
- By way of background, the Herster Family had long been involved in the area on the other (West) side of 13th Street, where a complex of mill races fed mills constructed as early as 1791.xxii John Herster, a wealthy Easton merchant with prior experience in the milling business in downtown Easton,xxiii had intervened to save this mill financially in 1806, when the mill owner (John Barnet, one of Herster’s in-laws) had run into difficulties.xxiv In 1826, John Herster built his own stone Herster Flourmill a little farther West,xxv which he also operated as a distillery.xxvi Because byproducts of distilleries were typically used as feed for pigs and cattle,xxvii the hogs maintained from these mills and distillery operations (particularly from the Barnet-Herster property just West of 13th Street) gave the area its popular name of “Hogtown”. The bridge over the Bushkill at 13th Street came to be known as the “Hogtown Bridge”, and what is now Wood Street running West of 13th Street was popularly called “Hogtown Road”.xxviii
- Accordingly, the subject of this article has also been called the “Hogtown building”.xxix This name is plausible, but misleading, because this actual building came into existence much later than the era of the hog pens that gave the area its name, and is located on the other side of the Bushkill from those operations. The “Hogtown” name should perhaps be better reserved for one of the older buildings in the milling complexes on the West side of 13th Street – complexes that were actually part of the distillery operations when the name “Hogtown” was current.
- Although the regional distillery business was made unprofitable by government taxation in the wake of the Civil War,xxx milling operations in the area were given a new (if precarious) economic future under new management, by grinding local minerals for paint, as well as grinding grain from local farms.xxxi
- Andrew Herster’s father, Daniel Herster, was a brother of merchant-miller John Herster. Andrew Herster’s son, Andrew J. Herster, was thus a grand-nephew.xxxii
In 1890, the Easton and Northern Railroad opened its line along the Bushkill from Easton to Nazareth. xxxiii That Railroad was later acquired by the Lehigh Valley Railroad.xxxiv Just at 13th Street, this Railroad line ran along the South bank of the Bushkill, apparently having taken over the strip of land that had been shown as Madison Street in the earlier maps.
On 1 November 1890, Andrew J. Herster and his wife sold over 76 acres of land, running some 596 feet along North 13th Street from the Easton and Northern Railroad right-of-way all the way down to Wood Street. The buyers were William J. Daub and Jacob Raub.xxxv It appears that Daub purchased this tract as part of his effort to develop the Easton Heights area as a residential section of town.xxxvi In 1898, Raub sold Daub his half-interest in 13 tracts carved out of this parcel.xxxvii
- Aside from such real estate deals, William J. Daub’s primary occupation in the 1880s and until 1913 was his operation of the W.J. Daub furniture store, at 403-05 Northampton Street.xxxviii Daub had been 4 years old when his family brought him to America from Germany, and his early training was as a carpenter. However, he first went into business with his brother, Theodore, as a grocer in Easton at 3rd and Ferry Street. He also served in the Union Army from February through December, 1865. He then opened his own furniture store in 1877 at 524 Northampton Street, moving it two years later (in 1879) to 403 Northampton Street. In 1891, he replaced the building at that location with the 6-story structure that still stands there.xxxix Daub’s running advertisement in the 1894 City Directory featuring a drawing of the building, which confirms that it is the same one that still stands at that location today.xl In fact, even today (in 2015), a large painted inscription reading “W.J. Daub & Son” can still be seen at the top of the building, facing East.
- W.J. Daub’s furniture store left its 403 Northampton Street address for a new location at 363 Northampton Streetxli in approximately 1901.xlii He retired from the furniture business on 1 April 1913, and thereafter became President of the Hawley Down Daub Draft Furnace Company. He was also actively involved with the Easton Board of Trade to attract new businesses to the City.xliii
In 1898, three months after acquiring Raub’s half-interest, William Daub carved out and sold a small parcel of land for $600 to C.K. Williams. This parcel extended 51 feet South along 13th Street from the Railroad right-of-way, ending at the corner of North 13th Street and “Cypress Street”.xliv “Cypress Street” was the name assigned to the alleyway shown between Madison and Chidsey Streets in the 1874 Atlas Map.xlv This parcel was, therefore, the one where The Granary stands today (see below).
In 1901, C.K. Williams sold this parcel – described only as a “lot or piece of ground” without specifying any building located on it – to Frank C. Williams, for $600.xlvi This is the same price that C.K. Williams had paid for the parcel three years previously (see above). This identical price suggests that C.K. Williams had not improved the land by adding any buildings during his tenure. Thus, any building added was probably the work Frank C. Williams.
F.C. (Frank) Williams was a member of the C.K. Williams Family that had taken over the milling operations just West of 13th Street at the end of the 19th Century. C.K. Williams’s father, Joseph T. Williams, had purchased these mills (including a “Grist Mill, Paint Mill, Oil Mill,” and other buildings) in 1878.xlvii The firm he founded there became much better known in the hands of Joseph’s son, Charles Kaufmann (“C.K.”) Williams, mostly for its paint/color additives.xlviii The family continued to mill grain as well, for a time. In 1885 Joseph “surrendered” management of the flour mill to C.K.’s older brother, Frank C. Williams, who had also moved to Easton.xlix Under Frank’s management, the family flour mill installed a “roller flour plant” to produce “Williams’ Granulated Patent” flour, at its location adjoining the family’s Lehicton Paint Mills.l An 1885 Sanborn fire map shows this flour mill on the main mill race (colloquially known as the “Little Deepie”) that ran next to the West side of 13th Street, a little North of the Bushkill bridge.li
The Lehicton Flour Mill became “one of the largest flour milling businesses in the city”.lii It was “noted for the excellency of its product”.liii A Sanborn fire map of 1897 confirms the location of Frank Williams’s mill on the Bushkill’s left bank mill race, fronting on the West side of 13th Street itself.liv
Easton’s 1904 Sanborn fire map is the first map found to date, that actually showed The Granary building standing South of the Bushkill.lv This 1904 map confirmed The Granary’s identification as the “F.C. Williams Hay & Feed W. Ho” (Warehouse). The Railroad track of the Easton & Northern Railroad (“E. & N. R. R.”) was shown lying between The Granary and the creek, crossing North 13th Street and continuing beyond it. A parallel spur of the railroad line is shown running to, and ending at, The Granary at 13th Street, while a “Depot” was located between the two rail lines. No cross streets were shown in this map, although a notation indicates that Madison Street was “not opened”.lvi This map suggests that C.K Williams had purchased the property to facilitate his access to the Railroad (including the Depot), and that C.K., or more likely his brother Frank, had built The Granary and the railroad spur leading to it for the grain and flour operation.
Excerpt from 1904 Sanborn Fire Map (The Granary building in pink)
Frank C. Williams’s flour mill largely distributed its product in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. During World War I, “the flour was taken by the government for export.”lvii
Frank C. Williams and his wife, Martha, established their residence nearby at the corner of 13th and Spring Garden Streets, naming their house “Margawilla”.lviii It was considered “one of the best specimens of Colonial architecture”, and was furnished “exclusively with Colonial period furniture”.lix
Frank Conrad Williamslx
Joseph Williams died in 1906, leaving his son Frank as the executor of his estate.lxi Company interests were inherited by various members of his family, including appointments to various company offices (Frank became a Vice President). However, son C.K. Williams was principally responsible for the important mineral paint milling operation. He changed the company name to C.K. Williams & Company, and became the President, Treasurer, and General Manager.lxii This company promptly bought out C.K.’s siblings’ interests in the company’s land,lxiii and C.K. himself later bought out their company share interests as well, to become the sole owner of the firm.lxiv
Excerpt from 1919 Sanborn Fire Map (The Granary bldg. in pink) – photo coming soon…
The 1919 Sanborn fire map shows The Granary in more detail – except by now the railroad is identified as being part of the Lehigh Valley Railroad line. The Granary building was again identified as the “F.C. Williams Ware Ho.”, used for storage of flour and feed. It was unheated, but had electrical lights and (importantly to the fire insurance company!) chemical fire extinguishers.lxv This map tends to confirm the identification of “Cypress Street” with the alleyway of 1879, because the next (much larger) street to the South is shown as “Chissey Street”, an obvious misspelling of the “Chidsey Street” shown in the 1874 Atlas map.
The construction date of 1920 proposed for The Granary buildinglxvi is evidently in error, based upon these prior map notations.
Frank C. Williams died in 1927, at age 66, after a long illness. (His wife, Martha, had at that time also been an invalid for the previous nine years.)lxvii He was buried in Easton Cemetery.lxviii His widow and daughter inherited this property from him, and sold it to a family corporation named Frank C. Williams, Inc.lxix It was resold the following year to Frank’s brother, Charles K. Williams,lxx who promptly transferred title to the property into his own firm, C.K. Williams & Company.lxxi
The Granary building was listed as vacant in 1930.lxxii Its address was no longer carried in the City’s street directory after the mid-1930s.lxxiii Title to the property was carried by C.K. Williams and Companylxxiv until the 1962, when it became a subsidiary of Chas. Pfizer and Co.,lxxv and then merged into that firm in 1963. The Pfizer firm (later renamed Pfizer Inc.) retained the property until 1991, when it was sold together with the adjacent one along North 13th Street between Cypress and Chidsey Streets to James and Helen Garofalo and Helen Beth Garofalo Vilcek for $25,000.lxxvi James Garofalo, of Mount Bethel, was the owner of Garofalo Realty, and in 2003 was elected the President of the Board of Directors of Merchants National Bank Corp.lxxvii
In 2005, The Granary property was one of four seized in eminent domain by the Redevelopment Authority of Easton, Pennsylvania. Also included were the Garofalo parcel which had run between Chidsey and Cypress Streets), and two additional parcels constituting the former Herman Simon “Easton Silk Mill” property along North 13th Street and Bushkill Drive.lxxviii This was part of a government-sponsored effort to reclaim the old Easton Silk Mill facility, which boasted in 2009 of obtaining “close to $4.5 million in total grant money” from the federal, state and local governments.lxxix The final study for developing this project overall, issued in 2010, proposed that The Granary be included generally as a “stand-alone restaurant”.lxxx
In 2011, the 2.5 mile “Karl Stirner Arts Trail” was opened on the South side of the Bushkill, which provides a walkway and biking connection between The Granary and Silk Mill properties at 13th Street with North 3rd Street in downtown Easton. Named for Easton sculptor and art community leader Karl Stirner, the trail features space for sculptures and historical markers alongside the pathway.lxxxi
In 2013, the Redevelopment Authority of Easton, Pennsylvania (“the City”) requested proposals to develop The Granary property. The City opened negotiations with a residential developer in July, around a proposal which (among other things) promised to preserve the building’s historical architectural elements. A sale was agreed, to be settled early in 2015, with a contract sale price for the property of $1,000, plus a promise to deploy some $400,000 (via equity or financing) into the project. The City, for its part, was to install water and sewer lines to the building, and pave the parking lot.lxxxii In September 2014, the Redevelopment Authority registered a new deed to consolidate The Granary property with land obtained when Cypress Street had been closed in 1955.lxxxiii
- Historic preservation consultant Peter Junker had been associated with a proposal to use The Granary for a restaurant – a proposal that was not pursued by the City.lxxxiv In October 2014, he issued an adaptive-reuse proposal, to turn the property into a restaurant, rather than have it used for residential apartments. Junker proposed a craft theme restaurant, which would feature the interior brick and timber construction of The Granary, and to expose guests to a four-story vista of the grain shaft to the cupola atop the building. A 2½ story Great Hall was to be created by removing third story and attic flooring. This dining hall would receive daylight from the cupola and some 46 original windows, while a terrace overlooking the Bushkill would also be available.lxxxv At night, the cupola would effectively become “a lighthouse sending out beams of light to attract motorists on Route 22.”lxxxvi The City’s Director remained opposed to this revised suggestion, and continued to support the apartment developer’s proposal.lxxxvii Junker’s later attempt to buy out the apartment developer was also unsuccessful.lxxxviii
In early 2015, the apartment developer, B2 Ventures of Bethlehem (owned by Borko Milosev), closed the sale of The Granary through an entity known as 521 Thirteenth, LLC, and confirmed its intention to develop the building into apartments.lxxxix Meanwhile, even in its dilapidated state, the old building exerts a certain charm. Among other things, it has been observed in use recently as the backdrop for family photographs of the children, perched on an entryway ledge and looking very cute. It will be interesting to see what the future holds in store for this charming relict of Easton’s milling history.
i See Spillman Farmer Architects, Silk: A Creative Community, Easton, PA Part 2, p.2 (The Redevelopment Authority of Easton, PA 2010), available for download at http://www.easton-pa.gov/ced/silkmillfinalreport.pdf (map, Building “S”); see also Peter Junker, The Granary: a Restaurant in Easton, PA unnumbered p.5 (27 Oct. 2014).
ii Peter Junker, The Granary: a Restaurant in Easton, PA unnumbered p.1 (27 Oct. 2014).
iii Email Attachment, Peter Junker to Richard Hope (31 Dec. 2014); see Peter Junker, The Granary: a Restaurant in Easton, PA unnumbered p.4 (27 Oct. 2014).
iv F.A. Davis (ed.), Capt. F. Ellis (Historian), History of Northampton County 266 (Peter Fritts 1877, reprint by Higginson Book Company); see Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 73-74 & n.247 (Lulu Press 1st ed. 2012).
v Davis & Ellis, History of Northampton County, supra at 163.
vi Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 73-76 (Lulu Press 1st ed. 2012)(and sources cited therein).
vii Will of Daniel Wagener, Orphan’s Court Will Book 6 151 (15 Dec. 1838, proved Northampton County 9 June 1842)(Paragraph “2d”)(a total of about 112 acres); see Deed, John J. Burke, Trustee for the Heirs of Susannah Burke, to Levi N. Starner/Sterner, A10 255 (1 Apr. 1859)(sale of mill property with 10 A & 15 perches of land; & recitals); Deed, John J. Burke, Trustee for the Heirs of Susannah Burke, to James McKeen and David D. Wagener, H9 411 (1 June 1859)(sale of 106A & 131 perches of land). The Orphan’s Court Will File No.5166 was missing from the records of the County when those records were microfilmed.
viii See Article, “Chief Executives of Easton Since 1789”, Easton Express, Sun., 12 June 1937, Jubilee Section A, p.5, cols.1-2.
ix Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 106—16 (Lulu Press 1st ed. 2012)(and sources cited therein); Setter by Samuel Trumbore, “The Bushkill Creek and Its Mills Since 1839”, Easton Daily Free Press, Tues., 18 Aug. 1914, p.7, col.5; Thomas G. Iacone, “Remembering the Old Swimming Hole(s)’, Morning Call, Sun., 22 Mar. 1992, p.M-3.
x Henry F. Marx (compiler), I Marriages and Deaths Northanmpton County 1852 – 1870 Newspaper Extracts 125 (Easton Area Public Library 1934)(Susan Burke, widow of Joseph Burke, died 18 June 1858).
xi Deed, John J. Burke, Trustee for the Heirs of Susannah Burke, to Levi N. Starner/Sterner, A10 255 (1 Apr. 1859)(sale of mill property with 10 A & 15 perches of land).
xii Deed, John J. Burke, Trustee for the Heirs of Susannah Burke, to James McKeen and David D. Wagener, H9 411 (1 June 1859)(sale price $9,400.05 for 106A & 131 perches of land). The detailed measurements of the tract used markers such as stones and posts in the ground, as well as “a Hickory” and “a White Walnut” trees, which may be difficulty to interpret at the present day.
xiii F.A. Davis (ed.), Capt. F. Ellis (Historian), History of Northampton County 266 (Peter Fritts 1877, reprint by Higginson Book Company); accord, John Eyerman, The Ancestors of Marguerite Eyerman: A Study in Genealogy 24 (Easton: Free Press Book and Job Print 1898).
xiv Deed, John O. Wagener, et al., Executors of the Will of David D. Wagener, to James McKeen, C10 536 (1 Apr. 1861)(sale price $4,700 for half interest in the property acquired from the heirs of Susannah Burke).
xv Thomas A. Hurley (Civil Engineer), Map of Easton (1857)(framed copy on wall of Marx Room, Easton Area Public Library). This location to the North of Madison Street is also inconsistent with the location of The Granary, which (by contrast) was built just North of Cypress Street and would have been South of Madison Street (see discussion below).
xvi G.M. Hopkins Jr., Map of Northampton County Pennsylvania inset, upper left corner (Smith, Gallup & Co. Publishers 1860)(framed copy on wall of Marx Room, Easton Area Public Library).
xvii See, e.g., www.WalkingEaston.com entry for Chidsey/Osterstock Parking Lot (212-20 Northampton Street).
xviii See D.G. Beers, Atlas of Northampton County Pennsylvania 31 (A. Pomeroy & Co. 1874, reprinted by Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society 1990).
xix James McKeen to Andrew Herster, F12 105 (1 Apr. 1869)(sale price $6,994.53 for tract of land measuring 55A & 153 perches).
xx Will of Andrew Herster, Orphan’s Court Will Book 10 63 (dated 13 June 1874, proved 3 June 1882)(see Tract No.9).
xxi Deed, Andrew Herster to Andrew Jackson [J.] Herster, C17 259 (25 May 1872)(ten tracts conveyed to son on consideration of $1 plus “natural love and affection”). Tract No.10 is the one of 55 acres & 153 perches, now described as being “bounded by the Easton Cemetery[,] Bushkill Creek[,] Arndt’s Road[,] Jacob Morris’ land and other lands of the said Andrew Herster”. The other parcels do not appear to be bounded by the Bushkill creek, suggesting that the Granary parcel is a small part of this one. However, property descriptions are sufficiently inexact so that the matter is now completely free from doubt, at least for this author.
xxii Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 125-26 (Lulu Press 1st ed. 2012); Deed, Henry (Susannah) Barnet to John Barnet, F1 736 (20 Dec. 1791)(sale of land where John had recently built a gristmill, together with each party’s agreement to pay half the expenses of maintaining the dam and mill race).
xxiii Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 13, 15-17, 138 (Lulu Press 1st ed. 2012); see also www.WalkingEaston.com entry for Tindall House, formerly John Herster Homestead at 5 Centre Square (and sources cited therein).
xxiv Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 131 (Lulu Press 1st ed. 2012); see, e.g., Agreement, John Barnet and John Herster, D4 30 (14 Oct. 1806); Deed, John (Eleanor) Barnet to John Herster and George Barnet, F3 68 (12 Apr. 1810).
xxv Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 140-41 (Lulu Press 1st ed. 2012); F.A. Davis (ed.), Capt. F. Ellis (Historian), History of Northampton County 163 (Peter Fritts 1877); see Agreement, Philip Odenwelder with John Herster and George Barnet, E5 366 (15 May 1829)(water rights agreement, recitals).
xxvi M.S. Henry, Map of Northampton County inset (1851)(framed and hung on the wall of the Marx Room, Easton Area Public Library, showing “Herster’s Mill & Distillery”); Thomas A. Hurley (Civil Engineer), Map of Easton (1857)(framed and hung on the wall of the Marx Room, Easton Area Public Library, showing “Herster’s Distillery”).
xxvii See Letter by Samuel Trumbore, “The Bushkill Creek and Its Mills Since 1839”, Easton Daily Free Press, Tues., 18 Aug. 1914, p.7, col.5 (recalling his father’s work running the Groetzinger mill).
xxviii John Field Oldt, Colorful Local Names In Easton’s History 11 (typewritten Paper read before the Northampton County Historical Society 18 Nov. 1949); see Joan Steiner, The Bushkill Creek 24 (Bushkill Stream Conservancy typewritten MS 1996)(“Hogtown”).
xxix See, e.g., Redevelopment Authority of Easton to B2 Ventures, “Agreement of Sale” (11 Oct 2014)(Hogtown Bldg. at 521 North 13th Street, Lot L9-27-4, price $1,00 for settlement on or before 15 Jan. 2015), cited in Email, Peter Junker to Richard Hope (20 Dec. 2014).
xxx See, e.g., Joan Steiner, The Bushkill Creek 24 (Bushkill Stream Conservancy typewritten MS 1996); Untitled Item, Easton Argus, 29 Aug. 1867, p.2, col.6 (high whiskey taxes had used up the distilleries).
xxxi See Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 133-37 (Lulu Press 1st ed. 2012)(and numerous sources cited therein).
xxxii See Last Will of Andrew Herster, Will Book 10 63 (Northampton County Archives, will dated 13 June 1874, proved 3 June 1882). This will devised a dozen parcels of land to his son, Andrew J. Herster. The second of these parcel descriptions also makes it clear that Andrew Herster was the son of Daniel Herster. That description states that the parcel had been acquired by Andrew Herster from his father (Andrew J.’s grandfather), in a Deed, Daniel Herster [and wife] to Andrew Herster, H5 540 (4 Jan. 1834).
Genealogical sources confirm that John Herster and Daniel Herster (1763 – 1846) were brothers. Daniel Herster was the father of Andrew Herster (born 31 Aug. 1798, died 27 May 1882). John Eyerman, Genealogical Studies: The Ancestry of Marguerite Eyerman 41, 43-44 (Free Press Book and Job Print 1898)(available online through Heritage Quest).
xxxiii See Article, “Easton and Northern – Opening a Road That Will be of Immense Benefit to Easton and the county – A Public Meeting to be Had Tuesday Next”, Easton Daily Free Press, Thurs., 4 Sept. 1890, p.3, col.2; see also Article, “The Bushkill Railroad – the Most Important Local Enterprise of the Year”, Easton Sentinel, Tues., 20 Aug. 1889, p.1, col.1.
xxxiv Stan Price, “Mills and Dams”, in The 250th Anniversary Remembrance Book, Forks Township, Northampton County, PA 1754 – 2004: A Celebration 144 (Easton: American Printing Unlimited 2004).
xxxv Deed, Andrew J. (Catharine) Herster to William J. Daub and Jacob Raub, H21 678 (1 Nov. 1890)(sale price $70,457 for 76.191 acres). The parcel ran 250’ along the Railroad right-of-way, and was bounded on the East by Oak Street. The deed indicated that the land being sold had all been acquired by Andrew J. Herster from his father, either in an 1872 deed, or under his father’s will (which, including codicils, had conveyed more than a dozen different properties to the younger Andrew).
xxxvi See Obituary, “W.J. Daub, A Leader In Easton Business Life, Dies Suddenly”, Easton Express, Mon., 17 Dec. 1928, p.1, cols. 4-5 (Daub developed Easton Heights as a residential section).
xxxvii Deed, Jacob (Augusta A.) Raub to William J. Daub, E28 28 (16 Mar. 1898)(sale price $22,006.26).
xxxviii Obituary, “W.J. Daub, A Leader In Easton Business Life, Dies Suddenly”, Easton Express, Mon, 17 Dec. 1928, p.1, cols.4-5; see also J.H. Lant & Son, Easton [Etc.] Directory for 1881-2 31 (1881)(alphabetical listing for Wm. J. Daub, furniture at 403 and 405 Northampton street, “second door ab [above] Fourth”); George W. West (compiler), West’s Easton City Directory 46 (George W. West 1898)(W.G. Daub Furniture Dealer at 403-05 Northampton Street); George W. West (compiler), West’s Directory of Easton [Etc.] 68 (George W. West 1900)(W.J. Daub & Son Furniture Dealers, 403-05 Northampton Street).
There was another William Daub in Easton at this time, who “For a number of years . . . was employed at the old Lehigh Valley passenger station and was formerly a brakeman.” His obituary, published after his death in 1908, does not indicate that he had been involved in any substantial real estate holdings. Obituary, “William Daub”, Easton Express, Mon., 14 Dec. 1908, p.3, col.1.
xxxix Obituary, “W.J. Daub, A Leader In Easton Business Life, Dies Suddenly”, Easton Express, Mon, 17 Dec. 1928, p.1, cols.4-5. Daub’s Civil War unit was Company A of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
xl George W. West (compiler), Directory of Easton, [Etc.] opposite p.232, etc. (George W. West 1894). This drawing of building clearly shows the street number 403, and a lower inscription shows street numbers 403 and 405.
xli Obituary, “W.J. Daub, A Leader In Easton Business Life, Dies Suddenly”, Easton Express, Mon, 17 Dec. 1928, p.1, cols.4-5.
xlii The W.J. Daub & Son furniture business is listed next door in the City Director of 1900 at 403-05 Northampton Street (i.e. next door to the Rosenbaum Building, in the Old Newspaper Building). In 1901, however, Daub’s furniture business had moved to 353 Northampton Street. Compare George W. West (compiler), West’s Directory of Easton [Etc.] 68 (George W. West 1900) with George W. West (compiler), West’s Directory of Easton [Etc.] 51 (West & Johnson Printing Co. 1901).
xliii Obituary, “W.J. Daub, A Leader In Easton Business Life, Dies Suddenly”, Easton Express, Mon, 17 Dec. 1928, p.1, cols.4-5.
xliv Deed, William J. (Elsie A.) Daub to C.K. Williams, F28 196 (7 June 1898)(sale price $600 for “lot or piece of land” running 51’ along North 13th Street from Easton and Northern Railroad Company right-of-way, to the NE corner of 13th and Cypress Streets). The property was 127’ deep along the Railroad right-of-way, and 130’ deep along Cypress Street.
xlv G.M. Hopkins, Map of Northampton County Pennsylvania inset, upper left corner (Smith, Gallup & co. Publishers 1860)(framed copy hangs on wall of the Marx Room, Easton Area Public Library). This map shows the “Cypress Street” name on this roadway.
xlvi Deed, C.K. (Ida L.) Williams to Frank (F.) C. Williams, A31 103 (12 Aug. 1901)($600 for “lot or piece of ground” running 51’ along North 13th Street from Easton and Northern Railroad Company right-of-way, to the NE corner of 13th and Cypress Streets, fronting 127’ deep along the Railroad right-of-way, and 130’ deep along Cypress Street).
xlvii Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 134, 137, 149 (Lulu Press 2012); Deed, Matilda J. Hecht to Joseph T. Williams, H15 285 (11 Feb. 1878)($10,000 plus assumption of $25,000 in mortgages for “Grist Mill, Paint Mill, Oil Mill, and other messuages” on 62 ¾ acres of land).
xlviii See Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 151-62 (Lulu Press 2012)(and sources cited therein).
xlix William J. Heller, III History of Northampton County (Pennsylvania) and the Grand Valley of the Lehigh 570 (American Historical Society 1920); see Obituary, “Frank C. Williams” Easton Express, Mon., 28 Mar. 1927, p.1, col.6.
l American Journal of Progress, “Greater Easton of To-day” 23 (written c.1902 during Mayor B. Rush Field’s second 3-year term, reprinted courtesy of W-Graphics).
li Easton and South Easton Sheet No. 10 (Sanborn Map & Publishing Co. Limited May 1885).
lii Joan Steiner, The Bushkill Creek 26 (Bushkill Stream Conservancy typewritten MS 1996).
liii William J. Heller, III History of Northampton County (Pennsylvania) and the Grand Valley of the Lehigh 570 (American Historical Society 1920).
liv Easton and South Easton Sheet No.26 (Sanborn-Perris Map Co. June 1897)(Lehighton Flour Mills, F.C. Williams, fronting on 13th Street).
lv Easton and South Easton Sheet No.30 (Sanborn Map Co. Apr. 1904).
The 1885, 1892 or 1897 Sanborn fire maps of Easton did not include any sheet showing the Granary’s location just South of the Bushkill, although the Simon silk mills just North of the Bushkill were covered in each of those years. See Easton and South Easton Sheet No. 10 (Sanborn Map & Publishing Co. Limited May 1885); Easton and South Easton Sheet No. 11 (Sanborn-Perris Map Co. June 1892); Easton and South Easton Sheet No. 26 (Sanborn-Perris Map Co. June 1897).
lvi Easton and South Easton Sheet No.30 (Sanborn Map Co. Apr. 1904). See also American Journal of Progress, “Greater Easton of To-day” 13 (originally printed c.1903 during Mayor B. Rush Field’s second 3-year term, reprinted courtesy of W-Graphics)(end of entry for “Easton’s Great Mineral Pulp Plant” [C.K. Williams & Co.] notes the existence of several mills along the Bushkill, including The Lehicton Flour Mills).
lvii William J. Heller, III History of Northampton County (Pennsylvania) and the Grand Valley of the Lehigh 570 (American Historical Society 1920).
lviii H.P. Delano (compiler), West’s Directory for City of Easton Pennsylvania 661 (Union Publishing Co. Inc. 1925)( Frank C. Williams, of the Frank C. Williams (Inc.) Lehicton Flour Mills, living with his wife Martha S. Williams at his “Margawilla” home at North 13th and Spring Garden Streets); Obituary, “Frank C. Williams” Easton Express, Mon., 28 Mar. 1927, p.1, col.6 (died at residence Margawilla, 13th and Spring Garden Streets).
lix William J. Heller, III History of Northampton County (Pennsylvania) and the Grand Valley of the Lehigh 571 (American Historical Society 1920).
lx William J. Heller, III History of Northampton County (Pennsylvania) and the Grand Valley of the Lehigh facing p.569 (American Historical Society 1920); also reprinted on http://image2.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=12690380&PIpi=44148631.
lxi See Deed, Frank C. Williams, Executor of the Estate of Joseph T. Williams, et al., to C.K. Williams & Co., H36 209 (24 Jan. 1907).
lxii George W. Cable, Rust and Dust, A History of the Geo. S. Mepham & C.K. Williams Co.’s 47-48 (rev. ed. Dec. 1998).
lxiii See Deed, Frank C. Williams, Executor of the Estate of Joseph T. Williams, et al., to C.K. Williams & Co., H36 209 (24 Jan. 1907).
lxiv Harcros Pigments, inc., The Paint Mill 14 (Fairview Heights (IL): Marcros Pigments, Inc. 1992); see George W. Cable, Rust and Dust, A History of the Geo. S. Mepham & C.K. Williams Co.’s 47-48 (rev. ed. Dec. 1998).
lxv Easton and South Easton Sheet No.27 (Sanborn Map Co. Jan. 1919).
lxvi Northampton County Tax Records, www.ncpub.org.
lxvii Obituary, “Frank C. Williams” Easton Express, Mon., 28 Mar. 1927, p.1, col.6.
In 1927, the Frank C. Williams company was listed but the individual was not. Instead, Martha C. Williams lived alone at “Margawilla”, identified as the widow of Frank C. Williams. West’s Directory for City of Easton Pennsylvania 650-51 (Union Publishing Co. Inc. 1927).
The Obituary, “Frank C. Williams Was An Authority on Sewer Construction”, Easton Express, Mon., 30 Nov. 1925, p.1, col.3 is not relevant – it relates to a sewer engineer visiting Easton from Boston, Massachusetts.
lxviii Sandra S. Froberg, III Cemetery Record Books of the Easton Cemetery Company 619 (Grant by Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission Jan. 1993)(Frank C. Williams age 66, buried 30 March 1927 in Plot X-148).
lxix Deed, Martha S. Williams and Margaret W. (James H.) Coolidge to Frank C. Williams, Inc., B59 152 (2 Feb. 1928)(sale price $1 and other valuable consideration). The deed recitals specify that Frank Williams died intestate, thus leaving this land to Martha (his widow) and Mrs. Coolidge (his daughter).
lxx Deed, Frank C. Williams, Inc. to Charles K. Williams, A61 699 (24 May 1929).
lxxi Deed, Charles K. (Ida L.) Williams to C.K. Williams & Company, D61 96 (26 June 1929).
lxxii West’s Easton Pa. and Phillipsburg, N.J. Directory 731 (R.L. Polk & Co. of Philadelphia 1930)(a vacant building at 541 North 13th Street was listed next to the Bushkill, and was the only building listed for the 500-block); West’s Easton, Pa and Phillipsburg, NJ Directory 705 (R.L. Polk & Co. 1932)(same); Polk’s Easton and Phillipsburg City Directory 1935 629 (R.L. Polk & Co. 1935)(same).
lxxiii See Polk’s Easton and Phillipsburg City Directory 1937-38 736 (R.L. Polk & Co., Inc. 1937)(no building listed in 500 block of North 13th Street); Polk’s Easton and Phillipsburg City Directory 1942 549 (R.L. Polk & Co. 1942)(same).
lxxiv See Deed, C.KJ. Williams and Co. to C.K. Williams & Co., E88 43 (1 Mar. 1948)(Parcel No.10). This deed transferred properties from the unincorporated firm, to the family’s corporation. It lists the company’s office as 640 North 13th Street, which is apparently the office building with a Mansard roof just North of the Bushkill on the West side of the street.
lxxv George W. Cable, Rust and Dist, A History of the Geo. S. Mepham & C.K. Williams Co.’s 50, 55 (rev ed. Dec. 1998); see Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 164-65 (Lulu Press 2012).
lxxvi Deed, Pfizer Inc. to James S. (Helen J.) Garofalo and Helen Beth Garofalo Vilcek, 825 340 (12 Mar. 1991)(sale price $25,000 for two parcels of land). Parcel No.1 was The Granary property, running 51’ from the corner of Cypress and North 13th Street to the Easton and Northern Railroad right-of-way, with modern parcel identifier number L9-27-4. Parcel No.2 was land with frontage of 142’ along North 13th Street from Chidsey to Cypress Streets, with a modern parcel identifier number of L9-27-3. The deed recites that C.K. Williams & Co. merged into Chas. Pfizer & Co. Inc. on 21 June 1963, and that firm changed its name to Pfizer Inc. on 28 Apr. 1970.
lxxvii Article, “Players”, Morning Call, 13 Jan. 2003, p.D-2.
lxxviii Notice of Condemnation, James S. (Helen J.) Garofalo and Helen Beth Garofalo Vilcek to Redevelopment Authority of Easton, Pennsylvania, 2005-1-490176 (21 Nov. 2005). The Granary property (Parcel ID No. L9-27-4) was included as Parcel No.4, while Parcel ID No. L9-27-3 (which had run along North 13th Street between Chidsey and Cypress Streets in the 1991 Pfizer deed) was included in the deed as Parcel No.3. See also Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 105-06 & n.349 (Lulu Press 2012).
lxxix Tony Nauroth, “Easton selects firm for Silk Mill project ARCHITECTS WILL provide analysis of buildings for future development once weather permits”, Express-Times, Thurs., 22 Jan. 2009, p.B-3; see Richard F. Hope & Virginia Lawrence-Hope, Easton PA: The Lower Bushkill Mills 106 (Lulu Press 2012).
lxxx Spillman Farmer Architects, Silk: A Creative Community, Easton, PA Part 4, p.3 (The Redevelopment Authority of Easton, PA 2010), available for download at http://www.easton-pa.gov/ced/silkmillfinalreport.pdf (map, Building “S”).
lxxxi See, e.g., Edward Sieger, “Easton set to officially open Karl Stirner Arts Trail”, LehighValleyLive (Express-Times), http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2011/11/easton_set_to_officially_open.html (3 Nov. 2011); see also Rudy Miller, “New Sculpture Brings Depth, Volatility to Trail”, Express-Times, 3 Oct. 2014, p.7.
lxxxii Redevelopment Authority of Easton to B2 Ventures, “Agreement of Sale” (11 Oct 2014)(Hogtown Bldg. at 521 North 13th Street, Lot L9-27-4, price $1,00 for settlement on or before 15 Jan. 2015); see Peter Junker, The Granary: a Restaurant in Easton, PA unnumbered p.1 (27 Oct. 2014).
lxxxiii Deed, Redevelopment Authority of Easton, Pennsylvania to Redevelopment Authority of Easton, Pennsylvania, 2014-1-176731 (29 Sept. 2014). This deed consolidated Parcel ID No. L9-27-4 with L9-26-1A. The Granary property now runs for 88.05’ along North 13th Street, to include land to the centerline of the former Cypress Street, which was vacated by ordinance # 1459 (April 21, 1955). The corner of the property in the middle of where Cypress Street had stood, is now marked by “a 5/8” capped rebar”. The property runs in the rear to the former site of Cherry Street, which the deed recites was vacated by Ordinance # 1460 (21 Apr. 1955).
lxxxiv See The Martinson Group LLC Proposal, The Sale and Redevelopment of Real Estate “Hogtown Building” North 13th Street Easton, PA (19 June 2013); Richard D. McAlteer, HOGTOWN Building Comments on Proposal Responses (25 June 2013)(comments on proposal of the Martinson Group).
lxxxv Peter Junker, The Granary: a Restaurant in Easton, PA passim (27 Oct. 2014).
lxxxvi Peter Junker, The Granary: a Restaurant in Easton, PA unnumbered p.11 (27 Oct. 2014).
lxxxvii Email, Economic Development – Gretchen Longenbach to Peter Junker (18 July 2014)(expressing her opposition because she heard “from multiple sources that you continue to pursue a project at the ‘Hogtown’ building on 13th St. for a restaurant”), copied in Email, Peter Junker to Richard Hope (20 Dec. 2014).
lxxxviii Email, Borko Milosev to Peter Junker (18 Dec. 2014).
lxxxix Deed, Redevelopment Authority of Easton to 521 Thirteenth LLC, 2015-1-014181 (21 Jan. 2015), as reported in Northampton County Tax Records, www.ncpub.org.
See Rudy Miller, “Easton Silk Mill’s grist mill sold, will be redeveloped into apartments”, LehighValleyLive, http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2015/02/easton_silk_mills_grist_mill_s.html (5 Feb. 2015, 12:06 PM); see Deed, Redevelopment Authority of Easton, Pennsylvania to 521 Thirteenth, LLC, 2015-1-14181 (23 Jan. 2015)(sale price $1,000 for .265 acres of land at 521 North 13th Street). All of the historical information in the LehighValleyLive article is wrong, given that the building was not a grist mill, was not a mill of any kind, and was not part of the Simon Silk Mill operation. The article also gave the purchaser as B2 Ventures, and listed the address as 544 North 13th Street.
Local historian Richard Hope publishes excellent books on Easton area history and hosts www.EastonHistory.com
This blog is hosted by your friends @ freebridgerealty.com
