Saturday, June 15, 2013

Globe Furniture Building - Findlay Market

On my many trips to Findlay Market, I have always admired the Globe Furniture Building. But I wondered what its history was, especially with the clock tower at the top.
Courtesy of Photography For The People
The Hamilton County Auditor dates this building from 1885, but a quick look at a map from 1891 can show that this date is not accurate.
1891 Sanborn Insurance Map - Source
Clearly there were two buildings there at the time and if you look closely (click on the image to enlarge it), you can see a small number 2 on the Elm Street edge of the buildings. This indicates the buildings were two-stories tall. The Globe Building is a four-story structure, so this tells us the building was built after 1891.
1904 Sanborn Insurance Map - Source
Now with this map from 1904, we can see the outline of the building that stands today with the correct number of stories indicated. You can also see the "E" for the elevator shaft and the tower. Now the construction date is narrowed down to between 1891 and 1904.

A quick search through the Cincinnati Enquirer articles available from the Public Library gave the answers I was seeking.
Cincinnati Enquirer; Jun 29, 1896; pg. 4
It looks like it has been a furniture manufacturer and store all along! However, the building ended up being only four-stories tall, instead of the six-stories as originally planned. Scheve & Angert remained in business at this location until about 1930, when it became The Leuger's Furniture Company, a name probably more familiar to Cincinnati residents.
1904-1930 Sanborn Insurance Map - Source

1950 Sanborn Insurance Map - Source
I tried to narrow down when it went from Leuger's to Globe Furniture, but I was unable to find any mention in the newspapers or online, but it seems it was by the 1960's-1970's by the picture below.

Source
The Globe Furniture eventually left this location for another on Central Parkway. Findlay Market uses 1801 Elm Street as the main address for locating the market. The building is now owned by OTR Holdings, Inc., part of 3CDC. Renovation plans were made in 2010 for a ground-level restaurant space and the upper levels for office space, including the office for the Corporation of Findlay Market.

So it seems it was a furniture store all along, even with the clock tower on top, which was probably just a nice addition to the market and neighborhood for telling the time.

5 comments:

  1. A friend gave me a bookcase which comes apart. On the base is a tag "tacked" on identifying that it was made by the "Globe-Wernicke Co." Appears to have been made around 1910-1914. It is oak.
    Alexis Permenter, Mullins, SC.

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  2. Hello, I worked for Globe Furniture for 16 years as a buyer and merchandiser. I have the original ink block print that was used for newspapers. It shows that the building started as a furniture store. I always wanted to ink up this block print because it's very detailed. This was in the basement in what was the coal bin which the space was being cleared out and I grabbed it out of the trash, when the store was about to close. This building was a Luegers Furniture store till they moved in the 1950s to Glenway Avenue in Western Hills. Globe Furniture owned by the Meisel family purchased the building around 1955 after having to move from Pearl Street, now the ball park occupies a portion of the space, because Fort Washington Way was in the process of being constructed. Later in 1983-84 Alvin "Bunny" Meisel built the new addition to Globe Furniture facing 1650 Central Parkway. Globe Furniture Galleries was a great place to work and there was no furniture store like it because the owner loved people and his business but this all changed with the sale in 2000...the new owner was not prepared to lead this family owned company and in 5 years a healthy company was dead.

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  4. Also the information is incorrect Globe Furniture did not leave this location for another one on Central Parkway. The 1650 Central Parkway location was connected by a skywalk across the Aley to the 1801 Elm Street location. When Globe closed this location in 2003, the business was in the process of closure, the second location on Montgomery Rd closed in 2005 when the lease was up.

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  5. I have a mini-file cabinet from "Globe" and wonder about the date. It is of really high quality.

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