Back to South Front Street

My fascination with the images of the lost blocks of South Front Street persists, but before continuing with today's post inspired by them, it is necessary to trace the circuitous route they took to get to The Gossips of Rivertown. City historian Pat Fenoff sent them, on request, to Joan Lezette-Miller, who posted them on the Facebook page Your [sic] Probably from Hudson (highly recommended), where Tom D'onofrio saw them, copied them, and sent them to Gossips. The rest you already know.

Wanting to get a better sense of what South Front Street was like a hundred years ago, when the residents and business owners wanted to rename it Sheriden Avenue, I spent some time with the 1912 Hudson City directory, which someone has kindly put online, to discover who and what occupied each of the buildings. Here is what my research discovered.

1 South Front Street
Tamarin Brothers Clothing was located on the first floor of this building, and Adam and Rose Tamarin lived above the store. (The other two brothers, Frank and Moses, lived at 114 Fulton Street--a street that no longer exists but went from North Third to the river.)

Also residing in the building, using the entrance on the West Warren Street facade and the address 1 West Warren Street were Susan Mackey and Nicholas Rosa.

3 South Front Street
Morris Lavinsky had his shoe store on the first floor. Toney Siviken lived in the building.

5 South Front Street
Benjamin Meiner, the grocer, operated his business and made in his home here.

7 South Front Street
Max Liepshutz sold tinware here, and Lyle T. Way, foreman (although of what we do not know), lived here.

9 South Front Street
Samuel Krasner, grocer, conducted his business on the first floor, and the Robert A. Lawtons,  Sr. and Jr., lived here.

27 South Front Street

Jacob Loudon had a meat market here, and Ann, Maggie, John, and Thomas Flanagan lived here.

29 South Front Street

This was the First Ward Hotel, where Mrs. George Grossman was the proprietress. There was at least one resident who was not a transient: Charles G. Best

31 South Front

William Aust had a cafe in this building, and at the same time Adam Beleshi ran a saloon here.

33-35 South Front Street

These two buildings comprised the Germania Hotel, where Joseph Unger was the bartender. The Germania Hotel seems to have been more of an SRO an a tourist hostelry. The directory lists the following people residing there: Autel Frish, Frank Goliz, Tanas Gosper, Frank Kobot, Frank Kovats, and Edwin Smith.

This is the photograph of the Germania Hotel that appeared in Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., published in 1905.