On September 26, 1905 (120 years ago), fire destroyed most of the buildings on the west side of the 100 block of Stryker’s South Defiance Street.
In 1908, the two-story brick structures shown in this vintage photograph were completed on the site of buildings destroyed in the 1905 fire.
The double-front structure on the left (south) was constructed by Gideon D. Wiederkehr and his brother Ben to house their clothing and jewelry business. They rented the north half of their building to the Stryker Dry Goods Company, a general store.
The building on the right (north) was constructed in 1908 by Obadiah L. Yackee to house his tailoring establishment. From circa 1908-1913, Yackee operated the Star Theatre, a silent movie theater, on the second floor of his building.
These two buildings still stand north of the former Yackee-Strong American Legion Post. Note the brick paving on Defiance Street and the iron pipe hitching rails in front of Wiederkehrs’ store buildings.
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Email: publisher@thevillagereporter.com