Question: If houses could talk! This house at 102 Oswego St. has seen a lot of changes over the years. What do you know about it?
Last week’s answer: The house in last week’s photo is located at 36 Salina St. In 1919, the time of the photo, it was the home of Rumont and Mary Kratzer. The car in the driveway is a six cylinder 1916 Marion with Kratzer’s daughter-in-law Gertrude at the wheel. Built by Kratzer in 1901, the dwelling was described in the Gazette and Farmers’ Journal as “a large and commodious home.”
Born in Germany and arriving in Baldwinsville in 1857 at the age of six, Rumont Kratzer lived in the village’s Third Ward until he passed away in 1927. A savvy businessman, Kratzer purchased and developed numerous properties in the Third Ward, the area north of the river and east of Oswego Street.
His career as a developer began in 1886 when he purchased a large vacant lot on Salina Street, between Margaret and Tabor streets, from Philander Forbes for $500. Over the next 40 years Kratzer built, rented, occupied and sold single and multiple family dwellings on Salina, Lock, Tabor and Wood streets.
A miller by trade, Kratzer joined the Frazee Milling Company as head miller in 1887 and soon became a partner and director in the business. His entrepreneurial interests extended to industrial sites, including acquisition of the Seneca (Hart, Wilkins) Mill on Lock Street. Kratzer leased the gas drilling rights on the mill property to W. F. Morris. That site made front page news in 1897 when a record-breaking natural gas reserve was hit by noted well drillers Stearns and Leopold.
In 1904 Kratzer sold the mill property to Tooley and Marvin, who established the American Knife Works adjacent to the mill, which continued in operation.
Kratzer was also a family man, civic leader and active in the religious community. Rumont and his wife Mary raised two sons who would become notable B’villians in their own right. Earl Kratzer became a dentist, and his brother Leslie was a draftsman for well known arts and crafts architect Ward Wellington Ward.
Quality of life issues were important to the family. Kratzer was on the Board of Water Commissioners and helped develop the village’s first water system. He served 30 years on the Board of Education.
An active member of the village board for many years, Kratzer’s duties ranged from a term as village president to many years of as chairman of the village’s health committee. Throughout his life Kratzer was an active member of Baldwinsville’s First Presbyterian Church.
Kratzer passed away Aug. 31, 1927 at the age of 76. Services were conducted by Rev. F. W. Fuess in the Presbyterian Church; burial was in Riverview Cemetery on Tappan Street.
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
