Question: This History Mystery has been in the works for approximately two years. There are a lot of readily known facts about the dam that didn’t quite add up with the photos. (The one on the right was taken by the late Mark Chapman.) One was the fact that the stone dam broke on May 27, 1894. Since it had to be repaired after that, the first thought was that the photos were connected with that. However, if you look at the photos in-depth you will notice that the date of the shot has nothing to do with the dam’s rebuilding after the 1894 break. What is there in the photos to verify that?
When was this significant work done on the dam and why?
Last week’s answer: Last week’s photo shows Titcomb’s Department Store, a retail emporium that served Baldwinsville for more than 50 years. Centrally located at 52 Oswego St., some 200 feet north of the Four Corners, Titcomb’s was the go-to place for everything from school supplies, lingerie, and wallpaper to refrigerators, Easter bonnets and baseball cards.
Owner G. S. (Sheldon, “Shel”) Titcomb came to Baldwinsville in 1935 with a degree in business and a background in general retail. Son of a general store owner in Missouri, Titcomb had worked at Lord & Taylor while a student at Columbia University and went on to manage several chains, including J.C. Penney, and then took to the road as a salesman.
At the age of 37, Titcomb decided to put his experience and observations to the test. With $7,000 in capitol ($130,000 in today’s dollars) he purchased the 84-year-old Connell store business on Oswego Street. Titcomb rearranged the interior, invested in low-cost variety merchandise, hired two sales clerks and opened the doors. Monitoring volume, margin and expense and with attention to customer service, Titcomb’s business grew in popularity and prosperity. By 1939, he was able to purchase the Connell building, an imposing two-story brick structure designed by Archimedes Russell. Titcomb replaced the first-floor Victorian facade with the store front seen in this photo.
Product lines were also expanded. The following year Titcomb purchased Hosler’s shoe store at 58 Oswego St. and moved in his women’s dress and coat departments to free up space for an enlarged appliance department. Radios, stoves, washing machines and even flooring were now available at Titcomb’s Department Store.
Employees were part of the team. Clerks did the buying for their departments and two were trained to attend and buy in the New York City market. Business grew. By 1948 sales grossed $160,000, the equivalent of $1.7 million today. Expansion continued with a large one story rear addition in 1952. Next came demolition of the original Connell building and construction of a new one story steel and concrete facility between the rear addition and the 1940 facade. The store’s footprint went from 2,800 square feet to 7,600 square feet.
During the ‘50s, changes continued on the block between the Four Corners and Elizabeth Sreet. New arrivals included Harold Bovee’s Photo Studio, Winship Shoes, Berndt & Michels Dry Cleaners and parking meters. Titcomb’s acquisition of “Champion,” a coin-operated mechanical horse, was an addition that would fuel the imagination of Baldwinsville youngsters for several decades to come. One dime could send Champion into a thumping gallop while his cowboy rider chased bandits, rounded up cattle and raced across the prairie.
Shel Titcomb was as iconic as his store. A spirited tennis player into his 80s, he walked to and from work, including a trip up the Oswego St. hill to home for lunch every day until he retired at age 88. He was also a keen participant in civic affairs and community activities. Active in the Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis and Theatre Guild, Shel welcomed Girl Scouts to sell cookies in his store and annually rewarded youngsters with a nickel for each A, E, or 90 grade on year-end report cards.
In 1987 G. S. Titcomb sold the store to Nancy and Alfred Petty and retired. Shel Titcomb passed away the following year at the age of 89.
Cintha Nichols was the first person to correctly identify Titcomb’s.
“It sat right in the middle of town beside the Bernstein dry cleaners which was next to the Mohegan Manor,” she wrote in an email.
Email your guess to [email protected] or leave a message at 315-434-8889 ext. 332 with your guess by noon Friday. If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo before the deadline, your name and guess will appear in next week’s newspaper, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
