When the ornate five story building named for the famous eighteenth century English jurist went up in 1881, on the southwest corner of Seneca (West 3rd) and Frankfort Streets--just a block away from the Cuyahoga County courthouse, it seemed a natural location for law offices. And it was. The building was known mostly as a lawyers' building, but other professions--including architects, also chose it for their offices. Coburn and Barnum, the architects who designed the building for owner Jacob Perkins, moved their offices to the building in 1883, and stayed there until 1896. The Blackstone Building was said by one architectural historian to be a leading example of the work product of the new generation of Cleveland architects in the post Civil War era who produced some of downtown Cleveland's grandest late nineteenth century buildings. This photo was taken in circa 1897. The building was razed in the early 1960s. | Source: Western Reserve Historical SocietyDownload Original File
