In 1886, a two and one-half story Queen Anne style commercial building with bay windows, designed by notable Cleveland architect Bernard F. Van DeVelde and built for German immigrant John G. Gerstacker, was erected on the southwest corner of the Lorain-Fulton intersection. This photo of the Gerstacker building taken in 1963, along with a review of other photos and maps, reveals, according to local architectural historian Craig Bobby, that the building subsequently underwent a major alteration--possibly as the result of damage suffered during a 1932 fire which destroyed the Leopold's furniture store on the southeast corner--with its original gabled roof, its top floor and most of its bay windows being removed during that process. In 1969, the altered Gerstacker building sustained more damage in another fire and, according to Cleveland building department records, was razed in 1970. | Source: Cleveland Pubic Library, Photograph CollectionDownload Original File
