75-79 Main Street

The first physician to practice in Geneseo was Dr. Sill, who saw his patients in a wooden building on the northeast corner of Main and Center Streets. After his death in 1807, an acquaintance of the Wadsworth brothers, Dr. Augustus Wolcott, came from Connecticut to succeed him. Dr. Wolcott practiced and lived in the building previously occupied by Dr. Sill. About 1821 he joined the movement westward and reestablished himself in Ohio.

The post civil war era saw considerable change in the village. The Youngs Block, on the site of the doctors’ office, was built in 1876 for Elijah Youngs.  His hardware store was located in the north portion and the corner was occupied by William E. Booth as a boot and shoe shop.  Elijah Youngs, who served as sheriff from 1874-77, was the grandfather of the late Lockwood Youngs.

In 1885 he retired and sold the block to his sons, E. Fred and Frank Youngs who continued the hardware business here for a time.  In 1914, John Lowry purchased this block, having previously (in 1909) located his cigar store in this corner building.  John Lowry died in 1921 but the block stayed in family hands for several years.  In 1923, Charles Cunningham was engaged to make some alterations.  The store fronts were replaced with copper frames and at the Center Street corner several feet of the wall were torn out and a new entrance installed.

In 1970, the Lowry family sold the block to Mark Welch who used the large store for his law office.  John Dwyer had purchased the Lowry cigar business in 1959 and located his newsroom here at the time.  In 1963, the windows were boarded up on the Center Street side of the building.  Roger Least purchased the block from Mark Welch in 1976.  He renovated it by opening the Center Street windows and painting the entrance block in appropriate colors. The large store later became Roger’s Hair Craft beauty salon.

After John Dwyer’s death in 1978, the corner store remained a newsroom for several more years under different managers. It has since housed a succession of businesses, including Bridget Jones’ ladies clothing store, a travel agency, and a nail salon.