Shannon-Kiser Building, 313-315 North Wayne Street, Piqua

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS OHIO,55-PIQU,2-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

This three story brick structure was built in as one of the community's first medical office buildings. The structure functioned as offices for physicians and dentists from until Law, volunteer, and insurance offices occupied the building until when it was purchased by the City of Piqua. The use of this structure for a variety of office functions conforms to the typical twentieth century pattern of Piqua!s downtown buildings. Shannon/Riser Building ' (Commercial Building) HABS No. OH-2275 (page 2) History of the Shannon/Kiser Building Dr. Robert M. Shannon purchased the north section of lot number sixty one in April of The empty lot on North Wayne Street had formerly been used by Fred B. Meckstroth as a workyard for his blacksmith shop.

Shannon erected the three story brick office in During this period the majority of Piqua's physicians maintained offices within or very near to their homes. Shannon's medical building in the business district was a relatively unusual departure. Shannon and Dr. Wilbur H. Munger, a local dentist, moved into the structure in The third floor was rented out as a single apartment. Dr. Shannon died in June of and in July of that year his widow sold his practice, equipment, and medical building to Dr. Isaac C. Kiser of Fletcher, Ohio. Dr. Kiser took over the ground floor office and continued his practice there until his death in Dr. Munger maintained his second floor dental office until his death in In December of. Dr. Kiser's widow sold the building to local attorney James H. DeWeese.

The DeWeese Law Offices took over the ground floor and after Dr. Munger's death remodeled the former dental office into a second apartment. In the law firm moved next door to 311 North Wayne and the American Cancer Society (Miami County Unit) moved into the ground floor offices. The Cancer Society left Piqua in and the ground floor remained vacant for several years. In John F. Bertke, an insurance agent for the State Farm Insurance Company, moved into the ground floor offices. The property was purchased by the City of Piqua in and in was vacant. This three story pressed brick structure is located one block west of the city's traditional business district.

The relatively plain original brick facade is relieved only by a decorative projecting cornice and brackets and a modified mission style roof parapet. The structure has experienced three major alterations since it was erected in The first occurred in when the Central Union Telephone Company erected a brick structure directly abutting on the south side of North Wayne Street. At this time all of the windows on the south side of the structure were bricked up. The second major alteration occurred when the second story apartment was created in and two windows on the north side of the structure were blocked up.

The third and last alteration occurred in when the Wayne Street entrance was remodeled by the State Farm Insurance Agency with wide-board framing, a picture window and a wooden shingled pseudo-mansard overhang. With the exception of these major changes the rest of the building appears to retain its original walls and openings. Shannon/Kiser Building (Commercial building) fe HABS No. OH-2275 (page 3) The material for this narrative was obtained from the Archives and Special Collections of the Flesh Public Library, Piqua Ohio, and the Miami County Recorder's Office, Miami County Safety Building, Troy, Ohio.

The Archives and Special Collections in Piqua contained microfilm copies of the Piqua Daily Call (June 14, and June 25, Piqua City Directories and Piqua City Telephone Directories The Miami County Recorder's Office in Troy provided deed transactions from until Additional searches for historic photographs or drawings were made at the Piqua Historical Society (Piqua, Ohio), Miami County Historical Society (Troy, Ohio) and the Ohio Historical Society (Columbus, Ohio). MAIN ~r (Commercial Building) (h # -O j-hreL fl $T FLQOZ h TO SS V) feAKE^v ^ozc Ct>es eft-it ti) N N- ^TR ^f 5tiANjJQA)/K^ R (Commercial Building) ?) T. /A JV/T/A^ T 15' X 3^/ Shannon/Kiser Building (Commercial Building) iAA&S NO, OH-Z2.1S' (% 0 gofi UP . <r fJ up BOA eoej) UP ,<V h * ^-^_i-" ; A>.

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