169 Allen 1930s. Image source: Buffalo News.
The combination store/residence at 169 Allen was likely built in the 1880s when Allen Street was becoming the main commercial street of its neighborhood. The 1887 street directory lists it as the Thomas Drug Store, occupied by Mrs. H. Thomas and two sons.
Same view c. 1993 Image source: Buffalo News.
Over the years it was occupied by a succession of enterprises. In 1952, it was the Park-Allen Luncheonette. In 1965 it was an antique store. By 1993, it was vacant, as seen above.
2010.
By 1996, the building was gone. Next door, as seen above, is the 1969 Society of Friends building, which the East Hamburg Society built as an urban mission. It also suffered from disuse and neglect until 2003, when the Quaker Bonnet purchased it and the building next door to operate as a restaurant and banquet facility.
