FOW Tour - 1113 Main St, Etz Building

On June 9, 2021 Friends of Wheeling toured 1113 Main Street, the Etz Building.

This building has traditionally been referred to as the Etz Building, although it apparently stood for years before being owned by the Etz family.

The 1884 Sanborn Insurance Map of the block shows a four-story, brick structure at 1113 Main at that time. However, it’s unclear if this is the same building or an earlier one, and it’s unclear what business was located in the Main Street storefront at that time. A fruit seller apparently occupied the Water Street storefront.

By 1890, the Wheeling City Directory indicates that O’Kane and Company (“boots, shoes, and rubbers”) was located at this address, along with dentist W. S. Hamilton and tenants Mrs. Cecilia Brues on the third floor and James A. Villers on the fourth. Irish immigrant Michael J. O’Kane (1829-1907) lived at 1117 Eoff Street at that time and at 1112 Chapline in 1901, when his shoe store was still in operation at 1113 Main.

The land in this part of Wheeling was originally laid out by Noah Zane, son of Wheeling’s founder Ebenezer Zane. Noah’s sons and heirs, Platoff and Hampden Zane, inherited the property through the seventh clause of Noah Zane’s will, bearing the date October 28, 1831. In the early years, the building was apparently rented, with the O’Kane Company in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Palace Furniture Company was found at 1113-1115 Main Street in the 1911-1912 Wheeling City Directory. On May 22, 1923, the out-of-town heirs of Hampden Zane sold the property to William G. Brand and his wife Adah, who sold it two months later to Charles F. Etz.

Charles F. Etz (c. 1856-1936) and Andrew J. Seifert (1856-1929) occupied the Main Street side of the building as early as 1915. Their business, established in 1893 at another location, dealt in leather goods, with an early ad stating “Manufacturers and dealers in trunks, traveling bags, valises, and traveling equipment of every description. Sample trunks made to order. Special attention given to the repairing of sample trunks. All work guaranteed. Turf goods of all kinds kept in stock. We are sole agents for the celebrated Cynthiana Horse Boots, and U.S. Metal Polish. Horse covers made to order.”

The business was later known as Charles F. Etz and Sons and was operated by the younger generation – Carl, Sr., Carl, Jr., and Herbert Etz, and John Keefer following the death of Charles Etz. During the 1960s and 1970s, it was known as Etz Luggage and sold “all types of nationally advertised luggage.”

In late 1980, Louis J. Costanzo and his wife Jane purchased the property from Carl Etz, Jr., Nancy June Haus (daughter of Carl, Sr.) and Violet Keefer (widow of John Keefer). The Costanzos used the building for accounting offices.

In August 2006, the property was purchased by John R. Felton, Bruce Wilson, and Richard W. Castagna. City directories for the next few years suggest that the building was empty for several years.

In July 2016, Justus, Inc. purchased the building. This company leases non-residential buildings; its principal is John R. Felton, Jr., with Directors Bruce Wilson, Jack Felton, and Michael Baker. The building currently houses I-C Care (In-Home Companion Care) and I-C Staffing Solutions. Plans include residential uses on the upper floors.

Virtual Tour: youtu.be/g4CcEM8B_yQ