Massillon in Stark County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Ohio Merchants Building

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 29, 2018

1. Ohio Merchants Building Marker

Inscription.
Horace Greeley Yocum owned the building (photograph) which previously occupied this site. It housed Massillon Actual Business College, Kirchhofer's Drug Store, Linde's Ladies' Store and Wefler's Café.

It was replaced in 1918 with the city's first "skyscraper." The Hess-Snyder Company — a local manufacturer of stoves, pumps, and windmills — built the eight-story structure for the Ideal Department Store. When the Ohio Merchants Bank bought the building in 1925, they installed elevators and a thirty-ton vault. Ohio Merchants Bank merged with the People's Bank of Canton to form the Peoples-Merchants Trust Company in 1957. Bailey's Flowers operated for twelve years in the niche by the First Street entrance to the building.

Erected by Massillon Main Streets; and The Massillon Museum.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Windmills series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1918.

Location. 40° 47.783′ N, 81° 31.316′ W. Marker is in Massillon, Ohio, in Stark County. It is on 1st Street Southeast just south of Lincoln Way East (Ohio Route 172/241), on the right when traveling south. Marker is mounted at eye-level on

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the east facade of the subject building, near the southeast corner. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 59 Lincoln Way East, Massillon OH 44646, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Amish Country

and in Greater Cleveland.

It is also in the American Midwest.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: This Cannon (within shouting distance of this marker); Liebermann’s Bakery (within shouting distance of this marker); The Paul L. David Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); The Massillon Museum (within shouting distance of this marker); The Little Steel Strike of 1937 (within shouting distance of this marker); Don Shanklin (within shouting distance of this marker); The Last Great Strike 1937 (within shouting distance of this marker); The Falke Block (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Massillon.

Marker detail: Massillon Actual Business College image. Click for full size.

2. Marker detail: Massillon Actual Business College

(original building was replaced in 1918)

Ohio Merchants Building<br>(<i>north elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 29, 2018

3. Ohio Merchants Building
(north elevation)

Ohio Merchants Building (<i>northeast elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 29, 2018

4. Ohio Merchants Building (northeast elevation)

(marker is mounted at eye-level on the 3rd column from the far left [south] corner)

Credits. This page was last revised on April 10, 2025. It was originally submitted on January 27, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 710 times since then and 44 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 27, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.