This building has also been known as 608 Franklin Street, because it is on the southwest corner of Franklin and North Stokes Streets.

Thomas Gleason owned this building in 1918 when he died; his three daughters, Bertha, Rose, and Elizabeth sold it to Thomas M. and Tillie “Rosie” Hatem (1876-1966) that same year. Thomas and Rosie had both been born in Syria and may have lived in Lebanon prior to coming to the United States and settling here in 1918. In 1930 Thomas and Tillie sold the property to their son, Joseph T. Hatem (1900-1968). Nasma “Nancy” Hatem (1908-1991) moved to Havre de Grace from Rhode Island after she married Joseph Hatem. Of Lebanese-Syrian descent, they spent their lives in Havre de Grace and operated a general store at this location for many years.

By the time of the 1940 Census, Rosie was living here with her son and his wife, Joseph and Nancy Hatem, along with their children, Thomas J., Frederick, and Rose Mary. Thomas M. Hatem wasn’t listed in the Census; Nancy later said that Joseph’s father (Thomas M.) went back to Lebanon so she took care of Rosie until she died. This explains why Rosie Hatem’s gravestone has Rosie’s name (Tillie Hatem) on its right-hand side, with the left side blank. Thomas M. Hatem may have died in Lebanon.

Joseph and Nancy’s first child was Thomas J. Hatem (1925-1985), for whom the Route 40 bridge over the Susquehanna River was named in 1986, one year after his death. Thomas J. Hatem was a lawyer with a long involvement in Harford County politics (particularly the Harford Democratic Party), former chairman of the Public Service Commission, and insurance commissioner when he died at 59 years. Their next child was Dr. Frederick J. Hatem (1927-2011), a well-known obstetrician in Harford and Cecil Counties (who is said to have delivered 10,000 babies locally), and married to Arianna Hatem. Their third child is Dr. Rose Mary Hatem Bonsack (born in 1933), a family practice physician and politician who formerly represented District 34 in the Maryland House of Delegates, and married to James Bonsack.

A 1940s advertisement for the store, “Joseph T. Hatem, The House of Bargains,” read that they sold work and dress clothes and “Wearables for all members of the family.” In addition, they sold groceries and anything else for which there was a market. They also catered to the railroad workers who shopped there early morning for their chewing tobacco, cigars, and work gloves. But Nancy said their biggest day was Saturday when people came in “from the country.” Sometimes they would want to buy a dress or other clothing that the Hatems would trade for their fresh vegetables. And Nancy remembers that during the Depression, many people would come into the store and just ask for a piece of bread. They obviously were a generous family and shared whatever they could with anyone in need.

Some locals remember the “freezer box” with ice cream that was just inside the corner door to the store. And Earl Blansfield recalls that the entrance to the living quarters was on Stokes Street—he used to cut the grass for “Mrs. Hatem.” Joseph and Nancy’s granddaughter, Jeannette, remembers that Joseph trained his dog, “Coco,” to get specific items from the shelves and CoCo loved it when they poured some cold Coca-Cola into his bowl. Their daughter, Rose Mary, recalled in a Harford County Living History interview that Joseph liked to have “little sidelines,” such as owning horses that he raced at The Graw Racetrack. She remembers exercising the horses there.

Nancy Hatem was active in many community organizations and in 1986 was named a Harford County Living Treasure. She recalls that in later years, after Joe died in 1968, their store was broken into at least three times and other times had copper pipes stolen, which added to her fears of living alone. At night she had to put things against the doors that would make noise if moved, even though she locked the doors, because the vandals were pretty bad. She continued running the store for a while but eventually closed it when her son, Freddie, encouraged her to weigh the benefits of keeping it going against the risk to her safety with the amount of crime around locally.

After Nancy died in 1991, she left the two lots of property to her son and daughter, Frederick J. Hatem and Rosemary H. Bonsack, each with a one-half interest. They formed the Stokes-Franklin Street Partnership three years later, to which they transferred the deed, and which most likely was an investment property. In 2003 the Partnership sold this corner property to Scott H. and Linda G. Stewart.

The widowed Linda Stewart sold this property in 2017 to Nicholas Waldron. Having been a rental property for some time, this is now the home of Nicholas Waldron, who has made several improvements to the property.

County Records
Built 1935, 3018 sq ft, 2 baths, two stories, no basement, 4760 sq ft lot, includes adjoining 2400 sq ft lot at 608 Franklin Street. These two parcels are sold and recorded together.