Land records from 1857 show that this property was included in the sale to Morning Star Lodge No.20 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows by John Donahoo (1789-1858), Elizabeth Donahoo, and Sarah Elizabeth Jameson. John Donahoo was the same person with whom the government contracted in 1827 to build the Light Station at Concord Point as well as several others on the Chesapeake Bay. John Donahoo also served as a City Commissioner from 1826 to 1831 and was active in fishing and construction.

Two years later, however, in 1859 Morning Star Lodge sold this part of the property (facing Union Avenue and one building behind it facing Franklin Street) to George Taylor Lyon (1816-1891) and his wife, Maria Lyon. George and Maria were the parents of Andrew L. Lyon who began Lyon’s Pharmacy in 1894. (It’s worth noting that Morning Star Lodge continued to occupy 460-462 Franklin Street for more than 125 years, beginning in 1857.)

The Lyon family sold the property in 1881 to Charles Wilson (1848-1921) and his wife, Cyrena, who sold it in 1888 to Abraham T. McCombs (1824-1916). He established this corner property as the Havre de Grace Post Office before moving it across the top of Franklin Street to the A.P. McCombs Building in 1904 (now with the address of 401 North Union Avenue).

In the early 1900s, the basement of this corner building was “The Republican Printing Office,” and 331 North Union Avenue was the home of the Havre de Grace Gas Company. And it is thought that J. Swann Everist operated a home furnishings business here beginning in 1914 for a few years. With William S. McCombs (1850-1928) as the new owner, Jackson W. Maslin had his real estate and fire insurance office in this building in 1925 and the building was called the “Republican Building,” not surprisingly because W.S. McCombs was the owner and editor of The Havre de Grace Republican. Maslin’s advertisements stated that his agency was established in 1894.

The entrance to the basement of this building was through the door on the south side of Franklin Street. The Liberatore Studio was here in 1947. The basement was still in use in the 1950s and Dr. Irvin L. Wachsman (1917-1999) opened his first medical office here (later his office was in his home on South Union Avenue). His wife, Audrey Davis Wachsman, was his nurse. Larry Sampson says that Dr. Wachsman made a house call when he was only six weeks old that saved his life and he wouldn’t be here today if Wachsman hadn’t done that. And Ermalee Hall McCauley remembers that the doctor delivered her baby in 1951 when practicing in this office.

With the death of William S. McCombs, Nellie McCombs Brown, his daughter, deeded this property in 1971 to her daughter, F. Elizabeth Williams, and son William S. Brown. Two years later, they conveyed this to William D. and Phyllis A. Bowman, who also owned the historic 127 North Stokes Street in the 1970s. The four original basement windows in the Franklin Street side of the building are now boarded up although the doorway still exists and a sign on that corner reads, “Bowman Apartments.” The apartments at this location were on the second floors. Doug Delp recalls living on the second floor from 1970 through 1996.

There have been several tenants in these storefronts over the years. #331 used to be the Buck Poplar Insurance Agency; Rudd Pest Control; The Market Hunter; then Marci’s Antiques & Interiors with Deborah Smith and Marcia Hoffman; hen the Decoy Shop run by Rodney and Arlene Boggs; and Wander Back Antiques. From about 2016-2017, it was the home of Flicker Scents.

329 North Union Avenue was Crown Beauty Salon from about 1960 into the early 1970s; #325-327 was Nancy Welsh Antiques and Interiors in 1986-1987; and in 2015-2017 was the home of Stickdesign Embroidery Shop (now on St. John Street). These buildings were vacated in 2017 and underwent a major renovation for a new occupant, Smash Hits WHGM, which operates here now.

This large building is now owned and managed by Carsins Run Properties, LLC, whose members are the same William D. and Phyllis A. Bowman who bought the property in 1973.

County Records
Built 1900. 5292 sq ft, 2 stories, no basement, 1 bath, 3780 sq ft lot.