In 1874 this land was sold by court trustees to Mary A. Seneca (1815-1882), the wife of Dorus Seneca who had immigrated from Switzerland and worked as a wheelwright. After the 1890 death of Dorus, their heirs (including Robert T. Seneca and Stephen J. Seneca) sold this part of the land in 1893 to John William “Will” Bauer (1862-1930). Will Bauer at that time ran the Bauer Manufacturing Company with his brother, Lawrence E. Bauer. It is thought that Will Bauer and his wife, Alice “Bessie” Bauer, most likely built this home after acquiring the land. The building is shown on the 1899 Sanborn Insurance Map.

Will Bauer is known for having built The Willou Theatre in 1909 at 323 St. John Street in the basement of which he also operated a harness-making shop. But after a devastating fire in the theatre Will Bauer sold the theatre property in 1927. When Will died in 1930, Bessie had predeceased him, and his Executors sold this property to Murray V. Lawder (1891-1970) and his wife, Rebecca May Lawder. The Lawders were a family of local business people who also invested in real estate and it is believed that they rented this property.

In 1940, Norman Paul Price (1904-1992) and Irene E. Hummer Price (1909-2000) lived here with their young daughter, Ruth Jean Price, and sold sandwiches and fried chicken from their porch. It was a time when many families made a store in their front room or porch to support the family. In 1944, the Prices decided to sell hard-shell Maryland crabs and began Price’s Seafood here. Their business took off and Norman built a restaurant on his father’s property on Water Street.

Murray and May Lawder sold this property that same year of 1947, along with “all fixtures and appliances” to Berardo Cianelli (1907-1984) and Frances DiGiovanni Cianelli (1906-1985) of well-known local families. And thus began the second “Cianelli sub shop,” the other being at 717 Erie Street. People today still talk about how great Cianelli subs were when the Italian spices filled your nose and how much they would love to have one today. Alonzo Walker says he liked this shop the best because he could stand on the front porch and watch Frances making the sub right in front of him in the “closed” part of the porch—that way when she cut herself he knew he was “getting a little extra on the sandwich.” Apparently Frances was known for always having Band-Aids on her fingers! But Nancy Shimek Brooks says that Frances wore the Band-Aids to prevent her from getting cuts with the big sharp knives she used to cut the subs!

Berardo and Frances Cianelli had a daughter in 1935, Elizabeth “Liz” DiGiovanni, who married Ralph Fisher and held their wedding reception in the Hotel Bayou. They had four children. This house was a duplex, with the Cianellis on one side with the store in front, and the Fisher family on the opposite side. The Cianelli’s granddaughter, Gina Fisher Nieszczur, says her family relocated to Ohio in 1964 but she sometimes returned in summertime and helped her grandparents in the Cianelli sub shop and made many local friends.

Berardo predeceased Frances Cianelli who died in 1985. Her estate sold this property to John M. Pascuzzi. It is not known whether John used this home as an investment property, but in 1993 he sold it to Kevin Balliet. Kevin works locally and continues to own this property.

County Records
Built 1920, 2040 sq ft, 2 stories no basement, 2.5 baths, 1800 sq ft lot.