San Luis Obispo County CA Archives Photo Place.....Sinsheimer Store ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 27, 2006, 6:20 pm Source: Unavailable Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/sanluisobispo/photos/sinsheim105gph.jpg Image file size: 130.3 Kb SINSHEIMER STORE 849 Monterey Street, San Luis Obispo History and Description: The firm of Sinsheimer Brothers was founded in 1876 by Bernard and Henry Sinsheimer. The first location was in a little adobe on the corner of Monterey and Chorro Streets. The adobe building housed the city's first post office with Sam Pollard as the town's first postmaster. The Sinsheimer Brothers building was completed in December of 1884. In 1892, A. Z. Sinsheimer and family assumed control and the building has remained as originally constructed through the years with Louis F. and Otto Sinsheimer guarding its policy. Through the years, the Sinsheimer Brothers building has required little repair work. The store belongs to the family of "iron front" which America brought forth in the middle of the 19th Century. Prefabricated sections of iron were incorporated as facades for commercial structures beginning about 1840 in the eastern states. The type of architecture is Venetian Renaissance. "Iron front" was a big step forward in the construction of steel structures. This type of "iron front" architecture went out in 1884. The group facade is of cast iron, which contrasts with the more traditional second story of stucco and wood with heavy cornice and moulding. The remainder of the building is of brick and the roof is made of tin. Iron was used in structural rows of columns down the center of the first floor interior. The front of the building was cast at City Iron Works in San Francisco. It is the only iron front building in the county. The first floor was a general store dealing in dry goods, groceries, and clothing. There were offices at the rear of the building where the founders and their sons also did business in gold dust, grain, beans, and cattle. The second floor had suites for professional offices for a dentist, doctor, and a lawyer. Sources: Louisiana Dart, Curator, San Luis Obispo County Historical Museum Telegram-Tribune. October 8, 1959 Stores, National Retail Merchants Association, October 1966 Mr. Carleton Winslow. History of Architecture Instructor, Cal Poly Additional Comments: Extracted from Discovering San Luis Obispo County by Carleton M. Winslow File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/sanluisobispo/photos/sinsheim105gph.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 2.9 Kb