A Wardway Model Home - The Cranford in North Tonawanda

Growing up in "downstate" New York,  Montgomery Ward was not on my flight path. New Jersey malls were usually anchored by Sears, Roebuck and J.C. Penney and my freshman year in North Carolina didn't widen my department store horizon to include Wards. I never lived beyond the Eastern Time Zone -- beyond the land of Bamberger's, B. Altman, Abraham and Strauss, and Alexander's (in addition to the usual suspects).  Boy! am I aging myself! Anyway . . .

From various accounts it looks like Wards opened a home division in Buffalo in about 1930 and they built model homes in both North Tonawanda in Niagara County and Buffalo in Erie County in the fall of that year.  While the Buffalo model home was well advertised with multiple articles and announcements,  the North Tonawanda house just had a handful of ads in local Niagara County newspapers.

The model that was chosen in North Tonawanda was the Cranford, a charming home with six rooms and a bath and the house was built at 253 Oelkers Street, North Tonawanda, NY. (a little NT trivia - Carl L. Oelkers was City Engineer from 1915 to 1943 with 1933-1934 off for WPA work.)

So far these are the only advertisements I have found for the Cranford.

Niagara Falls Gazette, September 20, 1930. 

The North Tonawanda Evening News, September 20, 1930

According to the 1940 census, 253 Oelkers was occupied by the Matthews Family-- Harold L., Edna, sons Duane and Bob, and mother-in-law Minnie Schultz. Also according to the 1940 census, they were there in 1935 so it is a good guess that they were the first owners. The  Matthews lived there at least through the death of Harold Matthews in 1972. In the latter part of the 1970s, 253 Oelkers was inhabited by the Kirsts.

I initially took some screen shots and was planning on eventually going to NT to take real-life photos (there are a lot of Bennett homes there) when I saw that it was up for sale and was having an open house!  So armed with a copy of the two ads and the catalog page, I drove 20 minutes and went to the open house.

https://www.trulia.com/property/3108015293-253-Oelkers-St-North-Tonawanda-NY-14120

It is a surprisingly large and (not-so-surprisingly) very charming house. Most of the original details like the hardware and lighting fixtures are gone. There is still the original telephone nook and heat vent. Outside the half-timber details have fallen victim to vinylization. Doors have been replaced. The upstairs wasn't open to the public (or at least it was blocked off and I didn't ask), but I took a few photos of the interior and many of the exterior.

Wardway model home, The Cranford, 253 Oelkers St North Tonawanda, NY built September 1930. (photo Sarah Mullane)

Windows match up nicely. (photo Sarah Mullane)

Original telephone nook in the dining room off of the kitchen. Rather high up on the wall, one would have to stand! (photo Sarah Mullane)

Vent beneath the telephone nook. (photo Sarah Mullane)

Dining room windows. Underneath the autumn decor is a decorative wooden box valance that the Real Estate agent told me the daughter of the second owners remembers from her childhood. Whether or not it's original, I can't say. I have something similar in my 1920s kitchen. (photo Sarah Mullane)

Looking down the stairs from the kitchen to the side door. Stairs to the basement on the left.
(photo Sarah Mullane)

Photos from the landing at the side door looking up to the first floor. Closet at the top, dining room on left. (photo Sarah Mullane)

View from dining room to living room. You can see the phone nook high up on the right.
(photo Sarah Mullane)

Dining room from Living room through to the back porch. Kitchen on left.
(photo Sarah Mullane)

View of Living room, front door, stairs to the right, telephone nook in dining room. (Photo courtesy of Hunt Realty.) 

Stairs to the second floor from the living room.(photo Sarah Mullane)

Kitchen. (Photo courtesy of Hunt Realty)

Image from the 1930 Wardway catalog