215 Pearl Street
At first glance this three by three bay commercial structure looks anything but historic. The main building is the home of the offices of the Oral Surgery Associates and is characterized by a very obtrusive and non-characteristic brick addition which encompasses two sides of the building. Upon closer examination, however, and with the help of the Historic Sites and Structures Survey one can clearly conclude that behind all of the additions and beneath the aluminum siding there exists a very old, possibly pre-1830, structure at 215 Pearl Street. The survey stops short of calling it pre-1830 and David Blow concludes that it is before 1830, thus obviously more intense research is needed to accurately affix a date to the structure(1).
What we do know is this; the main building which exists today is greatly altered with "modern" improvements, yet it still shows many characteristics of the Greek Revival style. This alone affixes a date of circa 1840-50. Deepening the mystery though is the fact that William Seymour, who built 223 Pearl Street, is known to have owned a hat shop at this location dating back to the 1820s and through the years the maps (Young 1830, Walling 1857, Debeers 1869) all show a structure at this site. The above insert taken from the 1830 overlay map shows the location of the building in 1830, and if one were to match the 1830 map and the aerial photo exactly (taking into account that the 1830 map was hand-drawn) the 1830 footprint would be in the exact location of the structure which stands today. Now, whether this building replaced the original structure, the original was expanded and remodeled in the greek revival style or this is in fact the original structure remains a mystery.
The only confirmed owners of the building which stands today are as follows; Byron Jones, grocer (188-92) and Dr. George Forbs and family (1893-1950s)(2).
