Bostwick-Braun Warehouse, 22-46 Summit Street, Toledo, Lucas County, OH

Significance: The Bostwick-Braun Warehouse is significant both for its association with the Bostwick-Braun Company and for the company's implementation of new engineering techniques. Architect George S. Mills used reinforced concrete, an innovation for this time, in 140 octagonal concrete piers to support the weight for hardware and materials. A southern retaining wall was used to prevent the building's collapse into Swan Creek. This allowed more space than any other Toledo building of this period. The Bostwick-Braun Company, for nearly a century and half, has been a major force in the industry of Toledo as a wholesale hardware firm. Begun in 1855, the company periodically expanded, when in 1905 plans were started for the Bostwick-Bruan Warehouse. After its completion in 1908, the company flourished, winning national awards, serving host to state, regional, and foreign companies, and in 1969 began computer automated inventory controls and order processing.
Survey number: HABS OH-2407
Building/structure dates: 1908 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1923 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1937 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1939 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1940 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1948 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1957 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1977 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1995 Demolished