Business in the Building
197-273 Purchase Street was a strictly commercial building that was located directly in the leather district. There were a wide range of businesses in this building on Purchase Street, but they all have one thing in common, they all relate to the leather business and some shoe-making. For example, in Numbers 267-277, which is the corner owned by F. Weld family, each floor was filled by leather and shoe-making businesses. In the basement, there was a company called A.D. Nicholes. They worked with inner soles and remnants. also in the basement, there was another company sharing the space, A. Low and Co. who worked with leather and hides, preparing them for the shoe construction process. On the first through the fourth floor were more aspects of the shoe-making process. There are several different parties throughout the floors working on shoes and boots in cases. On the third floor is another company called F.L. Penny and Co. which worked with stencil cutters and cut out the leather that was being made into shoes.
Located at 207 Purchase street, there is another large company called R.G. Norris and Co. that shows up all over the city for their services. They were most known for their oils as well as tanners and curriers. This business was run and named after the founder Rufus G. Norris. Taking up all four floors of 207, this was one of the largest businesses in the building, as well as one of the largest spreading companies.
Although everyone needs shoes, it was not always smooth sailing in the leather industry. In an 1889 edition of The Boston Daily Globe, there was an article in the paper with the heading,"Business Troubles" and at the top of this list was a leather distributor named Susan E. French. She was located at 261 Purchase street and it states that she had gone into insolvency. Because she was unable to resolve her debts, she was forced to have meetings with law offices and make a deal by obtaining her assets, bargaining for different cents on the dollar. At the same time, there was an article in the newspaper stating "Stocks Drop Backwards" explaining that there may have been financial turmoil for everyone at that time. Mrs. French was just the owner of this business and did not live in the building because it was all commercial. She instead lived and commuted from 433 Dudley Street.
- Whing, John Eaton. “A Schedule of the Buildings and Their Occupancy, on the Principal Streets and Wharves in the City of Boston. : Surveyed and Published Expressly for the Use of Insurance Companies : Whiting, John Eaton : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, Boston : Press of W.L. Deland, 1 Jan. 1877, https://archive.org/details/scheduleofbuild00whit/page/140/mode/2up.
- "Business Troubles." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), Sep 05 1889, p. 3. ProQuest. Web. 1 Dec. 2022 .
- Holmes, M. “The Boston Directory. [1883] : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, Published by George Adams, 1 Jan. 1883, https://archive.org/details/bd-1883/page/416/mode/2up?q=%22purchase%22.
- Boston, Atlascope. “Atlascope Boston.” Atlascope Boston · Historic Urban Atlases from the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, https://atlascope.leventhalmap.org/#view:map.