18-20 West Main Street

NOW & THEN: 18–20 WEST MAIN STREET, WEBSTER, NY 

 18–20 West Main Street during renovation in 2024.

 18–20 West Main Street circa 2017.

For many years, professional offices and retail businesses were associated with different addresses within this property.

At number 20, Jim Sutter established his law office in 1963. He and Don Summers formed Sutter & Summers in 1967. Patrick Lydon joined in 1973 and became a partner in 1978, when the practice became Sutter, Summers & Lydon. The Webster Chamber of Commerce’s history says the firm gradually occupied the entire building.

At number 18, newspaper advertisements document a different business during some of those same years. In 1974, The Flip Side sold records, rock-star T-shirts, and posters. Its promotions featured artists including Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and John Lennon.

By February 1978, Ground Sound Records & Boutique was advertising at 18 West Main Street. Its first-anniversary sale offered albums, T-shirt transfers, clothing, and plants.

These records show overlapping legal and retail uses within the property, rather than a simple sequence in which each business replaced the one before it.

Records and rock-star T-shirts at 18 West Main, 1974–1978. 

These Webster Herald ads capture the village’s vinyl-record era. In 1974, The Flip Side promoted albums by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, John Lennon, and other popular artists, alongside T-shirts and posters. By February 1978, Ground Sound Records & Boutique was advertising at the same address, celebrating its first anniversary with discounted albums, T-shirt transfers, clothing, and plants. (Renovations in 2008 briefly uncovered the Flip Side Records sign over the large display windows.)

Ethelyn’s Variety Shop, 1948–1951. 

Earlier advertisements identify Ethelyn’s Variety Shop at 18 West Main Street in 1948 and 18–20 West Main Street in 1951. The combined address shows the store advertising under both numbers by that date, although the ads do not explain its interior layout.

Ethelyn’s offered women’s and children’s clothing, fabric, sewing patterns, gifts, and cards. A 1948 promotion invited families to arrange children’s portraits, while Christmas greetings and a welcome to new residents reflect the store’s connection to village life.

Earlier clothing businesses — Hats and tailoring

The building also housed the Wolf Sisters Millinery Store, identified in the Chamber’s history as an earlier occupant before the law office. Millinery brought women’s hats and related accessories to the village shopping district. The sisters’ operating dates remain unconfirmed.

An undated historic photograph records another clothing business: William Wahle, Merchant Tailor, advertised as a “Men & Boys Outfitter.” Its relationship in time to the Wolf Sisters’ shop has not yet been established.

Look closely at Wahle’s display windows and recessed entrance, then compare them with the later photographs. Above the shop, the historic view preserves decorative features that have since changed. Trolley tracks cross the packed-dirt street in front, placing the scene within Webster’s trolley era.

 William Wahle’s merchant-tailoring and outfitting storefront. Note the display windows, recessed entrance, decorative upper story, and trolley tracks in the unpaved street. Photograph date and photographer unknown.

Detail of the storefront signs: “William Wahle, Merchant Tailor” and “Men & Boys Outfitter.” The man beside the window is unidentified. Photograph date unknown.

Sources

Webster Chamber of Commerce — 2004 business anniversaries

https://websterchamber.com/business/2004-business-anniversaries 

Webster Chamber of Commerce — 2019 anniversary recognition

https://websterchamber.com/2019-business-anniversaries 

Missy Rosenberry — The Village of Webster has a new bridal shop, March 24, 2025

https://websterontheweb.com/2025/03/ 

Missy Rosenberry — Sip and thrift at the Village of Webster’s new mocktail bar, May 26, 2026

https://websterontheweb.com/2026/05/26/sip-and-thrift-at-the-village-of-websters-new-mocktail-bar/ 

Historic and recent photographs supplied by the tour editor, including the identification of William Wahle’s storefront, the 18–20 address, and confirmation of the 2008 photograph’s year. No photographer credits supplied.