18-20 West Main Street

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

Now — A familiar village storefront

At 18–20 West Main Street, generations of businesses have served the village behind a recognizable arrangement of entrances and display windows. The historic tailor-shop photograph and later exterior views preserve a recognizable relationship between shop entrances and display areas, while also documenting changes to the openings, signs, materials, and upper-story details. The 2024 view shows that the ground-floor frontage has been remodeled; it is not an entirely unchanged storefront.

Recent reporting documents new uses at 20 West Main Street. In March 2025, Pittsford Bride owner Oksana Budak introduced her bridal boutique in newly renovated space. In May 2026, Tracy Adkins announced the May 28 opening of Threads and Tonic, combining vintage clothing with a gathering place serving mocktails and other nonalcoholic drinks. Both reports use number 20; the exact spaces occupied by these businesses and any overlap in their tenancy remain unconfirmed.

 Undated exterior view of 18–20 West Main Street, supplied by the tour editor as a recent Google Maps image.  (2024)

2024 — Remodeling the frontage

The view supplied with a 2024 filename shows work in progress on the ground floor. Brown siding and dark trim cover the upper façade, while the street level includes large display windows on the left, stone facing below them, an entrance toward the right, and exposed building wrap at the far right. 

18–20 West Main Street in the image labeled 2024. Ground-floor renovation is visible, including exposed building wrap on the right and stone facing below the left display windows. Year supplied in filename; exact capture date unconfirmed.

Compare it with the 2017 and 2008 photographs: the earlier brick-faced law-office frontage has been altered. The gabled building remains recognizable, but the pictures do not support describing every doorway and window as unchanged. This view records renovation, not a confirmed tenant opening date.

2017 — The law-office frontage continues

The photograph supplied with a 2017 filename shows the familiar green upper siding, shuttered windows, brick-faced ground floor, and blue law-office sign above the doorway. Together with the clearer 2008 photograph, it records the appearance associated with Sutter, Summers & Lydon before the later remodeling.

The sign documents the frontage visible in the photograph. It does not by itself establish which attorneys were practicing there on that date or when the firm eventually left.

18–20 West Main Street in the image labeled 2017, showing the brick-faced law-office frontage and blue sign. Year supplied in filename; exact capture date unconfirmed.

2008 — The law-office years

The 2008 photograph clearly identifies Sutter, Summers & Lydon, P.C., attorneys at law, at number 20. A blue sign above the entrance and lettering in the right-hand window mark the law office. Brick facing covers the ground floor, while horizontal siding and shuttered windows define the upper façade.

Compare this view with the older tailor-shop photograph. The shop-entrance and display-window pattern remains broadly recognizable in this 2008 view, though the decorative upper-story treatment visible in the historic photograph has changed. The building preserves continuity through its form and openings, rather than through every original material or detail.

18–20 West Main Street in 2008. The sign identifies Sutter, Summers & Lydon, P.C., attorneys at law, at number 20. Year confirmed by the tour editor; filename identifies May 12, 2008.

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.)

1963 onward — Sutter, Summers & Lydon

Jim Sutter moved his law office to 20 West Main Street in 1963. His family’s Webster practice had begun elsewhere in the village in 1919, when his father, Carroll Sutter, opened an office above a grocery store at 7 West Main Street.

Jim and Don Summers formed Sutter & Summers in 1967. Patrick Lydon joined the practice in 1973 and became a partner in 1978, when the firm became Sutter, Summers & Lydon. According to the Webster Chamber of Commerce’s history, the practice gradually occupied the entire building at 20 West Main Street.

Ethelyn’s Variety Shop, 1948–1951. 

These Webster Herald advertisements document Ethelyn’s at 18 West Main Street in 1948 and at 18–20 West Main Street in 1951. The store offered women’s and children’s clothing, fabric, sewing patterns, gifts, and cards. A 1948 promotion offered children’s portraits, while holiday greetings and a welcome to new residents reflect its place in village life. One Christmas advertisement spells the name “Evelyn’s”; the others use “Ethelyn’s.” 

Earlier retail years — The Wolf Sisters’ millinery shop

Before the law office arrived, the building housed the Wolf Sisters Millinery Store. A millinery business supplied women’s hats and related accessories, adding another clothing-related enterprise to the village’s shopping district.

The Webster Chamber of Commerce identifies the former millinery-shop building as one of the village’s oldest. The sisters’ dates of operation, and the relationship between their occupancy and William Wahle’s tailoring business, have not yet been established.

The trolley era — William Wahle, merchant tailor

The historic photograph shows William Wahle’s merchant-tailoring business, identified by the tour editor as 18–20 West Main Street. A hanging sign names “William Wahle, Merchant Tailor,” and another advertises a “Men & Boys Outfitter.” The signs document a village business supplying clothing and tailoring services.

Look at the large display windows on either side of the recessed shop entrance. Above them, the building has a projecting upper-story feature and a tall arched window beneath its front gable. These details make the early exterior more elaborate than the later views.

Trolley tracks run through the packed-dirt street in front, placing the scene in the village’s trolley era without establishing an exact year. A man stands beside the storefront, but the photograph alone does not identify him as Wahle. The adjacent small gabled storefront bears job-printing lettering, preserving evidence of another nearby trade without establishing its address or operator.

 William Wahle’s merchant-tailoring and outfitting storefront, identified as 18–20 West Main Street by the tour editor. 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.