28 West Main Street

NOW & THEN WALKING TOUR

A blacksmith’s shop, an automobile dealership, and a municipal office building have occupied this Main Street site. Today’s Village Hall at 28 West Main Street opened in 1965, replacing the former Klem Chevrolet premises. The older Village Hall and fire station stood next door at 30 West Main Street. Keeping those two sites distinct helps explain the historic photographs. [W1–W4] 

Now — Village Hall at 28 West Main Street

The property serves as the Village of Webster’s municipal offices. Its low brick exterior, white columns, and broad roof contrast with the taller commercial and municipal buildings that once stood along this part of Main Street. The color photograph shows the entrance, village signage, flags, and landscaped frontage. [W1; P1]

Village Hall at 28 West Main Street, opened in January 1965 on the former Klem Chevrolet site. The low brick building has a broad roof, white columns, large windows, and a landscaped frontage. 

1965 — New municipal offices open

Village officials moved into the new building in mid-January 1965. A Village Board meeting was its first official function, followed by a public open house on January 27. The new facilities included offices, a meeting room, a records vault, billing equipment, and Public Works space. [W2–W3]

After the new hall was built — Two municipal buildings side by side

An undated photograph shows the completed new Village Hall beside the older municipal building and fire hall. The old hall’s tall brick facade, projecting upper windows, and apparatus doors are clearly visible. The photograph establishes that both buildings stood together for a time; it does not establish when the old hall was demolished. Its former footprint is now associated with access to the parking area behind Village Hall. [P2; W2–W3]

The new Village Hall appears at left beside the earlier two-story municipal building and fire hall at former 30 West Main Street. The older building’s bay windows and fire-apparatus doors distinguish it from the low new offices. This view shows that the old hall remained standing after the new hall was built. Exact photograph date unknown.

1964 — Construction replaces the dealership building

The Klem Chevrolet building was demolished and construction of a new Village Hall began in 1964. The present offices were purpose-built for municipal use, rather than created by remodeling the dealership. [W2]

1963 — The Village acquires the Klem property

The property was sold to the Village in 1963. Klem Chevrolet subsequently relocated to 740 Ridge Road. The sources establish the purchase year and the later address, but do not give a precise moving date. [W2–W3]

1950s and late 1930s — Chevrolet sales and a wider range of services

A 1951 directory advertisement identified Klem Chevrolet at 28 West Main Street and promoted cars, trucks, mechanical repairs, collision work, painting, parts, and tires. The 1938 display advertisement also promoted General Electric refrigerators and radios. These advertisements show that customers came here for more than automobile purchases. [W6–W7]

1940 and 1939 — Klem Chevrolet and Stanley Hosenfeld

The 1939 directory identifies Frank C. Klem and Walter L. Klem with Klem Chevrolet at 28 West Main Street, and lists Chevrolet automobiles, Goodrich products, and General Electric radios and refrigeration equipment. The 1940 directory again places the dealership here. Stanley Hosenfeld, electrical contractor, also used this address in both directories. The listings do not reveal whether he occupied a separate shop, an office, or another portion of the premises. [W4–W5]

1921 — The Klem brothers take over the blacksmith shop

The Village’s historical account states that Walter Klem joined his brother Frank in taking over the Johanson blacksmith shop at this site in 1921. The repair business continued and Chevrolet sales followed. The available account does not establish the exact date automobile sales began. [W3]

Before the Klem years — A cobblestone blacksmith shop

The early streetscape photograph shows the cobblestone building beside the narrow Webster Herald office. The supplied Village-captioned image identifies the shop with Johanson. A separate historical clipping by Village Historian George S. Curtice associates the same cobblestone building with blacksmith Henry Herman and later Klem Chevrolet. Those accounts document more than one name in the site’s blacksmithing history, without resolving their full sequence or operating dates. [P3–P4]

In this supplied “Webster Through The Years” clipping, Village Historian George S. Curtice dates the photograph to 1905–1910. He identifies the cobblestone building at right with blacksmith Henry Herman and, later, Klem Chevrolet. His account also recalls Civil War veterans and other organizations meeting upstairs. The narrow building at center housed the early Webster Herald. 

1905–1910 — An early streetscape, as dated by the historian

Curtice’s clipping dates its photograph to between 1905 and 1910. His account describes the cobblestone building as a blacksmith shop and recalls its use by Civil War veterans and other organizations for meetings upstairs. The account also identifies the early Webster Herald in the small center building and general-store and harness-shop uses in the larger frame building to the left. This is a historian’s retrospective interpretation; the clipping’s publication date remains unconfirmed. [P3]

The cobblestone building at right occupied the site later associated with Klem Chevrolet and today’s Village Hall. The supplied caption identifies it as the Johanson blacksmith shop and credits the photograph to the Village of Webster. A wagon stands outside its broad doorway; the narrow Webster Herald building is immediately to the left. This is an earlier view of the site, not a confirmed photograph of the operating dealership.

NEXT DOOR — THE EARLIER VILLAGE HALL AT 30 WEST MAIN

The earlier Village Hall belongs to the neighboring property’s story. The 1939 directory lists the municipal offices at 30 West Main Street, while Klem Chevrolet is at number 28. The Village’s account dates the old two-story hall to 1912. It combined fire equipment and jail cells downstairs with town and village offices and a multipurpose assembly room upstairs. Public Works used the basement. The new building and the old hall can be compared directly in the supplied black-and-white photograph. [W3–W4; P2]

LOOK AT THE BUILDINGS

Compare the early cobblestone shop with today’s low brick offices. This is a story of replacement buildings on the same site, rather than an unchanged storefront. Then compare the new Village Hall with the taller former hall beside it in the undated photograph. Its bay windows and apparatus doors identify the old municipal/fire building; it should not be captioned as Klem Chevrolet. [P1–P4]

SOURCES AND EDITOR NOTES

Compiled October 26, 2026

WEB SOURCES

W1: Village of Webster official website; current municipal address

https://www.villageofwebsterny.gov/

W2: Webster Museum, Missy Rosenberry, “Happy birthday Village Hall,” February 8, 2025

https://www.webstermuseum.org/blog/happy-birthday-village-hall/

W3: Village of Webster newsletter, January 27, 2025, “The History of Village Hall”

https://www.villageofwebsterny.gov/uploads/1/4/9/4/149477158/1.27.2025_newsletter.pdf

W4: 1939 Webster directory: municipal offices, printed opening page; Klem, printed p. 691/PDF p. 12; Hosenfeld, printed p. 690/PDF p. 11

https://www.libraryweb.org/rochsubdir/1939/1939webster.pdf

W5: 1940 business directory: Klem under automobile dealers, PDF p. 36; Hosenfeld under electric contractors, PDF p. 54

https://www.libraryweb.org/rochsubdir/1940/1940buyers_guide.pdf

W6: 1951 Penfield directory; Klem advertisement, printed p. 12; linked source, scan not included

https://mcnygenealogy.com/book/penfield-directory-1951.pdf

W7: 1938 complete suburban directory; Klem display advertisement; search PDF for KLEM CHEVROLET; linked source, scan not included

https://www.libraryweb.org/rochsubdir/1938/1938complete.pdf

W8: HPC Sites of the Month page; Village Hall section near the bottom; additional image/demolition lead

https://sites.google.com/view/hpcwebstervillage/recent-sites-of-the-month

W9: 1968 Rochester Auto Show program; Klem listed at 740 Ridge Road East; linked source, scan not included

https://mcnygenealogy.com/book/rochester-auto-show-1968.pdf

W10: 1958 Accolade yearbook; Klem advertisement at 28 West Main Street, printed p. 139; linked source, scan not included

https://mcnygenealogy.com/book/accolade-1958.pdf