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Historic Homes
Historic Home Detail | 544
Historic Name
Clark Silcox Building
Address
271-81 N 2nd Avenue
Upland, CA 91786
Evaluation
Building
5/10/2007
Construction Date
1912
Description
Much of the original design is still present in this two-story commercial and residential block. Of brick construction, the building contains three differently-sized storefronts and the second floor apartment entry on the street level, and four bays of paired double-hung sash windows on the upper story. The end bays are slightly raised. Historic photographs reveal that a parapet, plain over the central bays and a blind balustrade on the sides, as well as a bracketed cornice above and below the windows and clusters of four vents over the end bays are original. A transom spanned the lower facade; this area is now covered by an awning. The paneled and glazed double doors with transom over them which lead upstairs are centered on the facade and appear untouched. While the storefront to the north of the entry appears remodeled, the configuration of those to the south seem to be original. Most of the ground floor windows and doors have been replaced. Although altered, this building is still suggestive of the Renaissance Revival influenced vernacular typical of American "Main streets." RESEARCH NOTES: confusion over the addresses associated with this building obscured its origins, but it appears to be the block erected in 1912 for Silcox Brothers and Clark. Previously a one-story, wood frame residence and office occupied the property. From February to May 1912 a series of notices in the Los Anaeles Builder and Contractor traced the pre-construction history of the building. It was described (with some variations) as a brick store and apartment building with a pressed brick front, composition roof and a plate glass store fronts, to cost $12,000 or $15,000. In 1912 and 1928 the primary downstairs tenants were a bakery and a grocery. These were identified in the 1924 directory as Carl C. Nelson's bakery and confectionery (271) and the Johnson and Brown grocer (281). James E. Bryant also sold meat at 281. Upstairs residents in the Clark Apartments in 1924 included J.E. Bowers; O.W. Kankel; Evan E. Lemon, boAkkeeper, and his wife Frances; Grover C. Mitchell, auto mechanic, and his wife Clara; Ray Mitchell, picker or packer; George Swindells, a clerk at the O.K. Fruit Exchange; Cyrus T. Brain, a molder at the Upland Manufacturer Company; and Robert and Susan Silcox.