A renovation tale of a 1916 building

131 1st Street North, Small Town USA

The first buzz Cut

Everyone seems to be curious about what is going on at the old barber shop. First, it's getting a buzz cut (torn apart) so it can get put back together. The building went up in 1916 and was intended to be a barber shop from the start. The upstairs is said to have originally been a doctor and dentist office. The last barber, Sylvester Seymour started shaving stubble (say that fast 4 times) and giving flat tops back in the '40s. Sy cut hair for 68 years. His wife passed away in 2009 and at 91 years old Sy went into the nursing home and died a year after his wife. He was still cutting hair up till a couple years before that. After having scissors in his hands for 68 of his 91 years he could probably cut hair blindfolded. Talk to anyone and they have a story about getting their hair cut by Sy. Did he cut many new little boys hair when he was in his 80's? A few, but he did continue to have regular customers who have been sitting in his chair for as long as they can remember. You can probably pick them out walking around town, they are the old guys with long hair now that Sy is no longer in business to trim them up. As for a close razor shave, he probably quit lathering faces in his 70's for safety reasons since shaving a face is more dangerous to do blindfolded.




Bedroom

Here is a view from the larger of the two bedrooms, from the front to the back where the kitchen is located.  The doorway however will be replaced with a new sheetrock wall.  Wall space is at a minimum in all the rooms, so having two doorways isn't desirable or needed now that the original entry door to the bedroom is open again.  Likewise, photo #2 shows the doorway that goes in to the smaller bedroom, which will also have fresh sheetrock.  Looking out into the stair well was not possible before as that door opened into one of the closets that was added.  The two large windows over look the bank and the church.  Notice the old radiator, each room has one, they just vary in size.