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.




Skyway Outside


Whattabuutie.  Two views of the building showing the skyway (hardly seems like the right choice of word - 'skyway' sounds so modern) and a view from underneath.  Full view is the back of the building, while the other skyway view is what you would see looking down the alley from the front of the building.  The front of the building also has better brick, it is in great shape and more a red and green color, while the Lake Mary brick on the back and side has a very orange look.  As you can see it is a bit crumbly around the upstairs window.  That will be taken care of somewhere in the future when the back gets freshened up.