Front View of Thomas House

Ward-Thomas Museum

Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums

Five images of buildings and grounds

Stories from Langley Street

Ward — Thomas Museum
Home of the Niles Historical Society
503 Brown Street Niles, Ohio 44446

Return to the Homepage

Click on any photograph to view a larger image.

 

Email Us

Phone: 330.544.2143
Mail: PO Box 368 Niles, Ohio 44446

Individual Membership: $20.00
Family Membership: $30.00
Patron Membership: $50.00
Business Membership: $100.00
Lifetime Membership: $500.00
Corporate Membership:
Call 330.544.2143


Do you love the history of Niles, Ohio and want to preserve that history and memories of events for future generations?

Click here to donate:

As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, your donation is tax deductible. When you click on the Donate Button, you will be taken to a secure Website where your donation will entered and a receipt generated.




 

 

 

 

 

242 Langley Street in front near street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

242 Langley Street in front near street.

242-1/2 Langley Street in back of house.

242-1/2 Langley Street in back of house.

History of Langley Street, Lot #216

Niles Firebrick Company Office and Pattern Shop — 1902-1912

Sons of Italy Lodge Pattern Shop — 1913-1926

Vacant Pattern Shop — 1927-1935

Bagnoli Irpino Club Purchased for $2000.001936-1946


Michael Patrone purchased whole property for $4000.00

Bachelor’s Home1946-1980

Warehouse1980-1994

Historical Research Center1974-1994

House of Antiques1993-1994


Michael Patrone is pictured standing(L) on the porch of 242 Langley when it was used as a House of Antiques.

Michael Patrone points to historical memorabilia hanging on the front railing of his Historical Research Center at 242 Langley Street.

Michael Patrone is pictured standing(L) on the porch of 242 Langley when it was used as a House of Antiques.

Michael Patrone points to historical memorabilia hanging on the front railing of his Historical Research Center at 242 Langley Street.

Patrone was often referred to as 'The Mayor of Langley' due to his gardens, buildings and taking care of the neighborhood.


242-1/2 Langley Street is in back of the Niles Firebrick office building and was known as 'The Bachelor Home which Patrone owned from 1946 - 1980.
242-1/2 Langley Street is in back of the Niles Firebrick office building and was known as 'The Bachelor Home which Patrone owned from 1946 - 1980.


View of Front Entrance.


View of back entrance and fire escape stairway.

Bachelor Home business card

The Bachelor Home provided living quarters for single men. The first floor was used for storage while there were rooms and a kitchen on both of the top two floors in the building.

Access to the top floors was through a metal stairway in the back of the building .

During this time period, post World War II, it was not uncommon for a single male worker to rent a room and walk to one of the nearby factories. Most of the renters were of Italian heritage having grown up in the East End of Niles.

Back View of bachelor's Home


Interior Stairway of Bachelor's Home
Interior Stairway of Bachelor's Home

Interior Room of Bachelor's Home
Interior Room of Bachelor's Home

Interior Hallway of Bachelor's Home
Interior Hallway of Bachelor's Home


Interior Stairway of Bachelor's Home
Interior Stairway of Bachelor's Home

Interior Doors of Bachelor's Home
Interior Doors of Bachelor's Home

Bicentennial Exhibit of Industrial Technology
Bicentennial Exhibit of Industrial Technology

Outdoor Bachelor's Home Sign
Outdoor Bachelor's Home Sign


House with colorful past is doomed.
3/12/86 Tribune
Diane Laney Fitzpatrick

A. Ciminero’s Saloon

A. Ciminero’s Saloon

Michael Patrone beside 217 Langley Street.

Michael Patrone beside 217 Langley Street.

 

A house on the city’s east side that is at least 100 years old will come down later this week, and with it a houseful of nostalgia from the Prohibition days. The house, at 217 Langley Street, was built in the late 1800s. The house was a popular saloon in the early 1900s and the location for a well-known bootleg operation in the 1920s.

Michael Patrone, the owner of the house for the past 40 years, will have the house demolished within the next few days, but with mixed feelings. “Yeah, I hate to see it go, but in a way it had to go,” Patrone said. The house caught fire last fall-the second fire to damage the home-and it is no longer habitable.

Patrone, a local history buff who has researched many areas of the city’s history for the Niles Area Historical Society, has collected some history about the old house that shows it was a well-known liquor establishment until well after Prohibition began.
The home’s earliest known history shows that it was a bar called “A. Ciminero’s Saloon’ where beer sold for a nickel a glass. Langley Street was then called Railroad Street, because it ran along the Erie Railroad tracks, which now belong to Conrail. “In 1910 the Carano family moved in, converting it into a house”, Patrone said. Later it was a meeting place for the Beneficiary League Club”, he said.

“When Prohibition began in 1920, the house apparently was used to make bootleg beer and liquor”, Patrone said. While cleaning out the attic of the house, Patrone found old liquor and beer bottles “that could fill two dump trucks,” and a pipe that led from the attic to the cellar and into the sewer system. “When they would have a raid, they would start pouring the liquor down the pipe and into the sewer. And there was no way you could tell what had been going on,” Patrone said. The attic had a “trap door” that was hard for law enforcement officials to find. “by the time they got up there, they had it all poured into the sewer,” Patrone said.

The house caught fire in 1945 and was left damaged and vacant until 1946, when Patrone, a handyman who lives a few doors away, bought the house and remodeled it. He turned the house into four apartments, two three-room and two two-room apartments and charged $10 per month per apartment. “I helped a lot of poor families then,” Patrone said.

Patrone still remembers the families that rented his apartments and the small house in the rear of the property. In fact, he keeps a list of every renter who lived in the house and the number of years they stayed. He remembers, too, the two men who helped him dig out the basement of the house-Michael O’Leary and Sykes Nicholson- two unemployed east side men who lived on the property while the small basement was expanded.

On Tuesday, Patrone signed a permit with the city allowing the house to be demolished. The last fire, which officials said was arson, destroyed much of the house and caused $25,000 in damages. The house has been boarded up since then. Patrone hopes the city can use the land to expand Murphy Park, a small park adjacent to the house. The two-acre park, named in memory of a local newspaper correspondent, was developed in the late 1960s after community members initiated the project, city Park and Recreation Director Carmen Vivolo said. The park was dedicated in 1972 with the help of Patrone, who was then a member of the Niles Task Force on Youth.

Patrone and the task force helped the city install a basketball court and playground equipment. At one time, Patrone had plans to expand the park to Pratt Street, making room for another entrance and new picnic tables, benches and flower gardens. Now he wants the park expanded to give the city’s east side youth something to do in their spare time. “I’d like to see a soccer field go in ther,” Patrone said.

“The basketball courts are the draw now at the park. Some of Niles High School’s best players got their start at Murphy Park,” said Patrone.
Vivolo said he will look into the possibility of expanding the park.

Langley and East Park Avenue

Langley and East Park Avenue.

Langley and East Park Avenue.

Langley and East Park Avenue.

Basketball Court at Murphy Park.

Basketball Court at Murphy Park.


Railroad Crossing at Langley Street.

Railroad Crossing at Langley Street.

Railroad Crossing at Langley Street.

Railroad Crossing at Langley Street.

Bike Trail Crossing at Langley and East Park.

Bike Trail Crossing at Langley and East Park.

     


  Copyright©2008-2021, Niles Historical Society, All rights reserved
  Back to top