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Photo with permission: Warren Tribune Chronicle
In their younger days these members of the Stevens family posed for the photographer. Standing, left to right, were: William H. Stevens Sr., Joseph B. Stevens, Sr. and Frank M. Stevens. Seated, left to right, were: Harry M. Stevens and Harold A. Stevens.

Photo with permission: Warren Tribune Chronicle
Grandfather Stevens, Harry M. Stevens, founder of the company bearing his name, is pictured here with his grandson, Dr. Harry M. Rose.

Photo with permission Warren Tribune Chronicle.

The Stevens family members had their photograph taken in the flower garden of the family home in Niles, Ohio. Standing, left, is Annie Stevens Rose, Standing, right, is Harry M. Stevens. Seated, left to right, are: Mary Stevens (Harry’s wife), Joseph B. Stevens Jr. and William H. Stevens Sr.

1895 Scorecard, Harry Stevens publisher.

1896 Scorecard, Harry Stevens publisher.

1923 Scorecard, Harry Stevens publisher.

Historic Harry Stevens Residence has been sold.

A local Realtor, Jesse Scott, purchased the house in 1990 and had recently sold it.
Scott sold the house to Cory M. McClain in May for $70,000, according to the Trumbull County Auditor’s website, The website shows McClain sold the house in November for $83,500 to Katherine L. McClain.

Story by Bob Coupland, Tribune Chronicle
December 30, 2022

NILES — One of the city’s most historic homes located off Robbins Avenue is gone after being destroyed Thursday afternoon by a fire.
Niles fire crews were called out shortly after 3 p.m. to what originally came in as a call about a loud explosion and then soon became a fully engulfed fire at the former Harry Stevens home on the corner of Robbins and Crandon avenues.

Fire Chief John Stevens said when crews arrived at the scene at 1210 Robbins Avenue, there was heavy smoke and fire showing from the large home. “We had received calls of a loud explosion at 3:07 p.m. in the area and then saw the smoke and the fully engulfed house fire,” Stevens said. He said a lot of glass was found at the property. He said no one was injured, and everyone associated with the house was accounted for. The house is a total loss. Fire crews remained at the scene more than four hours later. Stevens said the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office and Dominion East Ohio were called to the scene as the cause of the fire is under investigation. He said it may have been a gas explosion, but that has not been officially determined.

HISTORIC STRUCTURE
The 1800s two-story home with a wraparound porch, outdoor balcony and carport at one time was the home of famed concessionaire Harry Stevens, who was known as the ”Hot Dog King” for popularizing the hot dog.
An annual summer event, Harry Stevens Day, celebrates the famous Niles resident, who also invented the baseball score card, among other items.
Debbie Barber, one of the organizers of Harry Stevens Day, said she was devastated when she received news about the fire.
“This is such as loss. That house was amazing. I had been inside once and was always amazed how beautiful the home was. The woodworking and flooring were beautiful. The rooms in the house were huge,” she said.

Barber, who was out of town Thursday, said she had received calls and texts from people in Niles telling her what happened.
“Everyone I have communicated with is devastated. This is devastating for the city of Niles. That house was a very historical part of Niles and a major community landmark. It was a part of history from the era,” Barber said.

Barber said the house was sold earlier this year, and the owners were making renovations, which was confirmed by the fire chief. She said the Robbins family built the home and Harry Stevens’ family lived in it in the early 1900s.

Ralph Tolbert, a Niles Historical Society member, said the loss of the house is devastating as the city’s historic homes are becoming fewer. He said, “the home was as important as the Ward Thomas House and the Waddell mansion. We have lost another important landmark,”

Niles Historical Society member Sandra Bilovesky, who lives on a nearby street, said she was told by neighbors they heard a loud boom sound that shook houses several streets away. “The fire was huge. It was such a beautiful house, and work was being done to restore it,” she said.

Stevens, who built a business empire in stadium concessions, bought the house in 1911. It was later acquired by his only daughter, Annie Stevens Rose, who lived in the house for many years. A local Realtor, Jesse Scott, purchased the house in 1990 and had recently sold it.
Scott sold the house to Cory M. McClain in May for $70,000, according to the Trumbull County Auditor’s website, The website shows McClain sold the house in November for $83,500 to Katherine L. McClain.

The house had a full basement and attic and was comprised of 16 rooms, eight of which were bedrooms. It had a finished living area of 4,916 square feet, according to the auditor’s website.

NILES, Ohio (WKBN) – The people of Niles have been led to believe that the city’s late businessman Harry Stevens invented the hot dog. But it turns out, that may not be true.

On the webpage of the Niles Historical Society, it states that Stevens “gave the world the hotdog.” That Stevens had the first hotdog sold at New York’s Polo Grounds in 1900. Turns out, there’s a college professor in Missouri who says the Harry Stevens story is not true. “So there is no way, no way on God’s green earth that Harry Stevens invented the term ‘hotdog,’” said 81-year-old Dr. Gerald Cohen.
“Harry Stevens never claimed that he invented the term ‘hot dog,’ just that he was selling hot sausages in a bun,” Dr. Cohen said.

Dr. Cohen also says the first time Stevens admitted to selling hotdogs was in 1906 during a bike race at Madison Square Garden. But it was the idea of his son Frank, not Harry’s. The next day, newspaper cartoonist T.A. Dorgan published a cartoon with hot dogs. All this coming six years after the original story supposedly took place. Printed with permission from WKBN

The television report by Stan Boney that coordinated with National Hotdog Day, the third Wednesday of July, has caused many Nilesites to question whether Harry M. Stevens really was ‘The Hot Dog-King’

Warren native Nick Spano said, “If he didn’t do it, I don’t think it would take away, it wouldn’t detract from the story of Harry Stevens.” Spano is a foremost expert on Harry Stevens. So Harry Stevens may not have invented the hotdog but he did make it a part of the baseball experience and Niles Hot Dog Festival hopefully will return each year on the 4th of July Weekend.

Grilled franks in a split roll were first served around the turn of the century by concessionaire Harry Stevens, according to the Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins. Sports cartoonist T.A. Dorgan gets the credit for naming them “hot dogs,” presumably because many people at the time thought they were made from dog meat.

On cold days, Stevens would shout, “Get your red hots!” So Dorgan, who signed his drawings TAD, put two and two together. He even drew the hot dog as a dachshund on a roll, leading the indignant Coney Island, N.Y., Chamber of Commerce to ban the use of the term by concessionaires. They could be called only “Coney Islands,” “red hots” or “frankfurters.” But it wasn’t long before “hot dog” was the one and only name that would do.
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/07/16/cartoonist-named-the-hot-dog/ Published Jul. 16, 1995 |Updated Oct. 4, 2005

1984 Sesquicentennial Edition of the Niles Daily Times written by: Gene Antonio.
Niles’ most famous and prosperous businessman, turned a hot sausage into a million-dollar fortune and gave the world the hot dog.

Stevens was known throughout the world as a caterer but it was the first hot dog sold at the New York Polo Grounds in 1900 that sealed his fortune. Sausage had been sold in rolls before that time, but the hot roll and mustard and pickle were Stevens’ own idea. The delicacy became popular immediately and quickly developed into an American tradition.

A little less known than the hotdog was Stevens’ business operations with double-jointed peanuts. Stevens was known as “The man who parlayed a bag of peanuts into a million dollars.” The businessman leased many acres of land in Virginia where he grew peanuts and shipped them to New York by the carload.

Born in London, July 14, 1855, Stevens came to this country in 1892 and settled in Niles where his wife had friends. After working as an iron puddler and book salesman, he hit upon what turned out to be his life career. The idea came as he sat watching a baseball game. Stevens noticed the scorecards were amateurish and contained no advertising. Soon he obtained the concession for selling scorecards at a Columbus ball park and quickly lined up advertising, then expanded into other ball parks and selling refreshments as his next step.
Stevens’ promotions of the hotdog and other ventures brought him an international reputation. He returned to Niles many times during his lifetime. He died May 3, 1934, and is buried in Niles’ Union Cemetery.