GAYLEEN GINDY 6303 MONROE ST.

Recently a request was received for history stories about the properties on the south side of Monroe Street when there were many residential houses that lined the street instead of commercial businesses. In a previous issue we described the turkey farm and old house that used to be where Kroger is today. So, starting at Harroun Road and moving west, on the corner parcel a residential home was built in 1899, by William Clampitt, Jr. He married Viva Kemp in 1891, and they lived in Ottawa Lake, Mich. In 1899 they purchased this corner and built their home. They also farmed this land, which at that time extended along Harroun Road.
An article in the April 17, 1941, Sylvania Sentinel reported that Mr. and Mrs. William Clampitt, of Monroe Street and Harroun Road, were the honored guests at a family dinner. The occasion was planned to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. The article noted that Mr. Clampitt, who was 87, was born in the old Washingtonian House, Sylvania’s earliest hotel, which was located on Summit Street just north of Monroe Street.
William Clampitt passed away in 1946, and in 1950 Viva Clampitt sold the property to Rachel L. Maiyo. Mrs. Clampitt passed away in 1952. (There are no known photos of the old house that once stood there).
While under the ownership of Rachel Maiyo, the village of Sylvania requested an agreement to sell acreage to the rear, along with other rear properties along Monroe Street. This land was needed so that the village officials could gain access to a sewage disposal plant that they were planning to build. The Sylvania Sentinel dated Feb. 10, 1955, reported that condemnation proceedings against James and Rachel Maiyo were dropped by the village when an out-of-court settlement was made to sell the rear acreage.
In 1956 Howe-Weiss Oil Co., purchased the land. By then the old house had been demolished and a gas station was built. The first “suburban” directory was published in 1957 and shows Park’s Cities Service gas station at this location through 1964. A 1964 photo shows “Cities Service” gas station operating here. As of the 1965 directory, Dunbar’s Cities Service gas station is listed through 1978. In 1979 and 1980 Bob’s Amoco Service Station is listed. The 1981 directory shows that the building was vacant from 1982 through 1986 and F.A.C.E. Amoco gas station is listed.
Howe-Weiss Oil Co., sold the land in 1986 to NorthShore Real Estate and it stayed in that name until 1995. Records show that the current building was built in 1986 and has been used as an oil changing business. In 1995 it sold to Fayette Funding Ltd. Partnership. In 2004 they sold to Ashland, Inc., and between then and now it has changed into five different corporation names.