FOSTORIA | A. Weaver & Sons to Ahlenius Co.: A Century of Dry Goods on North Main Street

Author: FFP Ai Bot

A. Weaver Dry Goods, 105 N. Main St., 1890s

FOSTORIA — For close to a century, one stretch of North Main Street was where Fostoria went for fabric, clothing, linens and notions. The business started with Alpheus Weaver and a partner in the 1870s, moved three times within a single block, and passed through several hands before ending its run as the Ahlenius Co. in the 1970s.

In this installment of our local history series we trace the Weaver family’s dry goods stores and the businesses that followed them. Sources include the Fostoria Area Historical Society’s archive of local history columns, a local history blog’s research on the Cadwallader family, and Library of Congress fire insurance maps. Where a detail rests only on local memory, we say so.

Quick timeline

Weaver & Adams, 105 N. Main St.

According to a 1980s history column republished by the Fostoria Area Historical Society, Alpheus Weaver went into business in 1875 with Thomas D. Adams as Weaver & Adams, a dry goods store at 105 N. Main St. The partnership lasted until 1885, and the store stayed at that address until 1893.

That address was in the John Andes Block, the 1878 landmark at Main and Center. The 1890s photo at the top of this story shows the Weaver family and employees on the store’s front steps, under signs reading “DRY GOODS — A. WEAVER — DRY GOODS.” The arched entrance to the “Andes Opera Hall” upstairs is visible at the left edge.

Into the Emerine Block, by way of a fire

Across Main Street, banker Andrew Emerine was finishing an imposing new building on the northeast corner of Main and Center, home to the First National Bank. Weaver planned to move in. In 1892, with the building nearly complete and Weaver merchandise already inside, a fire believed to have been set on purpose destroyed nearly all of the interior, along with the Weaver goods, according to the historical society archive.

The building was restored, and in 1893 Weaver finally moved in, occupying three floors. A period sketch of the Emerine Block shows the “A. WEAVER” sign over the storefront beside the bank’s arched entrance. The 1896 Sanborn fire insurance map, held by the Library of Congress, marks the space as dry goods and carpets.

The Emerine Block with the A. Weaver store, sketch, 1890s

A. Weaver & Sons in the Cadwallader Building

In 1907 the business, now incorporated as A. Weaver & Sons Co., moved again, to the new three-story Cadwallader Building at 120-122 N. Main St., built in 1906 by one of the town’s leading real estate families. Stockholders included Alpheus Weaver’s sons D.D., W.W., A.J. and D.T. Weaver, along with Frank Kiebel, J. Fosty and Wallace Lynch, the historical society notes. The 1910s photo below shows the staff lined up in front of big plate-glass windows, under a hanging sign reading “The A. Weaver & Sons Co. Dry Goods.”

A. Weaver & Sons Co., Cadwallader Building, North Main Street, 1910s

Not every Weaver sold cloth. George F. Weaver ran a drug and book store a short walk away at 115 N. Main St. in the 1880s. (See our companion story on Fostoria’s old drugstores.)

Kiebel & Wilson, and then Ahlenius

Around 1915 the Weavers stepped away. Kiebel & Wilson Dry Goods Co. was first listed in the 1915 directory at the same location, with John Fosty as president, Frank Kiebel as vice president and L.D. Wilson as secretary-treasurer. By the 1919-20 directory it had become The Wilson Dry Goods Co., still listed in 1922. In 1918, the Cadwallader Building suffered a major fire but was rebuilt.

Next came Beckett & Ahlenius, which later became the H.O. Ahlenius Co. The historical society column dates the takeover to “about 1923”; other local accounts say 1921. Either way, Ahlenius became the name generations of shoppers knew, and the family ran it until about 1974. The space then passed briefly to New Era and then to J. Miller & Co., which later moved down the block.

Then and now

105 N. Main St. (the Andes Block): still standing at the corner of Main and Center, refaced in 1982 and part of the Fostoria Downtown Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

The Emerine Block: gone. The historical society archive says it was torn down in the late 1940s, when a new S.S. Kresge store building went up on the corner.

The Cadwallader Building (120-122 N. Main St.): after decades of decline, it was razed in June 2011, along with the neighboring Ghaster Block and Botto-Levaggi Building, according to local historical research. According to local accounts, a newer building now stands on part of the site.

Did you shop at Ahlenius or Kiebel & Wilson? We would like to hear your memories.

More from FFP: 10 Original Business Ideas to Revitalize Fostoria’s Main Street and The “Hidden Tunnels” Beneath Fostoria.

Photo note: Photographs and images published before 1931 are in the public domain in the United States. Historical images in this article are shared for educational and historical purposes.

Sources

• Fostoria Area Historical Society, No More Theaters, Meat Markets on Main Street: https://www.fostoriamuseum.org/no-more-theaters-meat-markets-on-main-street/
• Fostoria Area Historical Society, A Look at East Center Street (1982): https://www.fostoriamuseum.org/a-look-at-east-center-street/
• Fostoria Area Historical Society, Main Street of the Past: https://www.fostoriamuseum.org/main-street-of-the-past/
• Fostoria Area Historical Society, W. Center From Early Days to Now (1982): https://www.fostoriamuseum.org/w-center-from-early-days-to-now/
• The Shoes (local history blog), The Enterprising Cadwallader Family, Pt. 1: https://theshoes1.wordpress.com/2025/11/22/the-enterprising-cadwallader-family/
• Library of Congress, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Fostoria, 1896: https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn06698_003/
• National Park Service, NRHP, Fostoria Downtown Historic District: https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/01001065