Marker No. 17

Barnum Blake Building

205 North Franklin Street

This building is one of at least four buildings that Barnum Blake built along Franklin Street, and is used as the Resource Center for the Port Washington Historical Society. It was built in 1852 with a cream-colored brick façade that was altered after 1900 to one that had a block exterior. Interior changes included two additions to the rear of the building. Over the years, the building has housed many businesses including a tavern, jewelry store, paint store, and frame shop. In 2012 the building was purchased by the Port Washington Historical Society and restored over the next three years. Original wood floors, plaster walls, and tin ceiling have been restored. This Blake Building is the oldest building on Franklin Street.

201 North Franklin Street

Barnum Blake was a prominent early Port Washington business man involved in lumbering, wholesale and retail trade and land speculation. He also built one of the city’s three early commercial piers and owned the first boat in the harbor. Blake built this cream-colored building in 1854. Over the years, the building has housed many businesses, including a drugstore, appliance store and restaurant. It has retained its original Italianate Style architecture.