Lambson Furniture Company (1868)
In 1868 Clinton K. Lambson purchased the property at 89 Elm Street in Westfield. There may have been a building on the property, built in 1860, or Lambson may have erected a new commercial building, c. 1868. The building would be home to Lambson Furniture Company for over 120 years. Up to the mid-1980s it was run by Rita Devine. As was common of furniture stores at the time, the company also included an undertaking business in its earlier years. The building underwent significant changes in 1924, when a fourth floor was added and the facade was altered: the original brick cornice was removed and the second floor was changed over to plate glass windows.
Lambson’s had the first elevator in Westfield, a water-powered Otis.
I have a receipt from Lambson Furniture Company ( J.A. Kenyon Treasurer ) from January 18, 1924 from the Undertakers . With the company stamp on it and date for PAID $260.00. I sure would like to know more about this.
Wonderful gem of a building currently undergoing historically accurate exterior renovation.