When we look from the street this building, 13 South Main, appears to be part of the corner building.

As you can see here in this rear view, it is actually a separate building. This confusing appearance from front to rear was resolved by finding a copy of the party wall agreement at the Lorain County courthouse. Signed by John D. Carpenter for the building to the north, and Carter and Wood for the building to the south, on July 19, 1882. The agreement states that the wall between the two buildings is a common wall and that the owner of each building owns to the center line of the wall dividing the two properties. When Carter and Wood opened for business in late 1882, the first to open after the fire, it was a celebrated event, as this store had Oberlin’s first elevator, providing access to the three floors, basement, and the gallery. While changes of ownership were continuous, this location had a hardware store from 1850 to 1976.