The first house on the west side of Orton Place has been considerably altered from its original appearance. The shingle style home was originally built with a large circular window in its attic gable. The house resembled many of the J. L. Silsbee or Green & Wicks’ designed homes being built on Linwood Avenue at the same time as this home’s construction. It may be of interest to note that Green & Wicks built a family hotel for George Lewis (brother of first owner Harry C. Lewis) about 1887.
Lewis was a shipper with Bell, Lewis and Yates Coal Mining Co. The following passage reveals the history of the company: “The proximity of Buffalo to the great coalproducing regions of Pennsylvania, and its unsurpassed position as regards economical transportation facilities, render it one of the most convenient distributing points in this section for that important element in the commercial and industrial greatness of the country-coal. In this connection we desire to make special reference in this commercial review to the Bell, Lewis & Yates Coal Mining Co., the representative and reliable miners and shippers of Reynoldsville coal, whose office are located in the Coal and Iron Exchange Building. The company has also offices in Rochester, New York, and two docks in Buffalo on Ganson Street, at the foot of Michigan Street, one having a frontage of 1,100 feet, and the other of 400 feet. This is a mammoth concern and controls immense interests in bituminous coal. It was founded fourteen years ago under the style and title of Bell, Lewis & Yates. Eventually in 1887 it was incorporated as the Bell, Lewis & Yates Coal Mining Company, under the laws of Pennsylvania with paid-up capital of $1,000,000 and its trade now extends through all sections of New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Canada. This company handles only bituminous coal and coke, and last year sold one million five hundred thousand tons. This year the sales are estimated to reach two million seven hundred thousand tons. They are proprietors of the Rochester, Sandy Lick, Soldier Run, Sprague, Pleasant Valley and Hamilton mines and have recently acquired the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal and Iron Company, Walston, Adrian, Eleanor and Beechtree mines. These mines are fully equipped with the most approved appliances and machinery, and furnish constant employment to four thousand men. They have eleven hundred and forty coke-ovens at Walston, and one hundred at Soldier Run. The coal handled by the company is unrivaled for quality and is especially adapted for steamships, rolling mills, locomotives, glass works, and all kinds of smithing and steam-generating purposes. The company’s coke is in great demand by Bessemer-steel makers, and at blastfurnaces, owing to its resistance to compression, purity, porosity, and heatproducing elements. The following gentlemen, who are highly regarded in trade circles for their executive ability, enterprise and integrity, are the offers, viz: George H. Lewis, president; Arthur G. Yates, vice-president; Andrew Cant, secretary; Charles Clifton, treasurer. The company has also offices at Reynoldsville, PA.”
