685 Mt. Hope

The Ellwanger & Barry Nursery Company was dissolved in June 1918 and most of their remaining property was subdivided.  Their property at the corner of Mt. Hope Avenue and McLean Street was sold to Ellwanger's daughter-in-law Leah Ellwanger and his two granddaughters, Helen C. and Margaret.  Helen and Margaret sold a portion of their property in 1923 to Joseph F. Dryer, who built a large house with two and perhaps three of the thick stone walls originally being the walls of the large barn in which the horses of the Ellwanger & Barry Nursery Co. were stabled.  Dryer died in 1947 and his widow sold the house to Dr. John H. Schultz in 1951, and it was then sold to the University in 1965.

The University Conference office moved into the building in September 1966 and University Audit also occupied space there. The Childhood Development Center and Mt. Hope School used the building before the Mt. Hope Family Center was started in October 1979.  They moved to the former Immaculate Conception Church on Edinburgh Street in late 1987.   The Matthew E. and Ruth Harmon Fairbank Alumni and Advance Center moved into the building from the Frederick Douglass building on February 15, 1988 and then moved to the new Alumni and Advancement Center on South Campus in 2007.

The current tenant is the Environmental Health and Safety department.

References
1906 George Ellwanger (2 Dec 1916 - 26 Nov 1906) grave in Mt. Hope Cemetery

1909 Deed from Ellwanger & Barry Realty Company to Helen C. and Margaret Ellwanger, 1909, book 794, page 332.

1923 Deed from Helen C. and Margaret Ellwanger to Joseph F. Dryer, 1923, Book 1226, page 374

1947 "Broker Wills $20,000 Estate," Democrat and Chronicle, February 19, 1947, Page 30
Joseph F. Dryer, Sr., 685 Mt. Hope Ave, died Feb. 2.

1950 "Introducing for Sale Stone, Ivy-Covered Homestead 685 Mt. Hope Ave.," Democrat and Chronicle, October 22, 1950, Page 12F.

1951 Deed from Carol R. Dryer to John H. Schultz, 1951, book 2690, page 224.

1958 Margaret Ellwanger (1890-1958), grave in Mt. Hope Cemetery
Granddaughter of George Ellwanger.

1965 Deed from John H. Schultz to Trulin & Co., 1965, book 3665, page 542.

1965 Deed from Trulin & Co. to the University of Rochester, 1965, book 3665, page 544.

1967 "A 'Real' Cowboy at a Party," by Henry Clune, Democrat and Chronicle, April 8, 1967, Page 10B
Joseph F. Dryer house on Mt. Hope Avenue

1982 Helen D. Ellwanger (1885-1982), grave in Mt. Hope Cemetery
Granddaughter of George Ellwanger.

© 2022 Morris A. Pierce