2022 Adams Street, Toledo

2022 Adams Street

Toledo, Ohio

43604

PSEI Research Team

Background:

2022 Adams Street is a unique building as it is listed as an Industrial Facility, which at 16,695 sq. ft. is considered quite small and just barely large enough to be zoned as a manufacturing building when originally built in 1898. It is now zoned as a Regional Commercial Building, and is called the Thermal Engineering Building. Another interesting aspect that adds to the building's uniqueness is that it consists of two buildings which are connected, therefore it has a property address as well as a mailing address. The building in the front holds the mailing address of 2022 Adams Street, while the building in back holds the listed property address is 2024

Adams Street. There is also a small residential room attached

to the top of the second building.

The building sits in what is known as the Warren Sherman Neighborhood. In the beginning it was settled from two sides; people moving away from the downtown in the south, and people moving south from the Old Towne neighborhood. Unfortunately, in the 1960s, Warren Sherman Neighborhood experienced a rapid decline once families started moving to the suburbs, and leaving many buildings vacant or blighted. Many of of the forgotten homes were demolished to make way for the expanding St. Vincent’s Hospital, while others were demolished simply because they were beyond repair.

Within the past few years, Warren Sherman has undergone major revitalization, making it a mixture of old and new. New constructions of housing developments have replaced the vacant lots, and other areas contain older, restored homes dating back to the turn of the century.

History of the Building:

The 1895 Sanborn map is the earliest documentation found of the property. It clearly shows 2022 and 2024 buildings. In 1936, it shows that 2022 was The Cannon Garment Cleaning Company, with a rug cleaning company in the rear. While the second building once held an auto service shop, that later became a potato chip factory around 1951. According to transcripts, in 1946, the 2022 store front was a grocery store for the Produce Exchange Co.

In 2016 the property was purchased by The Lucas County Land Reutilization Corporation (or Land Bank). This corporation is a community improvement corporation that has the intent to strengthen all neighborhoods in Lucas County. They want to return vacant and abandoned properties to productive use. They hope to reduce blight, increase property values, strengthen neighborhoods, and improve the quality of life.

The building is currently leased by the Thermal Engineering Co and serves as a storefront for JupMode Screen Printing and T-shirt Design.

Bootlegging and Murder:

Birth: Around 1910,Louisville, Ky

Death: December 1, 1932, Toledo, Oh

Buried: December 4, 1932.

Louise was the girlfriend of John “Jack” W. Kennedy, a club owner and a notorious enemy of the Licavoli Gang, headed by Thomas “Yonnie” Licavoli, bootlegger and terror to the common people of Toledo. On December 1, Louisa and Jack went to see a movie in downtown Toledo. Afterwards they got into Kennedy’s Pontiac coupe headed to one of his night clubs. They came to a red light at the corners of Jackson and Superior, less than 6 mils from 2022 Adams Drive. Before the light changed, a second car pulled up and riddled Kenney’s car with a machine gun. Kennedy was unharmed, however, Louise was killed instantly. It is suspected that Kennedy taken the opportunity of being at a red light to lean over to light a cigarette, thus dodging bullets. Thomas Licavoli was tried for the murder of Bell, but was acquitted because of his alibi. However, in 1933, Kennedy was fatally shot by Licavoli and his gang. He was once again tried, and this time convicted with the murder of John W. Kennedy. John is buried only a few yards away from Louise Bell at Calvary Cemetery.

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PSEI Research Specialist:

Andrea Batteast

Jonathan Batteas

Nicole Jankowski