John V. Wolf, born of German immigrants,
established the above store at the corner of Strauss and Genesee Streets,
across from
the Williams Funeral Home. The above photo, taken about 1896, shows some of the
family in front of the corner store. William Ball,
who provided the photo, identifies his grandfather as the little boy in the
middle of the seated children. Grandfather Wolf told stories
of catching free rides on the trolley on numerous occasions in 1901 to go up to
the Pan-American Exposition with his
fellow 11 year-old friends and climb under the fence to see the sights.
The intersection of Strauss and Genesee is circled in green on this 1894 Buffalo Atlas image.
The Wolf family lived over the store for a time and then moved to a house on Jarvis Street.
The same intersection in 2006 from Google Earth.
William Ball reports that John Wolf's sons had no interest in taking over the store when they grew up and instead chose jobs in Buffalo's industries.
We thank William Ball, retired city worker, for sending his family photo and providing background information for this glimpse into life on Buffalo's east side at the turn of the last century.
