Harper-Cosgrave Block

Built in the summer of 1896 on North Third Street in Zanesville, this four-story brick commercial block holds two storerooms divided by a common wall. Its symmetrical west facade places the storefronts on either side of a central stair to the upper floors. Paired one-over-one windows are framed by brick pilasters that rise into an arcaded corbel table below the cornice. A band of multi-colored tile runs between the third and fourth stories, interrupted by weathered stone Corinthian capitals. That tile makes it the only building in the central business district decorated with Zanesville art tile. William Brower Cosgrave, of the grocery wholesalers Harper & Cosgrave, owned it. The Bloomer Candy Co. was the first occupant, followed by Cosgrave's shoe factory and a hardware business. The Findeiss Leather Co., a tannery, held the south half from about 1914 through the 1950s. The building was recognized for its ornament and for its link to local candy-making and tanning.