72 North Champlain Street

This two-and-a-half-story gable-front store and residence sits at the northeast corner of North Champlain and Peru streets. It is a wood-frame building, two bays wide by four bays, with a stone foundation, a slate roof, and interior chimneys at the gable ends. The entry is at the southwest corner of the building, surrounded by large three-over-three storefront windows. Second-story windows are one over one, with shutters on the front facade. Two small windows with peaked lintels are set in the gable. There is a two-story addition at the rear and a one-story addition, with a second-floor porch, on the north side of the building. (This addition is relatively recent: It does not appear on the 1926 Sanborn map.[1]) A projecting sign advertises the current commercial use, a tanning salon.

James Grogan, a mason who had been living with his family at nearby 2 Peru Street, may have constructed this building around 1885.[2] City directories show Grogan living on Peru Sreet in 1885, but by 1886 he was living on this site and operating a grocery here. (He was also employed by the G.N. Willard Co.[3]) Michael, Nellie, and William Grogan also resided in the house. Grogan died on March 27, 1889, and his widow was running the store.[4]