In an area replete with deep roots in American history, one building in Bucks County has seen the times change with its various owners.

The Doylestown Historical Society recently wrote about the Flat Iron Building, located at one of the “Five Points” in downtown Doylestown. Having housed the popular Paganini Ristorante since 1990, the building’s history dates back to the 1860s.

In 1864, the building housed the Spoke and Wheel Factory, which made and sold “spokes and bent work” in “both home and foreign trade as far away as Ireland and England.”

Linford Craven, the creator of local landscape postcard images, built a photo studio in 1886 next to the factory. A fire later burned down the building and he rebuilt the spot in the “flatiron” design that still stands today.

Come 1909, the local spot was home to the Doylestown Ice Manufacturing and Cold Storage Company, which was incorporated by Wynne James.

Later usages of the building included a millinery shop and a real estate agency in the 1950s. Like so many other buildings in Bucks County, the local spots shows how society has changed and industry has shifted in the area.

Learn more about the building at the Doylestown Historical Society.

_____