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BLACKSTONE BUILDING
c. 1927
112 W. Washington Blvd.
The street level of the Blackstone Building provides an entrance and lobby
for the south block residential condominiums. This building is rather small,
as it was erected in what was the alley space between the Fort Wayne Printing
Building and the Schmitz Block. The upper floors contain just two residential
units, one on each of the second and third floors. Originally a three-story
structure, it was expanded to four floors to connect with the Schmitz building.
The fourth floor now holds one of Midtowne’s two workout facilities. Much
of the space on each floor of this building serves as the elevator lobby.
An open marble staircase leading from the lobby to the third floor is the most
prominent remaining historic aspect inside the building.
William H. Noll bought the site of the Blackstone Building in 1912, at the same
time he purchased the adjacent Schmitz Block (see Schmitz Block). Noll
erected the building in 1927 to house Blackstone Shop, a women’s clothier
owned by his wife, Laura Green Noll. Mrs. Noll’s shop occupied the building
for ten years. A men’s clothing store, Harold Hughes, opened in the
building in 1941, and was succeeded by Nobbson, another women’s clothier,
in 1951. Nobbson used this building, along with the first floor of the Schmitz
Block through 1979, at which time it abandoned downtown for the suburbs. This building stood empty from the time
Nobbson left until construction for Midtowne Crossing began in 1989.
A prominent local businessman and native of Fort Wayne, Noll made his fortune mass-producing a cough syrup originally
developed by his pharmacist father. He later opened the country’s first factory for producing liquid nail polish.
The Blackstone Building is primarily of local architectural significance as an example of terra cotta construction in the
neoclassical style. It is one of the few existing examples of the commercial designs of Charles Weatherhogg. The
Blackstone Building is the only commercial building still existing in downtown Fort Wayne to have an upper façade clad
entirely in terra cotta. Virtually all other similar local examples were theaters, including the Lyric (c. 1910), Keith (1907), and
Orpheum (c. 1924), all of which have been demolished. The best existing example of terra cotta as trim is the Embassy
Theater/Indiana Hotel (1928), which has tapestry brick as its principal facing material. Though he designed many major
downtown structures during his career, only four of Weatherhogg’s other designs survive: his Central High School (1902),
Elks Temple (1907), Masonic Temple (1922) and Journal-Gazette Building (1927). His vanished works include not only such
other downtown landmarks as the Anthony Hotel (1907, Louis H. Sullivan, associate architect), the Keenan Hotel (1922), and
the A.M. Strauss Utility Building (1924), but also a suburban commission related to the origins of the Blackstone Building,
his 1915 design for the same client, William H. Noll, of a palatial mansion that was arguably the most elaborate residence
built in Fort Wayne during this century.
History and architectural information were taken from the National Historic Register nomination written by Craig Leonard in
1987. It was updated through our own research and with assistance from Don Orban.
The Blackstone Building was added to the National Historic Register in 1988 and to the Local Historic Register in 1989.
c. 1927
112 W. Washington Blvd.
The street level of the Blackstone Building provides an entrance and lobby
for the south block residential condominiums. This building is rather small,
as it was erected in what was the alley space between the Fort Wayne Printing
Building and the Schmitz Block. The upper floors contain just two residential
units, one on each of the second and third floors. Originally a three-story
structure, it was expanded to four floors to connect with the Schmitz building.
The fourth floor now holds one of Midtowne’s two workout facilities. Much
of the space on each floor of this building serves as the elevator lobby.
An open marble staircase leading from the lobby to the third floor is the most
prominent remaining historic aspect inside the building.
William H. Noll bought the site of the Blackstone Building in 1912, at the same
time he purchased the adjacent Schmitz Block (see Schmitz Block). Noll
erected the building in 1927 to house Blackstone Shop, a women’s clothier
owned by his wife, Laura Green Noll. Mrs. Noll’s shop occupied the building
for ten years. A men’s clothing store, Harold Hughes, opened in the
building in 1941, and was succeeded by Nobbson, another women’s clothier,
in 1951. Nobbson used this building, along with the first floor of the Schmitz
Block through 1979, at which time it abandoned downtown for the suburbs. This building stood empty from the time
Nobbson left until construction for Midtowne Crossing began in 1989.
A prominent local businessman and native of Fort Wayne, Noll made his fortune mass-producing a cough syrup originally
developed by his pharmacist father. He later opened the country’s first factory for producing liquid nail polish.
The Blackstone Building is primarily of local architectural significance as an example of terra cotta construction in the
neoclassical style. It is one of the few existing examples of the commercial designs of Charles Weatherhogg. The
Blackstone Building is the only commercial building still existing in downtown Fort Wayne to have an upper façade clad
entirely in terra cotta. Virtually all other similar local examples were theaters, including the Lyric (c. 1910), Keith (1907), and
Orpheum (c. 1924), all of which have been demolished. The best existing example of terra cotta as trim is the Embassy
Theater/Indiana Hotel (1928), which has tapestry brick as its principal facing material. Though he designed many major
downtown structures during his career, only four of Weatherhogg’s other designs survive: his Central High School (1902),
Elks Temple (1907), Masonic Temple (1922) and Journal-Gazette Building (1927). His vanished works include not only such
other downtown landmarks as the Anthony Hotel (1907, Louis H. Sullivan, associate architect), the Keenan Hotel (1922), and
the A.M. Strauss Utility Building (1924), but also a suburban commission related to the origins of the Blackstone Building,
his 1915 design for the same client, William H. Noll, of a palatial mansion that was arguably the most elaborate residence
built in Fort Wayne during this century.
History and architectural information were taken from the National Historic Register nomination written by Craig Leonard in
1987. It was updated through our own research and with assistance from Don Orban.
The Blackstone Building was added to the National Historic Register in 1988 and to the Local Historic Register in 1989.
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Copyright © 2007 - 2010 - Midtowne Crossing Owners Association, Inc * 112 W Washington Blvd, Suite 327 * Fort Wayne * IN * 46802