Then and Now #2 - The Adams Building

Last Updated 7/18/2025 • Posted in Then and Now

📍The Adams Auto Supply Building 🚗located at 440 Locust Street was constructed in the mid 1910s at the same time as the Livingston County Library building📚. The building gets its name from C. F. “Frank” Adams, later the mayor, whose family owned a number of businesses in Chillicothe over the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Frank Adams was president of three highway associations at the advent of the automobile and helped dub Chillicothe “The Highway City.” He was instrumental in the formation of the Pikes Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway. The building contained an auto repair shop🛠️ and a showroom (on the second floor). In 1928 the building was purchased by Coburn and leased to Montgomery Ward and the interior was remodeled🧱. The store remained in the building until 1975 after which it served a number of purposes from a senior center and today is part of the Lifepoint Church property.

Historic Photo from Livingston County Library archives via Downtown Chillicothe Historic Tour website. Current picture courtesy of J.T. Baysinger June 18, 2025.