Todays’s photo shows the Taylor Building and the George H. Taylor Co. at the north corner of Main and Lincoln streets, in 1930. The building, which stands to this day, is the last survivor of three major buildings constructed just after the Civil War. The other two were the old Town Hall (on the Main Street block between Lincoln and Water streets) and the Miller Piano Factory on Smith Street. George H. Taylor was born in Somerville in 1860. He moved to Wakefield in 1880 and worked for a heating and plumbing company before opening a small hardware store at the corner of Main and Mechanic (now Princess)streets. In 1907, Taylor bought the four story building at the corner of Main and Lincoln streets, then known as the “Wakefield Building” from the heirs of Cyrus Wakefield. In its new building, Taylor Hardware expanded from a small shop to one of the largest suburban hardware stores in the region. Maj. Taylor served in the Spanish American War as an officer in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, Co. A, 6th Regiment. One of Wakefield’s most prominent businessmen, Taylor served the town as a member of the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Health. George H. Taylor died on June 26, 1936, just weeks from his 77th birthday.
