The core of the front section was constructed in 1892 as Dunbar’s Garage. For 38 years, it was the shop of John H Dunbar. He did various repairs and built things out of wood, including fruit crates.
John and his daughter Elsie owned this shop and lived next door in the JD & NJ Lewis House, where the Longwood Community Building now sits. The original part of the house is the section under the second-floor loft windows. The other wings were later additions, added at various stages after the small shop was converted into a residence.
John was born in 1830 in Plymouth, CT, and he moved to Philadelphia with his brothers in the woodworking business. After his wife died, he came to Longwood around 1892 with his daughter Elsie. They spent their winters in Florida and summers in Willow Grove, PA. John was known to be the oldest man in town and lived to be 100 years old.
A rear section (not visible from the street) was built in 1885 and served as Clouser’s Cabinet Shop. Josiah Clouser was a well-known carpenter and early settler. He served as mayor for several terms. The small carpentry shop was originally located a block away, facing Bay Avenue, at its intersection with Wilma Street. In the mid-1930s, the Clouser part of the building was rotated 90 degrees to face Wilma Street, and its length was extended. It sat at 274 Wilma Street for about seventy years as a private residence.
When the Longwood Community Building was constructed in 2002, it needed extra legroom and staff parking spots. The Clouser Shop was moved a few hundred feet to adjoin and enlarge the Dunbar property.
Today it is the home of the Pinney family, members of the Longwood Historic Society. Until around 2020, it was home to a toy and comic shop called Davey’s Toys. The shop sells comics, toys, and other collectibles. In the 1990s, it was known as Transformations, selling antiques and jewelry. In prior years, it housed various other small retailers.
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