Ware's Department Store, New Rochelle

Ware's Department Store is a historic building located in the city of New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York and is significant for both architectural and commercial reasons. Ware's was Westchester's first and, for many years, largest department store, and was prominently located on New Rochelle's fashionable Main Street. The store operated from 1881 to the late 1930s, when the property was sold to the retailer Bloomingdale's to serve as their first suburban department store location. Not only was Ware's a key place in New Rochelle during its 20th-century boom years, its founder and owner, Howard R. Ware was a leading figure in the rapidly growing community as well. Ware first moved to New Rochelle from Massachusetts at the age of 13 and began to work as a clerk. In 1881 he became partner in the firm of Ware & Sheffield, which eventually became a stock company in 1913. Mr. Ware was a director and vice president of the National City Bank of New Rochelle, a founder and first president of the local Y.M.C.A. from 1899 to 1916, and an active member of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church. He retired from his active business in 1932. ()