3528 Sassafras St. // The Wallace Knox Meyer House

The home at 3528 Sassafras Street is one of the oldest homes in the city of Erie and was built at a time when it would have been located at the far edge of the southern portion of the city, and was at the time within the border of Millcreek Township. The original portion of the home was built in 1834 and was the farmhouse of the Wallace and Knox families. David Wallace (1767-1852) was a sheriff and coroner for Erie County, but was, as is demonstrated by the amount of land he owned, also a farmer.

In an Erie Times News article from 1958, then owner of the home Mrs. Martha Gifford was interviewed about the history of the home. She stated within that interview, “The melon patch once occupied the place where the WICU television station now stands, and the Jefferson school is in the pasture.”

David Wallace lived a long life at the homestead, dying at age 85. He lived in the home up until his death and willed the home and property to his son-in-law/nephew Robert Wallace Knox and daughter Eliza. The ancestry information is lacking for Robert Wallace Knox, but the home appears to have stayed within this extended family for generations.

The home seems to have left the Wallace Knox families in the 1920s when parcels of the property were subdivided, sold off, and became the planned community of Glenwood Hills. The home itself was purchased by the Meyer (Otto Meyer and Elizabeth Bennett Meyer) family who lived there until the late 1940s. Otto Meyer was the son of P A Meyer who ran a successful clothing business (P A Meyer and Sons) nearby the eventual Warner Theatre. His father, Polydor A. Meyer, an immigrant from Prussia, began the business in 1884 and originally sold men’s, boy’s, and children’s clothing. 

From about 1950 until the 1980s the home was occupied by the Gifford family (David S. and Martha). David was a highly successful attorney who graduated from Central High School in Erie and went on to graduate from Harvard. He was a son of the American Revolution and was deeply involved in civic life in Erie.

In that same article quoted earlier in this text, in which Mrs. Gifford was interviewed, the interior of the home was described, “All of the woodwork is of native woods, cut from the farmlands. Most of it is black walnut carefully cut to show burl and fine grain. The doors are made in so-called ‘Christian’ pattern: the paneling forming a cross above and an open bible below. Doorways and window frames are fashioned like keyholes. Originally, there were seven fireplaces, but three have been covered over as alterations were made.  There’s a commanding view of the lake from the upstairs bedroom – probably the reason the house was faced in this direction.”

The home was purchased by Virgina Boyer in 1985 who lived there until 2003 when it was sold to the Kidder family. It was sold again in 2014 and in 2018. The 3,440 square foot home is for sale now through Marsha Marsh and is listed for $374,500. The following photographs are from the listing.