Is it Still “The Bacon Building?”
Jul 01, 2022 05:20PM ● By Gary Fyke
It was interesting to watch the rehabilitation of a major building in downtown Chillicothe. It has been known as “The Bacon Building” since Frank E. Bacon bought what was then known as the Boylan Building in 1929. Bacon, son of a barber and a self-taught electrical engineer and inventor, became an influential force in the Chillicothe business community and the Midwest. His specialty was design and installation of large power generation systems. His dogged personality overcame a birth defect that required him to walk with a cane. He became an alderman, President of a savings and loan, owned a Buick Dealership, and built a post office in the space north of the Bacon Building which has become a part of that building. In 1930 he completely gutted the existing frame building and built offices upstairs with his own apartment over the Walnut Street entrance. He also applied the sands stone exterior which still remains.
A wide range of businesses have occupied the rental units; grocery stores, a utility company, automobile sales, a filling station, doctor’s offices, cocktail lounge, several cafes, a bakery, beauty salons, a boutique, tanning salon, portrait studio, music store, and others. The new owner, Mike Tobin, has repeated how Bacon put new life in an old building. Tobin says the walls are nearly two feet thick and the building is well insulated. He installed four full apartments and one Air BnB on the second floor and one business on the street level. All new water, electrical, and sewer facilities have been installed. The transformation has brought in a striking, bold look similar to major cities like Chicago and New York to downtown Chillicothe. Tobin, a fan of history, assures that the building will still be known as The Bacon Building.