Category:M C Ebbecke Hardware

Established in 1881, the M. C. Ebbecke & Co. was a general hardware store. It also sold sporting goods, household cutlery and various barb wire and fencing. In 1884, the Ebbecke brought Henry Thomas Moll into the firm, a gunsmith whose family had been manufacturing and selling rifles and pistols in Allentown since before the American Revolution. Moll had closed his gunsmith business in 1883 and he worked at Ebbecke & Co. selling and repairing firearms until 1889. Milton Ebbecke's partner was a Mr. Samuel S. Moyer, born in Allentown 21 June 1865. He was educated in Allentown. He joined the Ebbecke Hardware business on 1 May 1886. He died on Apr. 17, 1895 and is buried in Allentown.

The firm suffered a devastating fire on 28 April 1897, however it rebuilt and reopened later that same year. In 1912 it purchased the property on Hamilton Street, and in 1916 the company was selling automotive parts and tires. The company apparantley closed in August 1920.

Milton Christian Ebbecke was born 18 Jan 1855 in Upper Nazareth, Northampton County, Pennsylvania; the oldest of six children born to Henry S. and Clarissa Rebecca (Lehr) Ebbecke. He later moved to Philadelphia where he learned the hardware trade, returning to Allentown in 1881 to open the business. He passed away 30 Jul 1897 in Pennsylvania at the age of 42 years. He was laid to rest in God's Acre Schoeneck Moravian Cemetery in Schoeneck, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

Upon his death, the firm was taken over by his brother, John Frederick Ebbecke (b Jul. 17, 1866). John died on Jan. 30, 1944 in Allentown. The Ebbecke family continued the business, finally closing the store in 1966. Upon closing, 606 Hamilton Street was taken over by Soloman Jewlers, which had rented the third, and later the second floor of the Ebbecke building since 1931.

Solomon's closed in 2011. In 2016 the Ebecke Building was torn down for the new NIZ Tower Six.