Bordeaux
Known Name(s)
Bordeaux
Address
Wasson and Iron St. Lackawanna, NY
Establishment Type(s)
Tavern
Physical Status
Demolished
Description
Addressed at 55 Wasson Avenue on the north side of the intersection with Iron Street (which no longer exists). Three-story hollow concrete or cement block construction. Window openings in the second and third floors. Fire escapes on the Iron Street side. Attached dwelling of the same construction in the back. Site currently occupied by the housing complex that replaced it.
Detailed History
This site can be traced to owner William K. Bordeaux (1918-1961) of Lackawanna, who enlisted to fight in World War II in 1943 after some college education and working as a laborer in the steel mill nearby where his father Henry also worked. He and his father hailed from North Carolina and his mother Annie from South Carolina. William provided the family's information in the 1940 federal census for the area. After the war, William became one the prominent black businessmen of post-war Lackawanna. An advertisement in the 1947 Lackawanna High School yearbook listing him and his wife Rita as "proprietors" in "Lackawanna's new spot for entertainment."
