ECSYKES•COM

Rochester industrial archive / File 1884

E.C. Sykes
Company

A family enterprise built on practical skill, public service, and a lasting connection to Rochester’s Front Street.

EST. 1884LOCATION Front StreetLATER TRADE Locksmiths & cutlery
Historic E.C. Sykes advertisements and the Front Street storefront
Company archiveRochester, New York
01 Company history

Edwin Cuttress Sykes founded the business in 1884, beginning a Rochester company that would carry the Sykes name through decades of change in electrical and radio technology.

Born in Rochester in 1860, Edwin C. Sykes grew up in the Third Ward. A county history published in 1908 described him as an electrical contractor and locksmith and recorded that he entered business in 1884 in partnership with Thomas W. Atkinson.

Sykes was also a prominent Republican and ward leader. His civic and political work made him a familiar figure in Rochester until his death in 1918. His surviving spouse, Sarah Sykes, and their sons Marshall and William then served as officers and carried the family enterprise forward.

02 Service record

Born in Rochester

Edwin C. Sykes was born in the city’s Third Ward to James and Ann Amelia Cuttress Sykes.

The company begins

Sykes entered business with Thomas W. Atkinson, establishing the concern that became E.C. Sykes & Co.

A founder remembered

Edwin died after a life in business and Republican ward politics. His family carried the enterprise forward.

Front Street service

Records use both 12 and 6 Front Street. The company remained in the same building; the two addresses resulted when the property was divided.

End of operations

After William S. Sykes died, the company closed as Rochester’s urban-renewal project would also have required relocation.

03 The trade

A business that evolved

Locksmiths and cutlery dealers.

Electrical contracting and radio service belonged to the company’s earlier years. After Edwin’s death, those lines were discontinued; the later E.C. Sykes Company operated as locksmiths and cutlery dealers.

The officers were Edwin’s widow, Sarah Sykes, and their sons Marshall and William. At the time of closing, Marshall Sykes and Ida Ruth Sykes were the remaining family members working at the business; Don Sykes and Stephan Sykes also worked there part time.

The surviving storefront and advertisements preserve the earlier electrical and radio period. They are shown here as part of the company’s archive, not as a description of its later business.

Original material

View the archival sheet

The preserved one-page document combines early electrical and radio advertising with a photograph of the E.C. Sykes storefront.

Open archival PDF ↗
04 Sources & notes

The founder’s biographical details and 1884 partnership are drawn from the 1908 History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York. Company trades and Front Street addresses are corroborated by Rochester city directories. The building division, family officers and workers, closure circumstances, full middle name, and political remembrance reflect Sykes family and local-history records.

County history, Volume II ↗Rochester city directories ↗