The Mahoney Building was built by Mrs. F.G. Mahoney in 1922 for $25,000. It makes sense that it would have housed a car-related business since it was part of what was nicknamed Auto Row along the northern corridor of Franklin Street in the mid-1920s. It was also made of buff (yellow) brick, the same material used for many of the building there. Locomobile, a pioneering car maker, can be seen in the sign on the windows of this 1928 photograph. So can a “For Rent” sign. Locomobile went out of business in 1929 at the start of the Great Depression. The building also houses the Oak Crest Hotel on the second floor, which has “comforts that will appeal to the best people in the world.” In 1929, it too was for sale. The asking price was $700.

Records indicate that the hotel lasted until the mid-1940s when, like many of the buildings on Auto Row, a labor union moved in. Seafarers International Union of North America (AFL) worked out of the building. In 1956, with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) merger and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), the new conglomerate opened its regional office here. Records are scarce on the property after the early 1960s. The building is gone and is now a parking lot.

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