Hobbins finds new career with Alexandria Antiques
ALEXANDRIA – Her parents were antique dealers and she was constantly around antiques as a child, so it’s no surprise Susan Hobbins eventually would open Alexandria Antiques. What is a bit of a surprise is the path she took to get there.
“I taught at the Ohio School for the Deaf for 38 years,” Hobbins said.
The Ohio School for the Deaf is the only publicly-funded residential school for the deaf in the state. Now near the intersection of Morse Road and North High Street in Columbus, the school’s mission since 1829 has been to provide a comprehensive education for Ohio's deaf and hard-of-hearing students, to encourage independence and lifelong learning, and to promote social development and cultural awareness.
“I got a different perspective on life after seeing the backgrounds of the children,” Hobbins said. “I know that anyone can learn no matter their handicap.”
Hobbins, now 64, grew up in Marion, rooted in antiques.
“I was always taken along to antique shows,” she remembered. “We visited dealers, and I watched my dad refinish and repair antique furniture. When I was 8 years old, my parents opened The Heritage Shop in Marion, so I would say I’ve had an interest in antiques since childhood.”
She graduated from Marion Harding High School in 1969 and then went to MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois. Founded in 1846, MacMurray has the reputation as one of the oldest schools of higher education for women in the country. It went coed in 1969, just four years before Hobbins graduated in 1973. Among the school’s most popular areas of study: American Sign Language.
“When I started college at MacMurray,” she said, “I wanted to be a journalism major, but that meant transferring to Northwestern University in Chicago during my sophomore year.
“My roommate at the time was a deaf ed. major with a deaf brother attending high school at Illinois School for the Deaf. I became friends with him and started to learn ASL – American Sign Language. I had always said I would rather dig ditches than teach school, but ASL intrigued me. Chicago was not where I wanted to be, so I majored in deaf education.”
She started at the Ohio School for the Deaf right after graduation. She taught science and kindergarten, and eventually became vice principal.
Meanwhile, in 1980 she met Meredith Martin through a mutual friend. They struck up a friendship and through the years, Hobbins said, “We always talked of our dream to have an art gallery and antique shop combined.”
In 2008 Hobbins finally retired from the Ohio School for the Deaf. A year later, Hobbins said, “Meredith called and said she had purchased an old building in Alexandria. She asked if I would be interested in using the basement to sell antiques.”
“It seemed like the perfect fit,” Martin responded.
After two years of rehabbing the building on West Main Street, in 2011 their “art gallery and antique shop combined” dream came true. Martin opened Sunbear Studios & Gallery and Hobbins opened Alexandria Antiques in the lower level.
The building, by the way, is rumored to have a storied past. It’s known it was a feed mill and general store, but in the 1800s it was also thought to have a significant connection to the Underground Railroad – right where Hobbins now has her antique shop.
“I’m told there were tunnels,” Martin said, “that were created for the Underground Railroad that ran underneath Alexandria, and there are two of them that connected to our basement. This is all hearsay, you understand, from a man who grew up here in Alexandria, but he’s very knowledgeable about things.”
Whether the story is fact or fiction, Hobbins said she loves Alexandria.
“It’s a quaint village with a wonderful history,” she said, “and the development and growth are positive.”
She sells an eclectic selection of antiques and collectibles including Native American artifacts, glassware, jewelry, fine furniture and paper ephemera.
“I love researching the history of antiques,” she concluded. “And finding unusual things to buy is great fun! Plus, I love talking with my customers.”
For more info
Alexandria Antiques is at 3 W. Main St. in Alexandria. For more information, call 740-924-2012 or visit alexandriaantiquesohio.com.
About the series
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they're unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com or 740-328-8821.