One of the fun things about house blogging is digging into the history of a place. I think mom and dad know some of the history of 812 prior to 1971, as a matter-of-fact, I believe mom lived in this house as a renter at one point - even before meeting dad. That's an interesting thought in itself! Of course, in the long history of 812, mom and dad have a significant part, not only in all the work that's been done, but by the sheer fact that they have had 812 for nearly 47 years!
Turns out, 812 has a looong history! Let me show you... So, this map is interesting. It's from 1860, and doesn't show Lincoln street, which means one of two things - either streets were added and renamed, or the cartographers were wrong! But another interesting thing in this map is the park I played in all the time as a child. You can see it in the northwest corner of the map, and it's called Hoffman's Grove. I wonder when and why they dropped Hoffman, because at least since I was a kid it's been called Grove Park.
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| Courtesy www.joycetice.com |
The next thing I found was in a directory from 1874. In this directory, people were listed as living at the corner of this street and that street, or this street above or below that cross-street. In 1874, Herman Davis was a switchman for the railroad.
When I was searching the directories, it seems most people on our block worked for the railroad. By the 1882 directory, Herman Davis was a train conductor. After that, there was a gap in directories, but by 1917...
Sadly, Charles had passed away and his widow Ellen, and (presumably) son Charles, were living at 812 and 812 1/2 respectively. Interestingly, Charles worked for the railroad too.
Then, we see that in March 28, 1935, edition of the Star-Gazette, Charles Davis was given a permit to make some changes to 812...
When I was searching the directories, it seems most people on our block worked for the railroad. By the 1882 directory, Herman Davis was a train conductor. After that, there was a gap in directories, but by 1917...
Sadly, Charles had passed away and his widow Ellen, and (presumably) son Charles, were living at 812 and 812 1/2 respectively. Interestingly, Charles worked for the railroad too.
Then, we see that in March 28, 1935, edition of the Star-Gazette, Charles Davis was given a permit to make some changes to 812...
Then here's a fun note...I couldn't figure out the date, but it appears someone was running a fudge business out of 812:
Let me zoom in a little for you!
And that's the next family at 812, the best I can tell. As a matter-of-fact, in 1947, looks like the wash machine was for sale!
Then...about 25 years later...mom and dad got good ol' 812. And that's a story you'll hear lots more about! I'll have to find out who the Pierce's were, and who my folks bought the house from. I know bits and pieces of that story...I'll try to pull that all together too!