It’s been seemingly forever since I last posted; it has been a busy time. Recently I took time off to visit the Decatur County Last Indian Raid Museum, which serves as a repository for local history, in the hopes of finding more information about the house and its history. I have much more digging to do, but was rewarded with a few photos and a better understanding of the man who had the house built, George W. Keys.
Mr. Keys came to the county in the late 1870’s and was its first elected registrar of deeds. He was involved in both real estate and banking, operating out of a wood false-front structure downtown on what is now a portion of the courthouse lawn. He married his wife Maggie in 1885 and they had one son, Edward. From what I understand now, construction on the house began in 1886.
Following are older photos of the house as well as one of the gloriously mustachioed Mr. Keys himself. I also found evidence of a contentious lawsuit in 1923 which appears to have stirred up sufficient animosity to prompt Mr. and Mrs. Keys to move to Seattle, Washington, in 1924…
Judging by what appears to be a 1903 Buick in the foreground, it seems that the addition at the rear of the house was built later than we had previously been told (1895). The addition was likely built somewhere around 1905.
Here, metal cresting is seen on the roof similar to an early drawing of the house (shown again below for reference). This photograph also clears up another mystery — a “stone wall” which I once thought was “artistic licence” in the drawing turns out to have been young trees and a hedge of some sort. Here the plants are seen at a more mature stage! Image courtesy of the Decatur County Last Indian Raid Museum.
The “stone wall” grew up! The dormer window is not shown here, but does appear in the photo above, before the c. 1905 addition.
The northwest corner of the house in 1967 — before the hideous carport and vinyl siding were installed. The house appeared on a tour of homes that year. Image courtesy of the Decatur County Last Indian Raid Museum.
A description of the lawsuit Mr. Keys was involved in. To make a long story short, the city tried to make him tear the house down after a fire on December 23, 1920. The city passed a law after the fire requiring that frame structures which had lost more than 50% of their value after a fire could not be rebuilt. Fortunately Mr. Keys did not tear down the house but repaired it instead, pointing out that not only did his house burn before the new law was in effect, but that the actual damage to the house was only about 10% and that its value was not reduced by 50%. The 1923 court case must have caused a bit of grief, however, because he and his wife moved to Seattle, Washington the next year to live near their son. The house stayed in the Keys family until 1931. Sadly, Maggie died in Seattle after only a year in their new home. Source: The Pacific Reporter via Google Books.
The tail end of the last paragraph for anyone who made it through the first page. Source: The Pacific Reporter via Google Books.
This is the only evidence I’ve found to date of the 1920 fire which appears to have started in the kitchen.
I’ll take this opportunity to show you some of the features of the windows in the house. This is a typical window latch. I’ve seen this type before, but they are not super-common. The knob at top pulls a pin which is released into the catch of the bottom sash. Some day all of these will be relieved of their paint and brought back to a cast iron finish.
Interestingly, the windows are rope-less and weightless. Rather, each sash has a piece of hardware mounted in it which is a more ornamental version of the more common sash pin. Several holes are drilled inside the sash tracks allowing the pin to hold the sash up at various intervals. These, too, will be one day relieved of paint.
I recently purchased a metal detector at the suggestion of a reader. I’ve only played researched with it once, and found nothing blog-worthy on that first try. I did, however, find several empty 1960’s vintage Hamm’s beer cans in a crawlspace. Hmmmm….
It’s rare to find old photos of a house on one’s first attempt at researching a property… I hadn’t really expected that. Now if only I could find one from the 1880’s I would be ecstatic!
Hamm’s won the best macro-brew contest for the Chicago Tribune. . .quite a find. Thanks for sharing that research, it is really interesting to dig up these stories. Think the addition is late enough that it was added post fire?
I don’t think I’ve ever had a Hamm’s, so now my curiosity is piqued! I hadn’t considered the possibility of the addition being as late as 1920, but I guess that anything is possible. If it was done that late, the builder did a great job matching the stained glass windows, hardware and other details. I doubt it was done after 1924 when Mr. and Mrs. Keys moved away as it is unlikely that anyone else would so faithfully follow the original detailing of the house (which, of course, by the 20’s was dreadfully old-fashioned). I guess a trip to the courthouse is in order to try to resolve this issue!
Fascinating history! I’m a little confused on thr court case in the article, though. It seems as if the plaintiff was the city, and they won? Wouldn’t that have resulted in the house being condemned and demolished?
What was the associated ordinance? To require brick or other “non-flammable” materials for new construction?
Those window locks are really unique and cool. The only downside, of course, is they have got to be tough to find matches for if you have any missing 🙁
Lastly, I enjoy a Hamms myself from time to time. It’s generally my go-to “cheap beer”, and actually pretty good for that style. Back in Omaha a few yesrs ago, I could find it for as low as $10/30pk!
The article about the lawsuit is confusing — partly because of the terminology. I guess it depends upon your perspective as to who “won” the court case; it appears that the technical and official winner was the city, but since Mr. Keys repaired the damage and the house is still standing today it would appear that he was the practical de facto “winner”. They say “you can’t fight city hall” and win, but thankfully Mr. Keys prevailed here!
New cresting is on the “to do” list! We were actually trying to source some online last night, but have not found one that looks suitably close to the original. We’ll keep looking until we find a decent match. Probably won’t get installed for a year or two in any event… the repairs and painting will keep us busy at least that long!
I would expect it to be a “finishing touch” after all the important restoration and stabilization work is done.
I was tempted to do a quick search, and surprised to quickly find a company that still produces it! I’m sure you’ve come across them in your search as well. Although not cheap, I’m surprised the cost isn’t higher, considering it must be a pretty small volume business. Great to see you can still get it!
It’s great you have old pictures of the house as a guide! So glad you found those. I admit a bit of envy. I have been looking high and low in my town’s historic preservation website archives for a picture of my house but I can’t find anything–though tantalizingly, there is a charming, wonderful pic of a family on the front lawn of my house taken in 1912, but with no info on who they are, and the picture was taken facing away from my house so the house isn’t in the picture! So close but yet so far… I wish I knew for sure who the people were, maybe they are the residents of my place back then (whose surename I do know).
Anyway, don’t mean to go on about my home, but I do understand the joy of hunting down the history of one’s old house! Thanks for posting, as always.
Normally old photos are hard to find when researching a place; I definitely had some extraordinary luck this time. Therefore, I understand your frustration (and envy!). There have been numerous times when looking for historic photos (often on eBay — a great resource) that I have come tantalizingly close to finding my target yet fall short just as you describe. The sought-after structure is seemingly always just out of view, across the street, or otherwise obstructed by something else. It’s maddening!
I’m working on a sketch of the bay window which will show the colors I believe to have been used originally. I hope to have this posted by the weekend (if time allows). You can share about your house here all you want; it’s all good!
Wow, what a crazy and interesting story you discovered about the lawsuit. It is such a lovely old house, and the fact that it is still standing after so many years is a great testament against such a ridiculous law.
It is a great testament against this ridiculous law specifically and the insane overreach of governments in general! I’ve since found even more about the history of the house, including the story of a night of gambling on the premises which ended in tragedy. I’m still digging up information about that which I will share in the future. Also the discovery of an antique beer bottle in the attic which came from a brewery in Seattle…
Those are awesome photos. Great job on the research!
It’s rare to find old photos of a house on one’s first attempt at researching a property… I hadn’t really expected that. Now if only I could find one from the 1880’s I would be ecstatic!
Hamm’s won the best macro-brew contest for the Chicago Tribune. . .quite a find. Thanks for sharing that research, it is really interesting to dig up these stories. Think the addition is late enough that it was added post fire?
I don’t think I’ve ever had a Hamm’s, so now my curiosity is piqued! I hadn’t considered the possibility of the addition being as late as 1920, but I guess that anything is possible. If it was done that late, the builder did a great job matching the stained glass windows, hardware and other details. I doubt it was done after 1924 when Mr. and Mrs. Keys moved away as it is unlikely that anyone else would so faithfully follow the original detailing of the house (which, of course, by the 20’s was dreadfully old-fashioned). I guess a trip to the courthouse is in order to try to resolve this issue!
Fascinating history! I’m a little confused on thr court case in the article, though. It seems as if the plaintiff was the city, and they won? Wouldn’t that have resulted in the house being condemned and demolished?
What was the associated ordinance? To require brick or other “non-flammable” materials for new construction?
Those window locks are really unique and cool. The only downside, of course, is they have got to be tough to find matches for if you have any missing 🙁
Lastly, I enjoy a Hamms myself from time to time. It’s generally my go-to “cheap beer”, and actually pretty good for that style. Back in Omaha a few yesrs ago, I could find it for as low as $10/30pk!
The article about the lawsuit is confusing — partly because of the terminology. I guess it depends upon your perspective as to who “won” the court case; it appears that the technical and official winner was the city, but since Mr. Keys repaired the damage and the house is still standing today it would appear that he was the practical de facto “winner”. They say “you can’t fight city hall” and win, but thankfully Mr. Keys prevailed here!
Oh, and I would LOVE to see the roof cresting return! It really is the cherry on top of these houses
New cresting is on the “to do” list! We were actually trying to source some online last night, but have not found one that looks suitably close to the original. We’ll keep looking until we find a decent match. Probably won’t get installed for a year or two in any event… the repairs and painting will keep us busy at least that long!
I would expect it to be a “finishing touch” after all the important restoration and stabilization work is done.
I was tempted to do a quick search, and surprised to quickly find a company that still produces it! I’m sure you’ve come across them in your search as well. Although not cheap, I’m surprised the cost isn’t higher, considering it must be a pretty small volume business. Great to see you can still get it!
http://www.architecturaliron.com/roof-cresting/cresting
It’s great you have old pictures of the house as a guide! So glad you found those. I admit a bit of envy. I have been looking high and low in my town’s historic preservation website archives for a picture of my house but I can’t find anything–though tantalizingly, there is a charming, wonderful pic of a family on the front lawn of my house taken in 1912, but with no info on who they are, and the picture was taken facing away from my house so the house isn’t in the picture! So close but yet so far… I wish I knew for sure who the people were, maybe they are the residents of my place back then (whose surename I do know).
Anyway, don’t mean to go on about my home, but I do understand the joy of hunting down the history of one’s old house! Thanks for posting, as always.
Normally old photos are hard to find when researching a place; I definitely had some extraordinary luck this time. Therefore, I understand your frustration (and envy!). There have been numerous times when looking for historic photos (often on eBay — a great resource) that I have come tantalizingly close to finding my target yet fall short just as you describe. The sought-after structure is seemingly always just out of view, across the street, or otherwise obstructed by something else. It’s maddening!
I’m working on a sketch of the bay window which will show the colors I believe to have been used originally. I hope to have this posted by the weekend (if time allows). You can share about your house here all you want; it’s all good!
Wow, what a crazy and interesting story you discovered about the lawsuit. It is such a lovely old house, and the fact that it is still standing after so many years is a great testament against such a ridiculous law.
It is a great testament against this ridiculous law specifically and the insane overreach of governments in general! I’ve since found even more about the history of the house, including the story of a night of gambling on the premises which ended in tragedy. I’m still digging up information about that which I will share in the future. Also the discovery of an antique beer bottle in the attic which came from a brewery in Seattle…