Victorian Ladoga, Yesterday and Today

Knox House, built for James C. Knox in 1892-93, 201 E. Main

James C. Knox

William B. Gill House Queen Ann, 216 E. Main, 1893-94

House on north Washington s. A Queen Anne built in 1890-91 for
Dr.Lidikay by William Strickler and son.

Robert Ashby House Queen Anne built in 1902

                                                   Hughes family in front of their house.

Hughes House 1874

Victorian Ladoga, Yesterday and Today

            I used to take my driver’s training students from Crawfordsville High School to all the towns in the county.  They were always amazed and impressed by the old Victorian houses in Ladoga.  Many of the houses have been kept up in the original style and painted accordingly.  I took some pictures of several of the houses in July of this year (2012) and am going to post them on the blog.  All of the colored pictures are the ones I took in July.  The black and white are pictures that appeared in a book published in May of 1986.  Some of the houses have names given them by townspeople or the people who lived in the houses.  I will label some of the houses and give the addresses.  If you know anything about any of the houses or the owners, drop me a note and I’ll make it a part of our history.  Most the houses are on east Main, and north Washington, but some are in Scott Township or out in the country.  It will be just a potpourri of pictures of houses in the Ladoga area.

Diane Cross has done an excellent and thorough job researching many of the houses in Ladoga.  All of the information of the dates of the building of the houses and the original and current owners comes from her research.  Diane put together a Walking Tour of Historic Ladoga featuring many of the houses you see pictures of in this blog.  She paid tribute to Hiram Samuel Huntington who built many of the houses in the town of Ladoga.  The following is her tribute:
          "Mr. Huntington came to Ladoga in the fall of 1865.  He entered into a partnership with a relative, Will Haskins, who was also the Monon Agent.  They started a spoke factory here where hickory timber was plentiful.  The spoke factory was later merged into a planing mill and a firm of contractors and builders was formed, of which Mr. Huntington was head.  As his partners at different times were Ed Snodgrass, G.T. Parker, Dick Lollis, William Strickler, and finally his son, George M. Huntington.  His partnership with his son terminated in 1919.  Mr. Huntington and those associated with him in the work constructed most of the more substantial homes and  public buildings in Ladoga and the surrounding community.  The highest commendation the owners give these building is that they are 'Huntington Built.' They stand today as a most fitting monument to H.S. Huntington.  He himself took pride in every one of them and in his later years, frequently enumerated them and expressed a pardonable pride in the workmanship.  His honesty, integrity, skill and thoroughness are exemplified in them."  Hiram Samuel Huntington Oct. 5, 1832--May 16, 1923

George M. Huntington, along with his father was a contractor for the Ladoga Elementary Building

Hiram S. Huntington

228 W Taylor, J.F. Warfel, Free Classic, built by Huntington and son in 1904, present home of Dave and Jan Vice.

Early view of Scotland Park

Scotland Yard or Park

Scotland--Notice the tennis courts in the middle right of the picture.

Alexander Marshall Scott built two houses in Scotland Park for his two daughters and their husbands.  Many of the  bricks and much of the timbers came from the Ladoga Academy which sat on the site of the present schools.  Above is the house at 202 W. Taylor built for Harry and Letha Scott Daugherty in 1898, by Snyder and Rice.  On the left is the house at 218 W. Taylor built for Edgar Otto and Hattie Scott Coffman in 1898 by George W. Davis.

Alexander M. Scott house at 200 W. Taylor built before 1873.  A Greek Revival house built for Henry N. Wilson.

Alexander M. and Margaret Scott house at 132 Taylor built in 1899 by George W. Davis

229 N. Walnut, built for George W. Havens by Huntington and son, 1914

219 N. Walnut, built for Frank and Opal Havens Davis, by Huntington and son, 1914

House at 226 N. Walnut, built for Milton Henry Lidikay in 1903

Herman and Sybil                                               Davis house built in 1951

Hughes House

Lidikay House 125 W Main, Queen Anne 1889, built for John D. Brown

DeJung House 201 W Main, built for Abraham L. Havens in 1914

Silas F. Kyle house, 404  N Washington St., Queen Anne 1894

Earlier picture of the Silas Kyle House at 404 N. Washington, later the Mayhall Home

Robert L. Ashby house at 213 E. Main built in 1902.

Knox House 201 E. Main built in 1892-93

                                          William B. Gill house, 216 E. Main built in 1893-94

Abner Webster house, 202 E. Main built in 1847

Cottage Hotel, 219 N. Franklin St. built for Henry McIntire in 1890-91, by William Strickler and son.

Homer Graybill house, 305 N. Franklin built in 1906.  A Colonial Revival house built by Huntington and son.

Jacob E. Lidikay house built in 1894, 226 N. Washington St.  Built by Huntington and son.

300 North Franklin in 1891 Home of David Dunlop Riddle and Sarah E. McDonald Riddle

House at 220 W. Taylor St. built for George W. Anderson by Snyder and Rice in 1900

The jewel of the houses in Scott Township is the Ashby House, which has been placed on the Register of Historic Houses,  There are other houses in Scott Township that are very unusual.

Strader Farm 1840

Abraham Ashby Farm 1838

Frantz  O'Neal Myers House 1820

William Byrd Farm 1840

Robert L Ashby House 1883

Harley Barnard's house is probably the oldest house in Ladoga.  It was built in 1838 for Taylor Webster.  At that time, the Ladoga town square was at South and Washington Streets, so this house would have been the third house north of South Street on south Washington.  I took a picture of the original timbers in the basement of the house.

This little house on the SW corner of Washington and South may be one of the oldest houses in town

This modest little brick house at 211 N. Meridian St. was built for Capt. William H. Neff in 1890-91

Bob and Sandy Powers live in this house at 501 N. Hickory St.  It was built in 1858 for Daniel Carey Stover.

Another view of the house at 501 N. Hickory

       This is the house where I grew up at 408 N. Sycamore.  It was built for Bertha Fallen in 1885.

                 Joel and Tom Peffley (Chester's uncle and grandfather) at his house at 408 N. Sycamore

  

John R. Peffley house on
East Taylor built in 1884

The Ashby house, a bungalow built for Wallace W. Ashby in 1921

The Frantz house at 204 N. Washington

The Anderson house is an Italianate style built for John T. Anderson in 1888

Early picture of the Anderson house

The Servies and Morgan Funeral Home owned by John and Belinda Monts at 203 N. Washington was built for Samuel Wallace Foster by Huntington and Son in 1903

128 N. Walnut Street, built for Sank Epperson by Huntington and Son in 1899-1900