7.1. HRSR 07-29-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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IPThe Charles Mansur House at 1808 Main Street,built m ca. 1856-1860(not pictured),is thought to be the oldest extant dwelling in Elk River.Mansur was a native of Ohio and worked as a sawyer in the Godfrey sawmill.The streets of Uppertown were built with a number of buildings like the Mansur House.Although many of the exteriors have been modernized,their symmetrical proportions,low-pitched gable roofs,and regularly-spaced windows are keys to their likely date of construction. Early Elk River farmhouses were likely much the same, although there are none known to be extant.An early view of the first house built by Oliver H.Kelley in Section 14 shows the Greek Revival style and clapboard exterior typical of pre-Civil War farmhouses. Despite his wealth and standing in the community,W.H. Houlton did not build an elaborate residence.As illustrated in the Elk River Souvenir in 1901,the large,two-story Italianate house had a simple roofline and a one-story wing.After the Civil War,and with the growth of a small class of prosperous merchants and millers,a few houses of more architectural pretension were erected. Italianate and Gothic Revival style houses were popularized by a variety of publications that could be copied by local carpenters. Frame rather than brick was chosen for most construction In the 1880s,a Queen Anne Style house was erected by Henry . Castle at a cost of$3,000 67 His clapboard and shingle-clad house with much turned work boasted what were noted in the local press as"devil points"in the cresting at the roofline. Castle pumped interior water from a private tower shared with three neighbors. 4ter 4 ANL 4. 4.< it °•�� '�.�o-� Frank T.White House in 1981.Photo:MHS. illElk River Historic Contexts and Phase II Downtown Commercial Area Study 38