The following is taken from the "Historic District Design Guidelines City of New Albany". The Guidelines not only provide homeowners direction on exterior work to their property, but also include short histories of each of our four local historic districts.
Cedar Bough Place, aka "the Bough", is where I live. Simply walk or drive straight up 13th Street and cross over Ekin and you will be on the Bough.
___________________________________
The Cedar Bough Place Historic District consists of the houses on Cedar Bough Place, a short private street that runs between Ekin Avenue and Beeler Street. It is one of only a handful of private streets remaining in the city of New Albany.
When Lot 42 of the Illinois Land Grant was divided, Cedar Bough Place was laid off into lots, roads, etc. and sold on the 17th day of September, 1836 by Margaret Loughrey with the following provision: “and I hereby certify all roads, alleys, streets, etc., laid off of said ground to be for the common benefit of the purchasers and owners of said lots.” The streets and alley were not to be opened to the public without the consent of the majority of the property owners.
The land remained undeveloped until the late 19th century, probably held for speculative purposes. When development began the quality of house construction caused Cedar Bough Place to be considered one of New Albany’s most prestigious addresses. The phrase “living on the Bough” was often heard in New Albany when describing a person or family who had a Cedar Bough Place address.
The neighborhood’s condensed period of development, the short length of the street, and the similar size and scale of homes all contribute to the character of Cedar Bough Place.
Only one lot on the street is vacant, and there have been no modern intrusions. The majority of the homes are very well maintained and in a good state of preservation.
The houses in the district, built between 1890 and 1910, are mostly Queen Anne style homes, as well as cross-plan and composite cottages with Queen Anne detailing. The c.1890 house at 831 Cedar Bough Place is the most elaborate example of the Queen Anne style.
Notable examples of composite cottages are located at 811, 833 and 838 Cedar Bough Place.
Slightly later styles represented in the district include American Foursquare (821 Cedar Bough Place), Bungalow (836 Cedar Bough Place) and Craftsman (837 Cedar Bough Place).
Notable Cedar Bough Place residents have included: Ferdinand Kahler, founder and president of Kahler Furniture Manufacturing Company (837 Cedar Bough Place); local restaurateur Tommy Lancaster (839 Cedar Bough Place); and F. Shirley Wilcox (837 Cedar Bough Place) who was appointed Indiana's chief of Internal Revenue Service collections by President Harry Truman and later was State Treasurer.
10 comments:
Ah ha - that's what you were doing today when I rode past.
You are correct. The new digital camera got quite a work out yesterday. My stroll continued downtown as well. It was a great way to enjoy a balmy January day and visit several "thriving" local businesses. All accessed without the use of car keys.
Hey Ceece -
It's a Nikon D50. It's a great camera. Was on my wishlist for a longtime.
I'll email you about a visit. Would love to have you guys over.
I live at 821 Cedar Bough Place and found this when I was googling the neighbors address after the house caught on fire last night. It was horrible to watch it burn, luckily no one was hurt. but it was still such a horrible thing to see so much history going up. Tears are still blurring my vision.
Ted, great site and photos. Sorry to hear about our neighbor's home burning. I understand he hopes to rebuild. Maybe it will help us all realize what we have, and work together to cherish and improve it.
Hi Randy - yes, the house fire was terrible. Believe it or not, I slept through the entire thing.
I wish them the best and have been down to talk to them a couple of times. I hope they are able to rebuild. It's a wonderful home.
Hello Bobby -
I'll see what I can find. I'll check with the Floyd County historian and the previous owner. Believe it or not, the facade was not really affected by the fire. What you see now is pretty much what was there before the fire. Apparently the owners had done a lot of work inside and the outside had not had much work done on it.
I do know there used to be a wrought iron fence in the frontyard (been gone a long time) and a dormer over the front porch extended about 2 feet over the steps but was cut back about 20 years ago.
I'll post an update for you here sometime next week.
We looked at the house that burned today- he's selling it for 60K or best offer. But it's going to need tons of work- the third floor is gutted, the kitchen and both baths are pretty much gone. We may talk to a contractor about what it would take to restore it, but it looks to be an awfully big undertaking.
The good news is the floors are intact, and most of the windows are fine. The fireplaces and pocket doors are undamaged. But oh, the ceilings made me want to weep.
Owner said that, restored, the house would be worth about 200k. Any idea if that's a pretty valid guess or not?
just to let you know the house I commented about in an earlier comment has been sold and it is now under construction for damages cause from the fire, I can't wait to see how it looks when it is done..
Missy on Cedar Bough Place
My GG grandfather, John C. Fink lived at 811 Cedar Bough. He suffered from poor health after his Civil War service and in 1918 his son moved him from a Soldiers Home in Ohio to the home of John's daughter, Laura Kahl. By 1923 they lived at the Cedar Bough address, where Laura (a widow with 3 daughters) struggled to care for her children and her ill father. John C. Fink died in 1926 at the age of 83. I'd love it if you could post a photo of 811 Cedar Bough!!
Post a Comment