This neglected house located at 839 South 8th Street was built in 1902 by a prominent attorney named Fred Wesley Beal. The house has been vacant since December of 2006, one month prior to our purchase next door. The old place has been the victim of vandals, and to the weight of a giant cottonwood tree that is currently resting a large branch on its roof.
Three weeks ago, we got a knock on the door from a distraught woman named Scherry, who, it turns out, grew up next door, and had incredibly fond memories of the house. Her father, she explained, got a much younger girlfriend, which his much older wife took exception with, and Sherry was relocated with her father and girlfriend to Oregon. She has lived in Oregon since that time (mid 1960's), so was obviously shocked to see the state of her childhood home. We spoke for about an hour about the history of our block of Park Street, traded emails and phone numbers, and promised to keep in touch with news of the house. We both promised each other to do everything we could to ensure that the house will not become condemned, and subsequently demolished.
Before departing, Scherry remembered her father claiming that the house was built by a Indiana State Senator, and a bit of lazy "google research" proved her claim to be absolutely correct!
Fred Beal was elected as Vigo County's prosecuting attorney in 1898 on the democratic ticket, then elected to the state senate in 1908, a post he held until 1912. While prosecuting attorney he tried the first woman sentenced to life in prison in Vigo county, and convicted three of the seven murderers ever tried before 1900.
While serving as state senator he introduced and passed the Employer's Liabiltiy Act! Mr. Beal accompanied the Indiana delegation to the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson. In 1914 he was elected Judge of the Superior court of Vigo County. This was his last political office as far google tells me, I assume he returned to private practice after his post was finished.
The house features 11 foot ceilings on the first floor, and elaborate fireplaces in both the living and dining rooms. There are four very large bedrooms, and a large bathroom on the second floor. The owner, a fireman, keeps promising to fix the place up, in "the next three months". He's said that four times in the last two years!
The lot is large for a home in this neighborhood, with giant cottonwoods and tulip poplars. My invasion of black swallow-wort has spread across the alley, one of three documented infestations of black swallow-wort in Indiana. The garage was built by Scherry's father in the 1950's, and the floor of the child's house remains- built for Fred's daughter, Cora, before 1911. The porch commands a view high over the corner, the stairs leading from 8th street are steep and small, rising more than leading.
Just like every person has a story, so do buildings. We have erased so much of our physical history in Terre Haute, and with it personal history, family history, and the fabric of countless hours of hard work and dreams. This house was designed, built, and cared for by a prominent public servent. This house was the best he could do for his beloved wife Cora, for whom he named his only child. He chose to build his only home high above the Northwest corner of 8th and Park, and lived there for the rest of his life, Fred passed away at 56 in 1926. Four of the six houses on this stretch of Park Street have been restored, or at the very least, renovated. I sure hope for Fred and Scherry's sake, that 839 South 8th is the next.
No comments:
Post a Comment