I am in the final stages of wrapping up all of the research I have conducted over the past five months and compiling it into a digestible paper and presentation. This is so rewarding to sew everything together. I feel a little bit stressed about getting it all done before Thanksgiving, but it's doable as [...]
A twin town house recovered
After recovering old photos in VCU's Special Collections and piecing back together the original 800 block of Park Avenue, I was able to determine that two houses that stood at 810 and 812 Park Avenue were parcels that were originally John C. Shafer’s that were sold to Gilbert J. Hunt: February 1, 1888 Deed Book [...]
Gilbert J. Hunt makes headlines, 1901
Although we know that Gilbert J. Hunt was responsible for many handsome residences in the lower Fan area and that it is looking more and more like he was the man responsible for the 811-819 Floyd Avenue row, he was also building in other parts of town. An article on April 28, 1901 in Richmond's [...]
Narrowing down the builders
Just as an exercise in considering and narrowing down the possibilities, I made this chart recently. There certainly could be more names to consider, but I started with the most relevant possibilities. The men I considered mainly include builders mentioned in Drew Carneal's Richmond's Fan District, builders identified in the 1985 Historic District Nomination form [...]
Land transactions between Shafer and Hunt
Got back from the circuit court records room a little while ago, and although I did not find the rosetta stone I was hoping for, I did learn that there was a history of substantial business transactions between John C. Shafer and Gilbert J. Hunt in the conveyance of undeveloped land tracts. After a successful [...]
Suspicions on the builder
Headed back to the city record room to see what can be find about the sale of 901 Floyd Street from Shafer to Gilbert J. Hunt, a prominent building contractor of the period. I'm wondering if there may have been some sort of a deal worked out for the land in exchange for Hunt's services [...]
Neighboring Shafer property ends up in Supreme Court
In 1914, a parcel of land - really a 20' alleyway - a block away from our row was once subject of an appeals case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Apparently, the parcel bound by Park Avenue, Franklin, Shafer and Harrison Streets that was once John C. Shafer's, held an alley connecting Shafer and Harrison Streets, [...]
Another week over too soon: Update
The week of October 12 came and went so quickly I again didn't get everything on my list crossed off for this project or my "real" job. No surprise, it seems to be the pattern these days. The following details, though, I am happy to report: VCU Facilities Management has electronic versions of "rough" plans [...]
New Friends at Siewers Lumber
Last Thursday I was so fortunate to publicize my project to the folks at Siewers Lumber & Millwork, who were very willing and eager to share their company history, which began in 1884. I contacted Richie Siewers about help with the millwork design of the porches on 811, 813 and 817 South Cathedral Place upon [...]
Norwalk Catalog Arrives
Yesterday I received my photocopied reprint of the 1890 Norwalk catalogue compliments of the Antique Doorknob Collectors of America. On page 197, I came across our bronze lock plate! And, thus was able to confirm that the aged number 6843 on the back was read correctly, and was in fact the style number for that [...]
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