Name/Title
Newspaper article - Marian ApartmentsEntry/Object ID
2023.2.213Scope and Content
A copy of the newspaper article written in 1943 by Arna Taylor titled 'Old Brick House Was Scene of Many Gay Parties in Its Prime'. It is accompanied by several colored reproduced photos of the subject.Context
Old Brick House Was Scene of Many Gay Parties in Its Prime
Well-Built, It Has Been Made Ito Apartments
Have you ever passed some of the big, old homes in St. Joseph, now converted into apartments, and wondered what they were like in their prime? Wondered about the people who live in them? The things they did? . . . . .
The red brickhouse at the Southwest corner of Thirteenth and Francis is not the most pretentious of these old homes but because of its location it is familiar to many and is typical of a style of architecture extensively used here following the civil war. . . . .
The house was built in 1866 by Mr. and Mrs. Philip Arnholt, two years after their marriage. . . . . . Philip Arnholt was postmaster of St. Joseph from March 1871, to February, 1875, at the time General Grant was president.
Used Handmade Bricks
Handmade bricks were used to build the house. The foundation is seven feet high and 24 inches thick, and has two crossbar partitions. . . . . The ceilings are about eight feet. The upper half of the windows had six panes, . . . The two basement rooms were used as a dining room and kitchen. . . . . The doorway . . . . suggests gracious living.
At the time the house was built there were no near neighbors. There was a farmhouse which is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs Milton Tootle . . . a house . . . near the Convent, and . . . the site of the . . United Church. . . .
The Arnholts recall the big yard, . . . The street cars pulled by horses were one of the big things . . . .
Added Wooden Porches
The property was sold by the Arnholts . . . In 1883 it was purchased by Samuel D. Cowen . . . county judge . . . and circuit clerk. The Cowens added two wooden porches . . . a sleeping porch upstairs . . . and sun porch downstairs. . . . at the time of their occupancy the house had 10 rooms.
Miss Ella Cowen recalls . . . when she went to college the girls pestered her for the details of the death of Jesse James. . . . . . . . . . Their special entertainment each year was an elaborate birthday party for their mother.
Their neighbors were General Craig who lived in a green brick house. . . . . D. M. Force, a hardware merchant, . . . . The C. E. Chestnut family lived on the southeast corner.
Dr. and Mrs. V. M. Robinson purchased the house . . . in February, 1943. . . . While they lived there they replastered the upper floor and excavated a part of the basement to make a garage. . . . . . . . Because of he doctors ill health, they were forced to abandoned their plans.
Completed Remodeling
The Robinsons sold the property to Charles Hellums . . . in December 1943. Mr Hellums . . . . (made) the house into six kitchenette apartments . . . . .
The present owner is Mrs. Anna Uhlmer . . . . it is now known as the Marian Apartments and Mrs. Uhlmer occupies one of them with her family.
. . . . in tracing the story of the place, the words. . . ."Time waits for no one, it passes you by. It goes on forever" - . . . . the time that has passed has been the story of a city and a nation developing through a period of wars and peace - time in passing has been history in the making.
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(PICTURES)
A sideways view of three houses (the Marian Apartments house to the far right) before the United Church
The St. Joseph Fire Dept. on scene at the burning of the house.
The house post fire. It has been boarded up and surrounded by a plastic fence.
An unknown property is disarray with a handwritten note in the upper left corner that reads 'Museum Hill was in the process of buying this house when it was lost to arson a few years ago.'Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
Clipping, NewspaperNomenclature Primary Object Term
ClippingNomenclature Sub-Class
Other DocumentsNomenclature Sub-Class
Photographic MediaNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Class
Photographic T&ENomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 06: Tools & Equipment for Communication
