| Additional Information: | Rising from a stone foundation, this two-story, rectangular house is topped with a hipped roof with wide, overhanging eaves and features a cupola at its center. Pilaster cornerboards accent each corner of the house, which is entirely sheathed with clapboard. A classical, open porch fronts the house and wraps around to the north elevation; supports are fluted Doric columns, while a one-story, bay window with decorative wooden brackets extends to the south of the house. Windows, which are six-over-one-light replacements, are regularly arranged throughout the house, most of which feature a simple wooden surround with raised heads.
A review of tax rolls suggest that a structure was, in fact, located on this parcel as early as 1859, which was built by Ephraim Jencks. According to his 1878 obituary, Jencks was born in 1801 in Rhode Island, after which he moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was employed in a cotton factory. It was also said he was associated with the Jencksville Manufacturing Company. A quick search of his name suggests that he was the son of Benjamin Jencks, who started the Jencksville Mills in what is now Ludlow, Massachusetts. He wed his second wife Almira Burr in 1845 and the following year, Ephraim was identified as the postmaster of Jencksville. In circa 1857, the Jencks’ moved to River Falls. The Jencks owned the property through 1863-64. Almira died in 1876, while Ephraim passed away on 27 July 1878. While this information is included in this discussion, it is believed that the house standing today was, perhaps, built (or substantially improved) by Jacob H. Lord.
By no later than 1871, the property was sold to Jacob H. Lord, who continued to own the parcel until 1889, despite having relocated to San Jose, California, two years earlier. Lord was born in 1829 in Maine. In 1850, he entered into the lumber business in Maine, after which he relocated in 1858 to the River Falls area to continue said pursuits. Citations in the local paper indicate that he made improvements to the house in 1881 and 1883, thereby confirming the home’s existence prior to those dates. The house changed hands at least two more times before the house was purchased by Mrs. C.V. Guy in 1889. This purchase, confirmed by tax rolls, was reported in the local paper as such, “Mrs. C.V. Guy buys the place on 3rd Street known as the J.H. Lord house for $1500,” further confirming the home’s chain of title. By no later than 1900, the property was purchased by Professor William J. Brier, the president of the Normal College. Sanborn maps indicate that the front porch was added between 1900 and 1912, perhaps during Brier’s ownership of the house. The house, from 7 April 1919 through the summer of 1920, served as the “City Hospital.” In July 1920, the house was purchased by J. Franklin Spitz; he and his family moved into the home in October, after the City Hospital was moved to a location at Second & Spring streets (no longer extant). |
|---|
| Bibliographic References: | Tax rolls between 1858 (1.3 acre valued at $260) and 1859 (Lots 6-10 valued at $1300) suggest that something was built on one of the four lots. Between 1860 and 1861, the valuation of just lot 8 (the north 48 feet of which is identified in the subject lot’s legal description) is noted as $700, again, suggesting that a structure is located on that lot. The valuation takes a slight dip as of 1863-64 (which is not odd, as that was during the Civil War) and then in 1865, the valuation jumped to $1,000 and the property was owned by Rev. Arrington Gibson, who is identified as the first Baptist minister in River Falls, Arrington Gibson, Obituary, River Falls Journal, 27 March 1884. The next tax roll reviewed was that of 1871, which cites J.H. Lord as the owner (of Lot 8), with a total valuation of $1,500.
Newsbrief (re: JH and son Hersie Lord moves to California), RFJ, 26 May 1887; Newsbrief (re: Mrs. Guy buys Lord home), RFJ, 5 December 1889; “Hospital Opened in Brier House,” RFJ, 17 April 1919, 1/1; Newsbrief (re: Spitz purchase of the city hospital building), RFJ, 8 July 1920, 5/3; “Hospital Benefit,” RFJ, 29 July 1920, 1/3, This article indicates that the hospital would soon move into new quarters at the corner of 2nd & Spring; Bennett, “Many Old River Falls Homes Served as Temporary Hospitals in the Past,” 44-47; Tax Rolls, 1871, 1883, 1892; 1900, 1904; 1924; 1930; “Jacob H. Lord,” Biographical entry, Available online at www.santaclararesearch.net/SCBIOS /jhlord.html, Accessed April 2015. |
|---|
