Greetings from Mississippi!
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Greetings from Mississippi!
Hello WavyGlass Gang!
By way of introductions, I own a wooden Foursquare home way down South in Mississippi. We bought it about 6 years ago and knew nothing of the house type at the time--it was just old and pretty to us. After living in it a couple of years and having the "bug" really get in under my skin, I am starting to learn about FourSquares and trying to learn about the history of the home. When we bought it, the previous owners (2nd owners) had grown up in the house and were of the understanding that it was a kit home that was brought in by rail and assembled on site in around 1903. But as it turns out, the home was actually MOVED to this location, and was likely built much earlier--the house was actually built on the one older street nearby and moved here when the current street & neighborhood was subdivided into lots in 1903. Tax records indicate 1887, and I am working to find additional source records to pinpoint a construction date. Also, no signs of timber assembly markings/lettering/codes/etc on beams in the attic to suggest it is a 1900s catalog home version either--my first of a string of clues that this might not be a kit home. (I orignially thought it was neat that this was a catalog home--very Americana!)
I was reading in the Old House Journal Compendium of the history of old house sash arrangements. The oddly huge 1/1 sashes in this house seems to corroborate an earlier late 1800s build, with Victorian influences as opposed to later Colonial Revival influences. Other details are beginning to make better sense too for an 1880's build as opposed to the early 1900s.
I'll post more photos later if ya'll want to see more, but here's a shot taken from the front.
Nice to meet ya'll! I look forward to making new friendships here.
FourSquare
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Re: Greetings from Mississippi!
Nice looking house - and a Foursquare to boot! I look forward to additional pictures of the woodwork, fireplace, etc. That's great to have even the history you have. That's something I've wanted to dig into since we purchased our 1905 foursquare.
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Re: Greetings from Mississippi!
It always amazes me that they were moving houses of this size at that time. Two of our neighbors' houses were moved too. Did they use wagons or what? Seems like it was too early for trucks.
I would love to see some interior pictures of your fine home.
Diane
I would love to see some interior pictures of your fine home.
Diane
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Re: Greetings from Mississippi!
Welcome!
Pretty nice looking abode.... My grandmother's dad moved a forty by 110 foot barn with only running gear and a dozen morgan horses back in the thirties.
Pretty nice looking abode.... My grandmother's dad moved a forty by 110 foot barn with only running gear and a dozen morgan horses back in the thirties.
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Re: Greetings from Mississippi!
I can only imagine they used huge rollers (basically whole trees) and horses to move houses back then. That's a pretty ancient method. Even insanely heavy loads move easily that way. I'd be worried about stopping them though
Re: Greetings from Mississippi!
welcome foursquare! jeez, i feel like i know you (teehee)...
i can conceptualize rolling a house on logs with horses...can't wrap my mind around how they dug around the foundation to insert the logs in the first place...i (and a few of my guys) lifted a house by hand, kind of...knocked holes in the brick foundation threaded a couple of 'I' beams in the corners then cribbed them up...it astounds me how we did it with no machines at all...maybe that what house movers did back then...crib up the house and install logs beneath...say the house was 20 feet wide and the movers used 40 foot long logs with 10 feet of log on either side...wouldn't the weight of the house snap the logs? obviously not...ok, don't want to hijack this thread, just go me to thinking, that's all......
...jade
i can conceptualize rolling a house on logs with horses...can't wrap my mind around how they dug around the foundation to insert the logs in the first place...i (and a few of my guys) lifted a house by hand, kind of...knocked holes in the brick foundation threaded a couple of 'I' beams in the corners then cribbed them up...it astounds me how we did it with no machines at all...maybe that what house movers did back then...crib up the house and install logs beneath...say the house was 20 feet wide and the movers used 40 foot long logs with 10 feet of log on either side...wouldn't the weight of the house snap the logs? obviously not...ok, don't want to hijack this thread, just go me to thinking, that's all......
...jade
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Re: Greetings from Mississippi!
Hi Jade, good to hear from you too. I'm stumped how they moved houses back then too. I guess society had a different attitude back then--if I ever move I'll see if I can pack up my house and take it with me too!
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- Knows the back streets
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Re: Greetings from Mississippi!
There is a legend that this house was moved, supposedly prior to 1800 because of a flood that left them thinking they were to close to the creek at the old site. Not sure if its true, but there are ghost marks to indicate the house at one time had lath and plaster but now it has pine plank walls which based on the original nails(the few that remain after the last owners renovation) were installed before 1800. So I do believe the house was moved. Not likely the plaster would have survived rolling on logs over a field.
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