HOUSE OF MANY PORCHES 901 New York

My folks bought the house at 901 New York Street in 1953.
It sat on a corner lot and at that time the sidewalk and street was of brick.
I was always fascinated by the many porches, each one unique. There were 3 porches and an enclosed back porch. (house built ca.1900)

The back porch was enclosed halfway up with wood and top half had a large screen on 2 sides. The rear outside wall being wood to the top. Mother did washing on this porch with her 'wringer' washer and hung the wash outside on a clothesline. It also had a large hinged opening in the floor that led to the cellar which had a dirt floor. In that cellar Dad installed the very first furnace for that house. Before that the entire house was heated with a heating stove in the living room.
He also converted the 3 walk-through bedrooms upstairs into 2 and rebuilt the stairway which originally had been enclosed with landings. It was encased and accessed by a door. There were 2 doors side by side. One to the stairway and the other to a closet under the stairwell. Dad later created a single stairway straight up and at the top you went right or left into the 2 rooms. Dad had sided this house with white shingles in the early 1960's but it has been redone with wood siding.

New York st. side	New York st. side
9th st. side with brick sidewalk ca. 1954 Dad later changed appearance of this porch and new owners have changed it even more through the years. This house always fascinated me with it's many doors. Leave through one to go somewhere and come home through another, just for fun. ***	This is how the 9th st. side porch looked and after changing it. Other owners have changed it even more through the years

In 1954 dad began building his Auto Repair Shop on his property west of the house, 'Les Proctors Garage'.
They lived in the house until 1969 when dad retired and they moved to North Lawrence so that they could have a large garden.
NEXT Les Pro ctors Garage 411 East 9th