A Map & A Newspaper Clipping

After spending the day researching deed books at the county court house on Saturday, Philip the Historian came by my house to share some information with me. And yes, he looks like a stereotypical historian with his white mane of hair, white Van Dyke beard, and glasses perched on the end of the his nose. I'm still madly in love. I gave him a tour of the Coffee Shop and he really seemed to love having a chance to see the inside.

He's nearly finished filling in the 1791-2003 gap in our deed history. He'll give me a copy once he's completed the research, but in the meantime, he shared the other information that he had gathered.

We know that our house was built sometime between 1876 and 1885 thanks to this town map:

The map comes from the historical society's reference collection. A map of the town was created every couple of years as it grew and changed. If you look at the map drawn in 1876, there is no building on my property lot. But this map, which was drawn in 1885, shows that my house magically appeared sometime between 1876 and 1885 on what was then called Lady Street.

According to the deed history, the owner of my property bought the back lot for a period of time around 1885. The same time when James Cox's Skating Rink was in operation. I wonder of the two are connected, but I forgot to ask Philip the Historian about the skating rink when he visited. Next time!

The other thing which Philip the Historian shared with me was this copy of a newspaper clipping from 1954.

How cool is that?!?

The newspaper clipping tells us that the Traveler's Inn & Coffee Shop was still in operation in 1954. And that it (naturally) closed for business on Thanksgiving.

It also gives us an insight into the other businesses which were in existence at the time. Um. Sarah, my town had a Vogue Dress Shop back in the day. Tee hee. I like it.

That's all the historical updates I have for now. The research continues. I'll keep you posted!