Hobbs Park Memorial

Site & General Layout
by Julia Mathias
October, 2000

Present day Lot 43 slopes up steeply from the street and then gradually descends as it goes west toward the alley. The dwelling sits near the highest point of the lot and uses the slope to create a walk out basement in the rear. A well and cistern as well as a barn were located on the property. The remains of limestone walls for the well and cistern still protrude 6-12" from grade in the side and back yards. And the foundation for the barn is still evident along the alley.

The house currently consists of two portions. The first is a low-pitch, side gabled, brick hall and parlor folk house (c. 1866) facing east. The house is about twenty-two feet by seventeen, with the longer dimension running parallel to Pennsylvania Street. The brick walls are 8" thick double wythe construction. The hall and parlor section has a basement made of native limestone that rises some three feet above the highest grade on the site with walls about 18" thick. Brick chimneys above the roof line are centered on both gable ends. The second portion of the house is an early addition (c. 1869) constructed of native limestone with walls about 18" thick. The addition is on the north half of the back (west) of the house. It is nearly square in plan, about thirteen feet by fourteen, and rises to a cross-gable roof. One gable faces south and the main ridge runs east/west. From the west gable wall the main ridge extends out to lap over the brick section's gable roof, like a large dormer. There is a brick chimney, visible above the addition's roof line, centered on the west gable end. All windows and doors are wooden, with wooden sills and all masonry openings have either a low segmented arch or a wooden lintel for a header.

Until June of 1998 there was a third portion of the house (c. 1888) in the rear. A frame addition, approximately eleven feet by seven, filled most of the 'L' created by the brick hall and parlor section and the stone addition. This frame addition had a shed roof which was an extension of the hall and parlor's gable. The frame addition had a native limestone foundation as well. This area of the house was dismantled because of its extreme instability. Extensive use of large limestone flags are present on both the front and back of the house. A limestone wall make of rubble, but capped with large, finished stones separates the front yard from the brick sidewalk. The wall extends from the front walk south to about the lot line for Lot 43. The walk is centered on the door and made of large limestone flags.

In the side yard on the south of the house is a capped underground cistern, approximately six feet SSW of the southwest corner of the hall and parlor section. The cistern is constructed of steel and concrete and is approximately ten feet deep. and six feet in diameter. This side yard also encompasses Lot 45. The majority of the lot is used as a garden plot and the property has several apple and pear trees.

The rear yard slopes down to the alley. A capped well is about eight feet SSW of the southwest corner of the stone addition to the house. The well is approximately thirty-three feet deep and four feet in diameter. The top five feet of the well is lined in rough limestone that was cut off about a foot above grade when the well was capped. Below the set stones the well appears to be cut out of limestone. The well descends about fifteen feet, tapering slightly, and then opens into a bulbous shape. When the well was uncapped in July of 2000 the water level was about six feet below grade. The well was pumped down to a level of about four feet. The water appears to be fed by either an underground river or spring. A sample of water was taken before the well was filled with sand in late July 2000. A barn structure approximately twenty-four feet by twelve feet stood with its long dimension directly adjacent to the alley. The structure had a limestone foundation which is still partially intact. Several personal accounts of the property indicate that it was a story frame structure with a gable roof and that it was burned by vandals sometime in the early 1980s. The 1912 Sanborn shows a stable of frame construction that is roughly the same size in the same location (15' x 45'), listed as one and a half story frame and stone structure. An outhouse stood in the southwest corner of the Lot 43 and was used until the mid 1950s, according to personal accounts. The side yard to the north is very narrow as the house sits within a foot or two of the property line.

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