Walking Tour-11 South Holcomb Street-Walking Tour
(West Side of Street)
The original section of this Greek Revival style house (with a late Victorian porch) was built about 1855. The owners then were Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Vliet.
This house architecturally is a Midwestern adaptation of the Greek Revival style which was built circa 1855 for/by Nelson Vliet, a Civil War soldier who died in Andersonville Prison in Georgia. His widow, Elizabeth, married Charles Bower and continued to live here until her death.
The original section of this house has elements seen in many Clarkston Greek Revivals. The broken pediment entablature under the low pitched roof of the one & 1/2 story section faces the street with the one story wing to the north. There are pilasters at the corners carrying the pediment. An addition was constructed to the rear wall of the original house, circa 1910, it would seem from the tax assessment records.
A screened porch was added in 1902 according to an item in the Pontiac Post newspaper which stated in the 8/28 issue that "Mrs. E. A. (Elizabeth) Bower has improved the looks of her house with a new porch." The porch (see photo left) was built in the popular late Victorian Queen Anne style . This porch was remodeled sometime after 1999, removing the clapboard covered railing and replacing the Victorian style support posts.
Official Property Description:
- Lot 4 Block 16 of Nelson W. Clark's Original Plat of the Village in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 20 in Independence Township.
- Lot 2 Block 2 of Myron G. Cobb's Southwest Addition to the Original Plat of the Village.
- Lot 98 Assessor's Plat.
Significant Property History:
[A Synopsis Of Property Transfers Derived From Abstracts
(when available) And Periodic Changes In Ownership Or
Assessed Value Derived From Township Tax Records]
- Note: All the properties currently located in the Historic District were originally part of a tract registered by Butler Holcomb with the federal government on October 22, 1831. Thus, abstracts for these properties, when they exist, show the original transfer to be from the United States to Butler Holcomb and may also include references to then President Andrew Jackson.
- 1842 Nelson W. Clark, Original Plat of the Village.
- 1844 Nelson W. Clark, Block 16, assessed value $10.
- 1848 Polly Clark, Blocks 13, 14, 15, & 16, assessed value $76.
- 1854 Cobb Plat of the Southwest Addition.
- 1855 Nelson Vliet, assessed value $200.
- 1856 Nelson Vliet, Lot 2 Block 2, assessed $200. Lot 2 Block 3, assessed value $40.
- 1861 Nelson Vliet, assessed value $300.
- 1872 Map of the Village has a building footprint on this site, owner Mrs. Vliet.
- 1885 Mrs. Bower, Lot 2 Block 2, assessed value $400.
- 1889 Charles Bower.
- 1893 Elizabeth Bower.
- 1904 Mrs. Elizabeth Bower, Lot 2 Block 2 & 16 & 1/2' off the north side of Lot 3 Block 2, assessed value $600.
- 1909 as above.
- 1914 Arthur T. Rockwell, Lot 2 & the north 16 & 1/2' of Lot 3 Block 2, assessed value $1200.
- 1928 Arthur T. Rockwell, estate, as above.
- 1940 as above.
- 1954 Charles Rockwell.
Site Conceived By
And Grant Funding Obtained By
Mollie Lynch, Library Director 1991-2005
Researched And Written By Susan K. Basinger
Web Pages Designed And Built By Bill And Susan
Basinger
Contents ©2000 Independence Township Library
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