anybody have storys about stony heights, 500 e washington St I know that C.M. Pratt stold the stone from the railroad to build the house I did some research on C.M. Pratt I believe that he is charles millard Pratt from new york he was a rich oil man (Standard oil Co.) and worked for the new york railroads C.M. Pratt was in frankfort in 1890 as a general superintenent of the cloverleaf R.R. in 1889 Standard Oil of indiana was formed. so i think he is Charles M Pratt son of Charles Partt & John D. Rockefeller of standard oil.
so if you have some storys please tell
-- Edited by Thomas on Sunday 22nd of March 2009 10:31:15 PM
What a coinsidence! A friend of mine had just purchased this house and is in the process of restoring it. He is wanting to know as much history about the house as possible.
I think I read somewhere....maybe at the Clinton County Historical Society.....that the house and "Old Stoney" were built at the same time utilizing stone from the same source.......wherever that was.
One other thing, a really good restoration would produce a truly magnificent residence. Depending on the quality of the restoration, nothing could be built today to be comparably favorable on a "bang for the buck" investment. The historical value would be a bonus.
At one time the front room was a coin shop back in the 60's. I had heard that the art director had bought it later and found that it had 13 fire places. It is a fabulous property for the right owner, good luck in restoring it!!
First off, glad to have found this site and more glad to find someone else interested in this house. I was glad to "almost" read in the Times (I refuse to pay $20 a month to read 2 articles that might be of interest to me) that someone had bought the house that might understand it. As for what I know of this house, part is fact and part is lore. Ansel Street, our mail man for many years, brother did operate a coin shop in the front room for many years, I know this for fact. This was when the house was divided into many apartments back when I was a kid in the 60's. Sometime in the 70's, perhaps early 80's, one of the owner's of Harmesons bought it and turned it into an art gallery, which flopped after a year or so. I can't remember the man's name for the life of me, but I have been to his house in Lebanon many times and know this for fact. In the early 80's, he turned this back into apartments, one upstairs and one down. I knew people who lived in both and visited often. I can't say that I was pleased with the "modern feel" in such a historical building. As for the lore, I had always heard that the builder, our Mr. Pratt, had hung himself from the ample stairway in the entry and haunts it still. PJ
First off, glad to have found this site and more glad to find someone else interested in this house. I was glad to "almost" read in the Times (I refuse to pay $20 a month to read 2 articles that might be of interest to me) that someone had bought the house that might understand it. As for what I know of this house, part is fact and part is lore. Ansel Street, our mail man for many years, brother did operate a coin shop in the front room for many years, I know this for fact. This was when the house was divided into many apartments back when I was a kid in the 60's. Sometime in the 70's, perhaps early 80's, one of the owner's of Harmesons bought it and turned it into an art gallery, which flopped after a year or so. I can't remember the man's name for the life of me, but I have been to his house in Lebanon many times and know this for fact. In the early 80's, he turned this back into apartments, one upstairs and one down. I knew people who lived in both and visited often. I can't say that I was pleased with the "modern feel" in such a historical building. As for the lore, I had always heard that the builder, our Mr. Pratt, had hung himself from the ample stairway in the entry and haunts it still. PJ
PJ,
I agree with you on the $20 fee for the Frankfort Times. They are hurting right now and probably won't be around much longer. All other surrounding communities like Lebanon Reporter, Lafayette Journal & Courier, Kokomo Tribune have free access to their online edition.
Anyway, the article in the paper read "C.M. Pratt had two children that graduated from Frankfort. When his daughter married, Pratt gave the house to her. She married a local man and bore two children. Hoever, a daughter died at birth. According to local records, the woman hung herself in an upstairs room of the house the following day".
John Reid now owns this house and he is gutting it and is going to completely restore the inside. The outside of the house is almost done and it looks fabulous.
This Halloween John Reid and the Frankfort Main Street organization will be turning it into a haunted house for the public to tour.
Thank you Steve for the information that was in the article, I have to admit that I was tempted to shell out the 20 for the one article. Uh, does this mean that I owe you now? I do find it interesting how the story was contorted in the brief span of years (80 or so) until I heard it. I grew up in the neighborhood and it was always told that the builder had stolen the stone and was to be arrested, hence the hanging. I guess the way I heard it made a better story to some story teller along the way. I am delighted to hear that Mr Reid is restoring the house, it is a Frankfort landmark as surely as Old Stoney and the courthouse are. I applaud him for his efforts and I hope that he knows how much it means to anyone who has ever walked by this beautiful house. Off topic, sort of, but what ever happened to the beautiful home on E Clinton that was the last I knew, the Kelly Museum? When I was a kid, it was a Pilgrim Holiness home, before that, a funeral home. PJ
I wouldn't dismiss the story about the building materials for this house being stolen. What I heard was that the stone they used to build this house is the same stone they build Old Stoney with. John said that it was the same stone and I heard the guy who built it, took the stone from the rail yard when they were building Old Stoney. Again, may be just rumor but I don't think it was dismissed.
The house on E. Clinton st. is also in the process of being restored. A young couple had purchased the place a few years back. If you drive by the place you can see where they are doing some extensive wood restoration on the porch.
You do have to wonder how someone would steal that much stone, which by the way, was the same stone used for a public building a few blocks away, and no one notice... The questions I wish I had asked my grandmother whose family had been in Clinton County since the 1840's, it just makes me sick to know how much I could have known if I had just asked. I am glad to hear the house on E Clinton is being restored as well, it is a beautiful house. Thanks again, PJ
Did anyone hear how the Halloween haunted house went? Were there any pictures taken? If so, would love to see them. We had actually planned to go though Frankfort one of those weekends to see this, but we had 2 deaths in my husbands family during those weeks and that trumped going to a haunted house. PJ
Did anyone hear how the Halloween haunted house went? Were there any pictures taken? If so, would love to see them. We had actually planned to go though Frankfort one of those weekends to see this, but we had 2 deaths in my husbands family during those weeks and that trumped going to a haunted house. PJ
PJ
The haunted house was a huge success. I participated in the event all four nights and we had a great turn out. A lot of canned goods were donated. There are plans to do it again next year and they will be having the upper floor open also.
