NEXT MEETING: Thurs, Feb 13, 7:00pm at Barlow Community Center. Christopher Gillcrist, on the History of Piracy on the Great Lakes.
Moses & Almira Messer House


Research indicates the original house on this site was built in the 1830s and is now the back part of the house, and that a more stylish, modern house was built in the 1850s to more than double the living space. Stylistically, the building was a reversal of the normal chronology, since the original building was an early Greek Revival-style house that was “modernized” with a late Federal-style addition. In many geographic areas, these two styles were popular concurrently, even though their popularity began at different times. While the house has been updated with typical technology over the years, the floor plans and materials of both the front and back portions of the house have not been altered extensively, giving it the overall character of a mid-19th century house.
The house faces Baldwin Street on a corner lot, and is set back from Main Street on its west side. A sandstone wall and Victorian cast iron fence surround the lot. A large rock with a cast bronze tablet sits near the corner to mark the site of David Hudson’s original log house built in 1799. A mid-to-late 19th century barn sits at the back of the lot and was joined by a small outbuilding in the late 20th century.