Brick side-by-side two-story duplex with charming details. The house is being sold-as is by owner. In need of work, but could be made liveable quite quickly. This lovely home is waiting for someone to put a bit of work in to it so it will stand another 150 years.
For Sale by Owner
Call: 816-364-4583
Property History & Gallery
The Railroad Duplex at 1602/06 first appears on the Sanborn Maps in July 1888. The map clearly shows it looking much as it does today with the entries on each side and curved fronts to each unit with three windows on each story. The structure is located on the edge of Patee Town, a historical neighborhood developed during the period between 1858 and 1939. The neighborhood boasts a significant amount of original granite and limestone curbing and herringbone brick sidewalks. Many of the street intersections are marked with the concrete pylons that were put in place throughout the city in the 1920s. Mature trees add to the charm of the neighborhood that is largely residential, with the notable exception of the Patee House Hotel, which is now an important museum. A walk through the neighborhood will take you past a variety of architectural styles including Colonial Revival, Craftsman, Greek Revival, Italianate, Minimalist Traditional, and Queen Anne.
Many of the earliest families who lived in the house were associated with the various railroads operating in St. Joseph in the decades around the turn of the 20th century. Charles A. Carson who lived here in 1899 was an engineer for the St. Joseph and Grand Island Railroad. William A. Francis, who lived here in 1910 with his family came from a family of railroad workers. He was a retired switchman and both his brother and son were killed in accidents associated with their work for the railroads. On the other side of the duplex from the Francis family lived their daughter and son-in-law Charles and Laura Smith. Like his in-laws, Charles worked for the railroad as did T.M. Hicks in 1913.
The number of women who lived here during the late 19th and early 20th century who held jobs is unusual and a testament to the economic hardships suffered by many of these families. Esther Baker who lived here with her husband Emmett from about 1900-1901 worked as a housekeeper; her daughter Mary helped to support the family with earnings as a seamstress. The 1910 census lists lodger Cora Hamilton as a telephone operator.
The smallest newspaper mentions can sometimes tell us a great deal about a person. In 1898, the Gazette Herald reported that Miss Blanche Farmer was visiting her parents who lived at 1604. Blanche who had lived in the duplex for sometime with her family had moved to Kansas City where she worked in the ticket office at the Orpheum Theater; a young woman with big dreams. Mamie Kennedy’s marriage to Joseph Kennedy in January 1901 was celebrated “at the residence of the bride’s mother, 1604 South Tenth Street, where an elegant wedding breakfast was served.” In Aug. 1940, Daisy Hicks who had lived at 1604 for nearly seven years placed an ad in the St. Joseph Journal: “Two rooms for light housekeeping, one sleeping room.” At this time Daisy was in her 60s, divorced from her husband, and had worked in a milling factory. By 1940, she was clearly finding the task of keeping house beyond her ability – and perhaps she was lonely as her daughter had long before married and started her own family.
The brick Italianate duplex at 1602/1604 S. 10th has seen a great deal of St. Joseph history and is in fine shape to see much more.
