If This House Could Talk...

By Bonnie Heidinger

The house described in the August 21 issue of The Gazette Democrat is the home of George Harvel. It is located in Jonesboro at 102 South Main on the corner of Union Street. Caroline Housman was the first to guess the location and current owner and will receive a prize from P.A.S.T.
 

The residence may very well be the oldest house in Jonesboro. John Grammer first owned the lot, but it was included in his donation to the town. According to the book, Vernacular Architecture in Southern Illinois, which pictures the house, Nelson Lingle built the house circa 1855. However, the Harvels have a copy of the abstract deed when Randolph Marshall bought the property in 1845 and then sold a house and the property to Moses Goodman in 1851 for $500. These records indicate that the house was built by 1851. Later, Mumford M. Goodman, son of Moses, set up a doctor’s office on the property. In notes left by Esther Mary Ayers, she identified the house as the location of a school for young ladies of high school or slightly older age. The young women from the Jonesboro Ladies Seminary attended the Lincoln and Douglas debates in 1858 along with their two teachers, the “Dragon Ladies,” as they were referred to by their students.

Several features of the house are original. The grill work above the entrance and decorating the side glassed in atrium is original. The 18 inch interior and exterior walls remain. The native limestone foundation, rear steps, the sidewalk to the street, and the retaining walls are original. An unexpected feature for a house at that early date is the two closets, one of which is only 8 inches wide. Surprisingly, there are no fireplaces.

Over the years many features of the property have been changed. The original red brick has been painted white. A back porch has been made into a modern kitchen since the original house is thought to have had a detached summer kitchen. One feature that many people may think is original, but is not, is the fence surrounding the house on two sides. The rumor that the original was used for cannonballs during the Civil War is not true according to the current owner who had to replace the original.

Called the Bailey House before the Harvels bought it in 1991, the Harvel House is truly a structural and architectural treasure of Union County.
 

For information about PAST efforts to restore St. Anne Church or other PAST activities, contact PAST of Union County at P.O. Box 778, Jonesboro, IL 62952, or online at pastonline.org.