PDA

View Full Version : Nerdy joy



fidgiegirl
5-20-12, 10:55pm
So our home used to be the home of a locally famous professor and peace activist. We had known this, but didn't know his full name, only a somewhat locally common last name, until today when a neighbor at the open house told us. Finally we have enough to research him. Already with just a Wikipedia entry we know that what we thought - that he built the house and lived in it until the 80s - was not true. He did not arrive in MN until '48 and the house was built in '26. The Minnesota Historical Society has lots of his papers and we are hoping that among his photos are historical images of our home.

When we cleaned out a yucky closet in the basement we found the lid to a shipping crate with his name on the label. We thought it was covering some kind of opening in the floor (common in this area for water meters and the like) but nope, just laying there. Pretty dusty and musty but with some TLC it could be cool. I think it would be neat to make some kind of decoration out of the thing, maybe with photos or some of his books - if we can get our hands on any, that is.

Ok, thanks for indulging me. ;) Just had to share.

redfox
5-20-12, 11:02pm
Very cool... Do share the name!

rosarugosa
5-21-12, 4:46am
Kelli: That is neat. I'm a long-time reader of the Old House Journal, and I love older houses and the stories that go with them.

Rosemary
5-21-12, 10:20am
Very fun and interesting!

Mighty Frugal
5-21-12, 3:32pm
That's interesting! You should definitely do something with that and try to find some of his books to display
We researched our home that was built in 1911 and discovered the first owner's last name is Bell. I am now dying to name our home 'Bell Terrace' because
1. we live in a rowhouse 'terrace'
2. I think it's neat to honour the first occupant

But my dh and my two sons are vehemently opposed to it-not sure why...so I just secretly call it that!

Gardenarian
5-21-12, 3:51pm
I love old house stories. In every house we've lived in we've left something hidden behind with our names on it (not that we're famous - but we might be!) Fun!

But now we're all curious!!

Sad Eyed Lady
5-21-12, 4:00pm
Oh, what a neat thing to find out! Yes, some sort of display from the crate lid you found would really be fitting.