1230 7th
Street
Architecture:
Style: Folk
House
Description: This large asymmetrical two-story structure, once a
house and now a funeral home, is a two-story wood frame structure with vinyl
siding and a brick foundation. It is
cross-gabled. Below the front gable
extends a massive two-story portico with Doric columns and wood railing on the
flat roof. There is one side gable
facing south on Union Street and two side gables facing
north. A one story semi-hexagonal bay is
located on the south. One story, flat
roofed additions are also located on both east and north sides.
Significant
Period:
Construction Date: 1850’s
Architect/Builder: Unknown
Context: Abram
L. Stebbins paid taxes on property valued at $700 in
1859, indicating a house on the combined lots. The 1870 Census listed Abram
from New York, his wife Adaline from Maine, children Adaline and Willie, and a real estate value of $6000. He was a lumberman, an agent for Avery &
Murphy with an office over Westell’s Drugstore, and
an Alderman. They lived there until at
least 1873. Edmund B. Harrington,
also employed in lumber and with McMorran Flour Mill
& Co. lived there throughout the 1880’s.
He was born in Port Huron on March
14, 1845. His father Daniel B. Harrington,
was one of the area’s earliest settlers and developers. By 1893-94, Charles H. Reynolds lived
there. J.M. Jenks & Co employed
him. The Walsh family lived there from
the later 1890’s until the mid-1920’s. Mary Walsh, widow of Thomas lived there the
entire time. Captain Joseph F. Walsh
lived there from 1899 to 1902. Through
the years, he was Prosecuting Attorney, City Attorney, and employed by Avery
Bros. & Walsh and Hayden & Walsh law firms. Others in the family included Ann, Elizabeth, Helen, Regina, and William. Elizabeth was a bookkeeper for
Hayden & Walsh in 1901, and was likely the same Elizabeth listed as wife of Dr. A.
Henri Cote in 1906. William R. Walsh
became employed by Walsh & Walsh, and was Circuit Court Commissioner in
1912. By 1930, Arthur and Flora Smith
owned the structure. They used it for
both residence and their business, the Arthur Smith Funeral Home, a business
that continues today. The front porch
was indicated in the 1941 Sanborn Map and a two story front porch present in
the property tax assessor’s records by 1958.