703 Wall Street

Architecture:

Style: Stick

Description: This intriguing structure is two stories with cement shingle siding, and a contoured concrete block and brick foundation. It is symmetrical, and has a one-story rear wing with a small inset porch. The roofline has a front gable facing south, and the eaves are open with brackets. The triangle under the gable extends outward over small brackets and three adjoining attic windows with decorative detailing. The front second story windows have shed roof bracketed tops. The windows on the south and east are arranged symmetrically, and are double hung with multiple panes. A front porch has long since disappeared.

Significant Period:

Construction Date: circa 1850’s

Architect/Builder: Unknown

Context: Oscar Wison paid property taxes in 1859 and 1864. The first residents that can clearly be established are the Peter Hill family, who lived there from at least 1871 to about 1907. Peter owned Hill Lumber Company located first at Quay Street, then later at 867 Water Street. Peter was born November 9, 1828 in Germany, emigrated to America in 1852, and came to Port Huron in 1856. He worked in the sawmills, inspected lumber, then opened his own business. In 1870 his real estate value was $5000. He held the Office of Collector, was a member of the Board of Education, was on the Board of Estimates for twenty five years, director of the First National Exchange Bank for twenty years, and was trustee of St. John German Evangelical Church for forty years. Peter married Ernstina Ernest in 1869. Their children were Ernstina and Otto, who worked in the family business at one time or another. Ernastina (Hill) Sturmer lived next door at 709 Wall, and Otto lived next door at 1017 7^th Street. Peter had a daughter from a previous marriage, Katie, who married Frank Miller. He also had two stepchildren, Theresa and George Stein. After the Hill family, several residents came and went in short succession. In 1910 Wallace McIntyre, employed by confectionery and ice cream at 935 Military, and his wife Angeline lived there. Also in 1910, Louis Allen, proprietor of Temple Theater, lived there with his wife Jessie. Thomas Mann, ticket agent for Grand Trunk Railway, lived there with his wife Ada in 1912. Harry Holmes, cashier at Romeo F. Co, lived there with his wife Hazel in 1915. Theresa Stein followed, living in the home a long time from 1918 to 1936. Occasionally she took in a boarder. By 1938, Harvey Willis, a painter, lived there with his wife Charlotte. In 1940 Clara Emlaw, who owned Clara Emlaw Real Estate, lived there with her husband Charles.