One of the most common questions I field from readers is “How do you decide what buildings to photograph?” It’s probably easier to answer that question by flipping it around, so that I can contemplate what I don’t stop to capture with my camera. That list is pretty short: new buildings, uninspired cookie-cutter houses from the post-World War II era (I appreciate that period of development academically, but the houses themselves don’t do much for me), and…that’s about it. While I love a fancy, high style historic building, I gravitate more often to the odd, the quirky, the interesting – in short, the vernacular. They aren’t always pretty, but the puzzle and the story make up for any deficiencies in materials or maintenance.
The facade of a 19th-century double house in Carlisle.
The double house pictured above is a perfect illustration. The stone veneer was added to the facade of the frame dwelling at some point after 1988 (among other changes, including resizing of openings on the facade). It wasn’t the veneer that caught my eye, but the shape of the building, the fenestration, the central chimney (I’m amazed it hasn’t been taken down), and the buzz of…something. It looked interesting, so I took a picture. Then the photo was placed in a folder and forgotten about until I shifted through the jpegs earlier this morning.
To my great delight and surprise, the house has a survey form, and although not overflowing with information, there were a few notes, and a contact strip of what the house looked like in the late 1980s. The form notes that the house is the “only original duplex in Carlisle.” I can’t verify this claim, but it doesn’t detract from the allure of the building. According to the documentation, deed research indicated that it was built for J.W. Lee of Carlisle in 1873.
Circa 1988 photograph of the double house, from the KHC survey files.
Who was Mr. Lee? (I think he may have been a native of Owingsville, Kentucky.) Did he undertake the construction of this dwelling as an investment (probably), betting that the newly-arrived railroad would increase demand for lodging and residences? Did he ever live in one side and rent out the other? How many double houses were in Carlisle in the late 19th century?* This section of East Chestnut Street doesn’t show up fully on the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps until 1909, so pinning down a more accurate date of construction for the building is difficult.
The double house as shown on the 1909 Sanborn map.
From the little I could find, John William Bledsoe Lee, a veteran of the Civil War, was “popular” salesman in Carlisle, and a “judge of both Boots and Shoes” at Charles G. Dallas’ store in downtown Carlisle. (I haven’t been able to determine if the Dallas Building still stands, but I know that it was still in use and known by that name in 1931.
By the 1880s, Lee had gone into business for himself, and was recorded in the 1880 Census as a dry goods merchant. He and his wife, Mary E. and two children (Harvey and Amelia) lived on Front Street, and would later reside on Main Street.
From the April 8, 1880 edition of the Carlisle Mercury newspaper.
When Lee died in 1909, his obituary proclaimed that he was one of the most prominent business men of Carlisle for nearly 50 years. These 500 words barely scratch the surface of what I hope was a well-lived life, and answer few questions about the double house itself. It was likely a source of income for the Lee family – tracing who might have lived there is more problematic, since census records don’t always have the street name noted in the margins, and small towns like Carlisle often didn’t have city directories.
Although there may be many more questions left unanswered about this house, I think even this cursory examination shows that the heavily modified or altered historic buildings we encounter around Kentucky still hold stories worth telling. So yes – I take lots of pictures, and I take many pictures of buildings that other folks might not give a second look. Vernacular architecture isn’t always beautiful on the surface, but I always find the stories compelling.
