In 1922, Dr. Prince Albert Hart (commonly referred to by his initials) lived in a late 19th century house in downtown Murray, Kentucky. (I have many questions about his name, but that’s not pertinent right now.) A photograph of the dwelling, a blend of Gothic Revival and Italianate architectural styles, was taken that year and later became part of the City of Murray and Calloway County Photograph Collection. This wonderful collection was online for a while at the ExploreUK site, and I found it in 2018 and shared the photograph of the Dr. Hart House on the Gardens to Gables Facebook page.*
The Dr. P. A. Hart House, circa 1922, Murray, Kentucky. Image from the City of Murray and Calloway County Photograph Collection.
In May of this year, I wandered down Main Street in Murray, camera in hand. I stopped and regarded one house in particular, struck by how familiar it looked. Yes, dear reader, I was standing in front of the Dr. P.A. Hart House.
Dr. Hart was the first public health physician in Calloway County and co-owner of the Holland-Hart Drug Store.
Hart is recorded as living in this house in the 1920 census with his wife, Juliet, daughter Annabelle, and Frank Guthrie, a servant. Hart’s first wife, Anabel, died shortly after childbirth in 1910, living Hart with a baby daughter. His son, James Coleman Hart, who would grow up to be another longtime physician in Murray, was not yet born at the time of the census; he arrived in June of 1920.
Façade of the Dr. P.A. Hart House, circa May 2023.
I was, of course, delighted to discover that the subject of an archival photo I’d found five years earlier was still standing. The house, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places-listed Main Street Historic District, has undergone some changes since construction.
The 1.5-story, frame, five bay wide house was built in the late 19th century. The central cross gable is a feature popular during the Gothic Revival style, which persisted in Kentucky until well after the Civil War. That gable features a Palladian window. Originally the house also sported a lovely, delicate line of bargeboard, but that has been removed. The chimneys have also been taken down, although a small brick flue is evident on the facade. The porch has also been altered.
All of these material changes aside, the house looks to be in great shape, and is still serving its purpose, some 140 years or so after it was built.**
*I’ve been unable to locate the new online home of the City of Murray and Calloway County Photograph Collection. UK redid their site a few years ago, and the collection is no longer available.
**Construction date is an estimate. I did not conduct deed research on this property, which would be one of the best ways to discover when it was built. The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Murray cover a very limited area; the first Sanborn map was published in 1897 and this section of Main Street is not part of that coverage. Dr. P. A. Hart did not have the house built, since he was born in 1883. The elongated narrow windows are a hallmark of the Italianate style in Kentucky, and don’t really become widespread until post-1870
Are you sure that’s the same house? I don’t think it is, or, if it is, it has undergone some substantial changes.
Notice the center gable. The Palladian window is the same, but the gable itself has a shallower slope today in comparison to the 1922 photograph. Also, note where the gable terminates at the roof in relation to the windows. The gable is much closer to the far windows today than in 1922, as to be expected with a shallower gable roof pitch.
Now, look at the five bay front façade. The far windows seem much closer to the sides today than in the 1922 photo. The five bays also seem closer to each other today and equidistant. They do not appear equidistant in the 1922 photo, with the windows on either side of the front entrance appearing to be closer to the door than the far windows.
Finally, note where the chimneys come out of the roof in the 1922 photo versus today’s photo. They do not come out of the roof ridge today, like they did then. Chimneys, of course, can be and often are rebuilt, but are rarely moved like that. Particularly because, if you notice the 1922 photograph, the current placement of the chimneys (if it is the same house and the chimneys have been moved) would make them block one of the second floor windows.
I think this could be a house built by the same builder at a similar time to the P. A. Hart House, but I don’t think it is the same house.
I noticed these same things-especially the chimneys!