Ladies' Literary Club Building | |
Location | 218 N. Washington St., Ypsilanti, Michigan |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°14′40″N83°36′51″W / 42.24444°N 83.61417°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1843 |
Built by | Arden Ballard |
Architectural style | Greek Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 72000666 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | March 16, 1972 |
Designated MSHS | May 12, 1965 [2] |
The Ladies' Literary Club Building, also known as the William M. Davis House or the Arden H. Ballard House, was built as a private home, and is currently used as the meeting place for the Ladies' Literary Club. It is located at 218 North Washington Street in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1965 [2] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. [1]
The Ladies' Literary Club Building was built in approximately 1843 as a home for William M. Davis. [2] It was likely designed by Arden H. Ballard and built by his firm of Norris, Cross, and Ballard. [3] At some point, it was sold to Elijah Grant, who operated a local dry goods store. [4] When Grant died in 1851, his wife Mary and son Edward continued to live in the house. Mary died in 1883, and Edward continued to live in the house, his fortune slowly diminishing through a series of bad investments. He eventually began selling the furnishings, and in 1913 sold the house itself. [4] The Ladies' Literary Club purchased the property to use as their meeting hall. [2]
The Ladies' Literary Club of Ypsilanti was founded in 1878 by Sarah Smith Putnam, with 17 members. [5] [6] The club functioned as a learning society. Since learning opportunities for women remained few clubwomen developed courses of study in various historical topics from the French Revolution to early Greek and Roman societies. [6] The club membership quickly expanded, and they held bi-monthly meetings at the homes of members or in the library. However, by 1910, the club had grown large enough that they needed to rent rooms in the Masonic temple. When the Davis House was put up for sale in 1913, the Club purchased it for $3000. The first meeting in the house was in October 1914. [5]
The interior of the building was later refurbished under the oversight of architect Emil Lorch. [5] In the 1930s, Lorch helped the structure become a part of the Historic American Buildings Survey "because of its age and architectural interest as being worthy of most careful preservation for future generations." More remodeling was done in 1955, and an addition was built to the rear of the building in 1971–72. [5]
The Ladies' Literary Club Building is a 1+1⁄2-story rectangular brick Greek Revival house. The temple front boasts a wooden tetrastyle Doric portico with a triangular pediment above. A single story wooden wing sits to one side. Grills are placed along the frieze. [2]
The Second White House of the Confederacy is a historic house located in the Court End neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. Built in 1818, it served as the main executive residence of the sole President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, from August 1861 until April 1865. It currently sits on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.
Alexander Jackson Davis was an American architect known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style.
Literary Hall is a mid-19th-century brick library, building and museum located in Romney, a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the intersection of North High Street and West Main Street. Literary Hall was constructed between 1869 and 1870 by the Romney Literary Society.
Pitts' Folly is a historic antebellum Greek Revival residence located in Uniontown, Alabama. The house was built by Philip Henry Pitts as his main house. It was designed by architect B. F. Parsons, who also designed the nearby Perry County Courthouse in Marion. Many local legends detail how the house gained its name, but they all center on the people of Uniontown believing it to be folly, or foolishness, that Pitts was building such a large house.
The Cass Park Historic District is a historic district in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, consisting of 25 buildings along the streets of Temple, Ledyard, and 2nd, surrounding Cass Park. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and designated a city of Detroit historic district in 2016.
The First White House of the Confederacy is a historic house in Montgomery, Alabama, which was the initial executive residence of President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis and family during early 1861. Moved from its original location in 1919 and completely furnished with original period pieces from the 1850s and 1860s, the 1835 Italianate-style house is open to the public. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974 and the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage since 2012.
The Ypsilanti Historical Society, founded in 1961, operates the Ypsilanti Historical Museum and Rudisill-Fletcher-White Archives in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. The YHS Museum & Archives are located at 220 North Huron Street in the Historic 1860 Dow House, a Victorian Italianate mansion built in 1860 for Asa and Minerva Dow. Asa Dow moved to Ypsilanti to become the first president of the Ypsilanti Savings Bank. In 1864 Minerva died under unknown circumstances, and Asa sold the home and moved back to Chicago. Minerva Dow was the second person interred at Ypsilanti's newly constructed Highland Cemetery. The house came into possession of the Ypsilanti Historical Society in 1970 after previously being owned by the City of Ypsilanti since 1966. The City purchased the property and other stately homes on the east side of North Huron Street with the design to turn the location into a Ypsilanti version of neighboring Ann Arbor's successful Arborland. Local community members boycotted the effort and the event served as the impetus for the creation of the Ypsilanti Historic District. Prior to 1966 the house was in disrepair, as the home had been turned into at least six apartments since 1922. In 2007 the Fletcher-White Archives moved from the property's two story carriage house into the newly renovated basement of the main house. The Rudisill-Fletcher-White Archives contains a meeting space, a reading room, filing cabinets for document and photograph storage, and a temperature and humidity-controlled storage room. Much of the collections of the YHS Archives are the work product of former Ypsilanti City Historians Louis S. White and Foster Fletcher. The position of Ypsilanti City Historian was discontinued with the retirement of Foster Fletcher and the City of Ypsilanti Archives were transferred from their location at the Downtown Ypsilanti Public Library on Michigan Avenue to the Ypsilanti Historical Society, which has continually grown the collection since.
The Ossoli Circle is a women's club located in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1885 as a literary society, the club is a charter member of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, and the first federated women's club in the South. Ossoli has long played an active role in obtaining economic and educational opportunities for women in Tennessee, and its members campaigned for the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in the early 1900s. The club currently sponsors over two dozen projects and organizations.
Starkweather Hall, also known as Starkweather Religious Center, is a religious and educational building located at 901 West Forest Avenue in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on the campus of Eastern Michigan University. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1972 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It is also part of the Eastern Michigan University Historic District and is the oldest building on EMU's campus.
Eastern Michigan University Historic District is a historic district on the very south end of the Eastern Michigan University campus. Eastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan in Washtenaw County. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School. Several buildings since its founding have achieved historical significance and eventually establishing it on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The district was established in 1984.
Gordon Hall, also known as the Judge Samuel W. Dexter House, is a private house located at 8341 Island Lake Road in Dexter, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1958 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The house is unique in Michigan for its balance, large scale, and massive hexastyle portico. The structure is also significant as the dwelling of Judge Samuel W. Dexter, a pioneering Michigan resident and land baron who had a substantial impact on early development of Washtenaw County and other sections of the state. The house was later owned by Dexter's granddaughter Katharine Dexter McCormick, a pioneering research scientist, suffragist, and philanthropist. In its early days, Gordon Hall hosted at least two, and possibly three United States presidents, and it was almost certainly a stop along the Underground Railroad.
The Fountain–Bessac House, also known as the Fountain-Haeussler House, is a private house located at 102 W. Main Street in Manchester, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1986 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The Judge Robert S. Wilson House, also known as the Wilson-Wahr House, is a private house located at 126 North Division Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
George DeWitt Mason was an American architect who practiced in Detroit, Michigan, in the latter part of the 19th and early decades of the 20th centuries.
The Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library is a public library building located at 302 East Main Street in Belding, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
The William H. and Sabrina Watson House is a single-family home located at 507 Cedar Street in Lapeer, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The University of Michigan Central Campus Historic District is a historic district consisting of a group of major buildings on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The Ladies Library Association Building in Kalamazoo, Michigan was the first building erected as a women's club in the United States. It was also the country's first structure owned by a women's organization. It was built in 1879 by funds raised by the Ladies' Library Association of Kalamazoo (LLA).
The Richland Historic District is a commercial and residential historic district located in the center of Richland, Michigan, containing structures near the intersection of 32nd Street, D Avenue, and Gull Road. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The Ladies' Literary Club also known as Wednesday Literary Club was built as a social club building located at 61 Sheldon Street SE in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. As of 2019, the building is being renovated into a social event space known as The Lit.