South Street, W., 724-726: M.D. Woodford House

Left: KPL Photo P-362
Right: Photo by Alex Forist April 2006

Location: 724–726 West South Street, Kalamazoo
Survey ID: R-21
Designation: M.D. Woodford House
Date: ca. 1858-59 with changes ca. 1877
Style: Italianate

The following material is from the 1973 Initial Inventory of Historic Sites and Buildings in Kalamazoo and was made available for use here by the Historic Preservation Coordinator of the City of Kalamazoo. See Introduction to an Initial Inventory for details about how the survey was conducted.

“Lot H” on South Street changed hands a number of times since the State of Michigan first auctioned it off as part of the “School Section” in 1841. Sometime in the 1840’s a house went up on the site of the present structure, and, in 1854, one William White sold it to Carlos Baldwin. In 1857, Baldwin in turn sold it to George Harwood. Harwood, a “Sunday School Agent” in his forties, and his wife were both from Massachusetts. They appear to have built the present structure shortly after they bought the lot. A pleasant, clean-lined building, it has undergone considerable changes. As early as the 1870’s, later owners chose to update it with fashionable “Italianate” brackets, under the eaves. A later generation modernized the windows, and in the 1930’s, Gerrit Hendricksen, a local building contractor bought it and altered it into a duplex. The simple “L” shape and low-pitched roof were basic to the dominant Greek Revival homes of the pre-Civil War period and to certain of the post War Italianate homes as well.

George Harwood occupied the home all during the Civil War; then, in 1865, he sold it to retired farmer Henry Nesbitt, who lived there while he negotiated with Senator Charles Stuart for the purchase of forty acres in Portage. Nesbitt passed the property on a year later with a healthy profit to Joseph White of Davenport, Iowa. White entered into the hardware business here in town. Three years later, in the fall of 1868, White sold it to Melancthon D. Woodford. Woodford, chief telegrapher and station agent for the Michigan Central Railroad, continued to live there until the 1890s.

In 1894, the Michigan Census-taker found German born clothier Gerson Hecht, his wife and their two young children occupying the home. In the late 1890’s, it served as a residence for local factory operator, Gardner Eames. Woodford’s widow, Helen, sold the property to Letta Harrison for use as a boarding home in 1901.

H. Elmer White moved his family into the house in 1919. Then Secretary and General Manager of the Globe Casket Co., a major industry, he worked his way up to President by 1926. In 1929, however, the city directory showed new tenants. From then on, with the exception of Gerrit Hendricksen’s tenure during the ‘thirties and early ‘forties, the home passed rapidly from occupant to occupant.

Maps:

Deeds Records:

Apr. 8, 1854 (liber x, 590) Carlos Baldwin from Wm. White, S1/2 H for $500
Aug. 11, 1857 (liber 3, 361) George Harwood from Carlos Baldwin, S1/2 H for $1300
Apr. 29, 1859 (liber 8, 233) G. Harwood from W.B. Clark 8′ from W I for $100
July 9, 1864 (liber 18,29) Henry Nesbitt from G. Harwood SE1/4  H for $3300 give possession Oct. 15
Oct. 30, 1865 (liber 20, 611) Nesbitt & Eliza N. Sell to Joseph White, Davenport, IA. for $3800
Oct. 29, 1868 (liber 32, 332) Melancthon D. Woodford from Joseph White for $4400
July 10, 1901 (liber 112, 37) Letta L. Harrison from Helen M. Woodford for $2800

Additional deed information:

Oct. 24, 1864, Henry Nesbitt sells 219 acres to Thomas Nesbitt, Town 4,4,12, sec. 9, for $16,500 (liber 18, 441)
Feb. 24, 1865, H. Nesbitt buys from Charles E. Stuart, 40 acres for $2000 in W1/2 W1/4  SW1/4 , sec. 9 (liber d19. 525)

Kalamazoo County Tax Rolls:

Kalamazoo City Directory:

U.S. Population Census Rolls:

Page launched January 2008.

This report was converted from a typewritten document to a digital text document in September 2004. Other than punctuation and spelling corrections, and the addition of BOLD type site address and names, no changes were made. Minor formatting changes were made for use on this website, but the text was not altered. Original survey dated 1973.