218 East Olive

Built before 1889, this one-story residence predates the city water system’s arrival to the neighborhood two years later. A bay window and an open front porch (now enclosed) distinguished the gable front-and-wing house, which became home in 1900 to widow Dolly Richards. Widows at the turn of the twentieth century had few avenues of support.

Richards, like many of her counterparts, took in roomers: teacher Sarah Holmes and farm laborer/blacksmith William Sweeny. She also likely relied on her daughter to contribute to the family’s well-being. The twenty-year-old Theresa worked as a teacher and lived at home, as did many unmarried children of her generation.

Janitor William Stirzick and his wife Bertha resided here from 1922 into the 1930s. Owners added the west side addition between 1927 and 1943. During the same period, they may also have converted the residence into two apartments, responding to the high demand for inexpensive housing during the Great Depression.

Each MT NATIONAL REGISTER SIGN TEXT 1990 TO APRIL 2019 apartment had its own kitchen, but they shared a single bathroom. A single-family home once more, the six-room residence retains its 1943 footprint.