Saturday, June 21, 2014

War and Flu Delayed Construction of Kenmore Road Home

Walter and Lillian Hoover lived along Riley Avenue west of Irvington in the early 1900s. They planned to build their dream home--a large brick American Four Square in the Irving Terrace neighborhood in the 1910s, but World War One altered their plans.  To complicate matters, the Great Influenza Epidemic infected the country and Mr. Hoover, like millions of others around the world, lost his mother and sister to the plague.  Eventually, the chemist and his wife and children moved into their newly-built home at 68 North Kenmore Road in 1919.  This amazing historic photograph shows the home slightly after its construction in 1919.  Note, that you can also see part of the bungalow at 304 North Kenmore Road.  The street had not yet been bricked nor paved and remained a dirt path in 1919.  Many of other homes in the area had yet to be built.  A contemporary photo shows the home in 2014.

The Hoover home at 68 North Kenmore Road c1919

The Hoover home at 68 North Kenmore Road in 2014
The story about the Hoover family and the historic image is courtesy of James G. Hermsen, a grandson of Walter and Lillian Hoover.  

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