Who Lived Here? The Palmer Family

Walter and Mary Fee Palmer dwelled at 333 North Audubon Road for five decades beginning in the 1920s. Dr. Palmer worked six days a week for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He retired from that agency in 1950. Mary Fee Palmer did not work but taught piano lessons from a small den in their home and was a member of various clubs including the Luncheon Club, the Irvington Coterie,  the Irvington Friendship Circle, and Alumnae Club of Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority. The couple also belonged to the Irvington Presbyterian Church and the Society of Indiana Pioneers.

The Palmers built beautiful gardens with rock walls in their backyard. Mr. Palmer had a workshop in the basement where he refinished furniture and rebuilt tools. He kept a bookshelf full of classics in his living room so that he would not lose his ability to read Greek and Latin. The couple raised one son, Dick, in the house and both would spend the majority of their lives along Audubon Road.

Mary Palmer sat in her living room at 333 North Audubon Road in 1943. 

Walter and Mary Fee Palmer grew beautiful flowers and many vegetables on their lot at 333 North Audubon Road. The couple also hauled rocks from around the Irvington area to build these beautiful walls. (photo--1947)

Mary and Walter Palmer enjoyed a warm day in 1947 in their backyard at 333 North Audubon Road. 

The dining room at the home of Walter and Mary Palmer at 333 North Audubon Road in 1943.  

Dr. Walter Palmer relaxed next to his fireplace at 333 North Audubon Road in 1943.  

Mary Palmer posed for this photograph in her living room at 333 North Audubon Road in 1943.  

A lovely corner in the dining room at 333 North Audubon Road in 1943...note the tea kettle hanging over an oil burning warmer on the antique table.  

333 North Audubon Road in 2016

Images and information for this post were courtesy of Janet Chapman and Dick Palmer.