Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - August 3, 1986
By Deborah Curtis
Vigo County Historical Society

19th century do it yourself
Homes, even schools, built from kits

A modern reader flipping through the back pages of a magazine devoted to home building, remodeling or decorating will likely encounter at least one advertisement for "kit" homes. If the magazine has a country living theme, the advertised kits are often of log house design.

Some readers may shake their heads and wish for the "good old days" of quality homes built with the finest materials and precision craftsmanship. These same readers might be surprised to learn that prefabricated homes and other buildings are not exactly new. In fact, they have been available in America for over 100 years and are represented on the National Register of Historic Places.

The only prefabricated house on the National Register is the Jeremiah Nunan mansion in Jacksonville,Ore. The house was ordered from The Cottage Souvenir, a book of plans issued by George F. Barber, a Knoxville, Tenn., architect and shipped to Oregon from Tennessee in 14 boxcars.

The materials were pre-cut and partially assembled, lacking only the roof, chimney and foundation. The kit even included drapes, carpets, plumbing, lights, wallpaper and a foreman who hired local workmen for 50 cents a day.

Nunan was a very wealthy man who paid nearly $10,000 for his prefab mansion (a lot of money in 1892, the year he purchased the 22 room house as a Christmas gift for his wife).

Prefabricated buildings also were available a bit closer to home, as evidenced by this week's historical treasure, a Baker's School Register of Attendance which was used in a Clay County school during the academic year 1898-99. The front of the book features the boast, "Baker & Thornton, Importers, Publishers, and Dealers in School Goods of Every Description."

They were not kidding when they said "of Every Description." The back cover of the register, shown in this photograph, features an advertisement displaying a "Ground Plan of Baker's Graded District School Building," a prefabricated school house available through Baker & Thornton, an Indianapolis company.

The school building featured a 26-foot by 36-foot classroom, a raised teaching platform, two cloakrooms and a hall, arranged so the teacher could see all areas at a glance. Seats were divided into sections for each of five grades and arranged for optimum viewing of the 36-foot blackboard. Upright coal stoves sat in each back corner and the building was designed for the best possible means of ventilation and lighting.

It would be interesting to discover how many of these prefab school buildings were sold in this area, and whether or not any survive. If you have any information about the present or former existence of such a school, the staff at the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley would appreciate hearing from you.

The staff also encourages readers to stop in to see the museum's 19th century schoolroom featuring authentic desks, books, slates and other items typically present in a one-room school house over 100 years ago.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday.