These houses on the North Side are at least a century old:
Armstrong house, 1904. Grand Avenue. Captain William Louis Armstrong owned a cotton gin and cotton seed oil company. As North Fort Worth boomed with the coming of the packing plants early in the twentieth century, the Belmont Terrace subdivision and its Grand Avenue in 1906 were touted as “the new Quality Hill.”
Donovan house, 1906, Grand Avenue. Aloysius G. Donovan was a manager at Southwestern Mechanical Company.
Thomas house, 1906, Grand Avenue. Allen C. Thomas was a cattle salesman.
Wood house, 1906, Grand Avenue. Norman S. Wood was a clerk at Armour.
Butler house, 1913, Grand Avenue. C. Allen Butler was a machinist.
Covington house, 1910, Grand Avenue. Gause W. Covington was a physician.
Henderson house, 1906, Grand Avenue. J. Paul Henderson was a purchasing agent for Armour.
Clark house, 1913, Northwest 15th Street. L. B. “Alonzo” Clark co-owned a drugstore.
Muir house, 1913, Roosevelt Street. George Muir was a hay baler.
Koldin house, 1913, 2503 Roosevelt Street. Anton Koldin was a foreman at Armour.
Skipper house, 1906, Clinton Avenue. James M. Skipper was a carpenter.
Huntoon house, 1901, Circle Park Boulevard. Fred J. Huntoon was a stenographer.
On North Side Drive at North Commerce Street, 1900. Not much is known about the early history of this yellow rose of Texas. In 1902 the residents were John J. and Maggie Lydon. He was an alderman of the city of North Fort Worth and later a member of the Trinity River levee board. From 1935 to 1939 the house was owned by Pink Dingee, widow of pioneer grocer Arthur Seeley Dingee (1862-1932). A few blocks east Mrs. Dingee in 1921 had given the order to cut down infamous Hangman’s Tree.
Hello, my wife a I bought 2503 Roosevelt Ave and are renovating it to be a coffee shop. We are trying to find any information about family members so we may find an old photo of what the home may have looked like. We have taken the home historic with the city and National districts and are keeping it as original as the city will let us.
The deed card shows only the Anton Koldin family through 1990.
My great grandfather lived next door to the Koldins at 2501 Roosevelt. He, and my great uncle, had a medical clinic at Northside Drive and Main for 40 years. Unfortunately, the house was destroyed for expansion of NW 28th, and the Koldins bought the rest of the lot.
Hello. My husband’s aunt and uncle own the Koldin home on 2503 Roosevelt. I’ve been trying to gather info on it but hit dead ends. Could you send me some info if you have it?
Ms. Salinas, I just e-mailed you five attachments. Let me know if you did not receive them.
Hi Hometown, I am buying the Donovan house at 1619 Grand Avenue in your above pictures. My wife and I are going to rehab it, however we need to gather as much historical information as we can to take our case before the city to list it in the National Historic register. Please contact me.
Mr Warren, I have e-mailed you some material.
Armour clerks did pretty well for themselves back in the day based on that house.
I have noticed this many times in researching old houses: A century ago homes were owned by workers whose income could not pay for such homes today.
That “yellow rose” of Texas house could use a coat of paint. Looks like someone started, barely, painting it white. Take me with you next time you go there. Love the area but I never spend anytime there, just passing through on major streets. Interesting article, thanks, but sad at the same time (most are in need of a lot of repair). Must be costly to maintain.
Thanks. The North Side is very interesting to me. Land of my forebears, land of my nativity. Of all those houses that one is probably most at risk because of its location on commercial North Side Drive. If someone could get the lot rezoned commercial, they’d buy that house and tear it down.
Maggie Lydon was my great-aunt. Her maiden name is Mulholland and she’s buried in the Mulholland plot in the Calvery section at Oakwood.
Thanks for writing this blog – it’s always interesting!
Thanks, Cara. Grand old house. Always nice to learn more about it.