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February 21, 2006
our house was first occupied in 1898
We've very recently discovered the Hill's Directory (or the Hill Directory, I'm not sure which...), a sort of address look-up for different cities by year. We've been able to find out that our house was first occupied in 1898 by Charles Lucian Arnall, a roller-coverer working at 1434-1446 East Cary Street.
The way that the directory works is that you can look up an address and find information about who was living in the house at the time. As the addresses are in numeric order, you can tell when addresses come online for specific blocks. As our house was part of the original development in the area, there weren't any addresses for our block 2 years before our house was built.
Houses first show up on our block in 1897, as the trolley lines moved into the area. The addresses are listed: 1200 as Reverend J.S. Dill, 1201 as W.F. Dillard, and 1212 as J.E. Stowe. Of these, 1200 North 23rd Street is still standing (left).
In 1898 two homes were added: 1205, listed as occupied by W.T. McCook, and ours at 1206, occupied by C.L. Arnall. We're taking this to mean that the house was built in 1897. In the years before our house built, the Arnalls lived at 1828 Carrington Street. Again, C.L. Arnall was listed as being a roller-coverer; other Arnalls in the directory are listed as carpenters and as a tinner (and may have worked on the house...).
Looking through the books for following years provides this list of occupants:
- 1902 - C.L. Arnall
- 1921 - E.C. Willis and Arnall
- 1924 - J. M. Burton
- 1925 - G.G. Abernathy & Lucian M. Martin (carpenter)
- 1926 - Frank S. Davis (cement worker)
- 1932 - Vacant
- 1936 - Ellen & Lucien W. Martin (Rosalie Confectionery)
- 1939 - Ellen R. Martin
- 1942 - Ellen Martin (widowed), Lillian Taylor Consolidated Paper & Box Manufacturing
- 1944 - Lillian G. Taylor (widowed HW) Consolidated Paper & Box Manufacturing
This leaves a lot to be looked into, but provides the first close date & name that we've been able to find. Exciting!
Posted by john m at February 21, 2006 04:11 PM
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Husband : Charles Lucien Arnall
Born : 25 October, 1866 in Richmond, Henrico County, Va
Married : 05 December, 1888 in Staunton, Va
Died : 30 September, 1960 in Richmond, Va
Buried : 03 October, 1960 in RVA at Oakwood Cemetery
Father : Lucien Bonaparte Arnall
Mother : Elizabeth White
Wife : Cora Lee Irving
Born : 08 May, 1866 in Staunton, Virginia
Died : 28 February, 1937 in Richmond, Virginia
Buried : 02 March, 1937 in RVA at Oakwood Cemetery
Father : Robert Irving
Mother : Susan Jackson
Posted by: john at February 21, 2006 05:37 PM
I used similar directories for info on my house. They are very handy. I wonder what a "roller coverer" was? What sort of industry was prominent in the area?
Posted by: Greg at February 21, 2006 10:49 PM
I found your Arnall in the 1900, 1910, and 1920 census records. By 1920 he was living somewhere else as a farmer, and he had a ton of kids living with him, and none of them worked. I also saw on one of the years when he was a roller covered that the industry he was in was "silks." I bet your house had gorgeous curtains when they lived there :)
Posted by: Jenne at February 22, 2006 10:22 AM
Neat info! I loved that site with the old job definitions, too. :)
Posted by: Kristin at February 22, 2006 11:20 AM
Where can I find access to this directory? I am purchasing a house in Barton Heights section of Richmond and I am interested to find out some of its history.
Posted by: Kevin at March 18, 2006 03:54 PM
Kevin -- We've been looking at them at the city library on Franklin Street (for free!). They've also got them at the Valentine Museum, but you may need an appointment and pay a fee.
Posted by: john at March 18, 2006 05:55 PM
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