Bricks, Boards, and Bats

Today was a day of research and discovery. Dave made a few calls to the city and their auditors and found out that the house was actually built in 1920 and not in the 50s as we has been originally advised. He was also informed that the assessor's photo of the house showed a red house with white trim. This piqued our interest and so we began looking around the house and garage.

First, we found a loose, hollow clay brick. We discovered that these particular bricks were manufactured in Illinois for NATCO, or the National Fireproof Co. They are a reddish color and based on the untouched bricks under the front porch, were cemented together with a white mortar. Why would someone cover up masonry with vinyl siding is something that I don't think I could ever understand!

While under the porch, Dave also found a board stamped with Dawley Lumber Co. Marion, WI. While we knew that Marion had a mill at one time, we were as of yet not aware of the lumber company. A few online searches did not result in any more information other than references to them in various hardwood and lumber books. Examination of the basement ceiling showed where some old vents had previously been placed, but since moved. We also found several pieces of wood built into the foundation that still had bark on them. All very interesting, but we continued our search for more clues - namely, board identification numbers, on the off chance that our house was a kit home.

Dave moved up to the attic for more searching and found something else - but not what we wanted or expected! Apparently we had an unexpected resident in the attic, which Dave enthusiastically removed, to the thrill of the children and my dismay!

Now, if we could just find some floor plans or blueprints from when the house was originally built!