There was a house (38 S Plain St) at this location until about 1899 (see 1898 Sanborn map and https://www.historyforge.net/buildings/7572)
There is no house at this location in the 1899 Crandall map (where John Tyler is listed as the property owner), the 1910 Sanborn map or the 1919-1920 Sanborn map. The new house that was built here in the 1920s was given the address 302 S Plain St.
Source: Southside Historic District Proposal, Cynthia Carrington Carter, Emanuel J. Carter Jr. And Dr. Judith Wellman, City of Ithaca Department of Planning and Development, 2005.
302 South Plain Street
Description:
This two-story, hipped roof, American Four Square style residence has wide eaves, clapboard siding and a full-width porch with classical columns and square balusters. Two hipped roof dormers are present on the north and east sides of the roof, one without a window. The windows are 6/1 double-hung sash. There is a prominent brick chimney on the north side of the house. This house was constructed after 1919 and replaces an earlier residence.
Established African-American occupancy/ownership during the period of significance:
At this location in the 1860s – Zachariah Tyler, freedom seeker. He served with his son, John, in the 26th USCT, Co. B., during the Civil War