209 W Green St Ithaca

Details
Address
209 W Green St Ithaca (as of 1899)
35 W Green St Ithaca
207 W Green St Ithaca split off after 1911
Year Built
1835 (ca.)
Building Type
Residence
Construction
2 story Wood structure with Wood lining.
Block Number
95
Description
209 W Green divided into 207 and 209 W Green around 1910. 207 W Green first appeared in the 1911-12 city directory.

Source: Henry St. John Local Historic District Nomination, Sara Johnson and Kristen Olson, Historic Ithaca, Inc., 2012.
Description:
   207-209 West Green Street is located at the corner of West Green and South Albany streets. This property is one of a series of houses along West Green Street that mark the transition from Ithaca’s commercial core to the primarily residential neighborhood of the Henry St. John district south of Green Street. It is a two-story house of frame construction built ca. 1835 in the Greek Revival style. It is asymmetrical in plan, with large additions on the east and south façades.
  ...
   207-209 West Green Street is historically significant for its association with the Mack family and a series of prominent Ithaca merchants and landowners. This parcel was part of a larger lot purchased from Simeon DeWitt by Francais A. Bloodgood in 1827. James C. Hyatt owned the property from 1831-57. A house appears on the 1851 Bevans map of Ithaca, indicating that it was constructed during Hyatt’s ownership. Hyatt conveyed the property to George D. Beers in 1857.
   Beers, a partner in the legal firm of Beers & Howard, sold the property to Lucy W. and Horace Mack in 1858. Mack was the son of Horace Mack, the twentieth village president, for whom the stone house at 115 West Green Street was built. Horace and Lucy Mack owned 207-209 West Green Street from 1858-1886 and owned its neighbor to the east, 205 West Green Street, during part of 1863. Mack’s employment was variously listed in Ithaca directories as: real estate agent, accountant, Cornell University Clerk, and assistant in the land office of Cornell University. The extended Mack family also owned 231 South Geneva Street from 1841-1866.
   In 1886, the Macks sold the property to John C. Westervelt and his wife Mary St. John Westervelt. John Westervelt was a coal and wood dealer with a coal yard at the foot of Clinton Street near the fairgrounds. Prior to that, he was a partner in the grocery business of Ithaca mayor D.B. Stewart.
   John C. Westervelt died in 1888, and Mary Westervelt sold the property to Mary Nevins in 1904. It appears that Nevins, a partner in the millinery firm of G.C. Flybush & Co., never lived in the house. Instead, Edward Nevins and other renters occupied the house. It was sold to Frank and Mary Bangs in 1949 and has since been in use as Bangs Funeral Home.
Alterations:
   The current 207-209 West Green Street lot is a subdivision of the lot Hyatt purchased on the southeast corner of West Green and South Albany Streets. The lot was subdivided in 1880, when Horace and Lucy Mack sold the south section of the property to Charles W. Gay, creating a separate lot now known as 211 South Albany Street. The remaining 207-209 West Green Street lot was again subdivided in 1910, when Mary Nevins sold the lot now known as 209 South Albany Street to Charles Gay.
   By 1888, the porch had been constructed on the front-gabled west section, which had a two-story and a one-story addition on its south façade. Between 1893 and 1898, the bay window was added on the east façade. Between 1904 and 1910, the bay-front northeast addition and portico were constructed, as well as a two-story addition at the southeast corner. Between 1929 and 1961, the attached concrete block garage was constructed at the southeast corner, most likely after the conversion to funeral home use ca. 1949.
Sources:
Levine, Jeffrey. Building-Structure Inventory Form for 207-209 West Green Street. Ithaca, NY: 1987. Historic Ithaca, Ithaca, Inc., NY.
Sanborn Map Company. Ithaca, NY fire insurance maps, 1888-1961.The History Center In Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY.
Tompkins County Department of Assessment. Tompkins County tax assessment photographs, 1954. Historic Ithaca, Inc., Ithaca, NY.
Obituary of John C. Westervelt, s-113-a, p. 51. The History Center In Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY.

Source of Building Data: 1910 Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlas;
Multi-Family Construction: ; 
Roof of Main Structure: Shingle; 
Additional Sections: Section 1, right side (W), 1 story, non-combustible roof / Section 2 back right side (S), 2 stories, shingle roof / Section 3, back left side (S), 2 stories, non-combustible roof; 
Outbuildings: ; 
Porches: Porch 1, wraparound full front and right side (N and W), 1 story, non-combustible roof / Porch 2, back (S), 1 story, non-combustible roof; 
Other: Bay 1, front (N) / Bay 2, left (E) / Sanborn shows as #209 W Green St;
Media (Photos, Videos, Audio Recordings)
Horace Mack House, Green St, Ithaca

Horace Mack House, Green St, Ithaca

Tax assessment photograph taken in 1954 for the purposes of government appraisal by Roy Wenzlick & Co.

Tax assessment photograph taken in 1954 for the purposes of government appraisal by Roy Wenzlick & Co. 1954

Add Source/NarrativeSources & Narratives

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Resident Household in 1880
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Horace MackM46HeadFarmer
Lucy W MackF42WifeKeeping House
George William MackM20SonRanching
Laura W MackF18DaughterAt School
Julia W MackF2DaughterNone
Resident Household in 1910
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Edward NevinsM56HeadPrinter
Ellen NevinsF45WifeNone
John A NevinsM26SonCommercial Traveler
Edward Nevins JrM18SonNone
Mary NevinsF13DaughterNone
Resident Household in 1920
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Ed NevinsM65HeadOperator
Ellen NevinsF60WifeNone
Ed Nevins JrM27SonClerk
Resident Household in 1930
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Edward J NevinsM38HeadAccountant
Katherine NevinsF37WifeNone
Francis RomaineM22LodgerManager
Ethel RomaineF22WifeBookkeeper
Resident Household in 1940
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
Edward NevinsM48HeadAccountant
Katherine NevinsF49WifeSaleslady
Margaret HookwayF76Mother-in-LawNone
Resident Household in 1950
NameSexAgeRelationOccupation
John F BangsM32HeadUndertaker
Rita M BangsF28WifeNone
John F Bangs JrM4SonNone
Daniel P BangsM3SonNone
Mary P BangsF2DaughterNone
Jeffrey L BangsMSonNone
Jane E PowersF24Sister-in-LawNurse