I had two ideas for this week's topic and since the long awaited 1950 Census was released a few days ago, that made my choice an easy one. I have a few short census stories to share.
Years ago, I got to wondering who lived in the houses that my husband and I grew up in and when they first appeared in the census. So I thought I would check out the census and see if I could find out.
The house that my husband lived in was half of a double house, which helped alot in finding it in each census year. Working backwards in the census, I found the address was the same house number and street back to 1920 in the borough of Mechanicsville. For 1910, due to Mechanicsville becoming it's own borough sometime between 1910 and 1920, the location of the house was now listed in a different borough, Port Carbon, and in all of the census prior to 1920. There were no house numbers listed in 1910 but the street was the same. But because the same Thornburg families lived in the doubles, I still found them living next to each other or in the immediate vicinity back. 1900 and 1880 did not even list a street, but again the Thornburg's were there. That led me to believe that the house could be that old. However, in checking real estate sites, they state it was built in 1900. About 1958 or so, my husband's family bought their half of the double with one of the Thornburg family members living in the other half as I had found in all of the census. Real estate sites tell me that the Thornburg half was last sold in 1998. My husband's half was sold in 2006 after the death of his father and then again in 2008. Now looking forward to the 1960 census to see his whole family listed there! And a Thornburg next door.
The house that I grew up in was actually quite close to my husband's on the next hill over, but in yet a different borough, Pottsville. This house has a bit shorter history and was probably built about 1913. The 1920 resident was from Ireland and worked as an auto supply manager and rented the house. In 1930, a new family was listed as from Lithuania and the head of household was a miner. This family owned the house. This would be the family that my Dad bought our house from in 1960. Our house was sold a few years after my parents moved to assisted living in 2018 to a teacher. It will be interesting to see if we owned the house in the 1960 census or not.
UPDATE: The house was found for sale again in 2022 with many updates done to the interior.
Next I thought I'd check out our grandparent's homes. My husband's grandparent's, Oscar & Ruth married in 1920 and their home was built in 1922, another double home. They bought it in 1923 from a local real estate developer who built the entire row of homes that it was located among. Oscar passed away in 1967 but Ruth stayed in the home until she moved to a nursing home, I think in the late 1980's.
My great grandfather, Ralph, was a carpenter and it's my understanding that he built the house that my grandmother eventually lived in for most of her 90 years. Ralph and family were living there in 1920. Ralph's daughter and my grandmother, Elizabeth, married in 1928 and moved into the house sometime between 1930 and 1940. Ralph and family were in it for the 1930 census. Then Elizabeth and family in 1940 and 1950. The house was theirs until her death in 1996 when it was sold. It was sold again a few years later and most recently in 2018.
Another great grandfather of mine, Pasquale, an Italian immigrant who came to America in 1905, bought a home for $754.54 in 1916. In the 1920 census it shows that he had a mortgage on the house. It was paid in full in 1929. By the 1930 census his investment had grown to a value of $3000. He lived there until his death in 1952, after which his daughter and family moved into the house and lived there until the 1990's.
I think my other grandparent, Charles, has the most surprising story. Sometime after 1942 when his wife died, he bought a double house. He and his two children lived in the downstairs half and he rented out the upstairs half. Previous to this, I believe the entire double house was rented out. When I checked out the 1940 census for his address, I found a surprising resident renting there. William T. Piper. Now if you are familiar with aviation, you might have heard of him. He was the founder of the Piper Aircraft company that was based in Lock Haven, PA where my grandfather lived. Piper was actually living there with his son and wife as he had been widowed a few years prior. William Piper was a pioneer in the light plane industry. His most well known model was probably the Piper Cub among other more modern models. Having many aviation enthusiasts in both of our families, this little tidbit of information was very pleasing. I often wonder if my grandfather knew this. In 1940 , he lived right around the corner from his future home and several of his relatives worked for the Piper company. And he owned the home until about 1973, when he moved in with my mom and dad.
You just never know what you will find until you Check It Out.
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