John Ashworth House (155 S. 200 West)

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This home was originally constructed by John Ashworth, who at the time of o the construction in 1880 the Major of Beaver. It is doubtful that Ashworth himself lived in the house for the county records indicate that he lived in the large house just to the east on the same block. The home was probably constructed for one of John Ashworth’s sons, William Ashworth. William acquired the property in 1892 where it remained in his family well into the 20th century. The house itself is architecturally significant as a variant of the popular hall and parlor house, a type of dwelling which was the most commonly encountered house in the city during the late 19th century. The two-room wide hall and parlor house was found as a small one story cottage and as a large two story (for the time and place) mansion. The William Ashworth house falls somewhere in between the two social extremes and its distinctive central gable design is indicative of the stylistic diversity found on houses of this type. A small log cabin which stands behind the house is included in this nomination. The cabin was originally located east of town at Fort Cameron and constructed there before the stone fort was itself begun, probably about 1872. The cabin was moved to its present location at an unknown date, but it remains in good historic condition and is significant both for us early construction date and its association with the building of the army post east of town.

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This home was originally constructed by John Ashworth, who at the time of of the construction in 1880 the Major of Beaver. It is doubtful that Ashworth himself lived in the house for the county records indicate that he lived in the large house just to the east on the same block. The home was probably constructed for one of John Ashworth’s sons, William Ashworth. William acquired the property in 1892 where it remained in his family well into the 20th century. The house itself is architecturally significant as a variant of the popular hall and parlor house, a type of dwelling which was the most commonly encountered house in the city during the late 19th century. The two-room wide hall and parlor house was found as a small one story cottage and as a large two story (for the time and place) mansion. The William Ashworth house falls somewhere in between the two social extremes and its distinctive central gable design is indicative of the stylistic diversity found on houses of this type. A small log cabin which stands behind the house is included in this nomination. The cabin was originally located east of town at Fort Cameron and constructed there before the stone fort was itself begun, probably about 1872. The cabin was moved to its present location at an unknown date, but it remains in good historic condition and is significant both for us early construction date and its association with the building of the army post east of town.

The body of this house is rectangular with the façade on the broadside. The façade has a center gable with a lancet arch Gothic type window, and window-window-door-window-window piercing on the ground floor. A hip roof porch spans the façade, attached well below the cornice line. Turned posts support the porch roof. The façade has shingle sash windows, and the door has a flat head with three tiers of voussoirs. One interior end chimney stands on the roof ridge.

A head similar to that of the door adorns the one-over-one off-center window which pierces the gable end of the house. A door with a matching head which pierced the side of the rear extension has now been bricked in. The other gable end of the house has been obscured by the modern garage. This garage has a low pitch gable roof that now adjoins the porch roof of the house. Although the garage is distracting, it does not affect the basic historical integrity of the original house.

On the same property is a small log cabin which is still in excellent shape. The cabin is a single cell structure constructed of split logs joined at the corners with a dovetail notch. The gables are closed in by vertical board framing. The cabin was reportedly moved from the site of old Fort Cameron many years ago to its present location. Fort Cameron was entirely constructed of stone (it was four miles east of Beaver and is no longer extant) and this cabin was supposedly built before the stone construction began which would date it c. 1872. Judging from its style, its notching, and the axe marks on the logs, this date is entirely feasible.

The interior of the log cabin still has a few patches of the original canvas that was used to cover the walls. Canvas was also stretched for a ceiling, and straw was then placed on top of it inside the gable to serve as insulation. There used to be a fireplace on one gable wall, the flue for it went through the wall and outside up to the stack. On the front façade there is a central door and one window to the side. There was also a window on one gable end, but it was since been enlarged as a door.