Cresco’s Kellow House hosts ice cream social event Sept. 16

Kellow House
CRESCO -  The public is invited to enjoy an ice cream social on the grounds of Cresco's historic Kellow House, home of the Howard County Historical Museum at 324 4th Avenue West Sunday, Sept. 16 from 1 to 4 p.m.
The event is free; however, free-will donations are accepted for the Howard County Historical Society. 
About the Kellow House
According to literature provided to the Cresco Times Plain Dealer by the Howard County Historical Society: 
“The Kellow House is of Second Empire design and was built in 1880 by William Kellow, Jr. Kellow was a grocery man in Cresco, who at the age of 2 had imigrated with his parents from Cornwall, England to the United States in 1853. They stopped in Indiana first for three years and arrived in Howard County in 1856.
“An unusual feature of the house is the Mansard roof, named for the French architect who designed it to include a tax-free third story (at that time in France, houses were taxed on  the space up to the roof line only).
“Also featured on the roof is a ‘widow’s walk’, enclosed by an ornamental iron railing. This walk from which women could watch for their husbands' ships at sea is typical of eastern seaboard houses. In this part of the country, the walks were potentially utilized to watch for prairie fires or Indian raiders.
“The stone for the house was quarried by Mr. Kellow’s father, William Kellow, Sr., a farmer and stone mason living one mile west of Cresco, who also laid the foundation for the home.
“Mr. Kellow opened his grocery store in 1873, occupying a wooden building on North Elm Street until he built a new brick building on the same location in 1895, where he remained in business for 67 years. On his retirement in 1940 the business was continued by his son, Lynn, for another six years, a total of 73 years for the Kellow Grocery.
“The Kellows occupied the Kellow House for 68 years until Mrs. Kellow's death in Nov. 1948. Mr. Kellow lived his remaining few months until his death in June 1949 with his son Lynn living next door.
“For 20 years after the house was sold in 1949 it was an apartment and rooming house. Since its purchase in 1969 by the Howard County Historical Society, it has been restored to its original purpose, a one-family house.
“The Historical Society has restored the interior but made no structural changes. It is furnished in the period of the late 1800s and early 1900s, with several of the furnishings being Kellow family heirlooms.”
 

Cresco Times

Phone: 563-547-3601
Fax: 563-547-4602

Address:
Cresco TPD
214 N. Elm Street
Cresco, IA 52136

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