The Lincoln Saloon

Structure Timeline

The building at 9 Lincoln Street was originally constructed circa 1830. The first known residents, Joseph Rosse and his family, ran a liquor store out of the building. By 1861, Mr. Rosse had fallen ill and the liquor store closed its doors.

The earliest record showing the building is the 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. The building included a one-story attached wing on the south-west side of the property. Two additional smaller wooden framed structures can be seen in the 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, one abutting the south end of the wing and the other on the east side abutting the property line. The building was wood framed with a wooden shingles. The Rosse family had moved from 9 Lincoln by 1884 and the Wall family had started operating a saloon at the location as early as 1879. The saloon continued to operate until circa 1885.

During the time the Walls lived in the building, boarders were being taken in and by April of 1885 an ad was placed stating 5 Lincoln was for rent. 5 Lincoln Street was the first address of the building.

The 1888 City Directory shows two residents at 5 Lincoln, but it is unknown if the Wall family still owned the property at that time. Later that year, a fire broke out and burned a portion of the building. The 1888 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map labels the building as “Ruins;” while noting two addresses at the location, 5 Lincoln & 5 1/2 Lincoln.

By 1890, the Walsh family had acquired the property and the fire damaged building was repaired and altered. The 1898 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the original layout of the structure with multiple additions and a 2nd story balcony. Of the additions, a one-story brick addition had been added to the west corner of the main building with direct access from the interior and a smaller brick addition abutting the larger brick structure on the west facade. The 1898 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map indicates there was a 12 foot fire wall above the roof. By this time, the addresses had been changed to 9 Lincoln and 11 Lincoln and a store was being operated out of a portion of the building. The main building holding the original building footprint appeared to remain the same except for the changing of roof material over the one-story wing to tin.

The 1916 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the building had still maintained two addresses, 9 Lincoln and 11 Lincoln. By 1916, all additions had been demolished including the brick structures and the property line had been updated decreasing the lot size to the west. The 1916 Sanborn indicates the building was a dwelling by this time with a detached rectangular structure and all roof structures had been replaced with tin.

The 1955 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows no indication of changes to the structure since the 1916 Sanborn was published. A 1973 edit to the 1955 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the roofing material on the addition was replaced with composite.

The building remained a dwelling up until 1995, after which it was used as office space. The one-story addition is present in the 2007 Google Street Map (not maps), but it was demolished sometime after that date. Eventually, the building became vacant and was boarded.

Research

Many thanks to Ethos Preservation for providing thorough research of the Lincoln Saloon! To download the full report, with more detail, images, and a full bibliography, click the image.

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