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Dating of the Home
Dating of the Home
226 Hill Street appears to be a craftsman bungalow and was built circa 1910. We have dated the home based on census records. The 1910 census for this section of Hill Street was taken in April of 1910. This census shows that Walton Alva Harris and Lula May Armistead Harris living in it on April 27, 1910. I learned her married name from Ancestry.com research.
1910 Census, April 27, 1910
We can’t ascertain the original builder of the house but perhaps it was the Harris's who first owned and lived in the property. It was the address for 13 different people over the first 25 years of recorded history in the City Directories so it was mostly rented out until JC Sims bought the house in the 40s.
The house has changed ownership many times over the last 115 years, but just three owners were caretakers for the house for the majority of the home’s life over the last 84 years: J.C.Sims (38 years), John English (18 years), and David Lynn (25+ years). There were also some landswaps between 226 and 234 Hill Street in the 40s while J.C. Sims owned it. Eventually John English bought both properties in 81 and sold them off to separate owners. David Lynn owns 226 Hill Street, and Cullen Timmons now owns 234 Hill Street.
J.C. Sims is James Cleo Sims. He was born 28 May 1910 and died on 11 March 1978. He was the owner of Athens Army Supply Store. The legend goes that while the house had bathrooms, JC never took a shower at his home. He went to the Y to take showers every day! He lived in the house as a boarder in 1937 and later bought the house in 1943.
1962 Ad in Red & Black for Sims Store
The house had been through several historic renovations while John English owned it. When David Lynn bought it, the upstairs was still a separate apartment but he removed the kitchen from the top floor and converted it to a single family home. In that process he renovated and modernized the downstairs kitchen and completely gutted and remodeled both bathrooms. I believe the house was one-story when it was originally built because up to at least 1926 the Sanborn map shows the house with a “1” marked on it which indicates 1 story.
The lighting in the house was all replaced in the early 2000’s. Some of the electrical was upgraded when HVAC was put upstairs in 1999 and downstairs in 2004. There had been no air conditioning until then. The fireplaces were coal burning but have all been shut down. The chimneys are all now capped and the gas logs in the living room were added in 2020. There is a reason the chimneys are capped - you might find this story amusing.
Deed Research
Deed Research
I searched for Deeds in the name Lula (Leila) May Harris and Walter Alva Harris, both as grantor or grantee to see if I could find the original deed for 226 Hill Street. The trouble is that when the lots were originally cut off from the larger land holding for this section of Hill street, they didn't yet have numbers. I am still looking for this deed.
This was a very complex land area. At some point in 1908 the entire plot of land was part of the land that Fuller Grocery was on according to Sanborn Maps of 1908. The pink building below is Fuller Grocery. By the1913 Sanborn Map that same plot of land was divided into 3 sections - 525 Prince Avenue, 523 Prince Avenue and 226 Hill and 224 Hill appear to be on the same plot. I am not sure those lines represent accurate lot ownership though.
1908 Sanborn Map
1913 Sanborn Map
Documented Ownership History of 226 Hill Street
Documented Ownership History of 226 Hill Street
July 20, 1999
Purchased by David Lynn from John English for $133,000 (David has owned for 25+ years)January 7, 1981
Purchased (along with 234 Hill Street) by John English from J.C. Sims (who was dead at the time so his administrator Irene Brown Grants is on the deed) Book 423 page 435-36 for $20,000. He got a loan on the property for $26,500 on 7/13/1981 book 426 page 305 (John owned for 18 years)June 3, 1943
Purchased by J.C.Sims from D.J. Hamrick and H.L. Hemrick Book 87 p 383-384 for $1,750 (JC owned for 38 years)December 4, 1940
Purchased by D.J. Hemrick and H.L. Hemrick from Carter Daniel (Hemrick owned for 2.5 years) DJ Hemrick was a justice of the peace for Princeton district according to 1893 history) Book 81 page 489May 29, 1925
Carter Daniel wiped out the $242.01 Henry Coffee owed to him in exchange for the property and wiped out that debt for Henry Coffee Book 42 Page 482-483October 4, 1923
Carter Daniel $242.01 purchased E. Hulme Kinnebrew interest in the loan to Henry Coffee Book 81 page 488-489July 9, 1923
Henry Coffee borrowed $242.01 from E. Hulme Kinnebrew and Carter Daniel Book 38 page 136-138. This was a second mortgage. The first mortgage was to D. F. Miller for $1666.22October 24, 1919
D.F. Miller borrowed $4500 from Kinnebrew on book 27 page 96October 24, 1919
N. Hulme Kinnebrew executed a Warranty Deed conveying a “2nd” interest in the property at 226 Hill Street to D.F. Miller for a loan of $2050.00 Book 27 page 94September 17, 1919
N. Hulme Kinnebrew executed a Warranty Deed conveying an interest the property at 226 Hill Street to the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States - it was a loan for $2,250 Gold Coin Book 27 page 89Have not found the original deed for 226 Hill Street
Property Deeds of 226 Hill Street
Property Deeds of 226 Hill Street
Book 27 Page 85-97.pdfBook 27 Page 85-97
Book 38 Page 136-138.pdfBook 38 Page 136-138
Book 42 Page 482-483.pdfBook 42 Page 482-483
Book 81 Page 287-288.pdfBook 81 Page 287-288
Book 81 Page 340-343.pdfBook 81 Page 340-343
Book 81 Page 488-489.pdfBook 81 Page 488-489
Book 81 Page 490-492.pdfBook 81 Page 490-492
Book 87 Page 383-384.pdfBook 87 Page 383-384
Book 423 Page 435-353A.pdfBook 423 Page 435-353A
Formation of the Alley Way between 226 and 224 Hill Street
Formation of the Alley Way between 226 and 224 Hill Street
December 2, 1911
We see a transaction for 224 Hill Street in 1911 that WA Mallory sold to Elizabeth Fuller which outlines the terms of the alley way and mentions that Harris owned the property to the east of 224 Hill which is 226 Hill. Still looking for the 226 Hill Street deed which should show it is owned by Harris. Book 10 Page 613-614. Below is the transcription. I have bolded the alleyway creation portion.
Beginning on the northwest corner of the intersection of Hill and Pope streets. Bounded on the north by property of Mrs Fuller, on the east by pope street, on the south by hill street and on the west by lot of W.A. Harris and more particularly described as follows. Beginning at a corner, same being the northwest corner of the intersection of said Pope and Hill streets and running thence in a northerly direction along pope street for a distance of 27.5 feet to a corner where the lot hereby conveyed corners with the lot of mrs fuller on the north then in a northwesterly direction along the line dividing the lot hereby conveyed from lot of mrs fuler on the north a distance of 49 feet to a corner thence in a southerly direction along the line dividing the lot hereby conveyed from lot of harris on the west a distance of 47.4 feet to a corner on hill street; thence in an easterly direction along hill street for a frontage of 43.6 feet to the beginning corner.
Saving and excepting, however a strip of land of uniform width of 2 1/2 feet more or less cut off the western end of the lot hereby conveyed, said strip front on hill street south which with a similar strip 2 1/2 feet more or less, wide cut off of the eastern end of the harris lot, shall comprise an alley five feet or more less wide, said alley to be kept open for the purpose of ingress and egress and use by owners of said adjacent property. This conveyance is made, however, subject to the condition that the property hereby conveyed shall not be used by the grantee, her heirs or assigns, for store (Fuller Grocery was the store) purposes except with the consider of the owners of the Harris lot, which is separated from the property hereby conveyed by the alley above referred to.
This deed seems to indicate that the Harris's control the ingress and egress of that alleyway and that the "store", owned by Fuller, was not allowed to use it. You will also notice that it refers to the Harris Property so we know in 1911 the property to the west of 224 Hill Street was owned by Harris
224-Hill-13059-Deed Records-10-0612_614.PDFBook 10 Page 614 - formation of the Alleyway
Related Transactions for Adjoining Properties
Related Transactions for Adjoining Properties
Possible related transactions but not directly about 226 Hill Street
July 16, 1909
We are not sure this is the land that our house is on - it could be Cullen’s house land - needs more research - Lula May Harris sold the property to J. W. Chipley Book 5, page 202July 16, 1909
Lula May Harris bought a property (It looks like maybe it was part of the property that now is part of 234 Hill Street) from WA Mallory on July 16, 1909 Book 5, page 201
Transcriptions of Book 5 Page 201-202
Transcriptions of Book 5 Page 201-202
W.A. Mallory to Lula May Harris on July 16, 1909
Beginning at a point on Hill Street, eleven and one half (111) and 1/2 feet west of Pope Street and running thence in a northeasterly direction along J.W. Chipley's line a distance of twenty seven (27) feet to property of Harris, thence along the line of Harris in a southeasterly direction a distance of twenty two (22) 6/10 feet to Hill Street, thence along Hill Street in a westerly direction a distance of twelve (12) and 6/10 to the beginning.
Lula May Harris to Chipley on July 16, 1909
Beginning at a point of one hundred and eleven and one half (111) and 1/2 feet west of Pope street and running thence in a northeasterly direction a distance of twenty seven (27) feet to other property of the party of the first part then along said Harris's line in a southerly direction twenty two (22) and 6/10 feet to Hill street, thence along Hill street in a westerly direction a distance of twelve (12) and 6/10 feet to the beginning point. Being the same lot as that conveyed by W.A. Mallory of the said Mrs Harris.
Book 5 Page 201-202.pdfBook 5 Page 201-202 - Triangular Land next to 226 Hill - maybe belongs to 234 Hill?
Found in the House
Found in the House
This is a 1920's Spelling Blank that David found under a tub in the upstairs of the house. The house was not 2 stories in 1920's so we think it must have been found by a more recent resident and moved up there.
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