Hanson House

Otto Theodore Frellsen was born on December 8, 1866 in Denmark.  He moved to Geneva, Illinois in 1888 to work as a farm laborer before spending some time in Chicago and later moving to St. Charles to operate a saloon. He married Christina Petersen and took over the management of the White Front Hotel in St. Charles in 1896.

The Frellsens purchased the property on which this house stands in 1905. They built this Colonial Gothic Revival style house sometime between 1905 and 1912. Thomas M. Hanson bought the house in 1912. Hanson was the owner and operator of Hanson Groceries, one of nine grocery stores in St. Charles in 1912. Hanson Groceries was located at 55 W. Main Street.

Sources

■ U.S. Federal Census 1910

■ "Landmark History of the Emma Durant Lane House." September 4, 1992 (available at the St. Charles Heritage Center)