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A.W. Bitting's First House; Wichita, KS
This photo from 1882 shows the first home of Alfred W. Bitting at 259 North Emporia. It is no longer standing. Both of the Bitting brothers moved to wichita from Allentown, PA. Since W.H. Sternberg built the first Bitting brothers clothing store and their second much larger clothing store as well as both of A.W. Bitting's and C.W. Bitting's second houses, it is a likely assumption that A.W. Bitting also had Sternberg do his first house, here, but there are no records yet to substantiate that. Building permits were not required by the City of Wichita until 1886. And back at this time, the city hadn't yet required numbers on houses and the address for this property (in 1883) was listed as, "w s Emporia ave 3 d s 2d st" which interpreted means the "West Side of Emporia Avenue, 3 doors south of Second Street". The more upscale the property, the more distinguishing design characteristics that made it easier to tell the designer (and builder). This property is not of sufficient scale to allow for ready visual identification. Note the street signs being simply nailed to the tree. Nailing street signs onto a nearby tree was the normal practice at this time.
Any additional information, ideas, comments and/or information is welcome and appreciated!
This photo is provided courtesy of the Wichita-Sedwick County Historical Museum, (www.WichitaHistory.org).
A.W. Bitting's First House; Wichita, KS
This photo from 1882 shows the first home of Alfred W. Bitting at 259 North Emporia. It is no longer standing. Both of the Bitting brothers moved to wichita from Allentown, PA. Since W.H. Sternberg built the first Bitting brothers clothing store and their second much larger clothing store as well as both of A.W. Bitting's and C.W. Bitting's second houses, it is a likely assumption that A.W. Bitting also had Sternberg do his first house, here, but there are no records yet to substantiate that. Building permits were not required by the City of Wichita until 1886. And back at this time, the city hadn't yet required numbers on houses and the address for this property (in 1883) was listed as, "w s Emporia ave 3 d s 2d st" which interpreted means the "West Side of Emporia Avenue, 3 doors south of Second Street". The more upscale the property, the more distinguishing design characteristics that made it easier to tell the designer (and builder). This property is not of sufficient scale to allow for ready visual identification. Note the street signs being simply nailed to the tree. Nailing street signs onto a nearby tree was the normal practice at this time.
Any additional information, ideas, comments and/or information is welcome and appreciated!
This photo is provided courtesy of the Wichita-Sedwick County Historical Museum, (www.WichitaHistory.org).