Historic Adams House in Deadwood

 

A few weeks ago, I took a trip to Deadwood, South Dakota, for the annual Wild Deadwood Reads event. 

I had a little free time one morning and decided to do some exploring. I stopped by the Historic Adams House and was so glad I did! 

The Queen Anne-style home was built in 1892 for the Harris Franklin family with beautiful oak interiors, hand-painted canvas wall coverings, stained-glass windows, and gorgeous marble sinks. 

It was "modern" and perhaps even a little ahead of its time with indoor plumbing, electricity, and telephone service!

Harris and Anna Franklin, and their son Nathan arrived in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, in 1877.

Harris was a Jewish immigrant from humble beginnings, and earned his fortune through the wholesale liquor business. He gradually diversified into cattle, gold mining and banking. Between 1883 and 1890, the Franklins purchased four parcels of land in order to build a home with all the modern amenities.

In 1891, Harris and Anna Franklin commissioned Simeon D. Eisendrath, a Jewish architect from Chicago, to design their home.

The house was centrally heated, plumbed with hot and cold running water, and lit with electric lights. Servants were summoned by electric bells, and the owners communicated by telephone.

The Franklin’s moved into the residence, in 1893, and were soon entertaining guests. 

The tour I went on through the house was led by an amazing tour guide named Aaron who was knowledgeable about the home and it's past inhabitants. He also had a great sense of humor which added to the tour. 

According to Aaron, Mrs. Franklin loved music and when the family entertained, they would have musicians play in the round music room and the acoustics were so wonderful in that room, the sound would carry throughout the home.  The photo above shows the glorious hand-painted canvas walls encircling the music room. 

In the fall of 1893, their son, Nathan, wed Ada F. Keller. 

Three years later, Mrs. Franklin hired a firm to redecorate the house, improving on near perfection. Not long after, her health began to fail and she passed in 1902. 

Mr. Franklin sold the house to Nathan a few years later for the grand sum of $1. Nathan was a business man and community leader. In addition to owning a pharmacy, he was president of the First National Bank. 

Nathan and Ada raised their only child, Anna, in the beautiful home. They made improvements in 1904, 1914, and 1916, when Nathan was elected Mayor of Deadwood. 

The marble sinks throughout the house were incredible, with fantastic detail in the sink bowls.

When Nathan's second term in office ended, he and Ada made plans to move to move to New York city to be closer to their daughter and Harris. 

Nathan sold the house to William E. and Alice Adams for $8,500. According to Aaron, Nathan wasn't looking to make a profit, since the sum was about what Harris paid to have the house constructed. He wanted to sell the home to someone who would care for it.  

And William and Alice did. 

William and his brother arrived in Deadwood like many other young men - to mine gold. The brothers eventually opened a grocery business, but William ended up taking it over and turning it into a successful grocery wholesome business. William became one of the richest men in Deadwood, with properties in California as well. 

He and Alice had two daughters. One died as a young woman (I think Aaron said it was of diabetes, but I was so enthralled with the beautiful home, I wasn't paying 100% attention). Their daughter, Helen, wed and lived in California. Alice was diagnosed with cancer, but wanted to be in California with Helen as she was due to give birth to her first child. 

Upon arriving, Alice was exhausted and needed to rest - and passed that very day. Her sudden death was so upsetting to Helen, she went into premature labor and died. The baby also passed a few hours later. With less than 48-hours, William lost his entire family. 

Mired in his grief, he moved out of the master suite and went through the motions of living. Then he met Mary Mastrovich Vicich, a widow who was more than forty years younger than him. 

When the two of them wed, it set tongues wagging all over town. 

Mary "traveled for business" although Aaron the tour guide said no one had been able to determine exactly what type of business she conducted. 

Regardless, she and William became best friends. 

In 1934, William suffered a stroke and died. Mary didn't want his money, because she refused to be labeled a gold digger.

William left her the home and a lump sum of cash. She found it painful to live in the house without William there, so she left. Just closed up the house and left. Once a year, she would come back to Deadwood for a visit, but she stayed in a hotel. When asked why, she claimed the house was haunted. 

According to Aaron the tour guide, who's grandmother recalls seeing Mary, the woman likely encouraged the idea of the house being haunted to prevent it being vandalized. She could be seen wearing black with her hair stringing down, and youngsters called her the witch, or so Aaron said. 

At any rate, from the time Mary walked out of the house to the day she sold it in 1987, the house remained untouched. Every plate, every curtain, every pillow was left in place, exactly as it had been the day she walked out of the home. The sheet music was still on the piano, the books in the library, medicines in the bathroom, even cookies in a jar. 

The contents of the home were documented, photographed, and stored in the attic. For a few years, the house became a bed and breakfast. In 1992, the city of Deadwood purchased it and continued running it as a B&B until 1995.  The house was left in a state of disrepair the city decided to restore it.

Great decision! 

In 2000, the Adams House opened to the public as a museum. Approximately 80% of the furnishings in the museum are directly associated with the Adams family. 

On the tour, the tour guide pointed out an old waffle iron - one of the first that were electric. It plugged directly into an outlet (no cord!)

Aaron also pointed out a glass jar with what appeared to be Nilla wafers. According to him, it's thought the cookies were in the jar when Mary left the house. When they were bringing stuff down from the attic for the museum, one of the work crew decided to taste a cookie, which disintegrated into a substance not unlike sawdust at first bite. I was amazed the cookies are still in one piece, at least as long as they aren't touched!

At any rate, if you ever find yourself in Deadwood, I highly recommend a visit to the Historic Adams House. 

Since I adore big, old houses, and I love any reason to celebrate Christmas, today you can download a digital copy of The Christmas Bargain for free (which features the Granger House - a glory of a home that only exists in my imagination!).

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