This Old House: Greenfield Historical Society Helps Answer Burning Questions

My house is wrinkly, wry and worn - much like a cranky, old man.

The structure in the Lynndale neighborhood has seen its better days. The tudor has a tall chimney with a few bricks missing at the top. Its walls are cracked and creased from years of foundation shifts. The staircase appears to have been installed without a level, a ruler or sight.

But it has great bones and a charming disposition. The ornate entryways crescendo in the center, allowing you to daydream for a moment as you walk into the next room that you are in a different, simpler era. Its beautiful built-ins with delicate glass panels stand at attention in the dining room. It has amazing hardware floors, even after three kids and millions of plastic and metal toys, have worn them down. 

With all of its character, it also has lore, an unknown past. Since we moved into the house six years ago, my wife and I have wondered its origin: Who built it? Who owned it? That's where Robert Roesler comes in.

Roesler is the president the Greenfield Historical Society. I e-mailed Roesler about three months ago, asking if he could find historical information regarding my house and its lot. He told me he would be happy to, but with a catch; I needed to become a member of the historical society for him to do this sort of leg work for me.

Twelve bucks to become a member and have Roesler do his thing. "Deal," I said. "Deal," he responded.

To get him started, I told him my house was built in the 1930s and that we suspect it was built from a Sears Roebuck catalog template. I also notified him some of the wood used to build my house was in a fire, evident by char marks we noticed during the inspection of the structure when we purchased the property. The inspector said the recycling of wood "back then" was not unusual and the wood was of high quality since it has been in place for seven decades.

Roesler and I met at the historical society's room in the one cold Saturday morning. We went through about a dozen of assessment and property tax books that went back to the city's infancy in the middle 1800s.

Roesler was a fountain of information. What the records didn't tell else, he did. For about two hours, he filled in the blanks as he flipped through the city's historical records.

"I think it was used as a pasture for animals," Roesler said of my property as he begin giving me a tour of the historical records pertaining to my house.

After a massive amount of digging and cross-referencing, Roesler found out my home sits on a plot of land that was first owned by a Mr. Coykendoll, who purchased 80 acres in 1845 for $160. Later, the Seerup Brothers created the South Side Real Estate Company in 1891, and began selling lots in the 30-acre Lynndale Subdivision east of S. 35th Street, where my house stands today. 

"Almost all of them stood empty for 40 years," said Roesler, who guessed it was a result of the depression at the turn of the century. 

Roesler confirmed my house was built in the 1930s, 1938 to be exact. He also speculated it was in fact a Sears house. But, we were unable to find any information regarding a fire on the lot of land that would have led to the recycling of the wood.

"I tore my hair out over this one, but 'we aim to please,'" he wrote in a later email that contained a couple of revisions.

In addition to this type of work, the society, founded in 1965, collects and preserves artifacts, manuscripts and photographs regarding the city and town of Greenfield and its history. The society also maintains historical buildings and conducts educational programs, according to its brochure.

Members receive a quarterly newsletter and calendar, get inside access to some of Greenfield's historical sites and a 10 percent discount to sites maintained by the State Historical Society.

"There has been tremendous change here. No place, not counting the City of Milwaukee, none of the other suburbs has had all the tumult that Greenfield has experienced," Roesler said. "Greenfield's history is hidden."