503 PARK STREET
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
In 1888, Achille Grisel was listed as residing at the site now known as 503 Park Street. Achille was an employee at the Elgin Watch Factory. He and his wife, Louise, lived there together until roughly 1899, when sales records indicate Louise took over ownership on her own.
It appears, then, that from 1899 until 1911, Louise had in some fashion separated from Achille and remained at 503 Park Street. Somewhere between the years of 1911 and 1919, Louise remarried to Jules A. Simond, as documents from the year 1919 show a Louise Simond and Jules A. Simond selling the home to Herman and Christine Dierker together in 1937.
After Louise sold the home, there were a number quick sales and purchases. The Dierker family lived in the home for less than a year, and nearly immediately sold it to Laura Freeman who turned around and sold the home roughly one year later, in 1938, to Carl and Hazel Beck. The Beck family sold the home a few months after their purchase in 1938 to Clara Wells.
Ownership stability returned with Clara and she lived in the home from 1938 until 1960. Edward A. Geister owned 503 Park for a brief time in 1940 before re-selling it back to Wells the same year.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The house at 503 Park Street is an asymmetrical, balloon-frame Queen Anne, built in 1892, by Seiderstrom and Son for the cost of $2,000. The ornamental detailing, particularly on the tower in the south-west corner of the home, showcases the Queen Anne stylistic features. Other character-defining features include the asymmetrical façade, steeply pitched roof, and triangular gable detailing.
TIMELINE OF PREVIOUS OWNERS
Sources: 1991 Heritage Plaque Application; Audio: TextAloud