Mary Cecil Cantrill No. 3 House, 121 North Mulberry Street, Georgetown

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The Cantrill #3 house is an example of a turn-of-the-century residence built for African-American citizens in a small southern city. Its shotgun plan is typical of houses built on narrow urban lots by or for working-class families, often of African-American ethnicity. Its owner, a white woman with considerable rental property, was largely responsible for the development of the small neighborhood in which this house is located as a small African-American community occupied largely by renters. Thus, this site is an example of a specific ethnic and urban settlement pattern for the late 19th-early 2 0th century. MARY CECIL CANTRILL #3 HOUSE HABS MO. (page 2) PART I! HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History 1.

Date of erection: circa (Cantrill purchased the lot in but deed was not filed until house is shown on the Sanborn insurance map). 2. Architect/Builder: unknown; house construction probably authorized by Mary Cecil Cantrill. An earlier house belonging to Betsey Robinson was probably demolished and replaced by the present structure. 3. Original and subsequent owners: deed, recorded in Volume R, p. Particular Baptist Church to George L. Vallandingham. This deed refers to subsequent sale of property to Robert Garlick, and then to Mark Kershaw. deed, recorded in Volume 4, p. Mark and Elizabeth Kershaw to Betsey Robinson, "a free woman of color". will of Betsey Robinson, produced June, recorded in Will Volume T, p. 21.

court case, recorded in Scott Circuit Court Case files #3 38, Betsey Robinson Administrator vs. Willie and Henry May, Claiborne Robinson and Willie Robinson (ordered lots to be sold to # settle estate; Mary C. Cantrill purchased all lots) deed, January 1, recorded in Volume 35, p. James E. and Mary C. Cantrill to George V. Payne, Trustee of Mary C. Cantrill. deed, November 16, recorded in Volume 54, p. W. R. Hall et al. to Trustees, Wesley Chapel M. E. Church. deed, December 28, recorded in Volume 58, p. Trustees, Wesley Chapel M.E. Church to E. B. and Bettie W. Davis. 194 6 deed, August 17, recorded in Volume 72, p. Betty W. Davis et al. to Cecil and Mamie Scott. deed, August 31, recorded in Volume p. Cecil Scott to Georgetown Urban Renewal and Community Development Agency. 4.

Alterations and additions: The front porch and rear room were added between and according to Sanborn insurance maps. B. Historical Context: The Cantrill #3 house was built by Mary Cecil Cantrill, a white businesswoman who owned many rental properties in Georgetown. She built this shotgun house on what was originally the house lot of Betsey Robinson, a "free woman of color", who purchased and moved onto her land in Robinson's will split her land tract into four lots, and divided her house in half between two of the lots, the dividing line being a east-west running partition that separated two equal-sized apartments. The MARY CECIL CANTRILL #3 HOUSE HABS NO. (page 3) Robinson house was located on the west side of what later became two lots.

It was apparently demolished before the Cantrill #3 house was built. Cantrill rented the house to African-American tenants as did later owners. Its single shotgun plan is typical of late 19th-early century housing for African-American working- class families. The shed roof is less common than a gabled roof but this roof type is repeated on most of the neighboring rental houses on North Mulberry and Oregon Streets and Post Office Alley. PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement: This house is a small two-bay, one story, vernacular frame shotgun residence with clapboard siding, a gabled roof fronted by a square parapet with a slightly projecting, molded cornice and a shed porch on replacement cast iron posts.

It is unique in its neighborhood by the presence of a gabled roof combined with a parapet on the front of the bui lding. It was apparently designed for single occupancy. 1. Architectural character: This structure merits recording because it represents the type of housing typical of late 19th-early century African-American housing in urban settings. Specific architectural features such as the parapet on the street front and a gabled roof distinguish it from other shotgun houses in the immediate neighborhood. 2. Condition of fabric: poor B. Description of Exterior: 1* Overall dimensions: llf 6" by 48' 5", excluding front porch. 2. Foundations: stone piers. 3- Walls: sawn wood frame, dimensional lumber. 4. Structural system, framing: assumed to be balloon framing. 5.

Porches, stoops, balconies, bulkheads: The front porch measures 12* 6" by 5' 3", extending the full width of the house. An parapet is attached to the front wall, but is attached to a gabled roof rather than the shed roof featured on all of the neighboring houses with parapets. The porch has a shed roof supported by cast iron supports. 6. Chimneys: single central brick chimney between two front rooms. MARY CECIL CANTRILL #3 HOUSE HABS NO. (page 4) 7. Openings: (By elevations) The front (east) facade is divided into two bays (door-window) with a 6/6 sash window and wood louvered vent centered in the front parapet frieze. The south side wall is divided into four bays with paired 6/6 sash, two single 6/6 sash and a four-panel entry with shed overdoor on angled wood brackets.

The rear (west) facade features a single, off-centered, six light casement window. The north side wall has a single 6/6 sash window. 8. Roof: gabled type, unknown covering. C. Description of Interior: 1. Floor plans: The building is three rooms deep with a bathroom occupying the northwest corner of the middle room. The front room measures 11' 6" by 17' 7"; the middle is the same width but only 11' 7" long on the north wall where it meets the bathroom wall. The south wall of the middle room is 19' 1" in length. The # bathroom measures 7' 6" by 5' 7". The rearmost room is 9' 3" by D. Site 1. General setting and orientation: The house is located on the west side of North Mulberry Street, and fronts east. 2. Historic landscape design: none 3 Outbuildings: none PART III.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION A. Original architectural drawings: none B. Early views: none C. Interviews: none D. Bibliography 1. Primary and unpublished sources: Scott county deed books and circuit court records (see Section Ann Bolton Bevins, INVOLVEMENT OF BLACKS IN SCOTT COUNTY COMMERCE DURING MARY CECIL CANTRILL #3 HOUSE HABS NO. (page 5) THE POSTBELLUM PERIOD Manuscript on file, Kentucky Heritage Council, Frankfort, Kentucky. 2. Secondary and published sources: none known PART IV. PROJECT INFORMATION The HABS documentation of this and other buildings is being performed to comply with the requirements of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the City of Georgetown and the Kentucky Heritage Council.

The City of Georgetown received a grant to acquire these buildings in order to demolish them, owing to their poor condition and because they are unsuitable for rehabilitation and reuse. The MOA required that the structures be documented according to HABS criteria and accepted by HABS' prior to demolition. The following people and firms contributed to the documentation effort: Charlie Perkins, City Attorney, Georgetown, Kentucky John Coyle, Georgetown Housing Authority William Hamilton, Mayor's Office, Georgetown, Kentucky Will Linder & Associates, Consultants, Inc., Berea, Kentucky Chris Amos, architectural historian, Amos & Burry, Inc.

, Shelbyville, Kentucky Ann Bolton Bevins, architectural historian, Georgetown, Kentucky Prepared by: Nancy O'Malley Title: Research Associate in Anthropology Affiliation: University of Kentucky, Lexington Date: November 15, MARY CECIL CANTRILL #3 HOUSE HABS No. (page 6) 0 > z