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The Pontious
Home - Noblesville, IN
From the Noblesville Daily
Times
11-12-2007
Written by Carol Ann
Schweikert
1384 Conner Street is a
wood frame home built by
George V. Pontious in the
1870s. The home is a
side-gable L- plan with a
full-width front porch and a
small inset porch in the
rear. The home has an
off-center entrance beneath
the porch and a small east
side entry. Both have wood
storm doors. The elevations
have numerous windows in
varying sizes, several with
original wood screens. A
shallow dormer is centered
in the front roofline.
Photo by Steven
Furlow
When Pontious constructed
the home, the rear “L” was
only one-story and the front
porch probably had a very
different appearance. The
home’s brick foundation,
consistent footprint on
historic maps and tax values
recorded in the county
records strongly suggest the
home was built much earlier
and “updated” in the 1910s.
Although we can’t know for
certain, its original style
probably included Italianate
or early Victorian
architectural features.
The home’s window
configuration, concrete
porch, west side chimney
design and brick porch piers
are representative of the
Craftsman era, a much later
architectural style. These
elements are likely the
result of a renovation in
the 1910s. Those renovations
enlarged the rear one-story
“L” to 2-stories. The
renovations also removed an
east side bay, added the
rear porch and replaced the
original porch with the
existing one.
The original home on this
lot was built by George V.
Pontious (1845-1881), a
hardware store merchant.
Pontious, whose health
was declining, sold the home
to John Kline in 1880.
Kline, a native of Germany,
worked as a sewing machine
salesman and an
upholsterer. When they
moved into this home, he and
his wife Lydia had six
children ranging in age from
three months to 23 years. By
1900, the Kline family in
this home included John and
Lydia, a married son, his
wife and their four
children, as well as another
grandson.
William and Carrie
Crawford purchased the home
in 1912. William owned a
plumbing and heating
business in Noblesville and
was likely responsible for
the home’s dramatic
renovations. In 1918, he
sold the home to its longest
residents, Albert and Ruth
Haas. Albert was the sixth
child born to Moses and
Caroline Haas.
When his father purchased
Harry Levinson’s clothing
store in 1905, Albert moved
here to manage the store and
later purchased it from his
father. The store remained
a leading business
establishment in Noblesville
for many years. In addition
to his thriving clothing
business, Albert was active
in several fraternal
organizations and served on
the board of directors for
the American National
Bank.
Albert married Ruth
Longley in 1916. The couple
moved into this home just
two years later and lived
here the remainder of their
lives. Their daughters,
Caroline and Eleanor, had
short walks to Noblesville
High School located on the
east side. After Albert’s
death in 1937, his widow
remained in this home until
her death in 1976, another
thirty-nine years.
The Pontious/Haas Home is a
contributing part of the
Conner Street Historic
District listed on the
National Register of
Historic Places in 1999.
This area was honored by the
Indiana Historic Bureau with
bronze markers in 2003. This
area, a mix of upper class
and middle-class families,
developed over a long period
of time. Its significant
growth spurt occurred in the
1890s with the influx of
investments following the
discovery of natural gas.
Carol Ann Schweikert
For the Daily Times
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