The Writing on the Walls

The best part about remodeling an old home is never knowing what you might uncover. According to the Franklin County Auditor's website, our home was built in 1925. This previous homeowners seemed to concur with this information as well. However, what we found under three layers of old wallpaper told us otherwise.




This same name and date appears on the master bedroom walls as well. It is unclear whether C.R. Snapp was a "plaster master", or if he applied the original coat of wallpaper on that date. What is clear, though, is that the house was built before 1925 - at least 6 year prior. I wonder what was happening on November 12, 1919?... ((Prohibition was 2 weeks old and the 19th Amendment was under review which would eventually give women the right to vote.))

Other dates and names appear on the walls periodically, though they are more descriptive about the tasks that were performed. Some include panel and wall measurements scribbled in pencil, and others even included their business addresses. Talk about long tern marketing!



My favorite bit of information we extracted from the inscription above ("Steamed off 9-22-43 By Wm J Keglar, 476 Hanley St.") is that there was at least one more layer of wallpaper hung BEFORE the 3 layers that we took down. Insane. I wonder if people 70 years down the road will feel the same way about us and paint?

We are going to feel bad priming and painting over these little pieces of history, but at least we had the decency to document them and pass them on to the next home owners (if/when we move).