The Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Association will hold its Membership meeting this Tuesday, January 10th, 5:30 p.m. at the Art Association, 704 North 4th Street. Ericka Holst, Curator of Collections and Historian for Edwards Place, will reveal a scandalous secret…one that erupted in the 1860s, affecting the lives of dozens of Springfield’s most prominent citizens.
Before Edwards Place was Edwards Place it was Houghan’s House, where prominent local physician Thomas Houghan lived with his wife and stepson from 1833-1843. But Thomas Houghan was concealing a previous marriage and abandoned wife. When he sold all his properties, including his home to Benjamin Edwards, his first wife still had rights to 1/3rd of all his possessions. After his death she came to collect!
It is ironic that today, almost 170 years later, as the Enos Park Development LLC is acquiring property as part of its land banking efforts for the Enos Park Master Plan, we are confronted by property with multiple liens and lost owners. We have pointed to Edwards Place as the beacon for Enos Park’s historic past and now we find we are living with the same problems Benjamin Edwards and his family encountered during Springfield’s earliest days.
Come join us to find out how the story ends and how Enos Park is moving forward with its revitalization program.
Following the presentation, Paula Zink, Housing inspector, and Ryan Irwin, Neighborhood Police Office will bring the membership up to date on a major drug bust and efforts to eliminate a number of serious code violations. Refreshments will be served.
Important: We have changed the time and location for this meeting to 5:30 p.m. at the Art Association