Historic Preservation in the 19th Century

Last night, while perusing the Hudson Evening Register with a different purpose altogether, I discovered this item, which appeared on September 27, 1889.

The change in numbering on the west-east streets in Hudson took place from 1888 to 1889, so 132 Warren Street in 1889 was the same site as it is today. The house whose centennial was being celebrated, which had been in the Parkman family for a century, would have been built in 1789, just four years after the City of Hudson was incorporated. The sad thing is that not long after its centennial was celebrated the original house ceased to exist, and in its stead was built the brick Queen Anne house that is there today.

So, what happened to the old Parkman house? Two social items that appeared in the Columbia Republican suggest that Mrs. William Parkman might still be living in the house in the early years of the 20th century. On April 9, 1903, the Columbia Republican reports: "Mrs. Theodore Lampman, of Claverack, was the guest of Mrs. William E. Parkman, on lower Warren street Thursday." On January 14, 1904, the Columbia Republican reports: "Mrs. Kate Van DeBoe, of Claverack, is visiting Mrs. William E. Packman on lower Warren street." The notice of her death, which appeared in the Columbia Republican on February 11, 1904, reveals that, although she was still living on lower Warren Street, she was not living at 132 Warren Street.

The period during which Queen Anne architecture was popular in the United States is typically defined as from 1880 to 1910. Whatever the fate of the old Parkman house at 132 Warren Street--destruction by fire or deliberate demolition--Mrs. Parkman, who celebrated its 100th anniversary, was probably around to watch the construction of the house that took its place.
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