431 Summit Street / 870 W. Fifth Street (corner lot)
Contributing, 1890
The Dalton House is one of the oldest houses in the West End and is one of the most architecturally prominent, even with its recent alterations. It is a two-story brick structure with facades addressing both Summit and W. Fifth Streets, a gabled roof of patterned slate with a bracketed cornice and a paneled frieze, segmental-arched windows, and a wrap-around porch with chamfered posts, sawnwork brackets, and a turned balustrade. Double-leaf entrances lead to an L-shaped hall with a handsome late Victorian open string stair, plastered walls, and a beaded board wainscot with wide chair rail. The house retains a variety of fancy mantels with handsome woodwork and ornate tiles. In 1985-1986 the house underwent some unsympathetic alterations for its new use as the offices of a local advertising firm.
Changes have included replacement of the sash windows with casements, removal of a third of the porch from the Fifth Street facade, the removal of a one-story section which fit within the rear ell and was present at least as early as 1907, and the addition of a two-story Post-Modern glass section in the rear which fills the space created by the two brick wings of the house.
These and other more minor changes have adversely affected the integrity of the house to the point where it is difficult to label it a “pivotal” property in the district, and yet the house still retains enough positive architectural and historical aspects to be considered a “contributing” property.
R.E. Dalton purchased this lot on August 1, 1889, and the following year his imposing two-story residence was constructed by the prominent Fogle Brothers building firm. In the 1890’s Dalton worked for Blackburn, Dalton & Company, a tobacco manufacturer, but by 1916 he and his brother, W.E. Dalton, were operating Dalton-Tucker Hardware Company, changing its name in 1918 to Dalton Brothers. R.E. Dalton died in 1932, and this property was sold out of the family in 1938. (D, CD, WSCI, PP, BEV, SH)
1907 Sanborn Map, page 15
Also seen on 1912 Sanborn Map, page 15
Also seen on 1917 Sanborn Map, page 88