Purchase Price: Accepting Sealed Bids
4 units · 2,128 sqft
Four-unit residential structure being offered by the St. Joseph Land Bank. This is an opportunity to purchase a historic property with solid income-producing potential. There are grant opportunities available to assist with rehabilitation.
Contact: Administrative Services, City of St. Joseph
Call: (816) 271-4697
House History & Gallery
This historic brick multi-family residence sits on the corner of Corby and North 12th Streets in the heart of a charming established neighborhood. Peter Swenson, who lived next door at 1205 with his wife Cora and their children, built the structure to house his stoneware business in 1905 but soon converted it into flats. Since that time it has housed four units – two on the first floor and two on the second.
Peter Swenson was born on Feb. 10, 1848, in Sweden. In April 1894 he married Cora Newlan at the Methodist Parsonage on the corner of 7th and Francis Streets. Peter made his living in the stoneware business making everything from sewer pipes to flower pots at his establishment at 305 S. 3rd Street. He later became one of the leading contractors in St. Joseph, specializing in sewer lines.
As is to be expected from a multi-family rental unit, many people made their homes here over the decades. Some stayed for many years, others for just a short time. In 1912, the bank clerk Otto W. Croy and his wife Effie lived on the ground floor. Otto had a brief burst of fame in 1912 when he won a silver loving cup in an adding machine contest among the city’s bank clerks. Croy’s neighbor was Otto Teegarden (that’s a lot of Ottos in one building!). Teegarden was a department manager for the Tootle-Campbell Dry Goods Company. Otto’s wife, Alma appears to have been a very social woman and during the three years that they lived here she hosted several parties that were covered by the St. Joseph Gazette.
The residents of 1201-1203 Corby give a good window into the occupations that kept the commercial life of St. Joseph moving. Among those who lived there were a manager of a retail credit bureau, the wire chief for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad; a clerk at the Goetze-Niemer Physician and Drug Supply Co., a travelling door salesman, the president of a proprietary medicine company, a clerk for the McCord-Norton Shoe Co., a highway engineer, a mail carrier, and a car salesman.
Single women, either those who never married or widows, made up a substantial portion of the occupants. The widow Marie Sampson who lived at 1203 ½ in 1912 supported herself as a housekeeper. Beatrice Lysaght who lived in 1201 with her sister Theresa was a teacher at Neely School for more than 50 years before her retirement in 1953. Perhaps the highest-powered woman to call the Swenson Flats home was Loretta Crawford who lived at 1203 from 1926-1928. She was a chiropractor, county assessor, and the manager of Merchants City Delivery.
The solid structure at 1201-1203 Corby has served as an anchor for its neighborhood for more than 110 years. In recent years, it has suffered from neglect and but with some badly needed TLC it could easily stand for another century and function effectively as an income-producing property.
The structure at 1201-1203 Corby is offered for sale by the St. Joseph Land Bank Board. The purchaser of the residence is eligible for grant funds to make needed repairs and upgrades.
