Purchase Price $149,900
5 bed · 3 bath · 3,320 sqft
Contact: Cathy Echterling, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Stein & Summers Real Estate
Call: 816-232-2000
House History & Gallery
In the mid-1920s St. Joseph was expanding and new residential neighborhoods were sprouting up far from the historic core of the city. One of the most fashionable of these new neighborhoods was along Eugene Field Ave. It was here that the successful physician and surgeon Francis “Frank” X. Hartigan and his wife Anna Agnes built their home. They built a house to impress at 2322 Eugene Field Ave., a large stucco with neo-colonial details and large rooms perfect for their big family and all their entertaining.
The generously sized house was absolutely needed: Frank and Anna had three sons, Frank Jr., Leonard, and Richard; and one daughter, Carol. In the early years Anna’s aunt Martha Whitty shared the home with them and they generally had at least one live-in servant as well.
The Hartigans stressed the importance of education and civic service to their children. Two of their sons, Frank Jr. and Leonard, became optometrists. Frank Jr. was a prominent, and somewhat controversial figure in the local Republican Party and served on the City Council and made an unsuccessful run for Mayor before his early death at the age of 40. Their youngest son, Richard, had a long career working for the City of St. Joseph after serving as a sergeant during World War II, seeing action at the Battle of the Bulge.
This house that Dr. Hartigan and Anna built was in the heart of Candy Cane Lane – an area of St. Joseph that was famous for decades for its Christmas décor. Hundreds of cars would drive down Eugene Field Avenue to see Candy Cane Lane. This wonderful house with all of its tradition can be yours!
