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Hiram S. and Marion Cable House, 1505 19th Avenue
Most Significant Unprotected Structures:
Bluff top Prairie-style mansion associated with Hiram S. Cable and the Rock Island Railroad
Architectural Style:
Prairie
Construction Date:
1912
Architect/Builder: Unknown
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This handsome home wraps around the bluff top, affording a beautiful view of the Mississippi river where it turns south at Rock Island. It is two stories tall, constructed of solid brick and has an original slate roof. The windows have double deep brick headers bisected by keystones, along with wooden shutters, which give this Prairie-style home an uncommon Classical influence. The shallow hip roof with deep eaves has exposed rafters and original copper gutters. The first and second stories are separated with a stone course. The back entrance, which actually serves as the major entry because of its bluff location, has a copper canopy hung by chains, a treatment usually reserved for major commercial buildings. Casement windows flank the back door, but most of the other windows are double hung with divided sash of varying sizes. The kitchen entrance is screened with lattice beneath a crenellated roofline, topped with stone.
Since it was intended as a summer home, there are many porches. The south side has two stories of porches, with the lower one screened above a tile floor. Attached to the porch and wrapping around to the front (river side) of the house, is an elaborate, open roof structure designed to hold vines, which is more typically found on a pergola. The front porch has a tile and concrete stoop and two concrete Tuscan columns finished with a pebbled texture. Substantial paired brackets rest under the canopy. The north side of the house originally had open screens on the first floor and a second story enclosed porch lined with windows. The current owners added a multi-story cedar deck to the plainest side of the home on the north, enlarging a window opening for the deck door.
The three-stall garage is original, with a bracketed shed canopy covered with slate. The garage features a shed roof and six over six windows and decorative brick work on the front facade. The original concrete driveway winds in front of the house from an entrance on 18th Avenue, which is no longer open. Due to the steep topography, the concrete was cleated to assure better footing for horses. Behind the house, the driveway expanded into a figure eight with landscaped centers. The drive was lined with oak trees, some of which still remain. .
Hiram S. Cable built this house in 1912, which was platted as the Cable Place and annexed to the City of Rock Island in 1915. Cable has a pedigreed past. He was the great-nephew of Philander Cable, famous for bringing $80,000 in a leather satchel to the pioneer town of Rock Island in 1856 to start a bank with Philemon Mitchell. Hiram S.'s grandfather, Hiram, arrived here in 1857 and bought 300 acres of farmland in Scott County. His great uncle Philander first recognized the potential of railroading in this area, and began buying up shares of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad after it was formed in 1866, the same year Hiram S. was born. Philander also heavily invested in the Canada Southern Railroad. Ransom R., Hiram S.'s father, advanced through the Rock Island & Peoria Railroad, eventually buying it. That railroad was eventually incorporated into the CRI & P Railroad. Ransom became president of the railroading company eventually known as the Rock Island Lines in 1883, largely because he aggressively pushed for westward expansion. Ransom served as president during the greatest expansion period of the railroad company. He died in 1909, and sons Ben S. and Hiram S. took over the railroad interests. At the time of his father's death, Hiram's title was general superintendent and his brother's was general manager. Hiram also became involved in banking, and, in 1919, was elected president of the reorganized Rock Island Savings Bank. He was also president of the Pike's Peak Railway, the highest railroad in North America, which was created solely for the tourism trade. His wife was Marion, who came from Colorado.
The Cables eventually relocated fully to Santa Barbara, California, and sold the home in August 1937 to Isadore and Eva Ruth Finkelstein. He and his brothers founded the former Finkelstein Bros. Coal and Ice Co, later known as the Frazer Coal Co. They were members of Tri-City Jewish Center. Eva died in 1961, and Isadore followed in 1965. The home was then purchased in 1965 by engineer and Deere & Co. executive Gordan Millar. In 1970, the Millars deeded their home to Deere & Co., when Mr. Millar was transferred to Switzerland. For about one year, 1970 to 1971, it was rented by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Knox of Knox Deep Rock Gas and Oil Company. The home was bought in 1972 by Sam & Peggy Doak, who raised eleven children here, and converted it to a bed and breakfast inn called Top O' The Morning in 1986, as the family nest began to empty.
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