A. This little cottage-style house at 422 N. Argyle was originally very early at 203 W. Prairie. My great aunt, Lottie Boyle, told me many years ago(!) that her grandparents, the M.J. Boyle’s, lived there as did her father, Finley, when he was a toddler. Some adventure “uptown” brought him running home across the empty prairie pulling a wagon with the baby sibling bouncing dangerously. There were no other houses between town and home. The Prairie Street home was moved much later when the commodious “modern” bungalow was constructed which stands there today.

E. “Recently moved” could be said of this mobile home, meaning within the last 50-60 years. It is believed to have been the “Beede” School which stood on Cyclone Ridge Road. It became a residence in the early 1950’s.

F. Lanark once had its own “Music Man” in the form of Erastus Leland, a multi-talented teacher of voice and instrument who traveled all over the country. He taught and had performers who sang and played throughout. In the 1st quarter of the nineteenth century one of the choruses were the “North Carolinians,” an African-American group who became very popular except in the Brookville area where a KKK-like gang tried to drive them away. Prof. Leland’s honorable nature and sweet character made him a beloved hometown favorite. He, like many then, made money in various ways. At one time he had a busy corn cob pipe factory. His house was joined to one next door, 322 W. Pearl.

B. Recognize the “antique lines” of this old house? Great auntie told that this was the first house built IN Lanark, not just moved in from elsewhere. It is believed to have been, perhaps, the Aldrich family who built it. It is now 118 W. Prairie but it once stood on the south side of East Broad Street where the telephone company office was; built in the mid-1930’s. It and the long, narrow physician’s office of the Drs. Wales’; directly on the alley, have been razed and no structure is there today.

D. More research needs to be done on this “mobile home” at 224 W. Locust Street but scattered, brief items in the newspapers lead us to believe that this place once stood at the southwest corner of Broad and W. Carroll, first being, it is probable, a grocery store, the Welch’s. There were a couple private banks in town before the National Bank was formed and then John Wolf, local farmer, founded the Exchange State Bank. Wanting a permanent location had the clapboard building moved and the present brick one constructed, now the north-most segment of the present bricks incorporated into one business. Men’s clothing, groceries, TV and Appliance occupied the southern sites as well as second floor renters; a telephone company, hair dressers and the long-time Opera House. The old house on Locust has been changed, remodeled like most of the olders.

C. The house at 328 E. Carroll stood where the Faith Reformed Church is today. The house site had much history having been the site of a church moved from the Georgetown Rd. in Freedom Township. After a split in the church, the congregation met in homes and barns or the house yard until Lanark was formed and they could move a sanctuary to town. A larger church was built at 328 but when disbanded the structure was moved to the northeast corner of W. Carroll and Boyd where it still serves as a warehouse. In the earlier part of the twentieth century it also was used by the “town” basketball team to play their irregularly scheduled games. One-time owner, Riley Lotzbaugh, a wonderful positive individual, would set up a merry-go-round in cold months for entertainments when the carnival season was closed. It was also one of the dormitories for the workers laying bricks on the streets in the commercial district in the 1920’s. The house at 328 E. Carroll was moved to this site when the Christian Church, the original church before Faith Reformed, was constructed at the turn-of-the century. Mrs. Puterbaugh adapted to the new location. The abstract shows the date 1864.