Fletemeyer House
| Dates: | late-1850s |
| Location: | 1201 Salem Street, Lafayette, Indiana |
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| Fletemeyer House, 1201 Salem Street, 2002 | 1201 Salem, 2004 |
The Park Mary Historic District is located to the north of Downtown Lafayette and consists primarily of Godlove Orth's addition to Lafayette. Orth, a Congressman and ambassador of the Civil War period, lived in a large brick house at the northeast corner of 9th and Union Streets, demolished in the 1930s. The addition contained a park named Park Mary after Orth's wife, Mary Ann. The park was bounded by Tippecanoe, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Salem Streets. Park Mary was later divided into lots and houses were built on it in the 1880s-1910s. Today much of the neighborhood suffers from neglect and absentee landlords.
Two brick houses on Salem Street (1201 and 1203) are notable landmarks, and originally looked out on Park Mary. The corner house (1201) is a substantial brick house dating to the late-1850s, built by the Fletemeyer family. It seems to have been built as a single family house, but was used as a duplex by the 1890s. The first floor of the western half was used as the Fletemeyer's boot and shoe store from the 1860s-1910s.
The adjacent house at 1203 Salem Street was demolished in December, 2005. 1201 Salem has a new owner and appears to be occupied. However, it is one of only two remaining houses on the block, which stand on 2/3 of a lot. The rest of the block has been consolidated under one owner, likely for construction of a new building.
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| 12-21-04 | 11-27-04, 1201 Salem/831 N. 12th from the west |
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| Detail of c.1850s attic door hardware in 1201 Salem |