| A CN local shoves its train into the north end of the former SOO yard at Neenah, WI on 27 May ‘18. The Edward Smith Octagon House, 347 Smith St., stands at left. The house was erected between 1851 and 1854. Edward Smith, who operated a flour mill and had an early interest in the Neenah Paper Co., purchased the home in 1855. It is commonly referred to as the Hiram Smith Octagon House; Hiram purchased it from his brother Edward at some point. It has been owned by the Neenah Historical Society since 1993. The powers-that-be wanted to demolish it to make way for the over-priced and over-budget Main St. overpass (out of frame to left). Thankfully there were enough intelligent people around to save it. Some references claim that the historic structure was not moved, but that the overpass design was modified to accommodate it. Other references state that the house was moved, including an article from the local newspaper on 15 Apr. ‘98 which stated, “federal rail safety funds will cover 90% of the additional $200,000 needed to move the historic Octagon House, 336 Main St., about 500 feet east to the corner of Smith and Torrey streets.” If it was moved, it wasn’t moved quite that far. The process of trying to move the house dragged on for at least 3 years. An article in the local newspaper on 18 Oct. ’01 stated that the relocation was still going to happen, but the estimated cost to move it had tripled by that point. Regardless of whether it was moved or remains at its original site, I’m just glad that it was saved. |