Link House

Description:	Drawing of the Link House by Juliet A. Peddle, Terre Haute Artist and Architect. THE LINK HOUSE WHICH STOOD AT FIRST AND WILSON STREETS. Drawing By Juliet A. Peddle, Terre Haute Artist and Architect.The LINK HOUSE stood between Oak and Wilson streets on the west side of First street toward the edge of the bluff facing the river, a little north and west of the Terre Haute Ice, Fuel & Cold Storage Corporation.The house has generally been known as the Link House though I think it is probable that it was not actually built by the Link family who owned and occupied it for many years. A newspaper account written about the time the house was taken down (around 1903) says that it was built 74 years earlier by Jasper Link. I believe that the name is an error and should be Casper as there is no other record in the courthouse or elsewhere which mentions Jasper but there are many references to Casper who fits into the known circumstances of the house. Using the date in the above-mentioned article 74 years earlier than 1903 puts the construction about 1829.This is consistent with the style of the house but does not fit into the courthouse records of ownership which indicate that William and Joseph Montgomery owned the property from 1824 to 1830-1829 is so near 1830 that either of the next two owners might possibly have been one to build the house. John britton bought the property from the Montgomerys and in the same year sold it to Joseph and Jacob Wallace. They owned the place from 1830 until 1858. From them it was sold to Eliza Wright who held it until 1864 when it appears as the property of Casper Link. The records indicate that Mr. Link died about 1885. This property passed to his granddaughter, Mollie Link, daughter of his son, Lewis. By 1903 we find the Peoples brewery about to build south of the house, the old house, by now having fallen into disrepair, was taken down clearing the First street frontage of everything for the new brewery.I have found very little about the Wallaces, who may have been the ones who built the house, except that they were millers and came to Terre Haute quite early. They built a grist and saw mill along the river in the south end of town in 1823 and are still listed in 1834 in an early record as millers.Of the coming of the Link family I know nothing until I find Casper mentioned in the first directory issued in 1858 as a grocer located at the corner of First and Sheets streets-first street south of Wilson. The same directory gives Joseph Wallace- a machinist, as living on First Street between Oak and Wilson. This could easily be the house in question as Joseph Wallace was one of the owners then though the directory does not say which side of the street the house is on. Several times in later directories after 1864 Casper is listed at this latter address with the west side of the street added.The Link family have been associated with this house practically all of its life after 1864 and their name has come to belong to it. Several early newspaper accounts of the house say it was considered one of the finest in the city when built, being both well constructed and well designed. It had an exceptionally fine location in the early town as it commanded a view of the river and was located in what was then a proper part of town for a fine residence. It is said the early owners of the house were very hospitable and entertained a great deal and often had overnight guests who come in for the trials at the courthouse. The Walnut street wharf was near enough to be a constant source of interest with the steamboats that plied the river loading and unloading there.I am told Casper Link had a fine orchard and a rose garden which were a special pride to him, but the apple orchard sometimes became a problem in season when the small boys of the neighborhood also took an interest in it.This is the first house I have come across which was situated on the bluff along the river though to judge from the map of 1854 there were others too. Even by 1854, however, we find packinghouses, slaughterhouses, and foundries and other industries encroaching on the riverfront. It must have been attractive, however, before the industrial development started, and I should like to have had a picture of the riverbank before the forties.
Origin:	01/01/2005
Contributor(s):	Peddle, Juliet, 1899-1979
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/rose/id/840
Collection:	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Logan Library
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Subjects:	Architectural drawings Architecture Houses Link, Casper, d.1885 Architecture Domestic Life

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