Blackstone House and Martinsville Telephone Company Building - Martinsville, Indiana - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

"Blackstone House/Cure and Hensley Mortuary, 127 South Main Street, Central Passage/Gothic Revival/Queen Anne, 1860, and adjoining Martinsville Telephone Company, Tudor Revival, 1921.

This central passage brick house with Gothic, Italianate and Queen Anne influences is one and one-half stories in height. The foundation is hand-quarried sandstone. It has a rear ell and a bay addition on the north. The house features a lovely Queen Anne front veranda with turret, turned columns, scrollwork and spindles. The entrance consists of a panelled wood door with stained glass sidelights and fanlight. The windows are one-over-one double hung sash with painted limestone hoods. The roof is asphalt.

In the 1960s, the rear ell was connected with the Tudor Revival Martinsville Telephone Company building at 39 East Jackson Street. Constructed of oriental brick manufactured by the Martinsville Brick Company and ornamented with Bedford limestone, this building features fireproof steel door and window frames, a limestone water table and belt course and limestone trim on a crenalated roof line.

Built by Dr. Benjamin D. Blackstone on the occasion of his second marriage to Mary Jane Worley Reynolds, the Blackstone House represents the first wave of permanent construction that replaced Martinsville's settlement-era structures. It was home to the Blackstone family--both father and children--until 1925. It was in this year that Jesse Cure and Herman Hensley leased the building for the Cure and Hensley Mortuary. In 1929, upon the death of Dr. Blackstone's son, Charles, the property was sold to Cure and Hensley. Their joint ownership continued until Hensley's death in 1946. Following Cure's own death in 1949, the business was operated by his widow, Hester. It was acquired by Kenny and Debbie Costin in 1985; today, the Cure and Hensley-Costin Funeral Chapel is one of Martinsville's oldest continually operating businesses.

By the time the Martinsville Telephone Company building was completed in July 1927, it had become known as the home of the bell Telephone Company. Designed by Walker J. Weesner, who served as architect and building engineer for the Indiana Bell Telephone Company from 1924-1933, it was considered to be “one of the most up-to-date telephone service buildings in Indiana.” In 1950, with over 3,000 subscribers, the telephone offices were relocated elsewhere in Martinsville. The Martinsville Telephone Company building was sold to the First Christian Church in 1957 and to Hester Cure in 1963. Within a few years, it was connected to the Cure and Hensley Mortuary. The entire property, including the former Martinsville Telephone Company building, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places." - Historic District Nomination Form

Street address: 127 South Main Street Martinsville, Indiana County / Borough / Parish: Morgan Year listed: 1997 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1850-1874, 1875-1899, 1900-1924, 1925-1949 Historic function: Domestic, Funerary Current function: Funerary Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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