Marker Name: Morse - Morris House
Marker Text: Built circa 1880, this residence is the oldest standing structure in Florence. David Morse is said to be Florence’s first “white” settler. After arriving in 1876, he homesteaded 152 acres east of the Kyle Building. In contrast to later, more elegant residences, the construction was rudimentary, employing locally unmilled lumber. The Joseph/Elizabeth Morris family, after building Florence’s first hotel in 1887, occupied the premises into the 1900’s. For half a century, until 2008, it was home to the Thompkins’ family, who in the 1960’s attached the rear addition. It was restored to its present state in 2009.
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