County of building: Franklin County
Location of building: W. Front St. & Lafayette St., Washington
Built: 1838
Architectural Style: Federal
Classified: A-3 - commercial
Original Occupant: John Clayton Inn
Current Occupant: Basement Level: Photogenics; Upper Level: Edward R. Jones Investments
District Map
"This 2½ story masonry building has undergone some alteration early in its history. In 1854 the grade of Front st. was lowered approx. eight feet for the railroad. This exposed the north basement wall. (fronting Front st.) and forced a new entrance to the first floor. Original entry may have been gained at the northeast corner of the building.
"When the grade was changed these openings were altered to windows by masonry infill. A door and decorative cast iron porch were installed where the center
window of the first floor facade had been. The first floor is now divided
into three bays with floor to ceiling wooden pocket doors seperating [sic] the
central hall from east hay. A plaster wall with a single door seperates [sic] the
center hall from west b~y. Windows which have been converted from doors and
original windows are 6/6 double hung with heavy wooden lintels and wooden sills.
On the interior these windows have slanted boxes and beaded trim. The two
large "picture windows" on the facade are a circa 1950 alteration. Wooden
lintels have been removed. At the rear there was originally an open frame
stairs and porch accessing three rooms on the second floor. This also connected the main building with a detached two story brick kitchen. The kitchen
is now attached to the main building by a second two story brick addition
which adjoins east and west elevations of the two buildings. Circa 1860 the
open frame porch was enclosed. A recessed entry with brick arch above can be
seen fronting Lafayette. Windows here are 2/2 double hung with b rick arches
above and wooden sills. A seam in the brickwork seperates [sic] this addition from
the two bays to the north. Interior stairs are a straight run with decorative
newel post. Circa 1950 a. new roof was installed over the original on the
south elevation changing: the roofline to ,salt box. Originally the pitch
over the addition was less steep. The original shingle roof still underlies
tin and asphalt additions.
"Further significant interior features include an original built in clothes
closet on the second floor west, a boxed attic stairway in the same room,
beaded woodwork and rand.om width red pine floors throughout the building.
"This building is reputed to have been an early inn and residence owned by
a man named Clayton. Further research is necessary to substantiate this
information." ~ DNR Historic Survey PDF page 21
Federal/Greek Revival, circa 1849 - 1895, Coded A (Photos # 1 through
15).
This group is largely represented by vernacular interpretations
of Federal and/or Greek Revival styles; it contains one of the largest
single collections of buildings (about one-fourth of the total) and
enjoyed the greatest longevity. All rest on stone foundations and all
except two are brick. The majority are three bays wide and rise two
stories with first story utilized as commercial space and -second for
residential; a few are one story commercial. Six buildings which are
entirely residential are all detached, single family, two to five bays
wide except for one nine-bay multi-family at 9 W.Main (Photo #2).
Typically facades are symmetrical and feature openings headed with
either jack arches, flat lintels or segmental arches; roofs are gabled
or occasionally low-hipped. Ornamentation is restrained, generally
limited to brick dentilling, stringcourses, recessed paneling and
pilasters. Several feature decorative cast iron balconies, lintals or
storefronts. While the majority of roofs are side-gabled, five feature
street-front gables or shaped parapets sometimes pierced with an attic
window or lunette."
"Commercial . Coded With Black Bar
This designation indicates that historically the building (or part of
it) was used for commercial purposes. Since very few properties were
constructed exclusively for commerce, the black bar code at the front of the property parcel generally refers to a first story storefront.
"Residential (c. 1849 - 1930), Coded 3
This designation denotes fifteen buildings used only for residential
purposes (all are detached, single-family except for two detached,
multi-family), as well as numerous buildings which mix residential use
with commercial and a few which are institutional/residential or
industrial/residential and are doubled coded as such." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
Historic Marker on Building:
JOHN CLAYTON INN
Washington began in the area of Front and Lafayette Streets. The John Clayton Inn was located near the natural river landing site used in early times. Erected by John Clayton, this inn/boarding house is one of Washington's oldest surviving structures. The old cellar was exposed when streets were regraded in the 1870's.
1838
"11. JOHN CLAYTON BUILDING ..................100 West Front Street
Southwest corner Front and Lafayette Streets
Built in 1838 and used as a store and an inn by John Clayton and others.
The basement was exposed by the regrading of the streets in the 1870s" ~ Washington Historical Society Self Guided Tour