Edward H. Mote and his wife Lucretia bought the property at 1021 W. Main Street from John Love in February 1889. The Victorian-style house was completed in 1892 for about $9,000. The house had a nursery, but the Motes remained childless and sold the home to Bishop Henry Clay Morrison in 1908, who bought it as a retirement residence.
Morrison made many improvements to the house, including the addition of electricity by his son, Dr. H.K. Morrison, who birthed about 3,000 Leesburg babies.
The Morris house holds the distinction of being the only house in Leesburg to be placed on the National Register of Historic Homes. It was given this award in 1974, and has housed three generations of the Morris family since it was purchased by John S. Morris in 1920.The present owners are Robert and Georgiana Morris,owners of Yalaha Nurseries.
The house was sold to John S. and May James Morris in 1918. A member of the Morris family lived in the house for the next 70 years. They added indoor plumbing in phases.
Son Robert moved his family into the house to care for his aging mother May in the mid-1950s. His father, John S. Morris, died several years earlier. When May J. Morris died in 1973 the house was willed to Robert and Georgianna. The Mote-Morris House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places the following year.
The Mote-Morris House was purchased by Morrison United Methodist Church in 1988 and the church offered the house to whomever would move it. The house was relocated from 1021 West Main Street to 1195 West Magnolia Street in 1990. The community raised $95,000 so the house could be moved.
Research Info:
Daily Commercial Newspaper articles(July1988),
http://www.leesburgflorida.gov/history/student_leesburg.aspx
Leesburg Hertiage Society Museum
No comments:
Post a Comment