The George and Martha Hitchcock House, also known as the Fuller-McGuire House, is a private house located at 205 East Michigan Street in

Farwell, Michigan Farwell is a village in Clare County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 880 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Surrey Township about west of the city of Clare. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the ...

. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1996 and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1985.

History

George Hitchcock was born in

Watertown, Connecticut Watertown is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 22,105 at the 2020 census. The ZIP codes for Watertown are 06795 (for most of the town) and 06779 (for the Oakville section). It is a suburb of Waterbury. ...

in 1825. In 1851, he married Martha Hall, daughter of a prominent

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

family. Hitchcock worked on the railroad for a number of years, and in 1857 moved to Owosso, Michigan and opened a drugstore. He later moved to Isabella County, and in 1870 went into business with his brother-in-law Edmund Hall. In 1871, the Hitchcocks moved to and founded the village of Farwell as part of Hitchcock and Hall's logging operations in

Clare County Clare County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 30,856. The county seat is Harrison. History The county was created by the Michigan Legislature from part of Michilimackinac County in 1840, ...

. They established the Farwell City Company, which owned the town, and Farwell became manager of the company. Hitchcock also acted as the city's first postmaster and Clare County's first treasurer, and established mills in the area. After living in the area for some time, George Hitchcock and his wife Martha hired the Detroit firm of Mason & Rice to design this house; construction was completed in 1885. George Hitchcock died in 1889. The house is still privately owned.

Description

The George and Martha Hitchcock House is a two-story asymmetrical wood-framed Queen Anne structure clad with

clapboards Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

. The front facade spans four bays, with the rightmost bay recessed, transitioning into a bay window corner. The porch was altered in the 1950s by extending it across the front facade. The attic has a pedimented gable over the three left bays with an elaborate molded lintel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchcock, George and Martha, House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Queen Anne architecture in Michigan Hotel buildings completed in 1885 Houses in Clare County, Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites National Register of Historic Places in Clare County, Michigan 1885 establishments in Michigan