The Frank L. Dingley House is a historic house in
Auburn, Maine
Auburn is a city in south-central Maine within the United States. The city serves as the county seat of Androscoggin County. The population was 24,061 at the 2020 census. Auburn and its sister city Lewiston are known locally as the Twin Cities ...
, United States. Built in 1867, it is a high-quality local example of
Second Empire Second Empire may refer to:
* Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783
* Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396)
* Second French Empire (1852–1870)
** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...
architecture. It is most significant as the long-time home of
Frank L. Dingley, long-time editor of the ''
Lewiston Evening Journal
The ''Sun Journal'' is a newspaper published in Lewiston, Maine, United States, which covers central and western Maine. In addition to its main office in Lewiston, the paper maintains satellite news and sales bureaus in the Maine towns of Farming ...
'', the state's second-largest newspaper at the time. The house was 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 1980.
Description and history
The Dingley House is set on the north side of Court Street, in a residential area just west of Auburn's downtown area. It is a nominally -story brick structure, with a mansard roof providing a full third floor. The roof is slate, pierced by two brick chimneys, and there is a mansard-topped tower on the street-facing facade. The main facade, however is oriented toward the east, looking down the hill over Auburn and
Lewiston. A single-story porch extends along this facade, with decorative denticulated cornice and wooden posts.
The house was built in 1867 for Frank Dingley, and was his home until his death in 1918. A graduate of
Bowdoin College, Dingley was for 57 years chief editor of the ''Lewiston Evening Journal'', which he and his brother converted to a daily newspaper when they acquired it in 1861. Dingley was innovative in the early adoption of the
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
for transmission of news reports, and oversaw a great expansion of the newspaper's facilities in 1898. He was a local patron of the arts, and supported the efforts of
F. E. Stanley to produce the
Stanley Steamer
The Stanley Motor Carriage Company was an American manufacturer of steam cars; it operated from 1902 to 1924. The cars made by the company were colloquially called Stanley Steamers, although several different models were produced.
Early history ...
automobile.
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See also
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dingley, Frank L., House
1867 establishments in Maine
Houses completed in 1867
Houses in Auburn, Maine
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Androscoggin County, Maine