203 East Sprague Street, The Crotts House, c. 1897

This structure was built by house carpenter and furniture salesman George Francis Jenkins (who lived in Salem) as a rental property. In 1910, building contractor James Madison Crotts and his sons Alexander, Flavius, and George Washington most likely added the Craftsman style gable brackets and tapered paneled porch posts. George Washington Crotts pursued his father’s trade, running a successful residential construction business. The Crotts retained the property till 1996.

This I-House with Craftsman influences (later remodeling) retains weatherboard siding; two-over-two windows; a hipped-roof porch with battered posts on brick piers; and exposed rafter tails. 1902 CD: (103) S. P. Pfaff, a watchman at Forsyth Chair; 1920 CD: (103) J. M. Crotts (W); 1925 CD: George and Jessie Crotts, a contractor; 1935 CD: ditto, a wrapper at American Bakeries Company; 1945 CD: ditto, occupant, a building contractor; 1954 CD: ditto, owner-occupant, a contractor. (CD = City Directory)

I-House – A 1 ½ or 2-story side-gable (two rooms wide and one room deep) traditional British folk form. The two rooms usually have an entrance hall between them containing a central stairway.