[note: Originally posted on Joe Spake’s Weblog – This early 20th Century as not had any TLC in quite a while, but it is part of our urban landscape; and the decision to bring in the track hoe often comes quite quickly in Memphis]
Track hoe sits ominously close to notable historic residences on Pontotoc Avenue
Memphis real estate history
I have thought the early 20th Century duplex at 492-494 Pontotoc Ave., just west of Danny Thomas, was extremely interesting since I first ran across it about 25 years ago. It was not in the greatest shape then, but I always get the feel that this was a house that didn’t seem to fit in Memphis. But now, with the rooming house to the east looking like a total burn out, and a track hoe parked in the vacant lot next door, the future looks grim for what was once jewel on the outskirts of Downtown.
Looking east at the 492 side
A double Romanesque house, on all pointy, the other all rounded. 492 has a steep gable over the entrance, a gabled dormer, a three sided bay window and even some curves in the Doric columns of the porch. The entrance at 494 is under a low Richardsonian arch, the dormer above the arch has a curved pediment, and the bay window is a nice round bulge capped by a roof with a conical shape. An imaginative and even powerful pair of houses….
Looking east toward 494 Pontotoc
That track hoe can do a lot of destruction pretty quickly. It appears that this duplex is inhabited, so you may to have a chance to catch a look before it’s gone.
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