UPDATED POST ON THE WEDDING GIFT HOUSE

To say that I have been overwhelmed by the response to the story “The Wedding Gift House” posted on October 22, 2015, would be an understatement!  I am delighted that so many readers enjoyed the story and that many decided to like the Kossuth County History Buff Facebook page or follow by email to insure they receive future posts.  Thanks so much!

New Information

I do have an update to the story that I want to share with you.  Thanks to some

The Tribon house when owned in later
years by the Jorgenson family

information provided by Jeff Jorgenson who grew up in the house at 332 North Thorington, I have determined that the color photo of the house located at 322 North Thorington shown with the original story is not the Tribon house, but actually the house next door.  I must admit that I have had some misgivings about the house as I compared it with the photo from Picturesque Algona.  The two houses seemed to have the same roof lines, but some other features didn’t quite seem to match.  But all evidence I looked at seemed to confirm that the house in the book was located at 322 North Thorington.  

The original Picturesque Algona was published in 1900 without addresses assigned to the various buildings pictured in the book which would have made it almost impossible 115 years later to determine their whereabouts.  Thankfully, the Algona centennial committee decided to reissue the book in 1954 and, bless them, they provided addresses at that time.  The 1954 edition clearly shows the Tribon house address as 322 North Thorington.  Since Vallie Tribon was still alive in 1954, I trusted this information to be correct. 

House that sits on the
site in 2015

I try to be very thorough in my research and my notes indicate that when I was researching this story, I did check courthouse records.  However, the manner in which the real estate was described has changed between 1898 and 2015.  Evidently when trying to match the old description to the new one, it again appeared that the Tribons had once owned the property located at 322 North Thorington.  The Kossuth County Assessor was able to show me aerial photos from which I was able to see how the mistake might have been made. 

Jorgenson Photos

The photos posted here were provided by Jeff from the Jorgenson family collection with the exception of the photo which shows the house that now sits on this site.  I did ask Jeff to describe the inside of the house so that I could share it with you as well.  He was even nice enough to include photos of the staircase and fireplace.  

The first floor of course had the large front porch leading to a foyer entry.  It had a “master bedroom” on the first floor.  He thinks that the house as originally built did not have a bedroom on the main floor and that this bedroom was part of a later remodel.  The only full bath in the house was located on that floor along with the kitchen and a living room/great room with a fireplace on the east wall and two eight foot sliding doors on each end and a large picture window on the west wall.

The second floor had four bedrooms with big cedar lined closets and a small kitchen. The south facing bedroom had a fireplace.  There was also a half bath on that floor.

I love Jeff’s description of the attic: “The attic had a very narrow and steep staircase you had to climb like a ladder.  It was very large.  The square footage was almost the entire footprint of the house.  It was always fun, but a bit creepy going up there since it had old dress mannequins which looked like people in the dark to a kid.”

The house had steam radiators heated with a furnace which used to burn coal and was then converted to gas.  Jeff remembers that the house was always cold as the radiant heat could never keep up with all the air leaks and lack of insulation.

Owners after the Tribons added a breezeway and garage addition on the north side of the house.

The End of a Beautiful Home

Although I hate being wrong (don't we all!), it is exciting to be able to correct an error

Photos after the fire
in 1988

in Picturesque Algona.  I am so pleased that Jeff took the time to contact me to share photos of the “real” Tribon house which once stood at 332 North Thorington.  My only disappointment is that the house was destroyed by a fire back in 1988.  A part of me loves the Tribons’ story so much that I really wanted the house to still be standing.   Thanks to the photos shared by Jeff and the one in Picturesque Algona, the sweet memories of this house will be preserved forever.

Feel free to contact me any time about a story.  I truly value your comments and input and hope we make more discoveries along the way!

Back to my research,

KC History Buff

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