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The 'Frank House is a historic mansion located in Kearney, Nebraska. The house was built in 1889 by George W. Frank. As of 1971, the property has been owned by Kearney State College, now the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
George W. Frank House | |
  | |
| Location | Kearney State College, Kearney, Nebraska |
|---|---|
| Area | 0.7 acres (0.28 ha) |
| Architect | Frank,Bailey & Farmer |
| Architectural style | Shingle Style, Other, Richardsonian |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001054 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | February 23, 1973 |
Architecture
The Frank House is located in Kearney on 2010 University Drive on the West end of the University of Nebraska Kearney campus. The Frank House was completed in 1889 for around $40,000 and was the first house west of the Missouri River to be wired for electricity during the construction of the house. The house is of Richardsonian Romanesque design with Colorado red sandstone from Wyoming. The exterior stone walls are 18 inches thick and the interior supporting walls are made of brick, and are 14 inches (360 mm) thick. The house has 14,000 square feet (1,300 m2) of living space with three floors and a full size basement. The Frank House originally had ten fireplaces with seven still existing today. The largest of the fireplaces is located within the drawing room. All of the extensive woodwork is English Golden Oak which was done by a local carpenter named John Peter Lindbeck. He was a certified master carver by the King of Sweden.
The Grand Staircase had six newel posts each of which has its own elegant design. On the second floor landing is the jewel of the house, the Tiffany Window. The window is one of the largest Tiffany windows in a private home. It measures five feet wide and nine feet tall. --Frankhouse (talk) 21:06, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
On the second floor there were four bedrooms and a bathroom for any guests that the Franks would entertain. To fend off the cold Nebraska winters, the house was heated by steam heaters that were located in several rooms throughout the house. In the dining room the windows are curved to compliment the veranda which goes along the east side of the house. The Frank Family lived in the house from 1890 to 1900. It was then purchased by a doctor and his wife who ran the house as private clinic and sanitarium for a short period of time. The doctor and his wife sold the house in 1907 to the State of Nebraska to be run as the living quarters for the doctors and nursing staff of the Nebraska Hospital for Tuberculosis until its closing in 1971. In 1973, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The restoration of the Frank House began when it was transferred to Kearney State College, now University of Nebraska Kearney in 1971, and the doors have been open since.[citation needed]
History
Frank Family
Dr. Augustus Frank was born January 12, 1792 to Andrew and Elizabeth Frank. Dr. Frank was born in Germany but immigrated to the United States of America when he was seven. Dr. Frank trained to be a doctor at a medical college in Dorset, Vermont, and volunteered in the war of 1812. In 1814, Dr. Frank began to practice medicine in Victor, New York. Dr. Frank was an abolitionist and was a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Dr. Frank belonged to the Anti-Slavery Society of New York and the American Anti-Slavery Society.
On September 12, 1816 Dr. Frank married Jerusha Baldwin. The couple had three children, two sons, who died in infancy and a daughter, Henriette. On March 15, 1825 Jerusha died. In August of that same year Dr. Frank remarried to Jane Patterson (born August 30, 1795, Londonderry, NH). They had seven children, two of which were Honorable Frank and George Washington Frank.[citation needed]
Honorable Augustus Frank
The Honorable Augustus Frank was born on July 17, 1826. Augustus was the director and vice-president of the Buffalo & New York City Railroad Company. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1839 and was elected to congress the same year. He served three terms as a Republican Congressman, from March 4, 1839 to March 3, 1865-- the 36th, 37th, and 38th Congresses. He was later a member of the state constitutional convention in 1867 and 1868.
After his final term in Congress, Augustus became the director of the Wyoming County National Bank in 1865. He married in 1867 to Agnes McNair and the couple had two children. Their son died as an infant, and their daughter was Mary Frank Miller. From 1870 to 1872 Augustus Frank was also one of the managers of the Buffalo State Hospital for the Insane in Buffalo, New York. He was the director of the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company. He was a state commissioner for the preservation of public parks and was on the board of directors of Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railroad. He organized the Bank of Warsaw in 1871 and served as its president until his death on April 29, 1895. He is buried in Warsaw Cemetery, Warsaw, New York.[citation needed]
George Washington Frank
George Washington Frank was born on November 29, 1830. He built three houses for himself and his family. The first mansion was built in Warsaw, New York and completed in June 1869. George Frank built his second mansion in Corning, Iowa. It was next to the largest man-made lake in South-West Iowa, which George also designed; the second mansion that George Frank built was called Edgewood. George Frank operated a banking and real estate investment firm in Corning Iowa. In 1871 George Frank purchased 1,042 acres (4.22 km2) from the Union Pacific Railroad in Kearney Nebraska. George Frank helped establish the Phil Kearney Ranch where he invested in thoroughbred horses. In 1885, he opened the George W. Frank Improvement Co and in 1886, construction on a home in Kearney, Nebraska began.
On August 1, 1885 George Washington Frank bought the controlling interest in the Kearney Canal and the Water Supply Company. George Frank continued the construction of the Kearney Canal and started planning for a power plant in 1885. George Frank began building his third mansion in 1886, and would not finish it until 1889. In July 1890 George Frank owned a company that started using electric trolleys which were run by Kearney Street Railway. In 1854, George Frank married Phoebe McNair Frank. They had four children, Sarah (died in infancy), Augustus II, Jeanie, and George William. Phoebe died in February 1900 and George died on March 20, 1906 in his sleep.
George Washington Frank’s son Augustus Frank II was born on May 12, 1857 in Warsaw, New York. He was one of the last Franks to move to Kearney from Corning Iowa. Augustus II married Pauline Klauber Stein in 1891. Pauline had two sons from a previous marriage and had two more children with Augustus II. Augustus II’s children both graduated from Kearney High School. Agnes graduated in 1911 and Augustus graduated in 1912. Augustus also served in World War II. Augustus II died in Omaha by suicide on April 16, 1900. George Washington Frank’s daughter Jeannie Frank was born in Warsaw, New York in 1857. Jeannie married Charles Elmedorf in September 1880. Jeannie and Charles moved to Kearney in April 1886. Charles Elmedorf raised Hereford cattle. George William Frank Jr. was born November 28, 1861 in Warsaw, New York. George William Frank studied at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, Poughkeepsie Military Academy, and he also studied civil engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York. He built and designed the dam at Corning Iowa. George William married Ella Stedman on November 21, 1883. George William and Ella had two children, Louise and George Stedman. George moved to Kearney at age 25 and worked in the businesses of Boyle & Frank, a real estate firm; Kearney Brick Yards, and Frank, Bailey & Farmer Architects.
George William was one of the first members of the Chamber of Commerce with George Sr. and Augustus II in 1889. George took a special course in architecture at the Boston Institute of Technology in 1891. George moved back to New York and was employed as an assistant engineer and architect for JG White & Co., he also worked for Whiting Reduction Co. and was in charge of Yadkin River Hydraulic Department. George William died in Liberty, New York on January 19, 1905. Ella died 34 years later at the age of 78 on September 12, 1939.[citation needed]