Elston Memorial Home

	Elston Memorial Home - Quick Facts
HSP Category	Building
Period	1882
No. Stories	Two floors with a basement below the first floor and full attic above the second floor.
Original Use	Family home
Present Use	Dorothy Q Chapter House, NSDAR

Historical Significance:

The Colonel Isaac C. Elston House, built between 1880 and 1882, is significant for its historic association with a family prominent in the development of Crawfordsville. The house is architecturally significant as a superb example of the eastern stick style, and for the excellence of its craftsmanship, detailing, and high degree of integrity.

Col. Elston's father, Major Isaac C. Elston, was an early pioneer in Crawfordsville, establishing a store and erecting a log cabin there in 1823. He was also instrumental in founding Michigan City, and helped with the development of Lafayette, Indiana. In 1850 he became president of the Crawfordsville and Wabash Railroad. Largely due to his efforts, the line was completed to Lafayette in 1852, and merged with the New Albany and Salem line. This railroad insured Crawfordsville's economic future. In 1853 Major Elston and his son-in-law, future U.S. Senator Henry S. Lane, established the first bank in Crawfordsville.

The Major's son, Col. Elston, was born in 1836, and was educated at Wabash College and the University of Michigan, then served during the Civil War under Col. Lew Wallace. He established the First National Bank of Memphis, Tennessee, in 1864, and a brokerage business in Cincinnati in 1866. He returned to Crawfordsville when his father died in 1867, and assumed control of the Elston and Company banking firm. In 1905 the bank became the Elston National Bank, which was later under the direction of his son, Isaac C. Elston, III. This bank has now been absorbed by first National City Bank which then became PNC Bank.

This house was constructed circa 1882 in Elston Grove, a large wooded grove south of the elder Elston's brick federal style house. This grove was also built upon by the Elston daughters, Joanna (married to Henry S. Lane) and Susan (married to Lew Wallace). The Lane Place was listed in the National Register in 1981. The Wallace home no longer stands, but Lew Wallace's nearby study is a National Historic Landmark, where it is said he wrote most of Ben Hur.

The house has been owned by the Elston Memorial Foundation since 1923, when ownership was transferred directly from the family. Many of the original furnishings are still in the house, and no major changes have been made. The house exhibits the outstanding characteristics of the stick style, including the projecting gable; vertical, horizontal and diagonal boards applied over the horizontal siding; and oversized brackets. It is one of the most outstanding examples in the state, particularly notable because of its unchanged condition.

Acknowledgements: We are preserving the property and use it as our Chapter House for our meetings/events. We also participate with the General Lew Wallace Study in early December for a Holiday High Tea-call 765-362-5769 for information. Our house is decorated for a Victorian Christmas.

Form Submitted By: Dorothy Q Chapter, NSDAR 02/12/2013

Designations:

National Register of Historical Places
City Landmark

Historic Marker:

Marker Organization: State of Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Marker Date: April 15, 1982
Marker Text: This property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of the Interior.

Funded By:

Through the Elston Memorial Foundation and the members of the Dorothy Q Chapter NSDAR.

Information for the Visitors:

What you need to know if interested in visiting this destination:

Condition of Property: Preserve
Open to the Public? Yes
Public Hours: By appointment.
Is it Family Friendly? Yes
Brochure available? Yes

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Units Overseas

Directions and application forms can be found on this page or in the Forms section of the DAR members' website.

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