The George W. Frank House is a historic mansion located in Kearney, Nebraska, United States. The house was built in 1889 by George W. Frank. Since 1971 the property has been owned by Kearney State College, now the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The university now operates the home as The G.W. Frank Museum of History and Culture. In 1973, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Architecture
The Frank House is located in Kearney at 2010 University Drive, on the west end of the University of Nebraska Kearney campus. The house was completed in 1889 at a cost of about $40,000. It was one of the first houses 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 thick, while the interior supporting walls are thick and made of brick. The house has of living space, with three floors and a basement. The Frank House originally had ten fireplaces, seven of which remain. The largest of the fireplaces is located in the drawing room. The extensive interior woodwork is English Golden Oak, done by a local carpenter named John Peter Lindbeck, a certified master carver. Many of his woodcarving designs are repeated elsewhere throughout the interior and exterior of the home as these were the architects only stipulations on what he was to carve.
The grand staircase has six newel posts, each of which has its own design. On the second floor landing is the home's Stained Glass Window, measuring wide and tall, the creator of the window is still unknown and a current research project of the Museum. On the second floor, there were four bedrooms and a bathroom for guests. To fend off cold Nebraska winters, the house was heated by steam heaters located in several rooms throughout the house.
In the dining room, the windows are curved to complement the veranda on the east side of the house.
Frank family
Dr. Augustus Frank was born January 12, 1792, to Andrew and Elizabeth Frank. Frank was born in Germany but immigrated to the United States when he was seven. He trained to be a doctor at a medical college in Dorset, Vermont, and volunteered in the War of 1812. In 1814, Frank began to practice medicine in Victor, New York. He was an abolitionist and a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Frank belonged to the Anti-Slavery Society of New York and the American Anti-Slavery Society.
On September 12, 1816, 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, Frank remarried to Jane Patterson (born August 30, 1795, Londonderry, NH). They had seven children, two of whom were Augustus Frank and George Washington Frank.
George Washington Frank
George Washington Frank was born on November 29, 1830. In 1854, George Frank married Phoebe McNair. They had four children: Sarah (died in infancy), Augustus II, Jeanie, and George William. Phoebe died in February 1900, and George Washington Frank died on March 20, 1906.
Frank built three houses for himself and his family. The first house, completed in June 1869, was built in Warsaw, New York. George Frank built his second house in Corning, Iowa; this second house was called Edgewood. George Frank operated a banking and real estate investment firm in Corning. In the 1990s, after being used as a clubhouse for a local golf course, Edgewood caught fire and was completely destroyed. His Warsaw, NY home still exists today as a private residence. In 1871, he purchased of land from the Union Pacific Railroad in Kearney, Nebraska. He helped establish the Phil Kearney Ranch, where he invested in thoroughbred horses. In 1885, he opened the George W. Frank Improvement Company, and in 1886, began construction on a home in Kearney.
On August 1, 1885, Frank bought the controlling interest in the Kearney Canal and the Water Supply Company. Frank continued the construction of the Kearney Canal and started planning for a power plant in 1885. In July 1890, George Frank owned a company that started using electric trolleys which were run by Kearney Street Railway.
As a result of over-extension in business affairs and the economic turn down caused by the Panic of 1893, Frank lost many of his businesses and was forced into foreclosure. By this point he had signed the house over to his wife for one dollar, as to elude the mortgage broker and keep the home. But by 1900, Phoebe had died of a sudden heart failure and Frank was forced to leave the house to the bank and his possessions up for auction.