Hervey Ely House, also known as the Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter House, is a historic home located at Rochester in Monroe County, New York.
It was built about 1837 in the Greek Revival style. It is a 2½ story brick structure covered in stucco.
The house has been owned since 1920 by the Irondequoit chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
It is located within the boundaries of the Third Ward Historic District. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
History
Third Ward Historic District Rochester, New York
The Hervey Ely House is located on Troupe Street in the Third Ward Historic District of Rochester, New York. The house immensely impacted the architecture emerging around it, with Greek Revival styles becoming prevalent and popular during the early 19th Century period.
The Third Ward was formerly called the “Ruffled Shirt Ward”, and is currently referred to as “Corn Hill”. Housing issues arose from Rochester’s founding in 1817 because the city grew at exponential rates. Many workers arrived in Rochester in a rush, leading to housing shortages. The city temporarily combatted the shortages through building houses outward from the center of the city. The Third Ward became a thriving social site due to wealthy house owners hosting parties and galas, and the emergence of clubs. In addition, The Female Charitable Society was founded in 1820, becoming a social gathering and service opportunity for the women in the Ward. Many private schools were established because education was highly valued, as well.
A major section of the influx of workers were non-native to the United States and unable to speak English, many being Eastern Jews, Italians, Greeks, and Ukrainians. Householders in Rochester were unwilling to rent to those with other languages and ethnic backgrounds and rent prices increased due to the rise in population, beginning the appearance of slum-like settlements where non-native citizens resided in warehouses in the Seventh Ward. To confront the housing problem, the Third Ward Renewal Plan and public housing projects were introduced in the early 1900’s. Small cottages and houses were assembled and put at moderate prices and old architecture was preserved. However, this plan pushed out African American families who resided in their homes and it led to riots breaking out in the Third and Seventh Wards even after the plans were completed.
Hervey Ely
Hervey Ely was the owner of many renowned gristmills, most notably the Red Mills, and original owner of the Hervey Ely House. He was 22 years old when he moved to Rochester in 1813 and started a sawmill on the Genesee River. After success with the sawmill, he transitioned into flour milling, erecting mills across the Erie Canal. He utilized the canal as an artery for grain and flour shipments and became the first to ship grain through the canal in 1828. The mills accumulated a great wealth for Ely and he and his wife, Caroline, bought a custom mansion in 1837 by the architect, Hugh Hastings. The house was renowned for its Greek Revival style, located by Livingston Park in Monroe County, New York.
In 1842, flour prices dropped, sending Ely on the verge of bankruptcy. He sold his house, which was then occupied by Reverend Henry John Whithouse. Following Whitehouse, William Kidd, Azariah Boody, and Howard Osgood inhabited the mansion until it was acquired by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1920. It has since stayed in their care.
Hugh Hastings
Hugh Hastings, or S. P. Hastings, was the architect for the Hervey Ely House and the Jonathan Child house in the Third Ward Historic District. Hastings was known for his Greek Revival architecture. Construction for the Hervey Ely House ended in 1837 and he began construction on a project for Jonathan Child, the first mayor of Rochester and son-in-law to Colonel Nathaniel Rochester. The Jonathan Child House was completed between 1837 and 1838 with a similar Greek Revival style to the Hervey Ely House.
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Hervey Ely House was adopted by the organization the Daughters of the American Revolution. The DAR is a woman led association that was created in the 1890s with the intention of promoting “national census” and citizenship. Among their conservative views of preserving the state of their country, the organization also focused on the preservation of historical artifacts. That is the purpose of the Hervey Ely House, a museum and a safe home to important documents and influential objects. One example of such an object is a drum from a sixteen-year-old drummer who worked on Washington’s Life Guard for about four years.