Here is a real photo postcard I recently purchased showing the home of Frank and Belle Steunenberg in Caldwell, Idaho. My apology to fellow Idaho collectors, as the bidding got a bit spirited at the end but this was a must have since so few photos exist of the house. Of course, maybe my Idaho friends should apologize to me for driving up that price!
The photo shows a little different view of the house from others we have seen taken shortly after the assassination. In this one, the gate and fence have been repaired and summer and spring grass is covering the ground and tree foliage is in bloom. The card has an undivided back dating it to 1901-1907. It has not been used or postmarked and I would guess the photo to be circa summer/spring 1906. On one back edge, someone has written "Gov. Steunenberg Res." Here is a closeup of what I believe is a newly constructed gate.
Many of you have seen the postcard below of the house and splintered gate taken shortly after the explosion. In contrast to the above card, most of these that I own or have seen are of the divided back era, 1907-1914, and were popular along with the Haywood trial postcard (1907) and continuing for several years thereafter.
We can see the winter bareness of the foliage and a light snow present on the ground at the time of the December 1905 explosion that killed my great grandfather, Ex. Governor Frank Steunenberg. The gate is nowhere to be seen, the explosion having completely ripped it apart, as it did Frank's lower body. We can see boards stacked up against the house. They may have been there to repair the boardwalk or to cover windows shattered by the explosion.
Unfortunately, the Steunenberg home burned down in 1913. If you have any comments, observations or additional photos, please feel free to email me.
This card was sold as a souvenir of the Haywood trial.
Friday, January 30, 2009
"The Gate on 16th Avenue" - A Century Ago and Today
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Flashback - The Gate on 16th Avenue
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