Recently, Wayne (hubby), Milton (buddy) and I traveled to the National Archives and Records Administration in Philadelphia to do research on Penniman. Along the way, we stopped at Carney’s Point, NJ to check out the houses in that neighborhood.
Carney’s Point, like Penniman, was the site of a World War 1 DuPont munitions plant.
In 1891, E. I. DuPont de Nemours bought the land, which had been owned by the descendant of an Irish immigrant named Thomas Carney. DuPont had purchased the 17 square mile tract so that they could build a plant and manufacture smokeless gunpowder.
When The European War began in July 1914, demand for smokeless gunpowder exploded (so to speak). (World War I began in Europe in July 1914, and was originally known as The European War.)
At Carney’s Point, the population swelled from 2,000 (pre-European War) to 25,000 (1917). In their great rush to provide industrial housing for all these people, DuPont turned to Aladdin to supply pre-cut houses. One of the houses that was built in the Aladdin neighborhood was The Grant.
This is one Aladdin model that I have never seen anywhere else, and yet there’s a surfeit of them in Carney’s Point.
Do you know of a “Grant” in another community? Please leave a comment below!
And please share this link on Facebook or with your old-house loving friends!
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In the 1914 Aladdin catalog, it was called, "The Jackson."
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I just love the drawn-in people.
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In 1916, the little house was renamed The Grant.
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This first floor was 20 by 20 (400 square feet) and had a pretty basic floorplan.
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And perhaps most interesting, it had no bathroom (as shown in 1916).
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Best of all, you can assemble it on your next "stay-cation" (last paragraph).
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This one is easy to spot with the unique window arrangement and Arts & Crafts porch.
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This front porch on this Grant is largely original, but covered in siding and screens. The Victorian screen door isn't a good look, but that's kind of off-set by the 1950s wrouught-iron railing.
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These folks went with vinyl siding instead of aluminum. Plus, it has a beam sticking out of its eye.
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And this darling little house (which also has its original front porch) is for sale for a mere $112,900, which seems like a pretty good deal (assuming that it has an inside bathroom).
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This was my favorite, because it's untouched by the ravages of roving home-improvement companies and vinyl-siding salesmen. I'd love to know if this is the original siding, or if it was added in later years. We do know that some of the DuPont designs were offered with "composite siding" which is a nice way of saying, "crappy asphalt roll siding" (which is what we're seeing here).
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Oh yeah, baby! Original windows! I *love* it!
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And nice detail around the front porch.
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A view of Carney's Point in the late 1910s/early 20s. This photo was taken in the 200-block of Broadway.
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To learn more about Penniman, click here.
To read about another town filled with Aladdin Homes, click here.
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Well, at least between being the Jackson in 1914 and becoming the Grant in 1916, the right upstairs bedroom gained a DOOR, and you no longer had to get up and down the stairs by going through the downstairs bedroom!
That changed to the kitchen stairs. But oddly enough, when the stairway access to and from upstairs changed to the kitchen, the chimney disappeared completely!
That house where it’s noted to have “a beam sticking out of its eye” ~ isn’t that a window unit air conditioner?
And I wonder where these homes got the bathroom added? The “sewing room” looks too small, and it’s not anywhere near the kitchen plumbing. Maybe the smaller of the two upstairs bedrooms? An addition to the back of the house?