National and State Registers of Historic Places
Strong, Henry and Elenora, House
1916 Beck Street
Manhattan (Riley County)
Listed in State Register
2009-11-07
Architect: Henry Strong
Category: single dwelling
Thematic Nomination: Late 19th Century Vernacular Stone Houses in Manhattan, KS
Henry and Elenora Strong were born in Bolton, Connecticut, and were active in the local Congregational Church. They married in 1859 and moved to the Kansas territory where Henry had previously worked hauling freight between Leavenworth and Denver. They became members of Manhattan's newly established First Congregational Church and were active in early efforts to establish a school for area children. Henry drafted and constructed the house in 1867, with his New England heritage evident in his craftsmanship. They built the two-story vernacular stone house on the outskirts of town in a style similar to the earlier Federal style found in New England. The original house is a simple two-story box with a side-gabled roof, a center entrance, and doors and windows organized in strict symmetry. It was built of limestone from his own quarry at the foot of nearby Bluemont Hill. The farmstead outbuildings are no longer extant, and the house features two 1950s additions. A mid-twentieth neighborhood has developed around the former farmstead. The property was nominated for its association with the early settlement of Manhattan and as an example of a mid-nineteenth century vernacular stone house.
