About this property
Milliken Memorial Community House, erected in 1928 in Elkton, Kentucky, is the first privately donated community house in America. The 13,000-square-foot (1,200 m2) mansion pioneered a new architectural program for public use. The house was commissioned by Mary Louise Milliken (1873–1936) and her husband Samuel Canning Childs (April 2, 1859 – 1934) in 1926. Both were wealthy philanthropists and were responsible for the construction of over twenty hospitals and two churches throughout the United States. Childs was a wealthy businessman who had founded the American Food Store Company, a prominent Mid-Atlantic retail grocery chain. A Woman's Club was organized in Elkton in 1924 and Mr. & Mrs. Childs began formulating plans to construct a community center for this and other social groups. Designed for the specific purpose of housing community events and funded entirely by Mr. and Mrs. Childs, the building was to be a permanent memorial to the memory of her mother. Construction of the building began in fall of that year (1927) and was completed in April during the next year (1928) at a cost of $75,000, equal to $1,478,000(2008) today. Average home cost in 1928 was 4,000 dollars. Local contractor V.L. Price constructed the building and the architect responsible for the buildings design is Geo. S. Koyl and Marr & Holman Architects. The mansion is designed in the Neo-Classical style of Flemish bond brick with a large two-story portico on the main facade. The main section is two stories with a porte-cochere on the west facade and with a one-story apollarium ballroom wing at the rear. The house was officially opened on April 11- April 12 in a two-day celebration. Mary Louise and Canning booked the Francis Craig Orchestra from RCA Records to play for the opening ball. Newspapers from Lexington and Nashville covered the event naming it one of the greatest successes of generosity ever recorded.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Milliken Memorial Community House
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Questions about this property
When was Milliken Memorial Community House listed on the National Register?
Milliken Memorial Community House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 1990.
What type of historic resource is Milliken Memorial Community House?
Milliken Memorial Community House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Milliken Memorial Community House?
The period of significance for Milliken Memorial Community House is recorded as the early_republic era, specifically around 1859.
Can I research the history near Milliken Memorial Community House?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Milliken Memorial Community House will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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