Hello Claire,

I work at a museum that the original owner moved at least part of onsite
from the town of Otay.  The Stein Family Farm House consists of a small
vernacular home with an attached kitchen (the part that is documented as
moved).  Mr. Stein dug the basement underneath the kitchen, piling the dirt
around the side of the larger structure and concurrently installing a 12
foot deep and 12 foot diameter cistern within that dirt.  Stein moved the
kitchen using a capstan and horses.  The kitchen roof appears to have been
cut in half.  Mr. Stein moved other buildings too; next door to the Farm he
brought as a complete building.  While researching Stein's life in Otay, I
copied these notices from the Otay Press newspaper:

On Saturday, a house belonging to G. W. Lawrence arrived here from San Diego
on wheels, and was located for a dwelling on Second Avenue.  The house was
moved bodily on eight wheels (Otay Press August 29, 1888).

On Monday the building of the new residence of Mrs. F. E. Leslie was begun
by contractor A. T. Large.  The building..  The present dwelling on the
place will be removed to front on the next street (Otay Press October 31,
1889).

"Otay on wheels" -  This week our town has had another additional building
moved in, it was brought from San Diego on wheels, and located on Main
Avenue.  It is the property of Fruit Inspector, J. P. Jones, and will be
repaired for rental (Otay Press October 31, 1889).

J. P. Jones has had another house moved from San Diego on wheels, this week.
This is the fourth house that has been imported here on wheels, all of which
have found a ready rental (Otay Press November 7, 1889)

Mr. J. J. Allen has been at work moving Mr. Dodge's house on to Second
Avenue, and is now engaged in locating a house for Mrs. Leslie, on First
Avenue.  Mr. Allen expects to take up his abode in Otay (Otay Press February
6, 1890).

In the Monteiths San Diego Directory is an advertisement showing a two story
house being floated over water and being pulled by a tugboat.  The lettering
includes:

D. F. PALMER W. H. PALMER E. W. PALMER
PALMER BROS.
House Movers and General Contractors
ESTIMATES ON ALL HEAVY WORK
HOUSES BOUGHT AND SOLD
OFFICE, 1143 STATE ST., BET. B AND C, SAN DIEGO, CAL.
TELEPHONES:  Sunset, Main 1382; Home, 2150

(Monteiths San Diego City & County Directory, 1905: page 567)

Houses were moved here in San Diego County quite commonly.  There is also a
photograph in the San Diego Historical Society's archives of the multistory
Russ School being moved (I think by the Palmer Brothers), and another one
being moved on a train.

I am most interested in your results, Claire.
S. Walter


----- Original Message -----
From: "Claire Horn" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 5:35 AM
Subject: 19th cen. house moving


> Hi -
>
> I'm working on analysing front yard depositions of a site where the
> original house was built in the 1850s, then moved across town prior to
> construction of a 2nd, larger house around 1876.  Does anyone have an idea
> about how houses would have been moved around that time - i.e., taken
> apart piece by piece and reassembled, or moved whole?  We have a layer of
> very gravelly fill capping the original surface, and I'm wondering if the
> gravel could be related in any way to the house moving.  Not that we don't
> often find gravelly fill.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Claire Horn
> Public Archaeology Facility
> Binghamton, NY