The house at 2830 Franklin Boulevard was built not in 1872 for Cleveland Mayor Frederick W. Pelton, but instead in 1879 for C. M. Spitzer, a Cleveland banker. The evidence that supports the build date and initial ownership of the house is overwhelming and includes: (1) a significant increase, per local architectural historian Craig Bobby, in the tax valuation records for the property in the year 1880; C. M. Spitzer's interview with a Cleveland Leader reporter appearing in the January 29, 1880 edition of the paper, in which he describes the house as one just recently built for him; the 1880 Cleveland directory which treated the house as a new, yet unnumbered address on Franklin Avenue; and the 1877 American Architect sketch of the nearly identical R. J. Cattrall house designed by Frank S. Barnum.) Before Spitzer could occupy his new house, creditors forced its sale and it was purchased by Col. John Dempsey at a sheriff's sale in the summer of 1880. The Spitzer-Dempsey House remained in the Dempsey family for nearly five decades. This photo of the house was taken in 1995. | Source: Craig BobbyDownload Original File
