The Sears Hazelton in Edwardsville, Illinois

Sears Hazelton • circa 1920 • 409 Franklin Avenue, Edwardsville, Illinois

Sears Hazelton in my 1920 catalog (Click to enlarge)

Oh, my. We do love the Hazelton. 

This Hazelton in Edwardsville, Illinois (a nice college town, not far from St. Louis, Missouri) was recently for sale -- it sold in October of 2017. It's one that we knew of, because the owners had previously spoken with another researcher, and you can see an old photo of the house (when it was still white), in one of her blog posts about the Hazelton . Because it was for sale, I ran across the listing recently and was excited to finally see some interior photos! So, without further ado, let me get busy showing them to you.

The Hazelton was offered by Sears very early on, and had a good run -- beginning in 1911, and continuing through 1923. Nonetheless, when we run across a house that looks like the Sears Hazelton, we are always a little hesitant to say for certain that it is one. That's because there were other companies that offered very similar models. From this view, the thing we want to be sure and see, is the existence of the little windows in that bump out for the dining room-- because the other companies didn't have that in their DR bump out. Sometimes, though, we've found an authenticated Sears Hazelton that did not have the little side windows in the bump out ... that is very frustrating, because it throws off our analysis of this model. 

Here's an example of an authenticated Hazelton in Dallas, Texas (our first house in Dallas!), that does not show little windows in the bump out... but, the owner also sent me a photo showing that they were originally there. A fire had done damage to the house, and during renovations after that, they put wood over those little windows. You can tell, in the photo, that the lighter-colored wood is over a shape that is the size of those little side windows. Who knows if you can even get little windows like that now, without paying an exorbitant price for a custom size.

Sears Hazelton on Worth Street, Dallas, Texas

Same Sears Hazelton on Worth Street, Dallas, Texas-- you can see the side of the bump out, on this view

Sears Hazelton on Worth Street, Dallas, Texas -- and here, we can see the newer wood, covering the original opening for the little window in the side of the bump out.

I've done two other blog posts about the Hazelton, and shown comparisons to the versions that were offered by other companies. Here's one in Guthrie Center, Iowa, with the reverse floor plan:

It has the little windows in the sides of the bumpout!

And, here's the other side. You can read about this house, here.

And here's one that I feel confident is also a Sears Hazelton, in Kirkwood, Missouri (despite the dormer roof style change:

You can read about this Kirkwood, Missouri Hazelton, here. 

In both of those blog posts, I show comparisons and images of the similar models offered by Gordon-Van Tine, Wardway, Keith's magazine, and Radford, so check them out if you're interested. Each of the posts gives some different information, so you might want to read them both.

But, let's get back to the Edwardsville Hazelton.

I've put together a set of photos that show various rooms of the house (thanks to the Zillow listing), compared next to the floor plan from the 1920 catalog. Interestingly, the Zillow listing also shows photos from a previous listing, so you can see some painting and staging differences that were made to the house for the different listings. The house has had a few changes inside, so I'll explain those as I show the photos.

First of all, here is the 1920 listing in the Sears catalog, for the Hazelton:

From my 1920 Sears Modern Homes catalog

Here are those screen door options, shown later in the catalog-- I love the fly:

Screen doors available in the 1920 Sears Modern Homes catalog

Inside The Hazelton In Edwardsville

The most obvious difference on the Edwardsville house, is that the kitchen has been enlarged a bit, and modernized. Originally, there was a bedroom in the back left of the house, and next to it, on the right, was a pantry, and then the kitchen. In the renovations for this house, they took over the pantry area, and also turned that bedroom into a sitting room, or eat-in area of the kitchen (depending on the set of photos you look at!), and they fit in a staircase to the upstairs. It's curious to me that the Hazelton floor plans show no access to upstairs, though we usually see that people who have the Hazelton, have used the big attic area upstairs, for extra living space--bedrooms and/or office space. So, this house has a staircase at the side of the original back bedroom, and I've seen this on another Hazelton, too. Let's take a look at the kitchen--I'll show several photos, to really give you an idea of how this is set up now. Also, by the way, notice that they cut through the wall to the dining room, to create a little pass through. Remember, you can click on any photo, to enlarge it:

There is a back porch off of the kitchen, on the Hazelton. For this house, they lost the pantry window, when they added the wall of cabinets and refrigerator, but they also added a couple of windows in the porch area, which is enclosed, and which also holds the staircase down to the basement:

We always look for this back porch, when we see a house we hope is a Sears Hazelton.

The front of the house remains in original configuration. The front door leads you right into the living room, and has three nice big windows in the front, and then three small upper windows on the side (some Hazeltons have a fireplace there, so only have two small windows, flanking that fireplace).

Then, the living room opens up into the big dining room, with its bumped-out side, with four big, tall windows (and the two little windows in the sides of the bump out), letting in lots of light. You can see all of that in these photos. You'll also notice that this Hazelton has colonnades and cabinets separating the living room and dining room. That's not something that we always see, so those may have been added during the home's later renovation, to open up the area a bit more.

This view of the dining room, shows that, to the left, is an open doorway leading to the hall for the bedrooms and bathroom.
You can also see the pass-through and door way leading into the kitchen, at the back of the house.

The other downstairs bedroom is in the front of the house, and has the other front set of three big windows, as well as a side window:

Upstairs, I'm not 100% sure what they have -- it may be one big master suite on one side, and another bedroom on the other side, or... well, honestly, I found it hard to follow anything more than the master suite area... especially since some photos are from a previous listing, and seem to show different uses of space. Let's start, though, with the master suite, where they have, it seems, taken over the entire front half of the upper floor of the house. The bed is placed just under the three little square windows of the wide front dormer -- in some other houses, we have seen this space with a desk there, and not much of the space to the side is used for that same room. This house seems to use all of that space for the master suite... which includes a big bathroom that doesn't seem to have a door or anything separating it from the sleeping area. It certainly feels spacious, and light.

I believe that this is the previous configuration of the master bedroom, with a sofa under the dormer windows, and the bedroom wedged in diagonally by those two big side windows:

On the back half of the upper portion of the house (so, behind the master suite), there is either this nursery...

... or this bedroom. I think this is that same space, but shown differently in the two listings:

And, somewhere, at some time, is or was this (very small) blue bedroom:

The left side of the house follows what you expect to see -- three windows downstairs:

I think those two upstairs windows might be for that little blue bedroom... maybe.
You'll also notice that the front porch pillars are not those that we usually see on the Hazelton. These look to have been created out of concrete, probably using one of the Sears concrete-forming machines (you can take a look, here).

And, this view of the right side, shows you where everything is:

409 Franklin Avenue, Edwardsville, Illinois, in the Leclaire neighborhood

The Fascinating History Of The Leclaire Neighborhood
Our Hazelton sits in a neighborhood of Edwardsville that was first established, in 1890, as its own little village--with an amazing story. Leclaire neighborhood wasn't incorporated into Edwardsville proper, until 1934 (along with a few other neighborhoods, one of which has another possible Sears house). This was done, at that time, because the neighborhoods had grown, were becoming a bit overcrowded, and sewage disposal was becoming a big problem. So, the son-in-law of the man who had originally established the village, who was by then the man in charge, suggested the annexation of Leclaire, into Edwardsville, and that's what was done.

Neighborhood banners in the Leclaire neighborhood. This one is across the street from a Sears Whitehall, in fact!

But, the really fascinating back story, here, is the whole development of this Leclaire community, to begin with. It was the brainchild of N. O. Nelson, who sought to establish a community where his factory workers could live in a peaceful, pleasant setting, with education for their children, and home-ownership available, at an affordable cost. Nelson is described as, "an industrialist with a finely-tuned conscience". Here is a snippet of information on him, from the website where I learned about him:

Fascinating history... this is only the beginning of the story. Please go here to read the rest.

The website with all of this information, is put together by the Friends Of Leclaire group. That link takes you to the full page with information on Nelson and his community. It's a fast read, and very interesting. Here's the start of what it explains about home ownership in the village:

(source)

It goes on to explain about the first homes that were designed for this area -- remember, this was in the early 1890s, so it was well before our Sears houses were built (Sears house plans, sold along with the building supplies needed to construct them, weren't available as a package deal until 1908). However, Sears was in the building-supplies-only (no house plans) business beginning in 1895, so it is possible that some of these homes may have been built from lumber bought from Sears... but, not if the homes were built before 1895.

(source)

Our Sears Hazelton on Franklin Avenue, was built in the years when Leclaire village was beginning to suffer financially. In 1911, Nelson had moved to New Orleans to address the needs of those living in slums there, by opening a food cooperative, and investing in retail grocery stores, and the like. The cooperative worked well until WWI, and it failed, financially, in 1918, plunging Nelson into bankruptcy. He had helped deal with these financial struggles, through checks written on his N. O. Nelson company, and this whole ball of wax began to melt down.

(source)

Nelson died in 1921, and our Hazelton was probably built right around that time, so it was not part of the original dream of the Leclaire village. Nonetheless, the community as a neighborhood of lovely, simple homes, owned and cared for by residents of modest means, was still in full swing. The newer homes, however, were on smaller lots than what Nelson had originally planned, and set closer to the street, and with streets on a grid pattern, rather than the "curvilinear street system" that he had begun with. More from the website:

(source)

Today, the lovely Leclaire Lake Park remains -- it sits just behind the Franklin Avenue Hazelton:

The park contributes to the peaceful vibe of this lovely old neighborhood. It may not have the lot sizes and all of the curvilinear streets that Nelson originally called for, but it's a neighborhood style that many homeowners today crave, I think.

The view of Leclaire Lake Park, from Madison Avenue, in Edwardsville.

Beautifully designed park sign, fabricated and installed by Dave Thomas Design, an Edwardsville company owned by our friend Dave Thomas, an Edwardsville resident. 

Who Lived Here?

Using Newspapers.com, and then verifying with Ancestry.com, I came up with a few different residents over the years, but the earliest seem to be Edward and Anna Burk. I found them listed for this house in 1925, and 1929, in the Edwardsville City Directory. Madison County's real estate assessor lists this house as being built in 1920-- sometimes we find those dates to be erroneous, or to be linked more likely to when the lot was bought, but, if it is correct, then Edward and Anna are probably the first residents. They are shown living elsewhere in the 1920 census, so they may not have had the house ready in time to be living there when the census was done. Edward worked as a machine mechanic for U.S. Radiator Corp, an Edwardsville plant that employed many people in Edwardsville. 

I found a fun little snippet in a 1919 edition of the Edwardsville Intelligencer, saying that Anna Burk had bought a new car: an Auburn Beauty-Six, made by the Auburn Automobile Company of Auburn, Indiana. 

From the June 30, 1919 edition of the Edwardsville Intelligencer, page 4

Source (also shows many years of ads for this car, and images of the car)

Radiator emblem for the Auburn Beauty-Six (source)

It's a great looking car! Here are a few photos that I found of one, online:

Nice automobile, eh? 

The Burks were no longer listed at this address in the 1930 census, so perhaps they had driven off into the sunset in Anna's Beauty-Six, and headed to another fine house to live.

Almost A First: A Sears Wayside In Mascoutah, Illinois

Authenticated Sears Wayside • 1918 • 20 E. George Street, Mascoutah, IL

Sears Wayside in the 1918 catalog
(click to enlarge)

Here's a new addition to our National Database of Sears Houses in the United States: An authenticated Sears Wayside.

As you can see, it's a very simple style, that every lumber company and kit company offered a version of, I'd say.  But... at the time that I found it, a few days ago, it was the first Wayside to be added to our list...and how do we know for certain that it's a Sears house, and from the era of the Wayside? Because I found it through mortgage research in St. Clair County, Illinois.  The house was bought in 1918 by Yugoslavian Anton Jureziz, who was about 45 years old, and had emigrated to the U.S. from his then-home in Germany, eight years before. I'll tell his story in a bit, but let me give you, first, the background on this model, the Sears Wayside... and why this isn't, actually, the first Wayside on our list.

Alberta vs Wayside & Wayside vs Rest

The presentation of this house in our research group, really began with my mention that two models -- the Alberta and the Wayside -- are almost the same: they just have different porch supports.

But, then, we remembered that the Wayside later became the Rest.

Although... actually... it all started with the No. 400... that became the No. 216.

And, the Alberta and the Wayside originally were known with numbers: No. 107 & No. 107B

Here's the scoop:
The No. 400 / No. 216, the Alberta, and the Wayside, are essentially the same house, with different porch treatments (okay, and one window fewer on the No. 400 / 216.) Then, they were all done away with, and the Rest became the new version of the Wayside.

The No. 400 was the first one offered-- I see it in the 1912 catalog. It was re-named the No. 216 in the 1913 catalog. The Alberta and the Wayside were offered simultaneously, from 1916 through 1918. Beginning in 1920, the model was very slightly changed, and was marketed as the Rest.

From the 1912 catalog
(online, here, though most researchers own the Schiffer reproduction in hard copy)

The Alberta and Wayside are the same house, offered the same years, but with the difference being the support structure for the little porch roof: the Alberta uses just big, 5-piece brackets, but the Wayside has nice, heavy masonry bases, topped with wood porch pillars. The Alberta/Wayside porch also does not span the whole width of the front of the house, and has a flat roof jutting out from just under the main roof of the house.

The No. 400 / 216, however (their predecessor), has a different porch altogether: it spans the width of the house, it has a shallow hipped-roof over the porch, and the porch is supported with all-wood railings and full-height wooden pillars. Other than that, the three models are pretty much the same... the footprint and floor plans are exactly the same (and have no bathroom!). There is also one window not shown on the left side front of the No. 216, too.  Let's take a look:

Notice that none of the models has a bathroom! Outhouse times!
(Click to enlarge.)

But... wait! In 1916, Sears also offered the No. 216-A... evolved from the No. 216 with the removal of the dormer, and the addition of a bathroom! It also got a little window for the living room, which it expanded the length of, to call part of it the dining room, took away the pantry for the kitchen, and part of the kitchen space:

The No. 216 evolves with important changes in the No. 216-A floorplan... this floorplan later is marketed as the Kismet.

In terms of porch, it combines the roof of the No. 400 / 216, with masonry-based porch supports more like the later Wayside:

1913 catalog •  The No. 216. 

1916 Catalog • I hate to say this, but though there are four porch columns here, in other catalogs in 1916, the same model has only the two outer wooden columns... just like the Wayside.  Then, even later in 1916, the porch roof changes, too... and then, it becomes the Kismet, in 1918.

Thanks to Daily Bungalow (left) and Dale Haynes (right)

(click to enlarge)

The whole concept of the No. 216-A is eventually turned into the Kismet (in 1918)... with the porch roof changed to jut out from the front section of the main roof, instead of from under it:

1918 catalog • Remember, the Kismet has no dormer.
To see the interior of a Kismet found by researcher Andrew Mutch, go here.

But, we're not here to talk about the Kismet (though it is awfully similar on the outside) !

I really just wanted to focus on the Alberta, Wayside, and Rest. Let's have a list:

1912 Catalog

No. 400: Has dormer, same size and floor plan as the later Alberta (No. 107) and Wayside (No. 107B)-- but, different porch from Alberta and Wayside.

1913-1914 Catalogs

No. 216: Exactly the same as the No. 400, just new number. 

1916-1919 Catalogs

(No. 216-A: Same size, but new floor plan, new porch, and no dormer... evolves into the Kismet )

Alberta (first marketed as No. 107 * ):  Has dormer, same size and floor plan as the Wayside, but porch supports are just big brackets.

Wayside (first marketed as No. 107B ): Has dormer, same size and floor plan as Alberta, but porch supports are masonry base with wood pillars.

1916 Catalog • courtesy Daily Bungalow 

1920-1925 Catalogs

Rest: New name of the Wayside -- same floor plan, though with the addition of a back porch, and an extra window on the left side.  Alberta is gone.

* Note that there is a No. 107 model in the 1913 catalog that is a completely different house--not even a bungalow.

Let's take a look just at the evolution from the 216, to the Alberta and Wayside, and then the Rest :

Earlier called the No. 400 -- same house, though (By the way, the No. 400 is not in Houses By Mail  ) 

From the 1918 catalog

From the 1918 catalog

Nearing the end: The Rest in the 1923 catalog (it ran from 1920-1925).
Go here to see a Sears Rest in Cincinnati, Ohio, found by research Cindy Catanzaro

A comparison of the Wayside and Rest floor plans shows very little difference, but there is some change. The Rest has an additional kitchen window, and, off the back of the kitchen, a big closet was added, as well as an enclosed porch that has space for the ice box, and a staircase to the cellar (you can see that enclosed back porch sticking off of the back of the Rest, in the 1923 catalog image, above). Here are the floor plans, side by side:

The Wayside vs the Rest

So, how do we know that the house that Anton Jureziz built, is a Wayside? Because the mortgage was from 1918... just as the Wayside was about to be phased out, and re-marketed as the Rest. Now, on the house as it stands today, it has lost the pantry window on the left side (sided over), so you only see two windows on that side. You do see a back porch-- but, that has been added on in later years, and spans pretty much the whole back of the house (see how the grey masonry foundation of the original house ends, before you get to the back porch?):

Authenticated Sears Wayside • 20 E. George Street, Mascoutah, IL

Authenticated Sears Wayside • 20 E. George Street, Mascoutah, IL

Authenticated Sears Wayside • 20 E. George Street, Mascoutah, IL

Here is the current footprint of the Jureziz house, showing a wide back porch.

Why This May Not Be Our First Wayside On The List
So, when I found this house a few days ago, we had no Wayside examples on our national database (and, remember, our database is a list of what has been FOUND... not a list of what houses were sold by Sears... there is no existing list of those records). But, we had two examples of the Rest. Searching in our group, I found, though, that one of those -- a house in Stockport, Ohio -- was thought to be the house referred to in the catalog, on pages showing the Rest. We call those "Built At" houses, because the catalog pages sometimes list places where that model has been built... and says, "Built at...". Well, the thing is... we see that "Built at... Stockport, Ohio" mention in the 1918 catalog! When the model was still called the Wayside! So... that means that the house in Stockport was not a Rest, technically, it was a Wayside. Or, actually... probably a No. 107B, because it was built before 1918. Here's that mention, on the catalog page:

This is down in the lower corner, of the 1918 catalog
page for the Wayside.

From the 1918 catalog.

Close up... down there in the corner, of the 1918 page of the Wayside.

What added to our confusion, is that the same "Built at..." blurb is ALSO on the page in 1921, for the Rest. Sears did that... if they had a testimonial or a "Built at..." comment to show, but the model had had a name change, they didn't clarify that... they just continued to include the information on catalog pages for the new model name. I found that to be the case for a testimonial Langston that I blogged about a few years ago.  Here, for example, is the 1921 catalog page for the Rest, showing the same "Built at..." blurb at the bottom right:

1921 catalog

And, here is the house in Stockport, Ohio. The photo is a little grainy, and, darn it, there is a darn porch in the back... but, it must have been added on. And, the house has also been enlarged on the side. Researcher Nigel Tate is the one who informed us of the whereabouts of this Stockport, Ohio house (but, he learned of it from someone else--please feel free to leave a comment, if you happen to know who that was). We don't know for certain that it's our "Built at..." house, but it's pretty likely. Those front porch columns, that front porch style, and the little dormer (and the left side windows), are a pretty good indication.

3260 Washington Street, Stockport, Ohio • probable Sears No. 107B (Wayside)

In any case, it's not that we were thinking that this authenticated Wayside of Anton Jureziz was the first Wayside ever sold (ha!), we just hadn't located any, and added them to the list. But, this was probably a very popular model for the modest budget, and, indeed, in Rebecca L. Hunter's book, Putting Sears Homes On The Map (which lists all of the town locations for "Built at..." and testimonial Sears homes), there are 22 listed, spread across a number of states. They are -- or were-- out there. But, little homes like this tend to be torn down, or greatly added on to, or, if we run across one, we're just not sure that it's a Sears example... porches get changed, porch roof supports get changed... or, we're not sure if it's a Rest or a Wayside. And, in this, our little ... I mean our HUGE ... "Historical Treasure Hunt", we get excited about adding a new house to the list.

You can buy Rebecca L. Hunter's book, here.

Who Was Anton Jureziz?
Anton Jureziz was a man who was born in Yugoslavia, I believe (though 1930 census says Austria-- I think that's an error, because the 1920 census says Yugoslavia, and both years list Slovenia [sic] as the family's language. Also, Anton, Jr.'s naturalization paperwork says that he is renouncing his allegiance to the "kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slavenes"... which would be Yugoslavia) and who emigrated to the United States in 1910... or possibly 1908. I actually learned much of what I know about his immigration, through information I found about his son, Anton "Tony" Jureziz, Jr. From the 1930 census, we know that Anton (Sr.) was a widower, and lived in the house on George Street with his 23 year old son, Tony. But, next door, lived Albert Jureziz, aged 27 (and his wife, Helen, and their two children). Considering his age, we can assume that Albert is no doubt Anton Sr.'s son.

1930 U. S. Census for Mascoutah, Illinois

Confusion in the census records... I guess it happens when the people being interviewed don't speak English well. This is from the 1930 US Census for Anton Sr. and Tony, Jr.

This, however, is the 1920 US Census for them, clearly showing the same family, but it lists Yugoslavia as place of birth. It also gives 1908 as year of immigration... either that is wrong, or Anton Sr. came a couple of years earlier than Anton Jr.

Naturalization records for Anton Jureziz, Jr. (son "Tony") say that he arrived in the U.S. in July of 1910, and that he was born in Stoppenberg, Germany, in 1907... so, Anton Sr. must have brought him here to the States, in 1910... along with, we assume, the rest of the family. Was he already a widower? I wasn't able to find that out... I only know that he is listed thusly in the 1930 census.

Naturalization application papers for Anton Jureziz's son, Anton Jureziz, Jr.

Another naturalization paperwork, for the state of Illinois,

Anton Jr.'s petition for citizenship papers list Frillendorf, Germany, as his last residence before coming to the U.S. It looks (on Google maps) like Frillendorf is right next to Stoppenberg, where he was born. Both are part of Essen, Germany (I don't really know how Germany is split up, but Essen is a big city, and Frillendorf and Stoppenberg both have the word "Essen" after them, on the map).

Anton Jureziz came to the United States on the SS Kroonland, which is a ship from the Red Star Line, that sailed from Antwerp, Belgium (here's a modern-day image of the Port of Antwerp--very nice). I've got a few photos of the ship, and then some stills taken from this great 3-minute little video someone put together about the ocean liner.

As Anton Jureziz was a coal miner (at least in Mascoutah, Illinois, he was), I assume that the family rode in steerage, so they may not have enjoyed the interior spaces shown in the photos above.

Anton Jureziz, Jr., and His Wife, Ethel

Though Anton Jureziz, Sr., bought (and built?) the Sears Wayside on E. George Street, his son Anton, Jr.. grew up there, so I enjoyed learning a bit about him, too. He was a teacher of woodworking, and coached several sports -- track and baseball, and maybe basketball as well. He coached at Alton High School (in Alton, Illinois, about an hour north of Mascoutah). During WWII, his wife, Ethel, lived in St. Louis, while Anton was away. One item I read in a newspaper article, said that Anton had served in some capacity in the armed forces as a director of athletics, or something like that. Who knew that was a thing? In any case, after the war, he returned to his teaching and coaching jobs, but later moved from Alton to Franklin Park, Illinois, up near Chicago, to continue coaching and teaching in a new setting.

Anton Jureziz, Jr., in the 1951 yearbook for Alton High School

I was very interested to see that his wife, Ethel, had been an art instructor. In 1940, the Alton town newspaper wrote a bit about a presentation that Mrs. Anton Jureziz Jr. did, for the group "University Women". The topic was, "American Crafts--the Old and the New", in which she spoke of native American art.

From a 1940 article in an Alton, Illinois newspaper

They would have never lived in the Sears Wayside in Mascoutah, Illinois, but Anton Jureziz Sr. lived there until 1951, when he passed away. He is buried in a cemetary in Mascoutah.

Source