Greenfield Historical Society sponsors annual Christmas Tour of Homes

By Harold Schmidt
Greenfield Historical Society

The ninth annual Christmas Tour of Homes sponsored by the Greenfield Historical Society will be Sunday, Dec. 8 from 12:30-4:30 p.m.

The tour will include three homes, the First Presbyterian Church, the Smith Tannery, and a display of nativities and Christmas cards at the Konneker Education Museum.

The society is excited to share these homes with their visitors. We are truly grateful that these home owners have accepted the invitation to participate in our annual tour and appreciate all their hard work.

Anita O'Connor will share her home is at 767 Jefferson Street. Anita describes her home as a glazed tile block built in 1916 in the area of Greenfield described as the Deluxe Edition of Greenfield.

She has lived in the home since 2003. Anita's favorite parts of the house are the beautiful woodwork throughout the home, the windows, the wall pocket doors and the character of each room.

She describes her home as mission style with lots of antiques and family pieces throughout. Christmas decorations will be many lights throughout the home. She will also showcase her Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Kenny and June Sowers will open their home to visitors at 609 Franklin Drive. It is a brick ranch style home built in the 1970s in an area called Dupar and has only had three owners.

Kenny and June have lived in the home a little over a year. June describes her decor as country style and her favorite part of the home is all the big windows. She will have many traditional Christmas decorations throughout every room of the home. She will showcase her pride and joy, June's Christmas village, which has many special memories for her.

Neil and Anessa Decker welcome people to their home at 1985 Greenfield-Sabina Road.

This home was built in 1876 and has many wonderful family stories as part of its history. Neil and Anessa have lived in the home about one and a half years.

Anessa describes her decor as primitive style and her favorite parts of the home is the great kitchen, the high ceilings, the floor to ceiling windows, and the old woodwork throughout. Anessa will have six Christmas trees in the home with each one being unique.

During the last two years, the historical society has enjoyed putting one of Greenfield's beautiful churches on the Tour of Homes.

This year the First Presbyterian Church will open their doors to all. It was built and dedicated in April 1903, making it 110 years old now. However, the First Presbyterian church was organized in June of 1820 with the Rev. Samuel Crothers as the first minister of 60 members. The church has been a part of the Greenfield community for 193 years.

The pipe organ was built by Lyon and Healy of Chicago and was first played at the dedication. The organ was repaired and restored in 1981.

The stained glass windows are of Tiffany Favrite glass made by Louis Comfort Tiffany Company in New York City between 1893 and 1933. The two Tiffany glass center panels were gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Beatty and family.

The First Presbyterian Church will be decorated for the Christmas season and will have members of the Church there to share stories and history of the church. It is located at 457 Jefferson Street right across from the Greenfield school campus.

The Smith Tannery will be open for viewing and will be decorated in the Christmas style of the early years in Greenfield. The Tannery is the oldest original structure in Greenfield. It was built in 1821 at the northeast corner of Jefferson and McArthur Way.

William Smith and his son Samuel built it as a two story family residence and the basement was used for tannery activities. The Smith family were very active abolitionists and their home was a station on the Underground Railroad. The building was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1976.

The kitchen will have toys on display from the Bernard and Mabel Eselgroth family. The kitchen set and table and chairs were shared by four generations of the Eselgroth family. The living room will be decorated for Christmas including a tree and mantel decorations.

The Konneker Education museum at 245 Second Street will showcase nativities from historical society members and a vintage Christmas card display. It will also have 15 plates and 15 litho tins on loan from the University of Dayton Marion Library.

Tickets will be available for the Tour of Homes at the Home Building and Loan starting Nov 25. They will also be available the day of the tour at the Grain and Hay building at 23 Jefferson Street and at the homes. The cost of tickets is $10.

The annual baked steak dinner will be available for lunch from 11:30-1:30 p.m. on Dec. 8 at the Grain and Hay at 23 Jefferson Street. The historical society also has many good books and memorabilia for gift giving available at the Grain and Hay the day of the tour.