This was the residence of a pioneer businessman and early-day railroad
official—Thomas H. Wright. Built in the late 1880s, the home at 209 S.
7th St., has been owned and occupied by members of the Wright family
since then. Many changes have been made in the home since it was
constructed. In the late 1930s it was modernized, a new entryway was
added and brown cedar shingles were applied to the exterior.
Isaac Garmoe, another pioneer businessman here, bought the property in
1873. Ten years later it was sold to Thomas H. Wright who later erected
the house which is still owned by his two daughters—the Misses Marie
Wright and Florence Wright. Marie is a retired Fort Dodge Senior and
Junior High school social studies teacher; Florence is the former
organist at First Presbyterian Church.
The two-story frame house has two living rooms, dining room and kitchen
on the first floor; three bedrooms and bath on the second floor. A
garage is at the rear of the lot where once was a two-story barn that
housed the family’s horse, buggy and sleigh.
Mr. Wright was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1840 and came to the United
States in 1871. He moved to Fort Dodge in the early 1880s where he was
trainmaster for the Illinois Central Railroad’s Sioux City division.
Later he was owner and partner in the hardware business here with S. J.
Robertson. Their store was at Central Avenue and Sixth Street.
[Illustration: The Wright home
209 So. Seventh Street]
After retiring from the hardware business, Mr. Wright was in the real
estate and insurance business. He also was an officer and director of
the First Trust & Savings Bank, a division of the old First National
Bank, now the State Bank. Always civic minded, Wright served on the
public library board in the days of Capt. W. H. Johnston, one of the
city’s early library presidents. He was also a member and officer of the
First Presbyterian Church.
There were six children in the Wright family—two boys who died during a
diphtheria epidemic; Misses Marie and Florence Wright; Thomas H. Wright
Jr., who died in Cedar Rapids in 1970; and Robert L. Wright of Oklahoma
City. The elder Mr. Wright died in 1932 at age 92.