[Illustration: The Mulroney home
625 No. Thirteenth Street]
A Fort Dodge work clothes manufacturer is credited with re-designing and
remodeling this Haviland Homestead Addition home at 625 N. 13th St.—a
home whose history dates back to 1880.
He was W. V. Mulroney who, with his brother J. R. Mulroney, was
associated for many years in the operation of the Mulroney Manufacturing
Company. The company was a widely-known maker and distributor of work
clothes and gloves under the trade name of “Fort Brand.”
The two-story frame residence is now owned and occupied by Dr. and Mrs.
Theodore J. Michelfelder. It is located on two lots at the southeast
corner of Seventh Avenue North and Thirteenth Street.
Room arrangement of the house after it was remodeled by Mulroney
included living room, hallway and open stairway to the second floor,
dining room, kitchen with walk-in pantry, playroom, solarium and
enclosed back porch on the first floor; five bedrooms, bathroom and
sleeping porch on the second floor. Rooms now include living room, entry
hallway, parlor, dining room, kitchen, breakfast nook, bedroom and bath
on the first floor; five bedrooms, bath and kitchen on the second floor.
An apartment area on the second floor is presently not in use.
Mulroney acquired the property in 1914 and immediately remodeled the
existing house. An additional basement area was excavated, the house was
moved farther back from the street and turned around so that it fronted
to the west on Thirteenth Street. Room arrangements were changed and the
house modernized. The house has also been remodeled in recent years by
the Michelfelders and other owners. The Mulroney family resided in the
home until 1932. Through the years the house changed ownership several
times, the Michelfelders acquiring it in 1966.
W. V. Mulroney was the son of pioneer settlers, Mr. and Mrs. J. M.
Mulroney. Born in 1867 he attended local schools and in 1890 with a
brother, J. R. Mulroney, established the Mulroney Brothers General
Store, operating it until 1905 when they organized the Mulroney
Manufacturing Company which had its first plant at the southwest corner
of Central Avenue and Tenth Street. After fire destroyed this building
the three-story building at First Avenue North and Seventh Street was
constructed and the company operated there for many years. Later it was
sold to Marso & Rodenborn.
In 1927 Mulroney entered the insurance business under the name of
Mulroney Insurance Agency. The agency is now operated by his sons
William V. (Bill) Mulroney and Richard J. (Dick) Mulroney. The elder
Mulroney was married in 1896 to Elizabeth Howard and they were parents
of six children. They are Mrs. Eleanor McKenzie, Miss Helen Mulroney,
Mrs. Gertrude Barnes, Miss Elizabeth Mulroney, William and Richard.
Mulroney died in 1950 at age 82; Mrs. Mulroney died in 1952, also at age
82.