A Fort Dodge shoe dealer, E. A. Welch and his wife, Helen, built this
attractive English type home nearly 50 years ago at 1105 Crawford
Avenue. Designed by Mrs. Welch and architect Frank Griffith, the house
is patterned after the Ann Hathaway Cottage at Stratford-on-Avon where
author William Shakespeare resided.
[Illustration: The Welch home
1105 Crawford Avenue]
The two-story home has gray cedar shingle shake siding with white wood
trim and a thatched shingle roof. The first floor includes hallway
inside the front entrance, living room with arched entryway, a den
converted from a former porch, kitchen with glassed-in dining room,
bedroom and bath.
The formal dining room on the first floor has a round walnut table with
six leaves—a gift from Miss Maude Lauderdale, first curator of the
Webster County Historical Society. There are also 12 walnut chairs, a
gift of O. M. Oleson, pioneer Fort Dodge pharmacist and uncle of Mrs.
Welch. The upstairs had two bedrooms and full bath and a large attic
playroom. The house is now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Richard O.
Welch and family.
E. A. (Ed) Welch was born in Fort Dodge in 1875 and had two brothers—Sam
and W. R. (Dick) Welch. Sam was in the shoe business with Ed; Dick was
in the drug business, operating the drug store in the Carver Building
(now O’Connell Drugs).
Both Ed and Sam were sales representatives for the Greene-Wheeler Shoe
Manufacturing plant here for many years. In 1907 they purchased the Ed
Rank Shoe Store at 607 Central Ave. and operated it under the name of
Welch Bros. Shoes. After a year in this location the store moved to 818
Central Ave. where it remained until moving in 1963 to its present large
and attractive location at 915 Central Ave.
Richard O. Welch, son of E. A. Welch, joined his father in the shoe
store in 1930. The elder Mr. Welch retired from the firm in 1947 and
died in 1953. Mrs. Welch, now 96, is a resident of Friendship Haven.
Dale Happ joined the firm in 1952 when he and Richard Welch became sole
owners of the business. They reorganized the firm as the Welch Shoe
Company with Welch as president and Happ as vice president and
treasurer. Sale of the store to four employes was announced late in
January with Robert L. Thiele one of the purchasers to be president and
general manager of the firm. Welch will remain as consultant and
assistant for one year. Happ will retain an association with the store
but will take an extended leave of absence.