The Bellamy House on Ashford Street

The Bellamy family moved into the house on Ashford Street in 1908 after Thomas Bellamy inherited the property from his uncle, a local attorney who had commissioned the mansion years earlier. Three generations shared the residence, including Thomas, his wife Clara, their two children, and his widowed mother who managed much of the household. The family income came from Thomas’s printing business, which supplied newspapers and commercial materials to nearby towns.

For many years the mansion remained a stable family home, with the parlor, dining room, and upper bedrooms regularly maintained.

The first warning sign appeared in 1932 when Bellamy Printing Company lost several major newspaper contracts and fell behind on paper supplier payments. Thomas reduced household expenses by closing the second-floor guest rooms, dismissing their longtime housekeeper, and delaying repairs to the copper roof and damaged porch railings. The financial collapse of the printing business during the Great Depression became impossible to reverse. After Thomas died in 1936, an inheritance dispute between his children delayed decisions about the property, while unpaid mortgage payments and city taxes continued accumulating.

The Bellamy House was finally vacated in 1938 after the inheritance dispute ended with foreclosure and the sale of remaining family assets. Clara Bellamy moved to live with relatives, while her children left the area seeking work elsewhere. No restoration followed, and no family member returned to reclaim the mansion. Official records show repeated ownership changes but no successful renovation plans. The closed rooms, damaged roof, and neglected interior continued deteriorating through the following decades. The Queen Anne and Beaux-Arts residence remains standing on Ashford Street, abandoned and slowly declining with its future unresolved.