  A well-known eye, ear, nose and throat doctor in Fort Dodge—Dr. W. F. Carver—erected this attractive home at 905 Northwood Ave., in 1920. Earlier he had maintained his office and residence in a large house at the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Tenth Street built in the early 1890s by Col. Leander Blanden. This historic structure was razed in 1915 to make way for the present Carver Building. The two-story Snell Place house was built of buff colored brick but in later years the exterior was painted white. The first floor includes a hall, large living room with marble fireplace, sunparlor also with fireplace, dining room with built-in china closet, large kitchen and breakfast room modernized in recent years and a half bath. The second floor has four bedrooms and bath. The Carver home The large plastered attic room has been painted and made more livable. The attic has 12 large drawers for storage; these measure 36 inches wide, 12 inches deep and pull out 50 inches. Dr. Carver purchased the Snell Place lot in late 1919 after his discharge from overseas duty during World War I and built the home in 1920. In 1938 it was sold to L. G. Shannon. Following Mr. Shannon’s death the house was sold in 1957 to Gene Gutknecht. He and his wife and family presently occupy the home. The house now has all natural birch woodwork following an extensive refinishing project by Gutknecht. Dr. Carver was born in Madison County in 1869 and graduated in 1894 from the Louisville Medical College, a division of the University of Kentucky. He started his general practice of medicine in Murray, Iowa. Following his marriage, the couple moved to Fort Dodge in 1900. They built a home at 1420 4th Ave. N. in 1904 and lived there for a few years and then purchased the Blanden House at the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Tenth Street. The family resided in the historic house until it was decided to raze it and erect a downtown business and office building. The first two floors of the Carver Building were built in 1915 and later six more floors were added. The Blanden house had a conservatory in the south portion where plants and flowers flourished beautifully the year around. Ceilings in the house were 13 feet in height and all wood work was solid walnut. Doors were heavy—from two to three inches thick. Dr. and Mrs. Carver had three children—two sons who carried on the medical profession and a daughter. They were Dr. W. F. Carver Jr., now retired and living in Arizona; Dr. James Carver, now deceased; and Mrs. Susan Carver Anderson of Seattle, Wash. |
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