The house, now a two-family duplex, is presently owned by Rillmon E. Hoskin, 1037 N. 24th Place, and apartments are rented out. Both are substantially the same—living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom and bath. Earlier owners of the house were Allen R. Loomis, who acquired it in 1937, and Mrs. Matina Constantine who purchased it in 1952.

Reynolds built another house here in the 1890s at the northwest corner of First Avenue North and Ninth Street. The Reynolds family occupied this home until 1910 when it was sold to the YWCA which continued to use it until 1913 when it was sold and moved to Fourth Avenue North and Ninth Street. The YWCA then built its present building at the site. (See story elsewhere in this book on the YWCA house).

Known as “one of the state’s capitalists,” Reynolds was born in Missouri in 1844 and came with his parents to Iowa in 1846. He was reared and educated in Delaware County and at age 18 enlisted in Company G of the 6th Iowa Cavalry in 1862 and served until 1865.

In 1872 Reynolds came to Fort Dodge and purchased a grocery store at 523 Central Avenue which he operated for a year. He then erected a building at 521 Central Avenue, moved the grocery there and continued business at that place until 1882. Reynolds next built the three-story building at the northeast corner of Central and Seventh. He used the west half of the ground floor for his grocery store—where the Commercial National Bank later was located. He operated this store until 1894 when he disposed of the business in order to devote his attention to management of property interests.

Space on the east side of the first floor of the building was rented out and offices occupied the second floor. The third floor was rented to the Masonic Orders and later to the labor unions. In later years the third floor was removed. The building now has apartments on the second floor and the Wicker Jewelry and Friesth Appliance Center on the first floor. Jerry Neeson now owns the building.

Reynolds was active in many affairs here, was a member of the Masonic Orders and served 14 years on the Fort Dodge school board. He was an uncle of Charles H. Reynolds, Webster County surveyor and later city engineer of Fort Dodge for 31 years.