The Front Porch – Sidewalk


Welcome to the Petry - Honan house.

Dozier Thornton built this house in about 1868.

In 1876 William and Mollie Petry purchased the home from the Thorntons. Their descendants have lived in the home ever since.

Only one other house in Eufaula has been in the same family as long as this house has. The Petry’s great-grandson, Terry Honan, and his wife Anmarie are the current residents. They are in the process of completely renovating the house and grounds.

Dozier Thornton, who built this house, married Ella Pope in 1868. She was the daughter of Dr. J. C. Pope who served as mayor of Eufaula during the War Between the States. The Popes lived on Broad Street, the street directly behind this house, where the Piggly Wiggly is now located. When Ella married Dozier she just moved over her back fence to Cherry Street!

At the start of the war, Ella Pope was still a young girl. Standing under a magnolia tree in her front yard, she presented the Eufaula Rifles with their new battle flag, which they carried in Jefferson Davis’s inaugural parade in Montgomery.

The house is of the Italianate cottage style. It is a simpler style than those that became so popular during the later part of Victorian era.

You will note the triple hung windows across the front. The two bottom sashes could be pushed all the way up which produced great air circulation. During parties, the windows were raised and people could circulate onto the porch.

The house has 15-foot ceilings. Everything about the house was designed to keep it cool in the winter: high ceilings, big windows, tall doors and being built 5 feet off the ground. Of course, these same things made it impossible to heat in the winter, even with its nine fireplaces.

The American flag on the porch has 37 stars. This is the flag that would have been appropriate for the time period when the Thorntons and Petrys lived here. However, since both Dozier Thornton and William Petry were Confederate veterans they would have not been caught dead flying a “Federal” flag on their house. In fact, you would have not found this flag flying anywhere in Eufaula during the “Reconstruction Era” except on the federal post office.

It took the patriotic fervor of Spanish-American war to bring the south back into foal. In fact, William Petry’s son, Bill, served as a sergeant in Company G of the Eufaula Rifles in the Spanish American war. This is the same company of troops that served as the honor guard for Jefferson Davis’s inauguration but now they were fighting for the USA.

We hope you will enjoy the house!