The two lots of land on which this former house was built were owned separately at the turn of the century. Lot 207 was sold by Charles and Mary Zeitler (1832-1910) in 1904 to Robert K. Vanneman and he sold it two years later to Harrison Swift (1841-1909) who was a well-known tanner in the city. Unfortunately, Harrison died just three years later, leaving a widow, three daughters and two sons. Agnes Obrick Swift (1844-1943) held this lot (and others) left by her husband for another ten years before selling it to Martha J. Robinson in 1919. Martha Robinson already owned the adjoining Lot 208, having bought it from Stephen J. Seneca in 1908.

It is believed that Walter B. Robinson (1875-1957) and his wife, Martha, built this home in 1920 and raised their two daughters, Emma and Florence, here. In 1934, however, Martha died. Almost 10 years later, Walter deeded the home to his two daughters. By that time Emma had married Walter Kohout and Florence had married Manuel Siciliano. Emma and Walter Kohout sold their half ownership to Florence and Manuel Siciliano in 1943. The Sicilianos lived here for more than 20 more years before selling the property to the Grace Reformed Episcopal Church in 1966.

The address of the Grace Church is 560 Fountain Street and a self-standing two-story red brick home, which is the vestry, stands between this property and the Church building and also has the address of 560 Fountain Street. That building was constructed in 1950. It is not clear from deeds why the Church bought this property at 558 Fountain Street in 1966.

The minister of the Church for many years was Rev. Dr. Daniel Ellsworth Raudenbush who lived with his wife, Miriam, next door in the vestry at 560 Fountain Street from around 1944 to 1970. Rev. Raudenbush, who came to the church around 1940, was also a member of the volunteer fire department and served as a driver for the Ambulance Corps of the Joseph L. Davis American Legion Post No. 47. He and Miriam had a son, Arnold “Arnie” Ellsworth Raudenbush (1944-2012), and a daughter, four years younger, Miriam “Mimi” Raudenbush (now Shires). Arnie was involved in Havre de Grace politics in the early 1980s and attended city council meetings regularly; he served a single term on the city council from 1980 to 1982.

After the Grace Church purchased this property they made it an income producing rental property. Fred Cullum, a former city council member, and his family are known to have rented it from 1973 to 1989, during which Fred says he did a lot of “fixing up” the property. And Tiffany Charles lived in it during the 1990s. Teresa Yost Fitzpatrick, a local sculptor-artist, also rented it during the 2000s when it served as her studio.

In 2017, however, the Church made the decision to demolish this building and submitted the request to the City. Although the Havre de Grace Historic Preservation Commission filed its unanimous decision against demolition of this house with the City, this building was demolished by the Church in 2017. The two lots are now grass covered and do not appear to serve any purpose.

County Records
6000 sq ft lot. Exempt. Demolished 2017.