The front entrance to this two-story home faces Alliance Street, with a side entrance on Lodge Lane. Behind this house (facing Lodge Lane) is a one-story building that was the old “detached garage,” recreated many years ago as a self-contained apartment home with “452R Alliance Street” as the address. 

In 1866, John W. "Daddy" Holly (1818-1892) bought this property from Havre de Grace Bailiff William R. Young for his family. In 1846, Daddy had married Amanda Parsons Holly and, while he had three sons and a daughter with her, she had already passed away when he bought this home. Daddy was one of the earliest duck decoy carvers and they were of the classic Upper Bay style—solid wood construction (pine or cedar), with rounded bottoms and a carved shelf for the placement of the nail-attached head, lead weights, and anchors that allow the decoy to be used in rough, open waters. He also was a boat builder, fisherman and duck hunter. 

Daddy’s eldest son, William (Bill) W. Holly (1847-1925), was a painter and duck carver and lived here from 1892 until he died in 1925. His middle son, John W. Holly, Jr. (1851-1927), lived in the home they created in the former “garage” from 1881 until his death. Bill and John Jr. worked together as painters and wallpaper hangers and also painted decoys for other carvers. Daddy’s youngest son, James (Jim) Thomas Holly (1849-1935), married Irene Cobourn Holly in 1879 and lived at 617 Market Street, where Jim and his crew of 30 assistants made bushwhack (sneak) boats in his back yard (while also carving decoys). Jim and Irene had two daughters, Rachel (who married George Bryde), and Edith (who married Charles Drennen). The Hollys were close friends with Sam Barnes, whose backyard workshop on South Washington Street met up with theirs on Lodge Alley. 

When Daddy Holly died in 1892 he left this property to his son, John Jr. who continued to live here with his brother Bill, neither of whom married. In 1926, however, the year after the death of Bill Holly, John Jr. sold the property to his two nieces, Rachel and Edith, daughters of Jim Holly. Without having lived here, they and their husbands sold this home in 1927 to Howard A. Bauer (1894-1958) and his wife, Rebecca. Howard had served in WWI and his name is listed on the War Memorial in Tydings Park. After having two daughters while living here, the Bauers sold this home in 1941 to Alex and Ruth Hall. 

Earl L. Peters bought this home in 1951 and later married Phyllis K. Peters. Phyllis had previously been married to William A. Foust, with whom she had two sons, Steven W. and Harry N. Foust. When Earl Peters died in 1965, this became Phyllis’s home until her death in 2002. Prior to her death she had established the Phyllis K. Peters Family Trust, which is now the owner of the home. 

In 2017, Steven Foust, the resident, confirmed the Holly family history of the home and that the Hollys had created the apartment now in the rear of the property. 452R Alliance Street is now home to Charles Douglas “Doug” Wooten, whose grandfather was Donald L. Mergler, a jockey who used to race at The Graw racetrack, and has many family members living in Havre de Grace. Doug is well known in Havre de Grace for doing volunteer work for community groups and organizations and at the United Methodist Church. 

County Records
Built 1935. 2740 sq ft, 2 baths, 2 stories, no basement, 9375 sq ft lot, detached garage.