366 Congress Avenue is architecturally significant because it is the only known building in Havre de Grace that has the unusual combination of east flank and rear of fieldstone covered with stucco and a façade of brick laid in common bond. The building adjoins a fieldstone dwelling (368 Congress Avenue) covered with stucco for which this property was probably built as an addition or wing. The brick does not appear to be a veneer over fieldstone because the front wall of the house is only 10” thick while the rear and east flank wall are both approximately 18” thick.

Both sides of this double house were owned by Mary Anne McCaskey in 1823, deeded to her by Sarah Hall, widow of Havre de Grace’s founder, Robert Young Stokes (1757-1784). After Stokes’ early death, Sarah married James White Hall. The 1814 tax assessment shows Mary Ann McCaskey owning a stone, two-story dwelling house (22’ x 20’) with a 26’ x 18’ stone addition. In 1843, a Court Trustee sold the property to Hannah M. Boyce, widow of Roger Boyce. Captain Roger Boyce (1750-1811) was a Revolutionary War veteran who is mentioned in Town Commissioners’ minutes of October 16, 1800, when they referenced an Act of the State of Maryland that would require (among other things) that a “fair plat of said town be kept by the City Clerk, Roger Boyce Esq. describing every lot by its numbers also recording all its transfers of ownership.” Roger Boyce was one of five commissioners appointed in 1806.

In 1860, a Court Trustee sold the property to Robert R. Vandiver (1808-1885) and his wife, Mary, who owned other properties in the city. The 1894 Sanborn Insurance Map indicates that there was a “Chinese Laundry” at this location. The property descended to Robert’s son, Murray Vandiver (1845-1916), whose heirs sold this to George H. and Elizabeth Cloak in 1919.

William Fletcher Way was born in Havre de Grace and was living at this address when he enlisted for WWI in 1917 in the Navy. He trained aboard the USS Indiana, reported to Boston and boarded his receiving ship USS Shawmut in January 1918. Seaman Way returned to Havre de Grace after the war and is listed on the Roll of Honor at Tydings Park. He married Rose Way and by 1940 they had three children and lived at 356 Bourbon Street.

George and Elizabeth Cloak owned this property for several years through the death of George and then Elizabeth in 1953. Their three children sold the house in 1953 to Frank S. Maslin, Jr. (1908-1994), who was Executive Vice President of the First National Bank & Trust Company. Having owned this property for almost 20 years, the Maslins then sold it to the equally well-known Ellsworth Shank (1927-2015) and his wife, Madelyn Mitchell Shank. Madelyn was the daughter of R. Madison Mitchell and Helen Maslin Mitchell.

In 1973, the Shanks sold this property to David L. Malin who has owned it, and other properties, since then as investment properties.

County Records
Built 1920. 2270 sq ft, 2 baths, no basement, garage, 2100 sq ft lot.