It is not possible from Harford County records to determine the exact year that this duplex home was built. However, it is shown on the Sanborn Insurance Map of 1930 and did not appear on the Sanborn Map of 1921. Therefore, it most likely was built in the late 1920s.

Noteworthy for this duplex property is its location just west of the land and premises of the former DuBois Saw Mill House, built in 1870. That house was the office of John E. DuBois’s saw mill and planing yard that occupied most of the land east of the house to the water. It was there that the lumber yard had a log pond where logs rafted down the Susquehanna River from Pennsylvania were stored. By 1883, the mill had become the largest industry in Havre de Grace with 52 employees. John E. DuBois and his wife sold the property in 1923 and the DuBois office has been sold, demolished, and a new home built on that property.

After the closure of the saw mill, the waterfront at the foot of Fountain Street had several other uses including a very popular Wettig’s Boat Yard from around the 1930s-1950s. The Wettig brothers had piers and storage for boats from which locals went fishing and also taught their kids to swim from the boats.

Both sides of this duplex were owned by the same people until 1983 and it is believed that they were always separate houses (unlike some properties that began as single family residences and then divided). In 1946, John Thompson sold both sides to David and Jean Newman. It is believed that they lived here for several years and after the death of David Newman in 1972, Jean Newman sold both sides to her son and daughter-in-law, Arnold and Anastasia Newman.

The Newmans sold this side of the duplex in 1983 to the well-known local doctor, Irvin and Audrey Davis Wachsman. Audrey Wachsman was the niece of Joseph L. Davis, the city’s first WWI casualty, after whom the Post No. 47 American Legion of Havre de Grace on St. John Street was named. It is not known whether the couple lived here or whether it was an investment property. They later lived on South Union Avenue where Dr. Wachsman had his medical office. Their two sons, Mark and Matthew Wachsman inherited this property in 2000 and sold it the following year to Michael and Melody Spradlin. Other owners since then have been Richard and Janice Wheeler, Charles Hiner and Margaret Perry (of BCH Realty), and Amber Osborne.

This home was purchased by the current owner, Mari K. Markkula, in 2015, after she fell in love with the airy, tall-ceilinged downstairs, the wood floors, and old-fashioned trim throughout. She did considerable work to renovate the home by 2017. She opened her home to the 2018 Annual Candlelight Tour and displayed the bright and newly renovated kitchen. A favorite space for her is the attic, which is wildly colorful to encourage arts and crafting. For Christmas, she displays Nordic decorations to celebrate her Finnish heritage.

County Records
Built 1935. 1358 sq ft, 3 beds, 1.5 baths, attic and basement.