This house was built originally as a two-bedroom craftsman cottage, most likely by William E. Thompson around 1917. In 1925, however, he sold it to George M. and Laura T. Gibson. They lived here for about four years before relocating to Chester, Pennsylvania, and selling the home to the New Home Building & Loan Association of Harford County. The latter sold the home in 1929 to J. “Wesley” Carver (1869-1936) and his wife, Edith. Wesley served on the City Council in 1916 and served the community in other roles until he died.

The widowed Edith Carver sold this home in 1940 to Edgar A. and Mollie B. Murray. The Murrays grew their family while living here, having a son Richard in 1941 and a daughter Carol in 1943. Although Edgar and Mollie Murray sold the house in 1945 they continued to live in Havre de Grace and their children graduated from Havre de Grace High School.

The new owners in 1945 were Omer and Catharine S. Carson and G. Arnold Pfaffenbach, attorneys, who were also in the real estate business. Since then this house has had numerous owners, no doubt many of whom did their own renovations or changes. Some members of the well-known local Coakley family (Donald and Marion, and Charles R. Coakley) had ownership from 1947 to 1995, when the Estate of Marion Coakley sold it to Jack and Kala V. Shaw. They owned the home for 18 years when they appear to have relocated to Oregon.

In 2016 Carol Murray McGowan (1943-2019) purchased this home, having been widowed by the 2009 death of her second husband, George V. McGowan. She was the daughter of Edgar and Mollie Murray, mentioned above, who owned the house in the early 1940s. After graduating from the Havre de Grace High School, Carol had married and lived elsewhere; however, she said she and her siblings had often spoken of buying and restoring their parents’ home here. Having a long-time desire to return to her roots, Carol’s purchase of this home fulfilled that dream. Carol was very active in community organizations and projects. In spite of health issues, she became President of the Susquehanna Museum at the Lock House, joined Soroptimists International, was co-director of Maryland NewDirections, and a vestry member of St. John’s Episcopal Church. Carol was inducted posthumously into the Havre de Grace High School Hall of Fame in 2019; her oldest son spoke for her.

Carol and her son, Fred O. Munn III (as The Murray House LLC), had planned some renovations of several aspects of the house, including restoration of the open front porch; they did renovate the upstairs bathroom prior to Carol’s 2019 death. The Murray House LLC, sold this home to Catherine “Cathy” and George Deibel III in March 2020. George had been a classmate of Carol McGowan's in the Havre de Grace High School Class of 1961. Cathy died in September 2021 and George continues to make this his home.

County Records
Built 1930. 1384 sq ft, 2 baths, 2 stories, no basement, 2,750 sq ft.