A Court Trustee sold five lots of ground in 1889 to John Welsh; they included this property as well as 700 South Union Avenue where Welsh built a home for himself and his family and lived there until 1937. He served as the City Bailiff from 1892 until 1907 and again from 1910 to 1911. In 1890 he sold this lot to Florence Price. The following year she obtained a mortgage with the Home Building Association of Harford County and it seems probable that she had this home built. In 1897, however, the Association’s attorney sold this house to Robert K. Vanneman and his wife Laura. Vanneman owned several properties as investments.

In 1903, the Vannemans sold the property to John H. Lovett who sold it with love and affection to Emma V. Lovett in 1910. Emma owned it for the next six years before selling it to William Galloway and his wife, Annie, in 1916. They lived here until 1935 when William, as a widower, sold it to Gerardo Gatto (1894-1967) and his wife, Perina Gatto. The Gattos had both been born in Italy and settled in Havre de Grace, where they raised their five children. Gerardo Gatto ran Gatto Chevrolet Sales and Gatto Enterprises at 843 North Juniata Street from at least 1929 to 1953 providing services to the motorists of Harford County. The Gattos also owned property on Conesteo Street.

The Gattos sold this home in 1945 to Elizabeth Brown and Mabel H. Hart (b. 1919), Elizabeth’s daughter. Elizabeth Brown died in 1967 but the property continues to be owned by Mabel Hart, whose husband was William E. Hart. Mabel Hart was inducted into the Harford County Public School Hall of Fame in 2011 for her 33 years of teaching from which she retired in 1978 and for serving others selflessly through the years. She had been a student and then a teacher at the Havre de Grace Colored School followed by teaching at the Havre de Grace Consolidated School when that was opened. She also was nominated as one of Harford’s Most Beautiful People for her substantial volunteer efforts and contributions to her community including as a key figure in integrating the Harford County public school system in 1965. Mabel and William Hart had one son, Dean B. Hart, who died in Texas in 2013. Dean had graduated from the Havre de Grace Consolidated School in 1962 and served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam.

Mabel Hart has continued to own this single family home for 76 years as of 2021. She celebrated her 102nd birthday with friends here at this house on March 27, 2021, and was awarded with a proclamation and Havre de Grace Challenge Coin by Mayor Bill Martin. Her birthday celebration coincided with the Women’s Suffrage Parade that stopped in front of her home to present her with a bouquet of flowers as they marched to Tydings Park to dedicate a new historical marker honoring suffragists.

County Records
Built 1940. 1419 sq ft, 2.5 stories with basement, 1 bath, 3600 sq ft lot.