When Dr. Thomas C. Hopkins bought the land for his home next door to this at 229 North Union Avenue in 1838, this open lot was part of that parcel. Dr. Hopkins, however, sold this lot the same year to Robert Culley (1809-1890) who owned it until his death when his Executor, son William C. Culley, an agent for the PW&B Railroad at Perryville, conveyed it to Culley’s two other children in 1897. One of them, Laura C. Doane, bought the interest of her brother, Robert, and with her husband, Henry Doane, built a home on this lot in 1898. What is apparent from Sanborn Insurance Maps is that their home was of normal size on the 1899 map versus a larger size dwelling shown on the 1930 Sanborn Map marked, “Mid-City Inn.”

In 1919, Edwin and Irene Pearson bought this property, out back of which Ed had a large workshop. Ed Pearson (1859-1932) was a contractor and boat builder from a family of woodworkers but he was probably known better for carving canvasback decoys. He is said to have influenced greatly the work of local carver Bob McGaw. The Pearsons sold this in 1925 to James and Annie Walmsley who expanded its size and converted it into the Mid-City Inn. James Walmsley was for many years an agent for the Tolchester Steamboat Company that ran excursions on the Bay. James and Annie were also experienced boarding-home owners who had previously run the Walmsley Inn on South Washington Street.

The Evening Journal from Wilmington ran a sad but amusing story on October 10, 1927, about the Mid-City Inn:
“Six days before she was to have been married to a man with whom she has been going for seven years, Mrs. Rose Forbes, while under the influence of liquor which she drank to drown her sorrows because he had broken an appointment with her, married another man in Elkton, she says. Saturday she petitioned the Circuit Court to annul the marriage, about which, she said, she has had no recollection. The ceremony was performed in Elkton on August 16, when she became the unknowing bride of Lewis Forbes of Mid-City Inn, Havre de Grace, who she had known only casually. She said she did not know she had been married until her husband told her about it while they were returning to Baltimore on August 17. According to the annulment petition, Mrs. Forbes’ fiancé failed to keep an appointment with her August 15, though they were to have been married August 22. The broken engagement so depressed her, she said, that she suffered from a violent headache and was induced by friends to take several drinks of liquor. Mrs. Forbes stated in her petition that she has never lived with her husband.”

Annie Walmsley as the proprietor advertised in 1930 that “Every Meal Is a Pleasant Memory.” Guy Graham Dennis, who owned the next door property at 229 North Union Avenue (now Dennis Apartments) around that time said (in a Harford County Living History interview) that many of their overnight guests ate their meals at the Mid-City Inn—particularly during the horse races at The Graw, when he sometimes had as many as 30 guests at a time in his house.

After the death of James Walmsley, his widow, Annie, sold this building in 1943 to Harry Keen (1894-1973) and his wife, Myrtle. They lived here for the next 20 years with Harry’s parents, Bennett Aquila Keen (1862-1961) and Charlotte Johnson Keen. Charlotte predeceased Bennett Keen who died at home here on his 99th birthday in 1961; he was the oldest known Havre de Grace resident at the time. Bennett was the son of Aquila R. Keen (1828-1866) and Mary Tigner Keen and had been a waterman his whole life. Other owners have been Michael P. Boyd and the late Alice Boyd from 1967 to 1977, before they bought the Sappington House further south on Union Avenue; James T. and Carolyn Wollon had it for three years, who owned the Barnes-Boyd House on St. John Street in the 1970s; and Henry and Patricia Boyer owned it for about 20 years—they were real estate developers and supporters of the Maritime Museum. During the Boyers' ownership, John Ford lived here for several years.

In 1999 this was owned by Leon Kalas, an artist and photographer who ran the Greco Art Gallery here and opened this Georgian style house to the 1999 Annual Candlelight Tour. A native of Athens, Greece, Leon said he opened the fine arts center to give local artists a place to display their works. In 2002, however, he moved to New York and sold the property to James O. and Mary Pilcher. James worked for many years at the Aberdeen Proving Ground and also was President of Pilcher and Associates when he died in 2015. This home is now owned by the Pilchers’ son, James Roger Pilcher and his wife, Adriene.

County Records
Built 1935. 4,442 square feet, 2.5 stories with basement, 3 baths, 5,400 sq ft lot.