In addition to the recovery of personal property after the July 11th storm, the Benton County Historical Society has also been dealing with extensive damage to their three properties. The Depot came out the best with no major damage. The Ray House sustained over $40,000 damage to the property including the Carriage House. Of the three properties, the Horridge House stood the brunt of the storm.

The damage to the Horridge House is over $96,000. Insurance is covering only about half the amount that leaves a significant amount of money to bring the Horridge House back to operational. The BCHS has been looking into every option available to help with the repairs. They recently received a $9,448.00 Emergency Grant from the State Historical Society and are also in the process of applying for other grants as well. The Society sent out a fundraising letter asking for financial assistance to local residents and businesses.

Built in the 1860’s by George Horridge after this marriage to widow Elizabeth Rock, the Horridge House is the oldest of the three Historical Society’s properties. The original structure consisted of the center hall, two large rooms at the front, the kitchen (now the dining room) and bedrooms upstairs. Later, Elizabeth added a living room (now the library) and a kitchen. The original kitchen then became the present dining room.

Elizabeth was twenty years older than Mr. Horridge who died in 1900. In 1903, when Mr. Horridge was 70 year old, he married Carrie Smyth from Washington County, Iowa. The second Mrs. Horridge was thirty years younger than George who died in 1931 at the age of 98.

The second Mrs. Horridge added the downstairs sunroom, a large bedroom, bathroom, and remodeled the kitchen. She also added an attached garage off the sunroom for her electric car. Upstairs, Carrie added a full-windowed screen-in sleeping room, bathroom, one bedroom, a hallway and back stairs.

The storm on July 11th severely impacted the Horridge House. L.J. Roth Co. will be the contractor in charge of reconstruction and repairs. If you would like to help the Benton County Historical Society with the extensive repairs to the Horridge House, Ray House, or Depot, please send your check with the property name on the memo line that you would like to support to BCHS, P.O. Box 22, Vinton, IA. 52349 When you are in the area the next few weeks, drive by to see the progress to the Horridge House and look for a grand re-opening once the project is complete.