William W. Gray House

[smoke665]

The first white settlers to the area came around 1807-09 settling on the bank of the Wabash River at the mouth of Bonpas Creek in what would become Grayville, IL. French keel boats would travel up the Bonpas as much as 20 miles picking up agricultural products for deliver to the river. William W. Gray one of those earlier settlers from Virginia and founder of the town, built the house in 1885, it's since been listed on the National Register, but unfortunately the graceful old lady is suffering from the ravages of time., and may not be around much longer unless serious restoration takes place. To the right rear is the Carriage House. In front of it is a series of rooms that were built much later, when the old house served a rooming house/hotel for travelers.

May 202120210601_4437.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

 

[jcdeboever]

That carriage house is definitely in trouble. Beautiful architecture. I really like how that lens renders.

 

[smoke665]

That carriage house is definitely in trouble. Beautiful architecture. I really like how that lens renders.

Yes, unless someone steps up with a considerable amount of restoration pretty soon, both will reach the point of no return.

The Pentax 18-135, paired with the K311 is my walk around combo of choice. It's compact and light, yet gives me a wide range of focal lengths to choose from.

 

[K9Kirk]

Interesting place and nice image. I agree with the assessment of it's condition, it looks like the carriage house is settling.

 

[GrfxGuru]

What a fabulous building, thanks for including the info so I can appreciate the details. Oh to live in such an interesting place, how amazing that would be.

 

[smoke665]

Interesting place and nice image.

Thank you! Yes sad that no one has really stepped up to preserve it. There are some other large houses in town though not as elaborate as this one, that have long since passed the point of renewal.

Oh to live in such an interesting place, how amazing that would be.

We moved from the area in 1956, so the oil was still big business. There was a joke going around in the 40-50's that you could travel between Grayville and Carmi, a distance of about 15 miles by stepping from one drilling rig to another.

Sadly in the 80's the oil boom faded, then in 1985 a flood caused the Wabash to cut a new channel. The river at the end of Main Street that gave life to the town is now 2 miles away, all that's left is a shallow slew. Life moves on.