Ottawa’s historic East Side will be topic of lecture series

The mistress of which home on Ottawa’s historic East Side served as a bridesmaid for Mary Todd Lincoln? This question and other interesting facts about the families who settled the East Side will be addressed in the seventh lecture of Ottawa’s Historic Lecture Series, presented by Mollie Perrot as she continues her series on historic homes of Ottawa.

The East Side National Historic District was so named because the architecture of most of its homes can be classified as 19th or early 20th century high-style architecture. Some examples of architecture represented by the homes on the east side include Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Cape Cod, Dutch Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival.

Interior photos of the homes of E.Y. Griggs and William Hercules Washington Cushman, both early Ottawa businessmen, will be shown as well.

The lectures will be at 2 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday, July 16, at the Ottawa History and Scouting Heritage Museum, 1100 Canal St. The 2 p.m. session is sold out, but there is seating availability for the 4:30 p.m. session.

Admission is $5 for the public or $4 for museum members. Reservations can be made by calling 815-431-9353. Patrons who have prepaid for the entire lecture series are asked to contact the museum to confirm their attendance.

All proceeds of the lecture series go to the Ottawa Historical and Scouting Heritage Museum’s efforts to raise funds for a building addition. The eighth lecture will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, at the museum where Perrot will continue her series on Ottawa’s beautiful homes with her lecture titled “Magnificent Mansions of the South Bluff.”