Historical Images of Porter County

Residence of Prof. Brown
Valparaiso, Indiana

Date: Circa 1903
Source Type: Souvenir Book
Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Hobart & Kennedy
Postmark: Not Applicable
Collection: Steven R. Shook
Remark: This residence was located on Calkins Hill. Calkins Hill was a name given to a place of high ground in Valparaiso located northeast at the present day intersection of Morgan Boulevard and East Jefferson Street. The hill was named after William H. Calkins who constructed his house on this hill.

Calkins would run as the Republican candidate for governor of Indiana in 1884, but was defeated in the general election by Isaac P. Gray. Calkins would move to Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington, in February 1889 and be appointed a Supreme Court Justice for the Territory of Washington in April 1889. In 1880, Henry Baker Brown, longtime president of the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute and Valparaiso University, purchased the house for $4,000. The White House Restaurant later occupied the building followed by Calkins Hill Restaurant.

In late September and early August of 2020, the large house on Calkins Hill was torn down due to the excessive rehabilitation costs and replaced with condominiums. Prior to the erection of Calkins’ house, the Old Seminary, which served as the town’s district school, was built in 1854 on the brow of the hill. In the fall of 1857, the Old Seminary was razed by flames and no school was rebuilt on the site.

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Image and related text prepared by Steven R. Shook